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MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

mnt.stanleylieber.com

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Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#51

Post by mghackerlady »

M95D wrote: post #32
irusensei wrote: post #9

I think 1450 EUR for a 16GB RK3588 is hard to justify. Is the Rockchip open to begin with? I'd go for a framework using the Roma or CIX boards if I wanted to go for an "open hardware but not really" goal.

RK3288 was true open source. It boots with just u-boot and no blobs. DDR init was done by u-boot code and armv7 didn't require a TEE. RK3588 is "almost" open. It boots with mainline u-boot and device tree from the Linux kernel, but needs two blobs: the DDR training blob and the trustzone blob (BL31). It can run without a TEE OS. I recently heard that the BL31 is now open source, but I didn't look into it. Mainline ke…

What about in kernel binary blobs? Would something like GNUs linux-libre work on it?

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#52

Post by jogu »

silon42 wrote: post #8

As it's not very small, it would be a lot cooler if it had a full no compromise TKL mechanical keyboard.

The keyboard uses low profile choc v1 mechanical switches. Aside from the split space bar this is about as close to a no compromise, standard layout as you can get I think.

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#53

Post by jogu »

scottlamb wrote: post #46

I ran across their trackpad [1] last night; it uses the same Azoteq TPS65 module as the keyboard I just bought. Unfortunately the module's discontinued. [2, 3] I guess people have been going through stockpiles of these given that the last manufacturing run was 2 years ago, but I note the MNT Reform Trackpad is listed as out of stock... I'm wondering what they'll do to replace it. You can still buy the IQS550 chip it'…

The trackpad in the MNT Reform Next is custom based on the Azotech IQS9150 IC from what I’ve seen in their firmware sources.

Not sure if that will be directly compatible with the MNT Reform classic discussed here though.

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#54

Post by jogu »

mghackerlady wrote: post #48

I would love to have one of these with a RISC-V SBC, I know there's a framework board but as good as framework is they're never be able to beat MNT in terms of hackability

They have a CM4 adapter module so maybe you could get a RISC-V module in there some how but I don’t know if anybody has actually done that or if it would be worth it at this point.

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#55

Post by djray »

znpy wrote: post #31
jabl wrote: post #11

I'm intrigued by this, but waiting for the MNT Reform Next.. https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/mnt-reform-next

I wish there is more information about battery life of that laptop.

It says "approx. 5 hours" in the "Power & Batteries" section.

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#56

Post by jstummbillig »

bluGill wrote: post #22
jstummbillig wrote: post #20

I wished it was easier to manufacture things. There is a reason that Apple is held in high regard, and looking at this makes abundantly clear, why.

You can make things at home. However some parts will need $100 worth of your time when you can buy it - at slightly the wrong size - for $0.50. You could make the part for $0.25 instead - but it would cost several years to design the molds.

> You can make things at home.

Price aside, most just won't be very nice.

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#58

Post by dharmatech »

ryukafalz wrote: post #50

Typing this from a Pocket Reform right now. The two non-work devices I use most often are this and the Reform 2, and I've upgraded both to various degrees over time. I plan to swap modules between them at some point soon so I can have the Pocket Reform be the faster of the two. I should really write up a long-term review of this thing at some point, but overall I love it. It can be a bit rough around the edges at tim…

How was the process of getting used to the ortholinear keyboard?

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#59

Post by dharmatech »

honkcity wrote: post #24

I use their Pocket reform option pretty regularly, its a gorgeous device. The keyboard is a delight to use and the community is very friendly and helpful. The RK3588 is also plenty fast for the programming I like to get up to -- mostly writing things in Go or Ocaml for myself, but also for larger tasks its worked fine. It has rough edges but its very usable , especially for somone inclined to hack on their devices. M…

How was the process of getting used to the ortholinear keyboard?

Re: MNT Reform is an open hardware laptop, designed and assembled in Germany

#60

Post by ryukafalz »

dharmatech wrote: post #58
ryukafalz wrote: post #50

Typing this from a Pocket Reform right now. The two non-work devices I use most often are this and the Reform 2, and I've upgraded both to various degrees over time. I plan to swap modules between them at some point soon so I can have the Pocket Reform be the faster of the two. I should really write up a long-term review of this thing at some point, but overall I love it. It can be a bit rough around the edges at tim…

How was the process of getting used to the ortholinear keyboard?

There was a bit of a learning curve, but I was used to split ortholinear keyboards already, so for me it wasn't all that steep. YMMV though, if you don't already have experience with a similar style of keyboard it might take longer.

I think for me it helped that none of the keys are odd shapes and sizes too. The arrow keys for example are the same size as all the others, unlike some (even larger!) laptops.

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