by gadgetoid on 10/25/21, 11:52 AM with 108 comments
by gadgetoid on 10/25/21, 12:03 PM
If they've revised the keyboard/trackpad in Mk IV then it could be a pretty solid little machine.
I also had some weirdness with the USB Type-C power adapter (ha I wish this was the only hardware I could say this about) but that may or may not have been fixed (in the Mk III) with a recent firmware update. Though it did take them the best part of the year since my vague and difficult to reproduce bug reports. A 12v barrel jack supply was rock solid. No surprise there.
I know it's no Framework, but it's nice to have a System76-a-like this side of the pond.
by LeonM on 10/25/21, 2:53 PM
Naturally, one of our services crashed during my second day away (this service had been running flawlessly for 3 years prior). So I spend a bit of time using the tiny cheap laptop.
To my surprise, the tiny laptop was refreshingly nice to work with. There is something elegant about a tiny little fanless machine that you can just throw in your backpack without any worries (unlike with my multi-thousand dollar portable workstation).
The keyboard on this particular laptop was actually very nice, though the screen and trackpad are just utter crap. Though the screen was small and low resolution, it was just fine for email, some SSH sessions and light browsing.
Anyway, long story short: I am now looking at buying a small, fanless laptop with a decent trackpad and screen. The StarLite would be a good contestant.
by codezero on 10/25/21, 7:56 PM
Ten years ago the atom based "netbooks" were ~$200-300. Yes, they had almost no RAM, eMMC storage, and archaic wifi chips, but it's been 10 years, and I'm surprised they can't still put out a Pentium Silver system with even slightly modern internals for around the same price now.
My best guess is volume. The netbook experiment failed and nobody is going to invest in a large enough volume of devices to make the costs worthwhile. Also, tablets and phones can do what you'd probably do on this device anyways, except for the form factor.
Still, it bugs me. This device has nice specs, but as others have pointed out, it looks like it's probably just been thrown together from a reference which also makes me worry about whether this company will be around long enough to service it if something goes wrong a year from now.
I guess I should just suck it up and buy a used 11" MacBook - there is one with an NVIDIA dgpu that my wife had at one point and it was quite a little power house.
by bubblethink on 10/25/21, 5:52 PM
>coreboot uses flashrom, which runs from the userspace (outside the kernel) and writes directly to the SPI (a small chip where the firmware is stored). Instead of verifying the update, it will allow anything using user id 0 (aka "sudo", "root" or "admin") to write to it.
This is their implementation. Coreboot doesn't care about how it's written. That is not a part of coreboot. You, as a vendor, are supposed to create something sensible.
>AMI ... offers many features, including a graphical interface. ... [Coreboot] has no dedicated interface, apart from a simple boot menu.
This is again a function of the payload. If they use tianacore as a payload, they'll get a similar menu as AMI. It's their job to pick and customise payloads. Coreboot doesn't handle that stuff.
by junaru on 10/25/21, 12:56 PM
How layouts like this reach the light of day totally escapes me.
by mdip on 10/25/21, 2:33 PM
I ask because I recently had to switch back to Windows for my work laptop after about 7 years of running OpenSUSE Linux[0] and have been looking to buy a less powerful laptop as a second work machine running Linux[1].
I have zero experience with the Intel Pentium Silver N5030 processor -- I'm guessing that line of processors is what replaced Atom. I haven't looked at that series in a while but in the early days I found them to be unusable -- 80% slower than what I was used to.
I'm looking at light development/debugging work as the target, pretty much "living out of the browser and the terminal" with the majority of development done on my workstation-grade laptop.
[0] Honestly pretty happy with Windows 11/WSLg, which is nice since the app I'm supporting would be very difficult to do in a development environment on Linux...my personal PCs still run Tumbleweed :)
[1] I don't mind running virtual machines as I am currently, but it's more convenient to have another laptop to swivel too, sometimes.
by fho on 10/25/21, 3:18 PM
by jjice on 10/25/21, 2:03 PM
I'm sure used machines are still better bang for buck, but this is really cool to see.
by avhception on 10/25/21, 10:10 PM
At the moment I've got an Asus E203M fulfilling this role, but I'm annoyed every time I have to carry around, untangle and plug in the stupid barrel jack charger when I've got USB-C charging available on the sofa, in bed, in the office (and even in my car). I'm aware that there are USB-C -> barrel jack adapters, but c'mon, if I have to carry something around it might as well be the charger.
That alone would have sold me on this device.
But it's got coreboot! 8gigs of RAM! Backlit keyboard! Matte display, fullHD! I've ordered instantly. Many thanks for the link!
by dmitrygr on 10/25/21, 4:58 PM
by NikolaNovak on 10/25/21, 1:42 PM
by DoingIsLearning on 10/25/21, 9:43 PM
This alone made me pay attention, it is so damn rare to find something portable nowadays that is not glaring with a mega reflective display.
I understand that reflective screens sell better next to lackluster matte screen in a display case but at this point it really feels like none of these manufacturers have used their devices outside.
by nivenkos on 10/25/21, 1:15 PM
Seems quite expensive though, and it's also surprising they didn't choose ARM. As for such a mobile unit you'd probably want battery life over high specs.
The PineBook Pro is a cheaper alternative for those use cases - https://pine64.com/product/14%e2%80%b3-pinebook-pro-linux-la... but is 14"
by Nursie on 10/25/21, 12:51 PM
Wondering why there’s an amibios option at all? Is there something it does that core boot can’t?
by kensai on 10/25/21, 5:24 PM
by intricatedetail on 10/25/21, 3:15 PM
When are we going to get a keyboard with proper set of keys in the right size? Like cursors, PgUp, PgDown, Home, End etc?
Also it's a shame they don't say where they make these laptops.
by ryanteck on 10/25/21, 2:57 PM
A bit of bezel on my Mk1 broke and I was able to get a replacement with ease (did cost me but I was happy I could even get the part easily).
by spullara on 10/25/21, 5:07 PM
by _Understated_ on 10/25/21, 1:04 PM
On another note, as I was scrolling down the page, it got laggier and slower and I'm browsing from an i9 10900K with all the trimmings... odd.
by lpmay on 10/25/21, 11:53 PM
by josteink on 10/25/21, 4:00 PM
Hope Star Labs does well and that they sell plenty free and open devices though :)
by ho_schi on 10/25/21, 4:36 PM
PS: X13 is cheaper than X1, maybe more sturdy and you can get one USB/Thunderbolt port extra.
by TheSpiceIsLife on 10/25/21, 7:08 PM
The StarLite Mk IV out performs it at every turn, and I’ve been wanting an 11” laptop for a while now.
Is there any reason I shouldn’t but the Mk IV, or is there any other similar devices I should consider? I’d rather buy locally for Australian consumer protections.
by dleslie on 10/25/21, 4:04 PM
by xbar on 10/25/21, 10:22 PM
by maxk42 on 10/25/21, 5:06 PM
by wetpaws on 10/25/21, 4:26 PM
I would seriously consider it along with X1 Nano
by pfp on 10/25/21, 6:58 PM
by pipeline_peak on 10/25/21, 7:55 PM
I feel like outside of performance, x86 is kinda burden
by Lio on 10/25/21, 6:37 PM
> Star Labs was formed in a pub
I think I've had many similar conversations but they usually start and end in the pub. Good work lads.
Will be seriously considering the 14" model when it's time to replace my XPS 13.
by Zardoz84 on 10/25/21, 12:56 PM
by baybal2 on 10/25/21, 1:35 PM
Though, Atom cored N5**** CPUs are complete pipsqueaks today in comparison to higher-end ARM cores, the benefit is that Intel reference platforms are the most well supported, and documented pieces of hardware in the industry.
If you get an Intel CPU, put it on a PCB 1-to-1 matching Intel schematics, and fit it with full Intel chipset (WiFi, Ethernet, Enpirion PMICs...) complement, it's almost guaranteed to work.
by ldehaan on 10/25/21, 2:01 PM