Usually when we get to talk about laptops from Linux hardware vendors they're on the pricey side but Star Labs are serving the underserved here with the new StarLite Mk IV. Coming with a sleek 11-inch ARC display with fancy anti-reflective matte coating for work and play in all environments.
Star Labs was formed back in 2016 by "a bunch of geeks" and they offer something not many vendors do with Linux support out of the box, open source firmware support that allows you to switch between American Megatrends (AMI) Aptio V or coreboot any time you feel like it. They even have their own open source coreboot configuration UI, that allows you to tweak all sorts of hardware settings.
Main StarLite Mk IV specifications:
Display | 11.6″ Matte IPS (1920×1080) 178° viewing angle |
CPU | Intel Pentium Silver N5030 1.1GHz, burst up to 3.1GHz |
GPU | Intel UHD Graphics 605 |
RAM | 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 |
Storage | 240GB SSD Up to 960GB |
Ports | DC Charging Jack USB-C (charging + data) USB 3.0 Type A USB 2.0 Type A Micro HDMI 3.5mm Headphone Jack MicroSD card reader |
Battery | 30.4Wh |
Expect a whisper quiet unit too with its fanless design. You also get a backlit keyboard, a smooth glass trackpad and dual speakers. You can select to have it pre-installed with Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS, elementary OS 6, Kubuntu 20.04.3 LTS, Linux Mint 20.2, Manjaro 21.0 (various desktop environments), MX Linux 19.4, Zorin OS 16 and more.
It's not exactly offering up performance for days but you can't really turn your nose up at the £400 price tag. Shopping around a bit, that price actually seems really reasonable too compared with other more well-known vendors.
Available to order now, with shipping expected in January 2022. They offer a 5% discount for pre-orders.
Check it out on the Star Labs website.
EDIT: https://en.jingos.com/jingpad-a1/ This kind of looks promising if the community manages to boot other distros on it.
Last edited by Arehandoro on 23 October 2021 at 10:45 am UTC
One I have has touch screen however. Same CPU/GPU basically (and ram and ssd). And can fold 360deg to pad.
Last edited by TheRiddick on 23 October 2021 at 10:50 am UTC
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