alt Hacker NewsStarFighter 16-Inch
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I’m unable to order this laptop without a charging brick which is now illegal in the EU.
Same goes for the standard one year warranty. Should be two at minimum.
I had my country configured to Belgium while testing this.
FWIW I have had a StarLite Mk IV for three years now and haven't run into a single issue with it (except maybe the speakers being quite poor).
Unfortunately the company stopped releasing firmware updates for it soon after they launched Mk V. I don't know if it can be still built from source for the older devices.
This page shows an image of a laptop motherboard with socketed memory https://us.starlabs.systems/cdn/shop/products/B5i7PCB-01x200... but it actually has BGA soldered LPDDR5X.
I wonder why the price difference between the 8845HS and the 285H is more than the cost of some complete 8845HS based systems. Also a shame one can't opt out of the storage or accessories like (yet another) measly 65W USB C+USB A GaN charger.
Other than those things, it actually looks decently exciting. I love the 16:10 + high resolution. Screen brightness isn't amazing, but also better than average. Glad to see 120 hz+ across all of the options. Privacy kill switch is great but the removable magnetic webcam seems a bit overkill/complicated given the kill switch (a simple physical slide would have been plenty as well). The hardware options aren't too bad for an open/Linux focused device. 6 USB ports + HDMI + audio ports is great, given the thickness it would have been cool to throw in a built in ethernet port, SD slot, and DP out to negate most of the need for the dock.
If I hadn't already bought a laptop this year this would probably be high on my list.
Excellence. I like everything, and the open warranty is nice: "Our 1-year limited warranty allows you to take your computer apart, replace parts, install an upgrade, and use any operating system and even your firmware, all without voiding the warranty."
I'd love to see more than 5 years of updates, but there is so much to love here, I can look past that!
I have been using this for about a month and I love it. The screen looks great, the keyboard is great, the trackpad is great (I have been using Lenovos for ~20 years and though I couldn't live without the trackpoint). The battery life is more than enough for my usage during my daily commute and way better than the mere 1.5 hours I could squeeze out of my old Thinkpad P1.
I genuinely don't think there is anything I would want changed on this laptop.
A framework competitor! Most of all I love the keyboard. Full size arrow keys as well as home, end and page up/down nearby.
I wish framework laptops could come with multiple possible keyboard layouts like the one on the picture.
Coreboot is amazing, more machines should have open firmware--especially those intended to run FOSS OSs.
Does it suspend to RAM with echo mem > /sys/power/state and stays there for a couple of weeks on battery?
If not, I will keep my Intel Thinkpad T14 G2, The Last of the Mohicans that can.
I really like the detachable webcam gimmick - I'm sure that, like all gimmicks, it could prove frustrating sometimes, but it's a novel way to have both a decent webcam and thin bezels without notches, nose-facing cameras, etc.
Is there something new here? The processor options seem to be two generation old Intel, one generation old Intel, and one generation old AMD.
This is lovely. I'd love it if this or the Framework Pro also had OLED options, though.
My aging Thinkpad P1 (1st Gen) has a great LCD, but it's also the last non-OLED screen in my life, and I don't think I can buy another laptop without it. In fact it would be a purchase decision driver/upgrade incentive for me. This and longer battery life.
Even though I build lots of C++ code, I still don't think I need more than the Xeon in the P1, horse-power wise.
One of the best investments I’ve ever made was to get an 8TB drive for my laptop. Never having to worry about disk space again is so nice. Consider it if you’re in the market for a new laptop.
Same-size cursor keys (with the whole line and without any distinction) is such an ill-design decision. Nice to show in the presentation slide deck, but hard to actually use blindly.
Very happy to see a 4K display. Framework take note!
Nice but Switzerland and the EU by law require a minimum of a 2 year warranty. You can't sell a device with less.
I like to use laptop in the beach. No glare means I can see it even with the sun light reflecting?
I noticed they offer all the storage upgrades at or below retail cost. Nice.
Opensource firmware?
Does it mean this machine has the potential of having amazing battery life since it can be fully programmed? I am talking as close to MacBook Pro level (not accounting for arm vs intel/amd difference).
looks exactly like my MBP M3 - and that's a compliment!
Looks generic, and has the stereotypical abysmal keyboard and trackpad as any laptop made in the past 10+ years. Put this in a room with a few other laptops and it'd be hard to pick it out from the crowd. The only thing it has going for it are the raw specs, but it's eventually marred by the price for what is a poor typing and trackpad experience.
Every new $3000 computer I see just makes me glad I bought a Snapdragon X2 laptop.
I had a Starbook for three years. It was constantly plauged with power issues. As long as I had it plugged in via the barrel connector, everything was fine. But if I tried to charge it over USB-C, it would often fail to boot, lock up, require hard power cycling, and still not come back stable. If I left it completely shut down for a week, the battery would be dead and I couldn't get it back until it had charged (with the barrel connector charger, it would not charge from dead in USB-C) for at least 10 minutes.
Everything else about the computer I loved, but the power issue often meant it was not available when I wanted it. I eventually sold it on eBay (with full disclosure of the issues).
No fingerprint sensor.
does anybody do built-in trackballs anymore? I really like those.
For the price I was expecting actual wifi 7 (802.11be standards compliant) and USB3.2 10 Gbps capability on the type A ports.
Those are nice looking machines. I don't see any mention of high-end GPUs, though. Do you offer any models that include heavy-duty GPUs for the more usually beefier AI stuff?
They aren’t US based right? Does that mean tariffs for US shipping?
Are these a good pick for a non-programmer who is interested in Linux but intimidated by it?
Tried and failed to beat Framework to market. Frankly I'm hopeful that Framework beats this offering out, though I'm happy for the competitive pressure.
lol Up to
18 hrs
battery life
if you put it in sleep mode maybe. why do people keep lying about battery life?
No cachyOS or Arch install options. Proposing Manjaro in 2026 is major clueless
It would have been better if they didn't make it look a little bit too inspired by the Macbook Pro.
Says nothing about AI capability or even graphics. I am skeptical about the value.
Can I run local LLM models on this? There's no reference to it in the marketing.
I don't know how anybody can stand not having a numpad.
What an unfortunate time for these niche hardware companies to be launching new hardware. Framework, StarLabs, System76, (I wonder if Tuxedo will release something). The RAM prices must be killing them. Even if they increase prices to accommodate, I know quite a lot of folks who are simply punting any purchasing until things calm down.