4 ms·

Hands-On: MNT Reforms the Laptop

nine_k 5y ago
I love the slightly non-conventional keyboard of this machine. Thumbs can definitely be more helpful for typing than pinkies (alone). What I wish for is an ability to put a fully custom keyboard there, e.g. two slightly slanted ortholinear with bent thumb clusters, a la Kyria and similar. A machine like this is likely a pretty good testbed for such development.
- doublepg23 5y ago
  All of the specs are completely open so you can design one yourself. Maybe in the style of the 701C butterfly keyboard?
- black_puppydog 5y ago
  the olkb guy (planck, preonic...) announced on the mnt discourse that they're working together with @mntmn for an ortholinear mod. but as sibling says, the schematics are open, nothing stopping you :)
istingray 5y ago
This is the future of computing. The course charted by Apple, Dell, and HP is unsustainable.
- noahtallen 5y ago
  I like the concept, but most people don’t want heavy, thick laptops because they’re not very portable. I imagine most people would be happy to have a more sustainable laptop, but it’s not a reason for a non-tech-savvy person to get one. That leaves this to a pretty niche audience, so I don’t agree that it’s the future unfortunately. Plus, Apple’s strategy is very sustainable from a business point of view. And in capitalism, that’s all that matters, unfortunately :/ But I like the idealism of laptops like this and framework, so I hope to get one in the future.
- AndrewDucker 5y ago
  I'm curious what you believe makes it unsustainable. Could you expand a bit?
  - istingray 5y ago
    Just seems like closed source, non-E2EE platforms seem to inevitably reach an end where open source and E2EE win.
- alecco 5y ago
  Dell seems to support Liux pretty well. They should add coreboot support, though.
  - istingray 5y ago
    Dell puts up with Linux. It's a side project at best. System76 and Purism are some of the few Linux-first vendors out there.
DarthNebo 5y ago
The best part is how each of the 18650 cells are swappable & not one soldered pack. This is something which could have been more widespread across devices like headphones, portable speakers & in slim laptops towards the hinge.
29083011397778 5y ago
I could have sworn Purism's Librem 5 stuck to 3Gb of RAM because the system-on-module didn't support more. But the MNT Reform uses the same chip, and has 4Gb RAM.
lostmsu 5y ago
The keyboard is terrible with no spaces between Esc, inside and below Fx, and around arrow keys.

I love the slightly non-conventional keyboard of this machine. Thumbs can definitely be more helpful for typing than pinkies (alone). What I wish for is an ability to put a fully custom keyboard there, e.g. two slightly slanted ortholinear with bent thumb clusters, a la Kyria and similar. A machine like this is likely a pretty good testbed for such development.

doublepg23 5y ago
All of the specs are completely open so you can design one yourself. Maybe in the style of the 701C butterfly keyboard?
black_puppydog 5y ago
the olkb guy (planck, preonic...) announced on the mnt discourse that they're working together with @mntmn for an ortholinear mod. but as sibling says, the schematics are open, nothing stopping you :)

istingray 5y ago

This is the future of computing. The course charted by Apple, Dell, and HP is unsustainable.

noahtallen 5y ago
I like the concept, but most people don’t want heavy, thick laptops because they’re not very portable. I imagine most people would be happy to have a more sustainable laptop, but it’s not a reason for a non-tech-savvy person to get one. That leaves this to a pretty niche audience, so I don’t agree that it’s the future unfortunately. Plus, Apple’s strategy is very sustainable from a business point of view. And in capitalism, that’s all that matters, unfortunately :/ But I like the idealism of laptops like this and framework, so I hope to get one in the future.
AndrewDucker 5y ago
I'm curious what you believe makes it unsustainable. Could you expand a bit?
- istingray 5y ago
  Just seems like closed source, non-E2EE platforms seem to inevitably reach an end where open source and E2EE win.
alecco 5y ago
Dell seems to support Liux pretty well. They should add coreboot support, though.
- istingray 5y ago
  Dell puts up with Linux. It's a side project at best. System76 and Purism are some of the few Linux-first vendors out there.

DarthNebo 5y ago

The best part is how each of the 18650 cells are swappable & not one soldered pack. This is something which could have been more widespread across devices like headphones, portable speakers & in slim laptops towards the hinge.

29083011397778 5y ago

I could have sworn Purism's Librem 5 stuck to 3Gb of RAM because the system-on-module didn't support more. But the MNT Reform uses the same chip, and has 4Gb RAM.

lostmsu 5y ago

The keyboard is terrible with no spaces between Esc, inside and below Fx, and around arrow keys.