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I appreciate that the reviewer takes more of a perspective of a mainstream consumer, and he does acknowledge that people caring about this kind of hardware have

I appreciate that the reviewer takes more of a perspective of a mainstream consumer, and he does acknowledge that people caring about this kind of hardware have ther points. Some random reader stumbling upon this article wouldn't fare "better" with this laptop (well, they possibly could if they sought help from the community...). So it's a fair representation. If someone wants to appreciate this product, they probably have to adapt a slightly different mindset, not fully communicable by a review. I am interested in MNT Reform for a long time myself, though haven't pulled the trigger yet. The different architecture thing (= some inconveniences with software) and the question of whether it would handle Zoom calls (with an external webcam of course) are among good points to consider. One definitely would have to plan their productive use around this laptop if it were to become a daily driver. I'm used to doing my serious business computing on a desktop, but still.

mindslight 5y ago
> So it's a fair representation. If someone wants to appreciate this product, they probably have to adapt a slightly different mindset, not fully communicable by a review. Yes but the review could and should be within that mindset, while making clear that it differs from a mainstream consumer product. Instead this review is like 'I guess if you care about <mindset>, then you're fine with <subpar spec>', while never really reviewing <subpar spec> within the context of other comparable options. Like why did they choose a Freescale quad A53, rather than say the hex-core RK3399 of the Pinebook Pro? I assume it's because the system-on-module makes it possible to upgrade. Explaining that in-mindset tradeoff would be valuable, but it's completely missing. Furthermore there is a comparison of mindsets to be done. For example if you are concerned with servicability but not Free software or ARM, this probably isn't the machine for you. FWIW personally I segregate my usage of modern bloatware to separate machines, rather than taking a clean trustable machine (that I'm paying for in other ways) and then polluting it with unknown blobs. Devices have become inexpensive ($1300 price tag on this notwithstanding), and it's easier to give proprietary bloatware the environment it expects rather than trying to swim upstream.
- jogu 5y ago
  The crowdsupply page has some insight on why they chose the SoM: https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform > Both SoC and memory chips sit on a System-on-Module (SoM) that we source from Boundary Devices, a US company that specializes in i.MX reference designs. We selected their "Nitrogen8M SOM" module for Reform because it is the only available module for which you can download the complete schematics and understand what every component does.

mindslight 5y ago

> So it's a fair representation. If someone wants to appreciate this product, they probably have to adapt a slightly different mindset, not fully communicable by a review. Yes but the review could and should be within that mindset, while making clear that it differs from a mainstream consumer product. Instead this review is like 'I guess if you care about <mindset>, then you're fine with <subpar spec>', while never really reviewing <subpar spec> within the context of other comparable options. Like why did they choose a Freescale quad A53, rather than say the hex-core RK3399 of the Pinebook Pro? I assume it's because the system-on-module makes it possible to upgrade. Explaining that in-mindset tradeoff would be valuable, but it's completely missing. Furthermore there is a comparison of mindsets to be done. For example if you are concerned with servicability but not Free software or ARM, this probably isn't the machine for you. FWIW personally I segregate my usage of modern bloatware to separate machines, rather than taking a clean trustable machine (that I'm paying for in other ways) and then polluting it with unknown blobs. Devices have become inexpensive ($1300 price tag on this notwithstanding), and it's easier to give proprietary bloatware the environment it expects rather than trying to swim upstream.

jogu 5y ago
The crowdsupply page has some insight on why they chose the SoM: https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform > Both SoC and memory chips sit on a System-on-Module (SoM) that we source from Boundary Devices, a US company that specializes in i.MX reference designs. We selected their "Nitrogen8M SOM" module for Reform because it is the only available module for which you can download the complete schematics and understand what every component does.