9 ms·
StarFighter 16-Inch
- walrus01 6mo agoFor the price I was expecting actual wifi 7 (802.11be standards compliant) and USB3.2 10 Gbps capability on the type A ports.
- creshal 6mo agoOh look, another generic Macbook clone.
- backscratches 6mo agoLol these are the most refined Linux flagship hardware manufacturers in the world. No clone.
- creshal 6mo agoIf your definition of refinement is "looks like a Macbook", sure. Personally, if I wanted a laptop that looks like a Macbook, I'd buy a Macbook.
- backscratches 6mo agoNo my definition is most Linux compatible, custom firmware and support. They make the only modern qubes certified machine which is a hardware compatibility nightmare. Look is afterthought
- benoau 6mo agoJeez what an amazing month for premium Linux laptops.
- SilverElfin 6mo agoThey 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?
- jxcole 6mo agoHave you tried it out? https://askubuntu.com/questions/629632/can-you-boot-ubuntu-straight-from-a-usb-without-installation https://askubuntu.com/questions/629632/can-you-boot-ubuntu-s...
- SilverElfin 6mo agoA long time ago. But I ran into all sorts of issues. It was a struggle getting things like Bluetooth or WiFi working. And I just couldn’t get myself to feeling like I could ‘trust it’. Like that I wouldn’t break it and somehow lose all my data in th process.
- fragmede 6mo agoThat's a reasonable fear! But the solution to that is to set up backups, no matter what the operating system you're on.
- SilentM68 6mo agoYou can also use Ventoy to boot the ISOs which is somewhat easier in my view.
- d3Xt3r 6mo agoCheck out System76 and Framework, they're based in the US and ship Linux machines.
- ufmace 6mo agoLooks like they're UK based. I don't know, but apparently tariffs etc are factored into the shipping fees shown on their site. If you're not sure if you want to go Linux yet, it's probably best to try a live USB stick of a few distros on your existing hardware. Get a feel for what the interface is like, how things work, how it works on your hardware, etc, without actually changing anything. Seems like a better bet to me than buying all-new hardware.
- analog8374 6mo agodoes anybody do built-in trackballs anymore? I really like those.
- mnkv 6mo agoyou mean like the thinkpad trackpoint?
- blacksmith_tb 6mo agoNot the OP, but some older laptop designs had a small trackball where modern machines have a touchpad, e.g. the early PowerBooks[1] 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_180 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_180
- tempest_ 6mo agoI assume they mean an actual roller ball (like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Contura https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compaq_Contura ) It is still a crazy question though because if you seen most laptops in the last 15 years there is basically no room for them except on the large workstation thinkpads or large gaming laptops.
- miek 6mo agoIve always wished for a UHK-style trackball in a laptop: https://uhk.io/product/trackball https://uhk.io/product/trackball
- analog8374 6mo agohttps://shop.mntre.com/products/mnt-reform https://shop.mntre.com/products/mnt-reform
- aidenn0 6mo agoDo you know what kind of bearings that has? I must also mention that I'm happy to see the UHK has a ball-retention ring; this used to be normal for trackballs but companies moved away for it for some reason.
- 6mo ago
- operatingthetan 6mo agoIt would have been better if they didn't make it look a little bit too inspired by the Macbook Pro.
- dustfinger 6mo ago[flagged]
- wussboy 6mo agoWhat a boutique criticism
- bryanlarsen 6mo agoThere isn't exactly a lot of design freedom in a black rectangle with a screen a keyboard and a touchpad. A real Macbook copy would include Macbook misfeatures, like: - control key in wrong place - camera notch - half sized arrow keys
- operatingthetan 6mo ago>There isn't exactly a lot of design freedom in a black rectangle with a screen a keyboard and a touchpad No, every laptop does not look exactly the same and they are not all macbook clones.
- ShinyLeftPad 6mo agoIt doesn't look exactly the same. Sure, if it had a tiny touchpad with separate buttons or missing indent so that it's inconvenient to open the lid or didn't have stereo speakers or was really thick then it would look even more different than an MBP... If one company nails some design elements before others, why should everyone who gets those elements too be blamed for copying it.
- bryanlarsen 6mo agoThe ones that look more different are generally made of plastic and/or eschew minimalism. minimalism as a design choice far predates Apple, and constrains design choices substantially.
- miek 6mo agoExcellence. 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!
- DiabloD3 6mo agoThey don't sell you your OS, that's the big surface area that companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc have to swallow. They also don't make these computers and are at the whim of their ODM, so unless you opt for Coreboot/Libreboot, there wouldn't be a possibility for that. https://doc.coreboot.org/mainboard/starlabs/starfighter_mtl.html https://doc.coreboot.org/mainboard/starlabs/starfighter_mtl.... The previous version is already upstreamed, apparently.
- wtallis 6mo agoIs there something new here? The processor options seem to be two generation old Intel, one generation old Intel, and one generation old AMD.
- miek 6mo agoI can't imagine the supply chain challenges inherent to startup laptop manufacturers. I think it's "go with what you have access to at reasonable prices, or forget about it. "
- wtallis 6mo agoI think Framework is a good example of how smaller laptop OEMs end up shipping late, often on the order of three quarters. This is something else entirely, if any of these configurations are recent arrivals (I don't think they are).
- MobiusHorizons 6mo agoI don’t believe they actually make the hardware. I know sytem76 always just rebadges Clevo hardware. You were basically paying for Linux to be preinstalled and for the Linux focused support. EDIT. Actually it looks like I was wrong about that. They do apparently at least make their own chassis’s unsure about the motherboard’s or screens though.
- bluGill 6mo agosystem76 does not make their laptops, they do make some of their desktop lines though. System76 however is large enough that they get input into what Clevo designs - they Clevo often changes the hardware internals, but system76 ensures that the new hardware still has linux drivers. (in some cases system76 has shipped a laptop with something announced as not supported on linux, but this is rare and the rest of the features still works, and this is only done for a feature they figure linux users wouldn't use anyway) System76 has long been working on their own laptop - every few years they make a progress report announcement - but I don't expect to see it anytime soon.
- 6mo ago
- zx8080 6mo agoSame-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.
- moltopoco 6mo agoI'd have preferred the inverted-T layout of recent MacBooks too. But because this keyboard does not have a numpad, it could be easy enough to find the bottom left corner of the keyboard with your fingers.
- paulpauper 6mo agolol Up to 18 hrs battery life if you put it in sleep mode maybe. why do people keep lying about battery life?
- bigyabai 6mo agoA couple weeks ago, Framework livestreamed a rundown of their 13" laptop lasting over 20 hours on a charge. I can believe the 16" gets there too.
- bryanlarsen 6mo agoThat was a Panther Lake based laptop. Lunar Lake laptops can also last well over 12 hours, even in Linux. This StarFighter offers neither Lunar Lake nor Panther Lake, so 18 hours is probably only under really ideal circumstances.
- dylan604 6mo agoWell, it's running Linux, so close the lid and turn off the screen. Then, SSH into it like a good Linux machine.
- paulpauper 6mo agoWith wifi and usage? I have never gotten more than 3 hours with wifi and regular usage. Maybe this one is different.
- seabrookmx 6mo agoI reliably get 6 hours out of my Framework 13 with the Ryzen 5 340. And that's with multiple IDE's, 20 browser tabs, full screen brightness. I'm running the latest Fedora without any power saving tweaks.. just stock. It's not MacBook good but it's much better than 3hrs :)
- miek 6mo agoLight usage on low brightness? Nice to know it will last for a long flight.
- AngryData 6mo agoI don't know how anybody can stand not having a numpad.
- frankmatranga 6mo agoWhat do you use yours for? All I’ve ever missed it for was the default Blender keybinds for the camera perspective
- wtallis 6mo agoI only use a number pad for playing a few games, and for bulk data entry. Neither of those use cases are something I prefer using my laptop for, and even on my desktops they're rare enough that I'd much rather have the number pad separate and largely out of the way. What do you use a number pad for often enough to not only see it as mandatory for you, but to leave you unable to imagine how anyone could live without it?
- miek 6mo agoFor serious work, I'm docked and using a large monitor, split keyboard, etc. Many people make concessions when on a laptop.
- d3Xt3r 6mo agoI never used it. Well, I lie, I did use it back in the day for playing some DOS games where you had to share your keyboard with your friend... But all my keyboards have been TKL over the past 15+ years and I don't miss it. I don't know why anyone needs to use a numpad unless they're in a job where they work a lot with numbers. And if you're not in such a role, what is your hobby exactly that demands so much number punching?
- dylan604 6mo agoI bought a bluetooth 10-key. I use the home/end keys religiously when editing in an NLE, and it drove me crazy trying to be a road warrior without it. After having the external, I prefer it as it is full size instead of trying to squeeze it into the laptop frame size. So not having the numpad on the laptop is a-okay for me
- 6mo ago
- sho_hn 6mo agoThis 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.
- colordrops 6mo agoFor sure, once you go OLED you don't go back. It's like going back to a mouse with a ball.
- volemo 6mo agoYou know, I’ve actually gone back to a mouse with a ball. And it’s gorgeous! https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackball https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackball
- ragchronos 6mo agoI mean you have those ergonomic Logitech trackballs that are praised by devs!
- lpcvoid 6mo ago[dead]
- ilaksh 6mo agoSays nothing about AI capability or even graphics. I am skeptical about the value.
- cr125rider 6mo agoThis is satire, right?
- ilaksh 6mo agoNo, AI capabilities of some sort are obviously important. But I know a lot of people don't appreciate that. But you aren't seriously suggesting that graphics hardware is irrelevant are you?
- whilenot-dev 6mo agoThe few things that make me agree with GP: 1. "AI" is a marketing term used by the likes of OpenAI/Anthropic/Google. LocalLLaMa communities prefer to use "LLM" or "model". So for a lot of people "AI" is just a service (see 4.) 2. "AI capability" is an irrelevant spec and marketing slug. The hardware specs will give you the needed infomation to consider a model[0][1]. 3. If you'll want to run a model locally, you'd know that a midrange notebook isn't the device to look for. Instead, look at workstations with discrete graphic cards + lots of VRAM (24GB+), Strix Halo APUs or a MacBook with lots of RAM, or some dedicated workstations like the NVIDIA DGX Spark[2]. 4. An inference engine can run anywhere, you can pick any LLM hosting service. LLM clients just expect an API endpoint anyway. [0]: https://www.canirun.ai/ https://www.canirun.ai/ [1]: https://www.caniusellm.com/ https://www.caniusellm.com/ [2]: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/products/workstations/dgx-spark/ https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/products/workstations/dgx-spark...
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoVast majority of folks are using from the cloud today. If you want to spend big on local ML there are other options. Maybe a future starfighter with panther lake and unified mem is in the cards, but not today.
- 6mo ago
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- ekianjo 6mo agoNo cachyOS or Arch install options. Proposing Manjaro in 2026 is major clueless
- dwighttherobot 6mo agoI have no experience with cachyOS, so can't comment there, but I don't see the point in offering pre-installed Arch. I'd say most Arch users are fairly picky and opinionated about their setup, and would choose to reinstall anyway.
- stonogo 6mo agoCan't imagine how tough it must be to be someone who, when offered a choice of nine different operating system, chooses to whine about it
- fagnerbrack 6mo agoI like to use laptop in the beach. No glare means I can see it even with the sun light reflecting?
- lorenzohess 6mo agoBased on my experience with the System 76 Lemur Pro coming from a Macbook Pro, matte helps a bit. You won't have mirror glare like on the Macbook, but the sun will still wash out the matte screen.
- ulrikrasmussen 6mo agoIf you want to use it on the beach you will probably need an e-ink display because no laptop screen can compete with the sun. But matte is still infinitely better than glossy for less than ideal conditions such as working on a train where there might be sunlight coming in from the side. Glossy screens are, in my humble opinion, a stupid gimmick because they look a bit better at ideal viewing conditions. For mobile devices the viewing conditions are most often not ideal, so it really doesn't make any sense unless the screen has to be a touch screen. I have had one laptop with a glossy screen and I ended up putting a glare reducing sticker on it because the glare was intolerable.
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- SilentM68 6mo agoThose 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?
- zamadatix 6mo agoThis page shows an image of a laptop motherboard with socketed memory https://us.starlabs.systems/cdn/shop/products/B5i7PCB-01x2000.png 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.
- skinwill 6mo agoThey use the same image on their mini pc's page. https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/byte https://us.starlabs.systems/pages/byte
- negura 6mo agoi would highlight two non-tech strengths of starlabs as well: they're based in Europe and from personal experience they have really good customer service
- katiestarlabs 6mo ago[dead]
- LorenDB 6mo agoI 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.
- ulrikrasmussen 6mo agoI like it both for the peace of mind that the webcam is off, but also because I anyway have a dedicated external webcam both at the office and at home, so I really don't need a webcam lens in the lid except for the rare occasions where I need to take a meeting on the go.
- binary132 6mo agoEvery new $3000 computer I see just makes me glad I bought a Snapdragon X2 laptop.
- Yizahi 6mo agoHi. Could you please describe your opinion on the compatibility and stability (especially everything wireless) of the system?
- binary132 6mo agoI’ll try to remember to leave a comment here once I have a chance to put it through its paces soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a little rough around the edges, but I think that they’ve had some time to iron things out with the first generation and I expect it to be pretty good on Windows based on numerous reviews. I’m mainly wondering how it will do with Gentoo.
- binary132 6mo agoAfter a couple of days of monkeying with powershell, cmake, uv, and bootstrapping LLVM I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the overall stability and usability. The only thing that didn’t “just work” so far was building uv from source. Plus it’s wicked fast at compiling and doesn’t get unbearably hot or loud, and it’s insanely light. Haven’t had a chance to try any Vulkan apps or x86 emulation (that I know of) yet. The only other issues were: during the system setup process, I had to reconnect to wifi a couple of times, and before I updated the display driver, it flickered or flashed a few times when it was on night mode. So far everything I’m doing is ARM native, but if I run into any x86 weirdness I’ll update here. I have noticed one or two things I wanted to install that didn’t have ARM native releases (e.g. wezterm), but most stuff seems to be packaged for arm by now.
- Yizahi 6mo agoThanks, appreciate your update.
- fmajid 6mo ago
- uoaei 6mo agoTried 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.
- backscratches 6mo agoStarlabs is older than framework and their machines are *at least" as repairable. I have been using a really good one for 4 years or so. And their firmware is open source.
- fishgoesblub 6mo agoLooks 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.
- backscratches 6mo agoThe hardware is designed in house and is the only trackpad that approaches macbook levels
- guywithahat 6mo agoYeah starlabs uses a lot of glass trackpads in their products and are known for good builds; certainly this will be better than a thinkpad or something. The common complaints for their laptops are usually battery life (I know the horizon battery life was famously abysmal, roughly 3 hours of use), although I'm not sure how long this battery will last.
- ghostpepper 6mo agoThey claim it has a haptic trackpad, so I don't think that's what most manufacturers use.
- happymellon 6mo ago> Looks generic, and has the stereotypical abysmal keyboard and trackpad as any laptop made in the past 10+ years. I wasn't aware that generic laptops had moved to haptic touchpads and up-firing speakers over ten years ago...
- fishgoesblub 6mo agoIt is the common buttonless style that is annoying to use compared to something with actual mouse buttons like an older Thinkpad.
- fragmede 6mo agoNo fingerprint sensor.
- orliesaurus 6mo agoCan I run local LLM models on this? There's no reference to it in the marketing.
- backscratches 6mo agoYou'll have to use your brain unfortunately to figure it out
- orliesaurus 6mo agooh no /s
- fabiensanglard 6mo agoOpensource 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).
- mvkel 6mo agoThe Dell XPS and Framework laptops already far exceed MacBook Pro battery life.
- sam_lowry_ 6mo agoO'rly? Also when suspended to RAM? Framework AMD versions specifically?
- simonjgreen 6mo agoThe Intel 13th gen will draw ~1% per hour while suspended to RAM. My findings on it: https://sjg.io/writing/suspend-battery-drain-framework-13-ubuntu/ https://sjg.io/writing/suspend-battery-drain-framework-13-ub...
- sam_lowry_ 6mo agoThanks for the detailed write-up. IIRC my Thinkpad T14 G2 has S3 and it draws 0.3% per hour, pretty much in line with what Macbooks draw when sleeping.
- delamon 6mo agoAnother data point: AMD T14 G4 with s2idle draws about 0.4% per hour of sleep.
- seabrookmx 6mo agoThe Framework 13 absolutely does not touch the MacBook Pro battery life in any of its current configurations, though the upcoming 13 pro promises to. I have a Ryzen 5 AI 340 powered machine and average about 6 hours. I might be able to stretch that to 7 if I dimmed the screen a bunch and only did light web browsing. This is closer battery life to MacBook Neo, not an Air or Pro under the same workload.
- sam_lowry_ 6mo agoDoes 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.
- theMMaI 6mo agoMost devices still support S3 sleep, it's just disabled by default as s2idle (modern standby) has become the default. You can almost always re-enable S3 sleep if you really want to, but on modern devices it typically only takes a few seconds to resume from S4 (suspend-to-disk) which technically is safer and more reliable. Also you can always use suspend-then-hibernate if you really want fast resume during the day, but long battery life when it's more than an hour or so.
- colordrops 6mo agoMy Thinkpad p16s does not have s3 sleep. And s2idle lasts for a couple hours before it dies because every device has to sleep before it goes to true idle, but can never get all the USB devices to sleep. It's crap. S3 worked fine and was robust.
- sam_lowry_ 6mo agoDunno about other manufacturers, but Thinkpads removed S3. Stock BIOS on some T14 G3 had S3 had it, but it was removed by subsequent BIOS updates. The notebook market is dead for me if the notebook can't sleep on 0.3% battery per hour and if it can't wake up within a second or so. So far only macbooks and >5 years old Intel notebooks can.
- lpcvoid 6mo ago[dead]
- backscratches 6mo agoModern devices generally do not have s3 anymore
- 6mo ago
- tarjei_huse 6mo agoA 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.
- puzzlingcaptcha 6mo agoStarLabs predates Framework by a couple years. Framework just does advertising to geeks better.
- ghosty141 6mo agoFramework actually ships its products and has tons of public reviews etc. way before StarLabs got a single laptop out.
- 14113 6mo agoIncorrect: Star Labs have been shipping laptops since 2018, before Framework was even a company.
- devmor 6mo agoIt also helps that Framework actually releases their products when they say they will.
- maratc 6mo agoOn the other hand, full size arrow keys make this a non-starter for me. I need to position my fingers over the arrow keys without looking at them, and half-size allows me to do that by touch feeling.
- rixed 6mo agoFor that exact same reason I've been avoiding half-sized up/down keys and full arrow keys, as well as mate screen and weight, have been my first filters when browsing for laptops. How annoying must it be to design those machines with such a variety of tastes :)
- sillysaurusx 6mo agoOne 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.
- steve_adams_86 6mo agoDoes it ever worry you that all 8TB could fail in one place? Do you have redundant drives (like two 4TB or four 2TB drives)? I'd be worried about having all of my storage in one place. I like to back up data to more than one place if it's important, and never have huge on-device storage because if something happens to damage it, I'm assuming it's game over for all on-device storage (rather than only part of it). I'd rather my storage was safe and cozy in some place far from where my laptops go. But if you're not all that worried and happen to do data-intensive work or something, awesome, 8TB sounds like a dream.
- mkl 6mo agoData only in one place is bad no matter how big the drive is. Sync it to a NAS, PC, online, external drive, other laptop, or multiple of those.
- einsteinx2 6mo agoI have 4TB in mine (wish I’d gone for 8TB though now that it’s almost filled), and no I don’t worry about it at all because I have backups. Regardless of your drive layout (RAID isn’t a backup), you’re data can be gone at any moment if you don’t have good backups (lost/stolen laptop, software issue, etc). You mention already having backups so I really don’t understand this concern about having a single large drive… If it breaks, you restore from your backups. Yeah it’s annoying but it’s annoying to lose a 1 or 2 TB drive as well and the resolution is exactly the same anyway: restore from your backups and move on with life.
- simonjgreen 6mo agoWhat 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.
- pjmlp 6mo agoTrue, but contrary to the fruity models, some of these are upgradedable. My Asus netbook started with basic configuration and was maximised during its lifetime, just like any PC desktop.
- close04 6mo agoExcept that if you want to save on RAM you'll also have to pick the lower resolution screen and lower rated CPU. These aren't easy upgrades later on.
- pjmlp 6mo agoStill better than no upgrades at all like on Apple land, back to the 8 and 16 home computer days, only external upgrades and cable salad.
- robotresearcher 6mo ago(Exchanged for the largest jump in performance and efficiency the industry had seen for many years).
- tkz1312 6mo agoat least for a framework they are very easy upgrades tbh
- Tade0 6mo agoI love the fact that the bezel is held on by magnets. Last time I tried to replace the display in a laptop, I had plastic bits of bezel flying all around.
- sschueller 6mo agoNice but Switzerland and the EU by law require a minimum of a 2 year warranty. You can't sell a device with less.
- skiing_crawling 6mo agoI noticed they offer all the storage upgrades at or below retail cost. Nice.
- ulrikrasmussen 6mo agoI 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.
- alex_x 6mo agowhat's your average battery life?
- ulrikrasmussen 6mo agoI am not sure since I have never gotten to zero. But I would think I could easily get 6-7 hours out of it, although it depends a lot on the type of work I do and whether I am in meetings. I use IntelliJ and run heavy test suites all the time, and that does drain the battery faster.
- komadori 6mo agoWould you like to have a version with a TrackPoint even if you have managed to live without it? With all these boutique laptop brands, I hope that one of them will eventually produce a pointing stick keyboard offer a route off Lenovo.
- ulrikrasmussen 6mo agoI feared that I would miss it too much, but after a week I stopped reaching for it with my finger.
- krunck 6mo agoNever. I'd rather use an external mouse than use a track pad.
- 6mo ago
- moron4hire 6mo agoI 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).
- camgunz 6mo agoCoreboot is amazing, more machines should have open firmware--especially those intended to run FOSS OSs.
- negura 6mo ago100% agreed. it upsets me when i see companies like framework advertising themselves front and centre as Linux-first, yet won't sponsor a coreboot port. starlabs, system76 and novacustom actually walk the walk
- xvfLJfx9 6mo agoFramework plans to eventually support coreboot, as far as I am aware. (Or open source the current one they purchased). It just wasn't the main priority. They focused on making a repairable laptops ecosystem first. Switching to different firmware later isn't ruled out.
- backscratches 6mo agoStarlabs is at least as repairable as framework, older, and coreboot.
- negura 6mo agothey originally announced their intention to open the firmware 4 years ago https://community.frame.work/t/responded-coreboot-on-the-framework-laptop/791 https://community.frame.work/t/responded-coreboot-on-the-fra...
- pinchydev 6mo agolooks exactly like my MBP M3 - and that's a compliment!
- retired 6mo agoI’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.
- Zardoz84 6mo agodoesn't charge by USB-C ?
- teekert 6mo agoThey are free to charge you extra for taking the charger out of the box. So I'd grant them a bit of civil disobedience on this one and just take that nice GaN charger. I can see the EU's take on this, and maybe overall this will even be good. I have some nice Anker chargers and can charge everything we have at home with them (added some USB-C to ligthning/micro-USB thingies here and there), but I'd be a bit annoyed if the EU would force my company operating with small margins to have 2 versions of my packaging workflow. Maybe they should just "encourage" good behaviour? With a law that is less forcing, ie just say: "If you offer a version without charger, the price must be the same as with charger. " That would (slightly) encourage leaving it out, while not forcing companies' hands. The laptop is being shipped anyway, so I assume the charger in there may be a "sweet deal" if you need one. 65W GaN chargers are a nice sweet-spot at the moment (size/power/price-wise), ie Ikea has one at 14 eur), wouldn't mine having one or two extra.
- retired 6mo agoThe easiest option to implement would be to have separate SKUs for the charger and the laptop. And not three SKUs: laptop with charger, laptop without charger, separate charger. If you ship to multiple countries you can reduce the SKUs even more as the laptop SKU isn’t country specific anymore. Offering a version without the charger for the same price would not reduce ewaste which is the point.
- puzzlingcaptcha 6mo agoFWIW 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.
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoHmm, thought they ship firmware for all recent models at once, though might be mistaken. Are there any fw bugs?
- puzzlingcaptcha 6mo agoI suppose that depends on how recent is what you consider recent. I'd have hoped with the coreboot upstreaming effort they would keep official releases coming a bit longer. You can see the last release for Starlite Mk IV is from 2024: https://fwupd.org/lvfs/search?value=starlite https://fwupd.org/lvfs/search?value=starlite These seem to be the SKUs they are building roms for: https://github.com/StarLabsLtd/firmware/tree/capsules/roms https://github.com/StarLabsLtd/firmware/tree/capsules/roms
- bwhmather 6mo agoI'm also the happy owner of a StarLite Mk IV. The perfect travel laptop. Thin, light, fanless, excellent keyboard and touchpad, matt screen, rock solid chassis, good battery life. I'm dreading the day when it finally breaks as there's nothing comparable on the market today. I wish they could do another run. Very different niche from the StarFighter but StarLabs make excellent machines.
- puzzlingcaptcha 6mo agoTheir Horizon model is probably closer to a Mk IV successor than Mk V. I would consider it as an upgrade path.
- 6mo ago
- iamcalledrob 6mo agoVery happy to see a 4K display. Framework take note!
- amne 6mo agothat's actually one thing I don't like but they're essentially forcing you to go 4k for the 10khz pwm. otherwise, why would you want a resolution you're going to scale to 150% or even 200% anyway just to be able to read it anywhere outside? ... and eating into your battery
- mixmastamyk 6mo ago16 is a desktop replacement size. And 120hz is great because it can play video/film natively.
- iamcalledrob 6mo ago4K is perfect because you can scale it to 200% and still have a lot of screen real-estate. Personally, I'm highly allergic to fractional scaling. It's 200% or I'm not buying it!
- rawoke083600 6mo agoLooks nice ! :) I like the design and name Not sure who the target market is.. but on the homepage it only lists the CPU's in the era of AI/Models etc I'd put the GPU and VRAM somewhere on mainpage as well. Even when I view "Tech Specs" still don't see the VRAM ? Just some feedback.
- bhasi 6mo agoThe key on the top right corner of the keyboard being the poweroff button instead of the Delete key gets an instant NACK from me.
- culebron21 6mo agoFinally someone made a laptop with PgUp/PgDn/Home/End column, like Toshiba! Thank you!
- culebron21 6mo ago...just noticed it's 16". Toshiba did the same on 14" laptops.
- rawling 6mo ago> 5 years of updates Is this an improvement on how long whatever it's talking about usually gets updates for, or is putting a limit on it at all a bad sign? I've only seen this with regards to mobile phones before.
- backscratches 6mo agoThere are no guarantees your laptop will ever get a single update (let alone 5 years) unless they state as much. Most do not state any guarantee or less than 5 years.
- stokez 6mo ago[dead]
- rswail 6mo agoAn ISO keyboard with the big enter key is definitely a plus!
- Zababa 6mo agoSad for the processor, it has a "16-core Intel Ultra 9 285H" which is from what I understand intel 15th gen, while the 16th gen, "Panther Lake", seems to be the one giving battery life around as good as the M1 in the new Dell laptops.
- Joe_Cool 6mo agoYou can also have an older Ryzen 7 8845HS according to the tech specs. Even though the overview page states it's a Ryzen 9. Weird.
- trashface 6mo agoI happen to be looking around for a 15 or 16 inch laptop, but these look pretty unsuitable for me. Odd CPU choices, and no apparent way to configure one with 16GB ram in this time of AI-fueled cost crisis. All but the standard are way out of my budget range - especially considering none have a dGPU. Also for idiosyncratic reasons I need a numeric keypad.
- marshray 6mo agoThere's no shortage of 16 inch laptops with numeric keypads. First thing I thought when I saw the picture was "Yay, a 16 inch laptop with the keyboard and pad in the middle!"
- kuon 6mo agoI recently switched from Linux to freebsd on my work computer and things have been mostly working. With linux chroot I can use the few apps missing BSD port. I did this because I manage a fleet of BSD based server (BSD runs zfs and bhyve with VM on it) and I wanted the same base system for me. I wonder how BSD friendly those laptop are. In any case I am so happy to see some open hardware solution.
- LiamPowell 6mo agoWhy are "premium" laptop vendors still putting vents on the bottom of their machines? Did they never try actually putting their laptop on their laps and realise how much that design sucks?
- bluGill 6mo agoThese are not laptop computers, they are notebooks. The only laptop I've personally seen had a 80286 processor... We call them laptops, but historically that name is wrong. While it is possible to use a notebook on your lap, you are not supposed to. It is a terrible place that is unergonomic. You are supposed to put them on a table of some sort. If you are using it for more than something quick you should have a separate keyboard and mouse (ie attached to a docking station on your desk). The portable form factor is useful for meetings, presentations, or other such - but for real work they are terrible. Since the lap what it was designed for, and a lap is a bad idea anyway: putting vents on the bottom isn't bad.
- apetrovic 6mo agoI frequently sit on my balcony, with my MacBook Pro in my lap. I'm still alive. I also frequently use that computer, that doesn't have vents on the bottom, for watching movies in bed. And I don't need to think about vents. My last non-Apple computer was some ThinkPad, with vents on the bottom, and I remember always chasing some book to put under the computer to make the vents free. Boy, how I hated that.
- bluGill 6mo agoI doubt any computer you can lift will kill you if you put it on your lap. It might be uncomfortable, but it won't kill you. (I'm not about to put some of VAXen I've seen on my lap even though I can technically lift them, but...) People do all kinds of terrible things to their body. That you do something and seem to be getting away with it doesn't mean you should. Talk to a real doctor trained in this (your regular doctors probably is not) for details.
- lhl 6mo agoOh, is this actually out now? If so, great, but I took a quick look and didn't spot any third party review yet. For those interested in this laptop, personally I'd still wait for some reviews from some real world people. Some history on this laptop: - The StarFighter 16 was originally announced back in November 2022 with an original delivery timeline of 3-4 months: https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxhardware/comments/yjuahx/star_labs_starfighter_16inch_laptop_specs/ https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxhardware/comments/yjuahx/star_... - Here's a 500-comment HN thread from Feb 2023 about it (3-4 months later) now with an additional 4-5 month lead time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34759507 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34759507 - The latest production updates only go back to July 31 2025 - they mention a 3-5 month timeline from January 2025 (seeing a pattern?): https://starlabs.kb.help/starfighter-production-updates/ https://starlabs.kb.help/starfighter-production-updates/ There's an "Unboxing" video from Star Labs on the StarFighter from January 22, 2026: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjYJS5AJZpE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjYJS5AJZpE So, 3.5 years later, the chassis is still neat, and good on them for plugging away I guess, but for anyone that actually needs a new computer, there's no shortage of higher-end Linux-centric laptops with a better shipping track record (Framework, Tuxedo Computers, Slimbook, etc).
- alexaholic 6mo ago> personally I'd still wait for some reviews from some real world people Fine, wait, but do encourage everybody else to buy, otherwise you won't see any review from any "real world people"
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoThere’s quite a few mostly-positive reviews on Reddit and I’m quite happy with their Starlite.
- katiestarlabs 6mo agoHi, Katie from Star Labs here. Yes, that's a totally fair comment, the StarFighter took way longer to produce than we expected. It was a combination of component supply problems, being a small manufacturer so understandably lower priority at the factory, and then firmware development. Also completely reasonable to want reviews. We have sent out a StarFighter for review and I know he is currently testing it before publishing on YouTube, so we are hoping it will be out soon. There are also some completely independent reviews on Reddit if they are of interest to anyone: https://www.reddit.com/r/starlabs_computers/comments/1s5raab/love_my_starfight https://www.reddit.com/r/starlabs_computers/comments/1s5raab... er_very_shortterm_review/ https://www.reddit.com/r/starlabs_computers/comments/1rnrte4/1month_with_starf https://www.reddit.com/r/starlabs_computers/comments/1rnrte4... ighter_amd/
- utrack 6mo ago3575EUR seems like a steep price for a znver4 processor from 2023 to be honest.
- dfordp11 6mo ago[dead]
- aetherspawn 6mo agoAny public reviews?
- rob74 6mo agoI clicked on the link half expecting to see a scale model of the (in)famous Lockheed Starfighter (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-104 https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-104).
- 999900000999 6mo agoThe prices are still way too high. You're better off buying a Dell XPS on sale, I saw one for about 800$ the other day with 32 GB of ram. Dell has committed to actual Linux support. I don't feel like paying a Linux nerd tax when most Windows laptops are fine. Lenovo seems to have the best support here. Otherwise enjoy the adventure in driver land!
- bityard 6mo agoI love cheap secondhand Dells and have been running them for decades. But it's absolutely the case that their build quality has been going steadily downhill for a long time, even for their business line laptops. This laptop looks to be more in line with a MacBook in terms of build quality, with a price to match. It's being sold as a Linux laptop, what makes you think there will be driver issues?
- 999900000999 6mo agoI’m not convinced here. All the lower scale manufacturers have to charge more to make a profit. Plus most just white label an existing brand. The other feedback in this thread isn’t great. As for drivers, I meant for Windows laptops running Linux. But that’s pretty rare now.
- delamon 6mo agoLenovo sells ThinkPad T-series laptops as “Linux-supported.” However, if you happen to buy an AMD version of one of these laptops, you may be surprised by how poorly the Wi‑Fi works. It’s been several years since the T14 Gen4 was released, and yet the Wi‑Fi is still not stable.
- agloe_dreams 6mo agoNot just 'way', These prices are downright absurd and anyone who buys one is either giving a donation or an idiot. $2000 for the very cheapest first-gen Core ultra CPU is nuts. You can buy a used, faster XPS 15 OLED 4K for literally $1000 less. Like, Dell sells refurbished the Precision 5560 with the 11850H, 4K OLED, same ram and storage amounts, and a bonus Nvidia dedicated GPU for $560. Did I mention that the ram isn't soldered?
- benterix 6mo ago> 01. Removable Webcam With its easy-to-disconnect magnetic connector, you can simply unplug the webcam whenever you want to ensure that no one can access it. What about the microphone though? The camera issue has been solved years ago by a simple analog hack of physically obscuring its field of view, with some business units having a physical switch built-in. The same is much more difficult for a microphone, hence the appeals of privacy-conscious folks about it, mostly unanswered.
- jamespo 6mo agoHas almost everything I want, full size cursor + dedicated home/end/pgup/pgdown but fingerprint sensor would have been nice, although linux support for those is dodgy.
- neals 6mo agoI've been working from a ARM windows laptop for a year now and have gotten so used to a full day of battery, I don't even bring a charger anymore. I would love a framwork or Starfigher laptop, but I don't feel like the batterylife on intel and amd is there yet?
- gverrilla 6mo agoI don't like the name.
- carlosjobim 6mo agoWould it be possible to hackintosh such a device?
- Yizahi 6mo agoLooks amazing, it even has Ins key, as if they expect people to actually work on this laptop /s :) . But the price of 4200$ is out of reach for me unfortunately.
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoWhat? Hate the Insert key (break my editor button) to the point I often remap it rather that hit by mistake when missing delete. ;-)
- Joe_Cool 6mo agoIf you use (n)vim it's a good key to have.
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoDon't those use the "i" key?
- Joe_Cool 6mo agoYes, but "i" is not a toggle.
- Yizahi 6mo agoHow do you copy/paste in the different terminals then?
- mixmastamyk 6mo ago90% select, middle click paste. 9% shift+ctrl+c ctrl+v, 1% context menu. I have used the insert hotkeys for that in my career but is negligible. Because it usually breaks editors and things. Makes them work like a hex editor. But I have a hex editor already. Don’t need that mode so easily reachable, perhaps if it required a modifier to reach.
- qiine 6mo agonumpad where ?
- wg0 6mo agoI already like it better than Framework with Framework having a better philosophy of reusability and upgradability. Basically I am undecided. Both are too good.
- dainiusse 6mo agoIs it a laptop?
- chiph 6mo agoDo these user-configurable laptops come with a mesh bag to hold their parts? Like the camera on the StarFighter, and the modules on a Framework. Would be a cool branding opportunity.
- namar0x0309 6mo agoI made it a rule of mine to only buy my next hardware upgrades from such companies. This is the future that leads to a human race that is knowledge focused. Closing off technology with contrived schematics and patents encourages the masses to stay ignorant. More of this please.
- varispeed 6mo agoPerformance yet only 64GB of RAM? Seems late by several years. If it had 256GB RAM or even better 512GB, I'd consider.
- wald3n 6mo agoSo expensive with a one year limited warranty. Come on man :/
- Ylpertnodi 6mo agoThanks to cookies and gdpr, warranties on electric items are two years in the eu.
- ramesh31 6mo agoThey still make Intel laptops? Sounds awful. A 5 year old M1 Max would give this thing a run for its money. Edit: it does https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5777vs4585/Intel-Ultra-5-125H-vs-Apple-M1-Max-10-Core-3200-MHz https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/5777vs4585/Intel-Ultra-...
- harel 6mo agoI was minutes from ordering my 4th Thinkpad X1 when I found out about them. Although the Starfighter is a bit too big and heavy for me they also have the Horizon model which is exactly what I'm looking for - if only it came in 64GB ram option and a newer CPU (the former - not yet, the latter is coming soon). In any case, they made me decide to hold off and wait. If they do release a 64G Horizon model I'm all over it.
- lordfrikk 6mo agoHas the availability of Starlabs hardware gotten better? Back in August 2024 I ordered a Starbook and then cancelled the order 4 months later when the laptop was still not delivered and Framework started selling in my country.
- voidmain0001 6mo agoThe configuration with the AMD CPU is using the 8845HS which was released Dec-2023 whereas the configuration with the Intel CPU has the Ultra 9 285H which was released Jan-2025. Why such an old AMD CPU? The Intel has faster LPDDR5 RAM, 8400 MT/s vs 7400 MT/s.
- NoSalt 6mo agoOne thing I have discovered about myself [fairly] recently, is that I want, at least, two buttons, preferably three, and a separate track pad. This entire giant surface for multiple mouse buttons and a track pad combined, sucks. Most times, I just use a wireless Logitech mouse with my laptops, but I am not always able to do that. And when I cannot, I am back to hating the monolithic, multi-function pad, button, thing.
- juleiie 6mo ago[flagged]
- gopher2000 6mo agoYeah it's wild to me that they'd consider going with some first gen startup solution for what is ultimately their most important professional device. And it's starting at $2k so it's not like it's insanely cheap either.
- 14113 6mo agoStar Labs have delivered a number of other high quality linux laptops - I even used one as my daily work driver for a few years at a previous job. They're not a startup.
- gopher2000 6mo agoAh that's different then. I'm wrong.
- SoftTalker 6mo agoDell laptops have always worked great with Linux IME. Maybe double-check WiFi support before you pull the trigger but I've never had an issue personally.
- wmedrano 6mo agoI tried going from a budget Lenovo Linux to a Macbook Pro after graduating from university. The hardware was solid, but it is probably my most disappointing purchase. Right now, I'm extremely satisfied with my workhorse Linux desktop and less so satisfied with my Linux laptop battery life, but I mostly use desktop anyways.
- cevn 6mo agoI respectfully decline, I had macbook Pro m1 or 2 and the screen went black after 1 year and was quoted 1k to fix it. I spent that 1k on a linux laptop instead and that's been going strong for 3 years.
- dark-star 6mo agoWhat an unfortunate name, after a fighter aircraft that has been dubbed "widowmaker" because it crashed so often, and could only sold to various air forces around the world because Lockheed heavily bribed the decisionmakers That being said, the laptop itself looks rather neat, especially the battery runtime
- ge96 6mo agonice screen size/small bezels
- docmars 6mo agoThat keyboard layout is a deal breaker for me. Why do companies have to change things up all the time? Why can't they just go with T-shaped arrow keys and a standard layout? It completely dwarfs the otherwise great hardware.
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoAre you referring to the UK layout? Or the keys on the side? It's all tradeoffs but full size cursor keys and a line of line/page keys are arguably as good as it gets.
- docmars 6mo agoSpecifically the line/page keys. I guess I've gotten used to MacBooks for so many years that I'm fine with pressing a modifier key and the arrow keys to navigate that way. I'd rather do that than accidentally keep pressing "Home" instead of Backspace. With this, I'd have to look down at my keyboard all the time to make sure I'm not mistakenly pressing those keys, because the hand is used to "resetting" on the edges of the keyboard to get a feel for the keys I expect to find on the edges: Enter, Shift, Arrow Keys, etc. It throws off the brain's muscle memory big time.
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoYou'll probably get used to it in a week or so. I prefer separate keys however there's usually not enough room, so this is a good compromise.
- jcmontx 6mo agox86 is dead to me
- roadbar 6mo agoModel F-104G? =) I love the specs and the design - worth a try for business use!
- lbrito 6mo agoWhat would be the advantages of this over a Framework 16?
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoMore practical, better screen, coreboot, first class Linux support. Less modular if you are a gamer/ML fan however. This is closer to a big FW13, aka desktop replacement.
- hecifato 6mo agoWhenever I see a Starlabs release I think about picking it up then I look at the price. When you're getting to the point where a MacBook is a better deal it's a tough sell, especially when your lower end CPU options are so weak.
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoCPUs have been fast enough for mainstream compute for a decade+. Here you are paying to support freedom, privacy, coreboot, and very high RAM prices, at low economies of scale.
- Eric_WVGG 6mo agoLooks sick. I think we're at the point where the inclusion of USB-A is a demerit. Also the x86 processor… that's like two toes in the past… still looks like a heck of a machine. I’d take this over a Framework any day.
- adrianwaj 6mo agoI think it should have a removable/detachable screen that can still be on hinge if need be as many people won't even travel with it, and will put the screen on a stand - or it could have foldable support legs. The screen and main unit could be purchased independently too. Another idea would be to have a second screen that can hang down from the first one for when it's on a desk stand. As someone said elsewhere - no USB-A needed with USB docks via a single USB-C. Another idea would be to have a hall effect keyboard - they are the best.
- BrokenCogs 6mo agoI've had a very poor experience with the starlabs starlite tablet. Touchscreen and various hardware issues that I received little help with from their customer support.
- mixmastamyk 6mo agoHmm, mine works well. Did you update the firmware? Otherwise you should return it. Hopefully not out of warranty.
- LazyGooze 6mo ago[dead]
- teknologist 6mo agoLooks really slick. I'd love to see some more AI oriented mini PCs like the Star Byte but with OSS firmware. Think AMD Ryzen AI Halo form factor with the Gorgon Halo style APU.
- blazarquasar 6mo agoThe fact that this somehow has 3 USB-A ports immediately makes it completely irrelevant to me. Why would I ever want a device with multiple legacy ports like that? I have completely gotten rid of any USB-A devices in my daily life many years ago. Makes me wonder why they didn’t include a PS/2 and VGA as well. HDMI 2.0, USB-A, Wifi-6E, BT 5.3. This is a legacy device.
- teknologist 6mo agoI’d just plug the ports since things are going wireless and might only need the one usb-c from time to time. Hey StarLabs, perhaps put some nice flush and matching port plugs in the box?