Post · bonfire.cafe

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social · 3 weeks ago

Time for a new laptop, my trusty Thinkpad T490 is getting a bit long in the tooth.

It served me very well 6 years or so. My previous laptop served as my daily driver for roughly the same amount of time.

I like doing research and getting a device that I don't have to worry about for half a decade.

And on that note, I am looking at two #QubesOS certified laptops:

NovaCustom v54:
https://novacustom.com/product/v54-series/

StarLabs StarBook:
https://earth.starlabs.systems/pages/starbook

If anyone has opinions on these, please share!

Kirils @#WHY2025 ☎️5522

@k@chaos.social replied · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek T14 Gen5. Just gotta wait for the WiFi drivers to be good. Or Gen6 if you wanna be on the edge.

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social replied · 2 weeks ago

@k I asked about two specific laptops. I also mentioned I am specifically interested in QubesOS certified laptops.

I'm sorry if that was unclear and made it seem as if I am inclined to consider any other laptop, especially ones that are not QubesOS certified.

marmarta

@marmarta@chaos.social replied · 3 weeks ago

@rysiek I have the starlabs, and since we overcame the suspend problem (fucking S3 suspend... ) I'm very happy with it. It's not super sturdy, but it's comfortable and generally well-made. The NovaCustom is also fine, my husband uses it and likes the keyboard a lot. Neither of those is "throw it against a wall" like an old Thinkpad, but they are good machines.

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social replied · 3 weeks ago

@marmarta ooooh this is fantastic info. Thanks. Getting the StarBook then, the screen brightness is what pushed me over the line on it.

Tomasz

@tomo@floss.social replied · 3 weeks ago

@rysiek Moja żona używa StarLite i nie można powiedzieć, że to był dobry zakup. Fabrycznie zainstalowane Ubuntu may co chwilę problemy z hardwarem. A to ekran dotykowy przestaje działać, a to klawiatury nie widać, a to kamera zaczyna dziwnie odwzorować kolory, a to ładowanie włącza się i wyłącza co parę minut. Tak jakby sterowniki do sprzętu były zrobione po łebkach.

mig5

@mig5@goto.mig5.net replied · 3 weeks ago

@rysiek I’m in a similar situation and was considering a Framework, or a Nitropad v56

frox

@frox@tooting.ch replied · 3 weeks ago

@rysiek sorry that this isn't an answer to your question but rather another question 😆
What's the use case for Qubes over, for example, #firejail or #apparmor for some specific apps. Or maybe containerisation or virtualization for risk prone or non trustworthy software.
I ask because I understand that qubes has a pretty big performance requirement

xyhhx 🔻 (plz hire me)

@xyhhx@nso.group replied · 3 weeks ago

@frox containers provide paper thin isolation whereas qubes runs a hardened xen configuration. it's much more difficult to conduct a vm escape and compromise dom0 (the admin vm) than it is to conduct a container escape

as for resources, it is heavy but useable on even a mediocre system

@rysiek

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social replied · 3 weeks ago

Related: is anyone using #QubesOS with a 4k 14" laptop screen?

My experience is that QubesOS does not support UI scaling very well, so having a 4k screen might cause annoying issues. Especially with external screens.

I'd love to hear from anyone who is using this kind combination. :blob0w0:

Edit: brainfart, I meant 4k, not FHD 🤦‍♀️

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social replied · 2 weeks ago

Ordered the StarLabs StarBook. I'll have it in a few days, so I don't know how the device itself looks and feels, yet but I have to say:

Communications with #StarLabs about the order so far had been absolutely stellar.

The delivery is a bit fraught for independent reasons, and StarLabs went out of their way to communicate clearly and adjust their regular shipping schedule to accommodate this.

Truly a breath of fresh air in that regard. Here's hoping the laptop meets the same high standard!

BjarniBjarniBjarni 🙊 🇮🇸 🍏

@HerraBRE@mastodon.xyz replied · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek Very interesting! I might follow in your footsteps.

joncamfield

@joncamfield@mastodon.social replied · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek I am absolutely eyeing their starlite but worried it’s too underpowered for my actual laptop usage and … I don’t honestly have a tablet need

ckeen

@ckeen@social.vernunftzentrum.de replied · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek wow that is a pretty piece of hardware! didn't know about them!

Grzegorz Cichocki

@cichy1173@mastodon.social replied · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek I have Starbook MK VI for a couple of years now.

Grzegorz Cichocki

@cichy1173@mastodon.social replied · 2 weeks ago

@rysiek Może Ci się przyda:
- https://rootblog.pl/star-labs-starbook-mk-vi-recenzja/
- https://cichy1173.github.io/starbook_blog/basics/

Co do laptopa, to jest klasycznie "not great not terrible", ale muszę zaznaczyć, że miałem dwie duże awarie wymagające odesłania sprzętu do UK. Niestety, jako, że UK nie jest częścią UE, to koszty nie były małe (około 100 zł za przesyłkę normalną w jedną stronę), a na powrocie urząd celny zatrzymywał paczkę i trzeba było trochę cudować, aby nie płacić cła. Finalnie jednak ja nie zapłaciłem, ale były osoby co musiały

Starbook Basics

Last updated: 2023-11-28 Here I include information that helps to understand Starbook laptops. I will try to skip over knowledge that can be obtained in a few seconds on internet search engines. I will also not write about the Star Labs company itself, as you can find out everything on their website. Lots of important information and useful descriptions of activities are published by Star Labs itself HERE. Technical In this section, I will talk about technical topics and terms, that StarBook user should know.

ROOTBLOG.pl

Star Labs StarBook MK VI: laptop z Linux na dzień dobry - recenzja

Star Labs StarBook MK VI to laptop powstały z myślą o fanach systemów Linux. Oferuje otwartą architekturę, wiele portów i wysoką wydajność.

xyhhx 🔻 (plz hire me)

@xyhhx@nso.group replied · 3 weeks ago

@rysiek I'm using a p53 with a 4k screen. both R4.2 and R4.3 handle scaling on one monitor fine, but R4.2 - which still uses X - is hopelessly unusable with a second monitor that isn't also hidpi. my workaround was to use sys-gui and pass my gpu (and its hdmi port obviously) to the external monitor. the major downside is that qrexec is noticeably slower and so stuff like running salt states and updates take soooo long

R4.3 uses wayland and it's not a problem at all

Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦

@rysiek@mstdn.social replied · 3 weeks ago

@xyhhx good to know! I will need to move to R4.3 then. Which, I mean, I need to do eventually anyway.

xyhhx 🔻 (plz hire me)

@xyhhx@nso.group replied · 3 weeks ago

@rysiek there are plenty of other quality of life features as well!

*_jayrope

@jrp@hub.kliklak.net replied · 3 weeks ago

@ Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦 I guess you saw this note?

"Qubes OS (certified) doesn't handle high screen resolutions very well. We therefore highly recommend to select the Full HD+ screen option in combination with Qubes OS."

Found on the V54/56 order page, when selecting Qubes OS with a 2560 x 1600 screen

nemo™ 🇺🇦

@nemo@mas.to replied · 3 weeks ago

@rysiek 🤣

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