Star Labs laptop
Ranked 2 of 3 Linux laptops by recommenders
Linux laptops from a long-running maker, with replaceable parts, coreboot firmware and good Linux support, seen as a strong non-Mac alternative.
Linux laptops from a long-running maker, with replaceable parts, coreboot firmware and good Linux support, seen as a strong non-Mac alternative.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Good Linux compatibility and coreboot firmware
“fully replaceable everything, coreboot, modern specs, Linux compat, firmware over lvfs”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “X210Ai is a new motherboard to upgrade ThinkPad X201/200” “another underrated brand that ships machines with coreboot”
Comment from 6 Jul 2026 in “Apricot Computers: An underrated British brand” “Buy and support vendors that ship proper Linux laptops.”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “Migrating to the EU” Long-running maker of quality Linux laptops
“Starlabs is older than framework and their machines are *at least" as repairable.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “StarFighter 16-Inch” “Star Labs have delivered a number of other high quality linux laptops”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “StarFighter 16-Inch” “StarLabs actually make their own laptops”
Comment from 22 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: Which companies do you admire and why?” Fully replaceable, repairable parts
“fully replaceable everything, coreboot, modern specs, Linux compat, firmware over lvfs”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “X210Ai is a new motherboard to upgrade ThinkPad X201/200” “Starlabs is older than framework and their machines are *at least" as repairable.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “StarFighter 16-Inch” Strong non-Mac laptop alternative
“non-Mac laptops are getting better”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “Your Dotfiles Are Not a Distro” “Starlabs is pretty close IMO”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “Bikeshedding, or why I want to build a laptop”
Other Linux laptops people recommend
The two most recommended other Linux laptops, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlabs StarFighter 16-Inch | 38 | 33 | 54% | 3 | — | — |
| Star Labs laptopThis page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | — |
| Star Labs StarBook | 6 | 3 | 67% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“StarLabs actually make their own laptops”
“another underrated brand that ships machines with coreboot”
“non-Mac laptops are getting better”
“Sarlabs start from under £900 for laptops, mini PCs for under £600”
“Star Labs have delivered a number of other high quality linux laptops”
“Starlabs is older than framework and their machines are *at least" as repairable.”
“Buy and support vendors that ship proper Linux laptops.”
“interesting non us hardware options like”
“Starlabs is pretty close IMO”
“fully replaceable everything, coreboot, modern specs, Linux compat, firmware over lvfs”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.