With the StarBook Mk VI, the British system and Linux distributor Star Labs has launched a 14-inch notebook with open source firmware as well as AMD Ryzen (“Cezanne”) and Intel Core (“Alder Lake-P”) presented. There is also a choice of a total of six Linux distributions, which are pre-installed ex works.
Cezanne, Alder Lake-P and up to 64GB RAM
The successor to the StarBook Mk V, which was only available with Intel Tiger Lake-U, is optionally based on an AMD Ryzen 5800U, an Intel Core i3-1220P or Core i7-1260P and can be configured with up to 64 GB DDR4-3200 CL22 . An SSD with a capacity of up to 1 TB with PCIe 3.0 or PCIe 4.0 is used as mass storage, which offers reading and writing speeds of up to 7,000 MB/s or 6,500 MB/s.
The full specifications of the 14″ notebook that comes with an up to 400 cd/m³ bright and matt IPS display, read as follows:
- CPUs
- AMD Ryzen 7 5800U with up to 4.4 GHz, 25 watts
- Intel Core i3-1220P with up to 4.4 GHz, 28 watts
- Intel Core i7-1260P with up to 4.7 GHz, 28 watts
- 8 GB – 64 GB DDR4-3200 CL22
- Hard disk space
- 240GB (PCIe 3.0) – 1TB SSD (PCIe 4.0) SSD
- Display
- 14″ IPS display with 1,920 × 1,080 pixels and 400 cd/m²
< li>Memory
The British company does not provide any information on the capacity of the battery, but speaks of a runtime of up to 14 hours. 1× USB-C 3.2 Gen2, 2× USB-A 3.2 Gen1 and 1× USB-A 2.0 as well as HDMI 2.0, microSD and a headphone connection with a 3.5 mm jack plug are also offered.
Open source firmware and six distributions
In addition to the choice of six different distributions pre-installed ex works (Ubuntu, elementary OS, Linux Mint (test), Manjaro, MX Linux or Zorin OS), the Star Labs StarBook Mk VI is characterized in particular by its freedom of choice in the firmware used.
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Star Labs StarBook Mk VI with six distributions (Image: Star Labs)
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Star Labs StarBook Mk VI (Image: Star Labs)
In addition to the closed firmware with a BIOS from American Megatrends, you can also choose the open-source Coreboot firmware with a free and highly customizable BIOS. With the help of the free operating software, features such as Wi-Fi, Hyperthreading and various boot options can be fully customized in advance.
From 885 euros directly from the manufacturer
The prices for the Star Labs StarBook Mk VI start at 885 euros for the configuration with Core i3-1220P, 8 GB DDR4-3200 and 240 GB SSD and end at around 1,860 euros for the full configuration with Core i7-1260P, 64GB DDR4-3200 and 1TB SSD. The notebook can now be configured on the manufacturer's website and is also available with Windows 11 for an additional charge of 132.90 euros.