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pinebook.html (3801B)

    

  1. <!doctype html>
  2. <html lang="en">
  3. <meta charset="utf-8" />
  4. <title>ThinkPad T420 vs Pinebook Pro</title>
  5. <style>
  6. body {
  7.   max-width: 640px;
  8.   margin: 0 auto;
  9. }
  11. table {
  12.   width: 100%;
  13.   border-collapse: collapse;
  14.   margin-top: 1rem;
  15. }
  17. th, td {
  18.   border-bottom: 1px solid black;
  19.   line-height: 1.5;
  20. }
  22. td { text-align: center; }
  24. th:first-child {
  25.   font-weight: normal;
  26.   text-align: right;
  27. }
  29. .yes { color: green; font-weight: bold; }
  30. .no { color: red; }
  31. .maybe { color: orange; }
  33. sup {
  34.   color: black;
  35.   font-weight: normal;
  36.   position: absolute;
  37.   font-size: 0.75rem;
  38. }
  40. p { line-height: 1.3; }
  41. </style>
  43. <table>
  44.   <thead>
  45.     <tr>
  46.       <td></td>
  47.       <th>ThinkPad T420</th>
  48.       <th>Pinebook Pro</th>
  49.     </tr>
  50.   </thead>
  51.   <tbody>
  52.     <tr>
  53.       <th>Upstream kernel</th>
  54.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  55.       <td class="no">✗</td>
  56.     </tr>
  58.     <tr>
  59.       <th>Open BIOS</th>
  60.       <td class="yes">✓<sup>1</sup></td>
  61.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  62.     </tr>
  64.     <tr>
  65.       <th>Sane bootloader</th>
  66.       <td class="yes">BIOS</td>
  67.       <td class="no">uBoot</td>
  68.     </tr>
  70.     <tr>
  71.       <th>Open display firmware</th>
  72.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  73.       <td class="no">✗</td>
  74.     </tr>
  76.     <tr>
  77.       <th>Open wireless firmware</th>
  78.       <td class="no">✗</td>
  79.       <td class="no">✗</td>
  80.     </tr>
  82.     <tr>
  83.       <th>Wireless kill switch</th>
  84.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  85.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  86.     </tr>
  88.     <tr>
  89.       <th>Bluetooth 5.0</th>
  90.       <td class="no">✗</td>
  91.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  92.     </tr>
  94.     <tr>
  95.       <th>Storage</th>
  96.       <td class="yes">500G</td>
  97.       <td class="no">64G</td>
  98.     </tr>
  100.     <tr>
  101.       <th>Upgradable storage</th>
  102.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  103.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  104.     </tr>
  106.     <tr>
  107.       <th>RAM</th>
  108.       <td class="yes">16G</td>
  109.       <td class="no">4G</td>
  110.     </tr>
  112.     <tr>
  113.       <th>Upgradable memory</th>
  114.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  115.       <td class="no">✗</td>
  116.     </tr>
  118.     <tr>
  119.       <th>Weight</th>
  120.       <td class="no">2.2kg</td>
  121.       <td class="yes">1.3kg</td>
  122.     </tr>
  124.     <tr>
  125.       <th>Battery life</th>
  126.       <td class="no">3.5-5.8 hours</td>
  127.       <td class="yes">6-8 hours</td>
  128.     </tr>
  130.     <tr>
  131.       <th>Replacable battery</th>
  132.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  133.       <td class="maybe">requires screwdriver</td>
  134.     </tr>
  136.     <tr>
  137.       <th>User-serviceable parts</th>
  138.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  139.       <td class="maybe">some</td>
  140.     </tr>
  142.     <tr>
  143.       <th>HD video playback</th>
  144.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  145.       <td class="maybe">good luck</td>
  146.     </tr>
  148.     <tr>
  149.       <th>Usable web browsing</th>
  150.       <td class="yes">✓</td>
  151.       <td class="maybe">good luck</td>
  152.     </tr>
  154.     <tr>
  155.       <th class="bold">Price</th>
  156.       <td class="yes">$150 (eBay)</td>
  157.       <td class="no">$200 (Pine store)</td>
  158.     </tr>
  160.     <tr>
  161.       <th class="bold">Release year</th>
  162.       <td>2011</td>
  163.       <td>2019<sup>2</sup></td>
  164.     </tr>
  165.   </tbody>
  166. </table>
  168. <p>
  169. The Pinebook Pro is a decent laptop. It is lightweight, has a good display, and
  170. a good battery life. I am happy with Pine64 as a company and think that it is a
  171. good product. There is a place for it in my life. Pine64 has their heart in the
  172. right place and I support them and buy their products because I want them to
  173. succeed.
  175. <p>
  176. But, is this the best the modern laptop industry can come up with? As a
  177. workstation, it doesn't compete. The performance of the ARM CPU is absolutely
  178. put to shame by the 8 year old T420, even for basic tasks. Is this 8 years of
  179. advancement in the state of the art?
  181. <p>
  182. Get your shit together, laptop vendors. Fuck's sake.
  184. <hr />
  186. <p>
  187. 1: Aftermarket via <a href="https://doc.coreboot.org/mainboard/lenovo/t420.html">coreboot</a>
  189. <p>
  190. 2: Limited release, full release in 2020