this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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What are your favorite insane laptops?

Mine is the Dell Rugged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F56ION4_n0

Bump and fall proof, liquid proof, sand proof (and cat hairs proof I assume), extreme heat/cold proof, can be used as a blunt weapon in an emergency. Ridiculously overkill for anyone that's not a geologist working in Antarctica or an archaeologist in the Gobi desert, and ridiculously overkill is fun

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[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Reminds me of SOL, a solar powered rugged laptop running Ubuntu. I think they are on that for the past 10 years or something.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

I won't lie that's pretty cool!

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I got a couple I really like, though for vastly different reasons:

  • The MNT Reform series takes the crown for their commitment towards open source software AND open source hardware.
  • The ASUS Zenbook DUO is an early entry in the direction of what I perceive as peak design. This technology will only improve from here and I hope other vendors will take cues from this one.
[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Could you elaborate on the reform? I hear the hype yet to me it looks like a severely overpriced tv box with some low-grade peripherials strapped to it in the least space efficient way possible. Did they got rockchip to release sources instead of blobs or something? What is the praise actually for?

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Could you elaborate on the reform?

For some reason, I was under the impression that laptops in the MNT Reform series were the only laptops that were manufactured using open (source) hardware only. Or, if there were others, that it must have been doing something so special that they deserved to be put on a pedestal. But, currently, I don't feel confident enough to state why it would be superior over say the Olimex TERES-I or Pinebook Pro.

I hear the hype yet to me it looks like a severely overpriced tv box with some low-grade peripherials strapped to it in the least space efficient way possible.

We definitely pay a premium, but I don't know exactly why. Especially when the aforementioned Olimex TERES-I and Pinebook Pro are almost an order of magnitude cheaper.

Did they got rockchip to release sources instead of blobs or something?

From what I understood, Rockchip offers (at least some of) its SoCs as open source hardware. So, what MNT Reform did for the SoC is order them as open source hardware and include/publicize/provide all the schematics (etc).

What is the praise actually for?

FWIW, the open source hardware aspect is what I was intrigued by*.

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

I've sketched out ideas for something like the MNT Reform, but with a Framework motherboard, and it's surprisingly hard to whittle down the form factor any more without sacrificing unique and useful features, like the user-replaceable battery cells and modular mechanical keyboard. Those were the main attractions for me, and it is indeed very weak hardware for the price. Tallying up the component prices, it's about as good as it gets without economies of scale while insisting on libre firmware.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Mine.

Quad screen portable setup, baybeh! Razer's Valerie aint got nuttin' on me!

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 3 weeks ago

your desktop backgrounds I can't ๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚๐Ÿ˜‚

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)
[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

TWO floppy readers? ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

This bad boy can take two 5.25"s at same time.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)
[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

ThinkPad W701DS. Depending on configuration it has an intergrated Wacom digitiser w/ pen, a built-in Pantone colorimeter, two RAIDed hard drives and of course the glorious second screen that pops out.

The advertising was interesting...

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

I was laughing my ass off at the "two 250GB hard drives" until I saw that the video was 16 years old ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The w700ds/w701ds ("Dual Screen")

... was not Lenovo's last try at putting two screens on a laptop; see also the X1 Fold and Yoga 9i

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Those things aren't nearly as cool, though (IMO)

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

your Rugged reminded me of GRiD and it looks like they are still in business!

https://www.griduk.com/products/rugged-laptops/gridcase-1590/

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Developed with the military and aerospace industry in mind

๐Ÿ˜ฎ ๐Ÿ˜ฎ ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

The way this thread is going I'm almost expecting someone to post a space laptop that's vacuum resistant next, just in case you need to watch youtube on a space walk

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago

GRiD has been making these 'milspec' laptops for decades! I wanted one so much when I was a teenager because they were all cyberdeck looking back then, too!

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

I am on my third Rugged. Two lemons, third one is fine. Beware, these have hardware issues and get the extended warranty.

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

I actually used OPs Dell as a paramedic. It wasn't bad but I still prefer toughbooks

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)
[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Wow, that looks like something I'd drag to LAN parties in the late 90s.

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The laptop with a full sized mechanical keyboard on it. Oh and dual 330w power bricks.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/407225/acer-predator-21-x-review.html

[โ€“] [email protected] 0 points 3 weeks ago

Wait a laptop with full mechanical keyboard and CURVED SCREEN? ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

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