Greg KH Recommends Avoiding Alder Lake Laptops - Intel Webcam Linux Driver Long Ways Out

[andyprough]

You might have to use it while travelling, which is what laptops are made for. Also, most laptops now come with physical lids to close the cam.

Yes, and my usb webcam will travel quite nicely. And the physical lid will tape shut quite nicely.

[CommunityMember]

Well I hope at least that these complex new webcams don't still give garbage image quality like the majority of laptop webcams on the market.

Good image quality requires a good sensor, and a good optical system. Most laptops manufacturers have historically chosen to spend their build budget on other components. Remote work (if it remains a thing for the majority of workers (and a lot of supervisors and managers seem to be having a hard time accepting remote work)) may change things going forward, but I have never seen a great webcam in a laptop form factor (and most of the webcams sold for desktops aren't great either until you get into pricier ranges).

[Chugworth]

Good image quality requires a good sensor, and a good optical system. Most laptops manufacturers have historically chosen to spend their build budget on other components. Remote work (if it remains a thing for the majority of workers (and a lot of supervisors and managers seem to be having a hard time accepting remote work)) may change things going forward, but I have never seen a great webcam in a laptop form factor (and most of the webcams sold for desktops aren't great either until you get into pricier ranges).

Yeah, but many phones do have good front facing cameras. That's what bugs me. The technology is there, as well as the mass market.

[NM64]

Forgive my ignorance, but can someone explain to me what Framework is doing differently from these other manufacturers whereby Framework's 12 gen laptop basically "just works" on Linux including their high-quality 1080p 60fps webcam and all?

[Paradigm Shifter]

You might have to use it while travelling, which is what laptops are made for. Also, most laptops now come with physical lids to close the cam.

Where are these "most laptops"? A few specific models of HP, and Thinkpads are the ones I've seen. Can you suggest a few others?

[Slartifartblast]

I would just end up buying a $15 USB webcam anyway. I put black tape over the laptop one and use the USB one because I can control when it's on and I can put it in better spots, like on top of my external monitor when I'm sitting at the desk.

No reason to buy a hackable spy tool in the first place. Just sell a simple laptop, and give me more ports to compensate.

If they've hacked your webcam then that's the least of your problems.

[arQon]

For some people I'm sure the non-working webcam is a feature, not a bug.

Jep. The headline is deliberately clickbait-y, since the crucial part of the original statement was "if you care about camera support", but I honestly can't think of anything that matters *less* to me in the entire machine - including stuff like paint color!

(Oh - the optical out on the audio block does, I guess, but I'm not sure that's a fair comparison).

[arQon]

If they've hacked your webcam then that's the least of your problems.

According to the dozens of scammails I get daily, it's already too late for us all on that front. :P

[mdedetrich]

Good image quality requires a good sensor, and a good optical system. Most laptops manufacturers have historically chosen to spend their build budget on other components. Remote work (if it remains a thing for the majority of workers (and a lot of supervisors and managers seem to be having a hard time accepting remote work)) may change things going forward, but I have never seen a great webcam in a laptop form factor (and most of the webcams sold for desktops aren't great either until you get into pricier ranges).

Ironically Macbooks have much better webcams compared to the PC counterparts

[adept]

Forgive my ignorance, but can someone explain to me what Framework is doing differently from these other manufacturers whereby Framework's 12 gen laptop basically "just works" on Linux including their high-quality 1080p 60fps webcam and all?

lsusb |grep Cam
Bus 003 Device 004: ID 0bda:5634 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Laptop Camera
Bus 003 Device 086: ID 0424:284c Microchip Technology, Inc. (formerly SMSC) Laptop Camera

It looks like it doesn't have this new fancy camera