Snapdragon-Powered Acer Aspire 1 Laptop Nearing Mainline Linux Support

[dragon321]

4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage in laptop released in 2021? And I though that Apple is ridiculous with their 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB storage.

[GeneralZod]

it boasts a reported 16+ hour battery life

Would be interesting to see how long it lasts with mainline Linux, when it's more complete.

[rob-tech]

What is the point of something like this, even my Android phone has 16GB of ram and this is a full laptop with only 4? Why get something that is crippled like this, not only do you not have enough RAM, it is also ARM based and can't even run many common software? This is e-waste as I see it (it is not even a Snapdragon 8 series to give it some grunt).

[Quackdoc]

So not only these qualcomm laptop soc suck when they get released, they do not even have day 1 linux support. It takes several years to get it working on linux. Why do they keep making ewaste? And why do developers waste time on such trash devices to get it working under linux. Who will use this with it's 4 GB RAM over anything intel celeron or other efficient system that just works under linux and windows

because 4gb is perfectly usable for some people, not everyone needs the perf, some people want just a simple laptop that has good battery life and light weight

[coder]

So not only these qualcomm laptop soc suck when they get released,

Because they're cheap. These things are made for school children.

they do not even have day 1 linux support. It takes several years to get it working on linux.

They were probably sold as Chomebooks, meaning they'd have shipped with ChromeOS. What's missing is probably upstreamed, in-tree drivers.

Why do they keep making ewaste?

Unless it's built like a tank and weighs a ton (which is its own problem), anything you give the average child isn't likely to last too long, anyhow. Factor in low budgets and rapid pace of CPU advancements in this segment, and it just doesn't make sense to build a high-spec, higher-priced device.

And why do developers waste time on such trash devices to get it working under linux.

Because there are probably millions of them, or ones like them. If you don't like eWaste, then you should agree that it's good to get Linux running on them so they can still be used after the ChromeOS updates stop.

Who will use this with it's 4 GB RAM over anything intel celeron or other efficient system that just works under linux and windows

The hardware already is what it is. We can't change that. 4 GB is usable for basic web browsing and light-weight development.

The machines only become trash if people can't/won't continue to use them. There are billions of people in the world with no computer. Wouldn't it be better to save these machines from landfill and try to find them a good second home?

[coder]

4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage in laptop released in 2021? And I though that Apple is ridiculous with their 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB storage.

Apple doesn't sell anything as cheap as these were (new). Most schools and families don't have budgets for fancy, expensive Macbooks.

What is the point of something like this, even my Android phone has 16GB of ram and this is a full laptop with only 4?

Your phone cost more than these did, when they were new.

[Quackdoc]

Unless it's built like a tank and weighs a ton (which is its own problem), anything you give the average child isn't likely to last too long, anyhow. Factor in low budgets and rapid pace of CPU advancements in this segment, and it just doesn't make sense to build a high-spec, higher-priced device.
...
The hardware already is what it is. We can't change that. 4 GB is usable for basic web browsing and light-weight development.

i've already commented above, but IMO 4gb is very usable. I currently use a lenovo N22 chromebook (well it was a winbook but the chromebook version is more popular and easier to picture) and I have daily driven that thing for many years now, and only stopped about last week ago. even now I still have it on my desk as a secondary machine for youtube videos. everyone who calls 4gb devices ewaste either only cares about their own specific needs, or hasn't actually used 4gb of ram in years

[robclark]

They were probably sold as Chomebooks, meaning they'd have shipped with ChromeOS. What's missing is probably upstreamed, in-tree drivers.

This one is a windows laptop, which makes it somewhat different from ChromeOS laptops with the same SoC (UEFI vs depthcharge, for example.. but also the EC and TPM. The QC 7c chromebooks shipped with upstream kernel support (only driver missing is MIPI camera for which is used on the detachable/tablet form-factors.. and is a problematic area for even intel devices). Work on linux support for the windows laptop started only more recently, someone I guess found an inexpensive device and had an itch to scratch. It was mostly figuring out how to map the ACPI tables to devicetree, plus a few other details due to fw differences.

And for the others complaining about only 4GB of RAM.. not sure about with windows as the OS but depending on your usage 4GB for a chromebook is quite ok. I tend to use QC chromebooks for "corp" stuff (email/chat/meet/docs type stuff) since I think it is good to dogfood what you work on.. been using a 4GB duet 5 recently for that role, and it is quite fine. I expect it would be fine for linux desktop as well. But I'd highly recommend zram swap + MGLR (as CrOS does) to make the most of the RAM it has.