A new open source modular laptop will be launching next month via a crowdfunding campaign on the Crowd Supply website, offering an open source DIY laptop that can be modified and customised in a wide variety of different ways as well as protecting your online privacy. “Modern laptops have secret schematics, glued-in batteries, and mystery components all over. But Reform is the opposite — it invites both curious makers and privacy aware users to take a look under the hood, customize the documented electronics, and 3D-print their own parts.”
When the crowdfunding campaign starts you can expect to choose from five different variations on the modular laptop depending on your needs and budget.
– Reform Laptop – fully-assembled system, a user manual, power adapter, and protective sleeve
– Reform Laptop Max – all of the above, plus a 1TB SSD and WiFi card
– Reform DIY Kit – cheaper option that comes with everything you need to assemble your own laptop (including the PCBs, SoM, case parts, trackball and keyboard (labeled or unlabeled)
– Caseless Reform DIY Kit – everything listed above, minus the case for folks that want to 3D print their own, for an even lower price
– Motherboard only – the cheapest option will be for just the motherboard, SoM, and a power adapter
Features and specifications of the open source modular laptop include :
Free & Open Source
– all firmware, hardware, and software
– binary-blob-free Linux desktop with open Etnaviv GPU drivers
Modular
– easy to customize and repair with standard and 3D-printed parts
– swap out motherboard, mechanical keyboard, and optical trackball or trackpad
Private & Secure
– no microphone
– no camera
– no management engine
Durable
– custom anodized CNC-milled aluminum case
Long Battery Life
– 8 x 18650 LiFePO4 battery cells
Modern Hardware
– NXP i.MX8M: 4 x 1.5 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 + Cortex-M4F, GC7000 GPU
– 4 GB DDR3 memory
– mPCIe
– NVMe for SSD
– Gigabit Ethernet
– USB 3.0
Source: Crowd Supply : Liliputing