NovaCustom NV41 laptop review

If I push hard (a LOT harder than when typing) on the center of the keyboard, it flexes very little (that’s expected from a material to be flexible to not break), if I push anywhere else it doesn’t flex at all.

I can confidently say it doesn’t flex, except if you really want it to by pushing hard for no reasons.

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Interesting fact I just discovered. Connecting an usb-c dock on the thunderbolt port allows to use the HDMI output from the dock :ok_hand: , if I do it on the usb-c it doesn’t work. On both, the USB controllers from the dock are working, and also the integrated ethernet adapter (for an extra ethernet port)

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it was using 500% CPU)
Does it mean 5 physical CPUs at 100% each?

exactly :slight_smile:

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Is it able to charge from the dock?

Yes but only when it’s connected to the thunderbolt/usb-c port that is on the left side

More details about the HDMI port (I didn’t use it before). It works fine with my 1080p 144hz screen and I can play sound on it, for it I had to open the audio mixer, click on Configuration tab, and in the “Internal audio” options list I chose “Digital stereo (HDMI)”, now the sound plays from the screen and not the laptop itself :+1:

I’ll work from my laptop from now on, instead of mixing work on my desktop and laptop when I want to work from a different desk at home, I just had to connect the hdmi cable and my KVM switch allowing my to switch the keyboard/mouse between the desktop and laptop :star_struck:

I wish I had a hdmi capable KVM, but it costs too much and they don’t provide 144 hz, and the desktop is also used for gaming so I need to use a display port cable to have VRR (variable refresh rate) as it’s not compatible with HDMI :frowning:

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@solene If you don’t mind some more questions: does your NV41 have battery charging limits available (e.g. /sys/class/power_supply/BAT0/charge_control_end_threshold) to stop the laptop from charging before it reaches 100%? If so, what coreboot version are you using?

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Yes, it’s available and even configurable in the bios. I’m currently running dasharo coreboot 1.7.1

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I see that you can add quite beefy GPUs to NV41. What can you do with this GPU hardware when you are using QubesOS? I heard from last year’s QubesOS Summit, the future of QubesOS will include better GPU integration, maybe, then, you can take full advantage of a GPU?

I can’t really give an answer about speculations.

If you add a dedicated GPU, you would be able to use it in a single qube at a time, and it’s not a really smooth experience at the moment. Most of the time, it’s useful for either gaming, machine learning or video encoding/reencoding

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I’ve been able to figure an equalizer setting improving the audio to be really good. I’m absolutely not an audio expert, but it sounded a lot better for pop, rock, metal or piano.

  • 31 Hz: 0 db
  • 63 Hz: 0 db
  • 125 Hz: 0 db
  • 250 Hz: 0 db
  • 500 Hz: -4 db
  • 1 kHz: -5 db
  • 2 kHz: -8 db
  • 4 kHz: -3 db
  • 8 kHz: -3 db
  • 16 kHz: +2 db

The idea is to lower the trebles instead of pushing the bass that quickly saturate. Depending on what you listen to and your tastes, you could try +1 or +2 db for the 4 first settings, but it may saturate sometimes.

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@solene

So far, I never experienced issues except one related to the Atheros Wi-Fi card (this is not the stock Wi-Fi device): 1 time out of 10 when I suspend and resume, the card is missing, and I need to restart the qube sys-net to have it again. I didn’t try with the latest Dasharo update though, it may be solved.

Any updates on this? Does Atheros Wi-Fi card still has this “issue”?

I didn’t had it for a while but I suspend the computer maybe once a day. I’ll try to remember doing extensive tests and give you feedback.

I updated the bios to a bit more recent version, but AFAIK there is still a major firmware update that is still in beta :thinking:

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I got this chipset though but I think I’ll replace it, it’s too slow over local network as it can only reach 10 MB/s :confused:

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Interesting. Thanks for this info. I am inclined towards getting the Atheros chip as it is blob-free, but if it has such deficiencies, I might have to reconsider.

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v1.7.2 is no longer in beta and finally stable. You can update the firmware by following the firmware update instructions.

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The downside of the Atheros WiFi chip is that it is quite slow indeed, as it is an old WiFi card.

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I’m already on 1.7.2 then :v:

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What is the option that’s marked as “Killer” on the NV41 order page? Is this the best wifi chip + bluetooth combo?