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Comment by AdmiralAsshat | Hacker News Reader

I remember how much praise the Purism laptops got for the hardware kill switches on the microphone/camera. It seems like it would be easier for the 90% of the target audience, who probably never uses the mic or the camera anyway, to just remove those pieces from the hardware altogether and let those who need it plug in a USB mic or webcam.

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I added a hardware switch to my x230 camera (I had it opened up anyway to do the FHD mod so I figured why not). It switches the power line of the internal USB port that the camera connects to. I placed a subminiature slide switch next to the camera, cut a notch in the casing, cut the supply trace between the camera's connector and filter capacitor, and soldered wires to the switch to either side of the cut trace. Then I drilled two 0.5mm deep holes with a drill bit held by hand for the bumps of the switch to sit in, and glued it in place. Works fine. I added a touch of glitter paint to one side of the switch slider so it's glittery when the camera has power. I haven't got around to doing the same for the mic.

(yes, I do electronics for a living)

I guess I would fall in the 10%. I have a desktop I use for most stuff, and the only Mic I have is in a USB headset. But if I'm going to video chat with family, it's almost always with the built in hardware of my laptop. I wish it had hardware switches.

I personally love that feature!

I work remotely, and we do regular scheduled video meetings. I don't want to carry around a dongle, but I also want to know that it's fully off when I'm not in a chat.

This way I don't need to trust it's off - I know hackers, malware, etc can't turn it on.

I have tape over my Macbook camera now, and I use Micro Snitch for the Audio, but I'd love a hardware solution.

I was able to order my ThinkPad without a camera or a microphone and I saved $35.

Cool! Which model?

It's a T540p.

I left mine in because it it only knocked a few quid off and very occasionally I might need them.

Both disabled in the BIOS and I taped over the camera though.

Camera taped over obviously it's unusable.

Do you trust a Lenovo BIOS to truly disable the microphone?

As much as I trust an American chip, a Japanese SSD or Korean RAM.

At a certain point you just have to trade one thing for another, frankly my phone worries me more.

Dell offers the same option on some models.

I'm not the target audience, I still wouldn't miss them. I almost want to call them Apple-isms, because for the longest time only Apple did that kind of stuff; and, at least with any Apple or non-Apple laptop I've tried, they're kind of useless. The microphone on my Macbook Pro can't even hear me properly.

Like, I could get a C922 and be lightyears ahead of any of the garbage that comes built into any given laptop or iMac-esque desktop. Thats a $80 gizmo that has working 1080p60 camera, HW zoom, and a little desktop tripod for those that don't have desktop monitors.

I actually think most people do use Skype or other video chat on their laptops, either for personal or for work.. that’s been my experience in any case.

I’ve never had any trouble with webcams working on Windows. Linux is another story...

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