The Official Kubuntu 'Focus' Linux Laptop Goes on Sale (betanews.com) 98
You can buy an official Kubuntu laptop. Called "Focus". It is an absolutely powerhouse with top specs. From a report: Here's the specs list:
CPU: Core i7-9750H 6c/12t 4.5GHz Turbo
GPU: 6GB GTX-2060
RAM: 32GB Dual Channel DDR4 2666 RAM
Storage: 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe
Display: 16.1" matte 1080p IPS
Keyboard: LED backlit, 3-4mm travel
User expandable SDD, NVMe, and RAM
Superior cooling
The starting price for the Kubuntu Focus Laptop is $2395.
CPU: Core i7-9750H 6c/12t 4.5GHz Turbo
GPU: 6GB GTX-2060
RAM: 32GB Dual Channel DDR4 2666 RAM
Storage: 1TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe
Display: 16.1" matte 1080p IPS
Keyboard: LED backlit, 3-4mm travel
User expandable SDD, NVMe, and RAM
Superior cooling
The starting price for the Kubuntu Focus Laptop is $2395.
WhyNvidia graphics? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why would anyone put an Nvidia card into an "official" laptop of a GNU/Linux distribution?
Choosing hardware well supported by free drivers should be top priority.
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Well, sure. But you don't really have a lot of choice if you want high end performance in a notebook GPU.
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I take it you haven't used much AMD on Linux?
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I've used AMD graphics with free drivers a long time ago, and was quite happy about them.
Since, I've used Intel graphics, and the free drivers are excellent.
From what I've read, free drivers for AMD Polaris are quite good. Navi still has some problems, but is improving rapidly.
Vega, on the other hand seems problematic. I've built a computer using a Razen 5 3500G recently. With kernels up to 5.1.21, it is okayish, but still crashes once in a while when making heavy use of OpenGL. From 5.2 it got quite unstab
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Just checking: you're loading your recently updated CPU and GPU firmware, right? (Check dmesg)
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You typically need to add non-free to your sources.list, Debian does not do that by default (but many Debian-derived distros do). If you have not done so then it is unlikely that you are loading your firmware. To know for sure, try this right after boot:
sudo dmesg | grep firmware
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You certainly want to have this package installed: firmware-amd-graphics. If you are also running an AMD CPU (who isn't these days?) then you should also have amd64-microcode,
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Re: WhyNvidia graphics? (Score:1)
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Weird, I've got a 2400g that's rock steady under FC30 and now FC31. I didn't think they changed that much between the generations. I play a few games on steam with it.
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Re: WhyNvidia graphics? (Score:1)
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Well, there is the Radeon 5700M, but that is a relatively recent card, so it might not have been available in time.
And 12nm Intel i7 is a highly dubious choice. It's a safe bet that the next iteration of this high end laptop will be AMD CPU, AMD GPU, both 7nm. I can't see any huge uptake until that happens. They will move a goodly few for sure because there is a significant suppressed market segment that needs a Linux-native desktop replacement laptop right now and won't blink at the price. But NVidia and Intel are just not the first choice of the open source community, especially today when AMD is kicking both their pr
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12nm? Try 14nm.
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Right, 14nm++++. Roughly equivalent to TSMC's obsolete 10nm process.
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You mean didn't have a lot of choice, because as of today AMD's 7nm Zen2 and Navi Mobile parts clearly beat Intel in both performance and value.
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Not everyone using Linux consider free drivers a priority. Some even do not care much. There are people using Linux for the convenience only. So from a end user perspective it makes sense.
And the *buntu distributions have always provided proprietary drivers so they probably do not mind.
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Not everyone using Linux consider free drivers a priority. Some even do not care much. There are people using Linux for the convenience only.
Convenience? Binary NVidia drivers are a pain in the butt whenever you update.
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Worked for you, congrats. Not for me and many others [google.com]
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Why Intel too? AMD CPUs are better now on mobile.
My guess is that they just OEM an existing Chinese design. Custom case, make sure it all works with Linux. You can get it done with a single quick trip to Shenzhen. And their chosen OEM doesn't offer AMD models yet.
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Until recently, Intel used to win in reviews when the power consumption was limited to laptop levels (something between 15 and 35W).
The "Renoir" series on Zen 2 basis might be better, but it has been officially introduced barely two weeks ago. Probably too late for this laptop.
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Linus Tech Tips has reviewed some (prototype) AMD laptops using that chipset and they are fantastic. Real Intel killers.
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At the time they designed this the nice high end AMD mobile parts weren't available. Decent APUs, yes, but this one must have a kick discrete mobile GPU. Expect AMD/AMD in the next design iteration and don't expect this offering to be flying off the shelves until that happens.
Re:Why Nvidia graphics? (Score:1)
Oh, no doubt. I don't recognize the chassis offhand, but I'd bet just about anything it's an off-the-shelf Taiwanese Clevo "barebook" built to spec by someone like Sager, Malibal, or Xotic. Canonical didn't spin up their own assembly line to make one laptop.
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Because despite the licensing issues, the official non-GPL drivers from NVidia work fairly well. Even the GPL licensed nouveau drivers work _reasonably_ well with NVidia chipsets. Without Windows as the base OS, it's unlikely to be a gaming laptop.
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AMDGPU is now the best GPU driver in the known universe and is fully open. The days when NVidia could send its trolls out to social networking parts to spin the driver story are well and truly done. Of course, NVidia still sends out their trolls, that is the kind of company NVidia is, but now they get outed for the slithering things they are.
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No. Free Intel graphics drivers are still far better than free AMD drivers. I've never had any real problems in years of use on multiple devices.
Intel graphics might not be an option for some uses due to performance requirements, but driver quality is excellent.
no, why just 2060 for that price? (Score:3)
that price has like a grand of premium built into it.
and it's not like there's decent choice for free drivers gpu anyhow is there? at least recently the laptop manufacturers have started to just skip the intel-hybrid gpu crap in nvidia laptops totally. meaning that it's just the nvidia gpu. saves so much hassle. plus my hp omen (with better specs except default ram config, that costs a lot less, with 2070 qmax) can drive at least 4 displays simultaneously, maybe 5, but I have only tested 4. 1. built in l
Looks chunky... (Score:1)
How much does it weigh?
Re:Looks chunky... (Score:5, Informative)
Had to hunt around. Apparently it’s basically a rebranded Clevu P960 - you can be the first kid on the block to own a Clevu!
Weight: 2.1kg / 4.6lb
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i agree, makes me think it is a rebranded Lenovo Thinkpad
Then it would only cost half as much.
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Actually Clevo and rebrands of it are generally pretty good price/performance. A few years ago I had a Sager laptop which IIRC was also a rebranded Clevo. It had the same parts of name-brand laptops costing several hundred more. Also at the time the build was very customizable, high res screen, GPU, extra HD in place of CD, all those were build options. So in short, instead of this particular laptop, one can probably find a custom builder that can alter the build (xoticpc.com is one, but there are other
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2 kg is typical weight for a desktop replacement laptop.
1080p (Score:3)
A $2400 laptop with a 1980x1080 screen? Surely you troll, considering that a MacBook has 3072x1920 for the same price - and the screen is one of if not the primary interface elements between the laptop and the human using it.
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There's plenty of uses for RAM and CPU resources without a GUI.
Compiling stuff, simulating stuff, testing stuff.
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This is Linux - primary interface is keyboard and terminal window.
Sure, but I want at least 4 xterm windows open simultaneously. Hard to do that with 1080.
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Depends on how you use it.
I use my laptop screen maybe about 20 hours per month (on trains or in hotels, at a hackerspace, etc). At home and at my office at the university I use a bigger external screen. I wouldn't want to pay extra for an expensive screen.
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I wouldn't want to pay extra for an expensive screen.
But you are willing to pay extra for an inexpensive screen?
If you are willing to live with a crappy screen, you don't need to pay $2400 for a laptop.
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Depends. AFAIR, years ago, I've paid about 2000 EUR for a laptop. When I configured it, I chose the cheapest screen option, but went with the most powerful CPU, lots of RAM, and an SSD (which back then, was not that common and still quite expensive).
I guess one could still do something similar today, getting a fast and large SSD, etc.
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I've come to realize that it is worth paying more for a decent screen even if you only to 20 hours use per month.
You might end up using it more than that one day anyway and then regret getting a crappy 1080p screen.
Even if you don't it's not worth the reduced readability. Your time is valuable, your health is valuable, you don't want to get tired if you can avoid it. There is also the practicality side, 4k means you can have slightly smaller fonts with the same readability as larger ones at 1080p. How valua
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The balance is, pushing around all those extra pixels chews up more energy and generates more heat. I steer clear from high performance notebooks, they basically do not get rid of enough heat and they tend to cook themselves to death over time. So good enough is good enough, pushing extra pixels is for desktops with good cooling and much cheaper so.
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A $2400 laptop with a 1980x1080 screen?
Because having extra pixels on a small screen doesn't do anything for the tool.
If you're worried about screen resolution, it would actually be the external monitor it can drive that would be relevant.
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Because having extra pixels on a small screen doesn't do anything for the tool.
Then why do high end phones have higher resolution?
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It is almost as if you didn't notice I carefully selected the word tool.
Official (Score:5, Funny)
Don't be fooled by all those knock-off unofficial Linux laptops. Get the Official one for only $2400.
The usual grammar issues from "editors" (Score:2)
From TFA:
> It is an absolutely powerhouse with top specs.
No, it's either: "an absolute powerhouse" or "absolutely a powerhouse".
Re: The usual grammar issues from "editors" (Score:2)
It's an absolute unit, that's for certain.
Can it run Windows? (Score:2)
That's super cool and....wait, how much? (Score:5, Insightful)
"The starting price for the Kubuntu Focus Laptop is $2395."
Hmmm, that'd be a "no" for me, dawg.
You can buy a kickass laptop for considerably less and just stick a decent Linux distro on it.
Seriously, $2400 for a Linux laptop, even a zippy one? Seems like a lot to me, but I'm glad to see it nonetheless.
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But then you would be unofficial.
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If you spec out the same base Clevo to the specs given here you come out to $2,259.
I Suspect the remaining $100 is for the international power brick, and paying two poor slobs $10 an hour to image kubuntu to as many laptops as they can sell.
Neat little side note - the laptop sale page explicitly states that it is not 100% Linux compatible. So either there is shit that doesn't work on Kubuntu, or they have some secret sauce they put on it - maybe donating back upstream, maybe not.
Linux Desktop.. (Score:2)
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Which is, admittedly, the whole point of the BSD license. And let's not pretend that Apple didn't give back a ton of its work on OSX/MacOS, including the rendering engine that launched Chrome and kept it going for years.
Re: Linux Desktop.. (Score:2)
Re: Linux Desktop.. (Score:1)
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it's called vendor lock-in: I work with opensource softwares...
Almost there... (Score:2)
I'm so completely spoilt by QHD+ graphics that they are my new minimum.
Oh well, used Lenovo Yogas are still out there...
Just a tip (Score:3)
That USB stick, next to the touchpad. *Never* put it there. If you or anyone else, forgets about it and closes the lid over it it will destroy the screen....
Been there...
Asus Computer ? (Score:3)
Look like the same spec and same casing that some Asus ROG laptop.
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Hmm... Maybe... (Score:1)
It would be nice to be able to get a laptop that will definitely run a unix system which isn't macOS. Hopefully some nice in-depth reviews start c
Why not a laptop for the masses? (Score:5, Insightful)
How about a $500-700 laptop with Ryzen+Linux for the masses?
Serial Port (Score:3)
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Body is too slim to include COM or VGA ports. There is no point to add extra external part for 10 bucks, when most of audience do not need it. Similar sized RJ45 makes a weak point in case.
System board is probably z390 variant to get more nvme connectors. It might have serial header
You lost me at Intel (Score:3, Insightful)
Better link: https://kfocus.org/ (Score:5, Informative)
Why does the story link to the shop page, which contains no details, instead of the official page?
https://kfocus.org/ [kfocus.org]
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Slashvertisement.
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I refused to use anything but a TrackPoint as an input device to a laptop for many years -- probably about 10. Then I got a MacBook. A large, glass-topped touchpad with very accurate tracking, two finger scrolling, tap anywhere to click, etc. is every bit as good -- or better -- than a TrackPoint at productivity (the number of accurate clicks you can make per minute). The only thing a TrackPoint can do that a good touchpad can't, is endlessly spin your character around in one direction in an FPS game (or th
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The only thing a TrackPoint can do that a good touchpad can't, is...
... stay out of the way when I'm typing. And that is all that matters.
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I have a Dell laptop from around 2012 or so, and it has as trackpoint. When I got it, the eraser nub was missing. Then I found a replacement and put it in, but didn't use it. And then I discovered that it gets in the way when I touch-type. Whenever I would try to type (I think it was) "B", I would bump the nub instead of pressing the key, because I usually hit the top edge of the "B" key, and depend on the gap being there.
On the other hand, I love Apple's trackpads (they bought out the company that designe
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That's why people who love a stick pointer prefer Thinkpads. They don't get in the way. They're carefully engineered.
And people who want a stick pointer and can't afford a Thinkpad, get a Dell. It has one. That works. But it isn't anybody's first choice.
They're like the Honda of laptops. Perfectly OK.
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I'm guessing that Lenovo holds unexpired patents on trackpoint, or did until very recently. Alternatively, trackpoint is an acquired taste, customers aren't beating down the doors to get it. Bit of both maybe.
GTX???? (Score:1)
intel, nvidia and 1080p (Score:2)
during an era when 4k is mainstream on CELLPHONES and amd is kicking ass?
my galaxy s6 has a qhd display... a 3+ year old PHONE.
1080p is like the absolute minimum... not what i'd pay more than 2k for
if this effort doesn't bomb spectacularly, i'd be VERY surprised
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you know there still are phones with physical keyboards and before touchscreens all had a keyboard under the display (or, in the case of the siemens sx1, on either side of the sdisplay) which we used to type with one or two thumbs, so the touchscreen isn't that different.
Possibly Functional -- It has buttons! (Score:1)
So many laptops these days rely on "tapping" or some weird sensor under the trackpad that causes people to delete important work and generally not be able to use the laptop...
So this laptop looks like it met some very basic requirements, so people should consider it!
So now blatant ads? (Score:2)
Or you could save $600 (Score:2)
https://www.pro-star.com/p960r... [pro-star.com]