this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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The struggle for libre computing cannot be disentangled from other forms of socialist reform. One must be willing to reject proprietary software as fiercely as they would reject capitalism. Luckily, we are not alone.

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[Slight Rant] First-party Linux Laptops are too damn expensive. (hexbear.net)
submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Prices as of March 22nd based off my own observations.

System76 (base prices, not including addons)

  • Lemur Pro: $1400
  • Pangolin: $1300

Purism (base prices, not including shipping and that Purism is a shady company)

  • Librem 11: $1000 (a literal tablet)
  • Librem 14: $1370
  • Librem Key: $60 (A USB)

Tuxedo (base prices, not including shipping costs to burgerland) (based in Germany)

  • TUXEDO Aura 14 - Gen3: 840 EUR
  • TUXEDO Pulse 14 - Gen3: 1238 EUR
  • TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 - Gen8: 1419 EUR

Slimbook (Based in Spain, base prices no shipping or taxes)

  • Elemental 14 Intel i5 1235U: 600 EUR
  • Excalibur 16 AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS: 1200 EUR
  • Executive 14 Intel i7 13700H Black: 1400 EUR

Framework (base prices, but addons usually add $90-150)

  • Framework 13 (AMD and Intel): $850

Minifree Ltd (Run by a trans fem in the UK, very cool brand)

  • Libreboot 820 (1920x1080 IPS Screen Intel Core i5-5200U, 1 TB SSD): £378.00.
  • Libreboot T440p (1920x1080, 4 core, 1 TB SSD): £558.00.
  • Libreboot W541, (15.6″, 4-core Intel i7-4800MQ, 1920x1080, 1 TB SSD): £698.00.

Asahi Linux (from Refurbished Apple Store)

  • 13.3-inch MacBook Air Apple M1 8gb RAM 256 GB SSD: $760

My current laptop

Note that these are just retail prices, obviously the best way to score good tech is to always buy refurbished laptops from reputable resell sites (used thinkpads rock). I just wanted to point out the absolute state of Linux (TM) laptops. It's pretty disheartening that a lot of Linux laptops are clearly geared towards software engineers who have the money to splurge online.

Until this changes, your best bet is to hunt for windows laptops that are reported to have a good track record with Linux and perform the sorcery there. But that also makes Linux an obscure option for a lot of people. monke-beepboop since hardware support is either hit or miss (or distro specific).

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

The mobo doesn't have to be since it can run as independently as a PC also. There are enclosures for them so they can be repurposed as a media center or even emulation console or lan party PC. This is like on another level of ewaste reduction that I don't think anything else comes close to.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

the main difference is that the mobo size is standardized and the manufacturer is actually promoting those sorts of diy reuse projects, they were always possible with many laptops but basically nobody did them (pessimistically: there's a good chance this will still be the case for the vast majority of old frameworks). Its a good step in the right direction for sure, and I'm thinking of buying one for an org I'm involved with, but its not quite as revolutionary as their marketing makes it out to be