Finding the right hardware

Getting a laptop from Tuxedo Computers

And here finally it is… the first hardware post. This is part of my series of “Moving to Linux” posts. It might be useful to read the introductory post to understand the context.

Reasons and Requirements

When I considered making the move to Linux, many reasons played into the decision-making process. As I have outlined in the introductory post, I actually like OS X and macOS as a platform. Many issues I had with upgrading to another Apple Macbook Pro came down to the hardware:

• Unreliable keyboards in the Macbook Pros 2016/2017
• Apple’s inability to produce a MBP with 32 GB RAM
• Lack of any other connectors but USB-C on new MBPs

With that, the requirements for a replacement Linux laptop were quite well defined:

• Reliable (and ideally standard-based) hardware from an established manufacturer that clearly states and provides full Linux support
• 13" or 14" screen size (for portability)
• Maximum weight ~1.6kg (that’s what my current 13" Macbook Pro 2015’s weight is)
• Quad-core i7 CPU with 32GB RAM and about ~500 GB of SSD storage
• Support for Mini Display Port (and also HDMI) as well as USB-A 3.0 or 3.1 ports.

Options

When I looked around the field of Linux-compatible and supported laptops, there were a bunch of options. Among the big brands, a couple of them sell certain machines with Linux support. The list below is by far not complete and is not meant to be. If you know of any other laptops that support Linux well, feel free to leave a comment with the details. Namely there are Lenovo, Fujitsu, HP and many others.

Dell: They have a bunch of machines that are Linux compatible. Well known are the XPS 13 Developer series laptops. Also some G5 and Inspiron machines seem to do a good job.

Some problems with Dell:

• For god-knows-whatever-corporate-Microsoft-deal bullshit, they only sell the XPS 13 in New Zealand with Windows. The Dell website makes it impossible to find out if the NZ-sold XPS 13 are actually the same hardware than the US-based (and officially Ubuntu-supported) XPS 13.
• The XPS 13 max out at 16 GB of RAM — which was an immediate deal-braker for me with this model.
• All the other Dell laptops that anecdotally (or through 3rd parties) support Linux are 15" or larger and I didn’t want that either.

Acer: The Acer Aspire line supports Linux on some of their machines. When I looked into them, it seemed to me that it’s more of an “unofficial” support though. They all come with Windows 10.

The models people were talking well about in forums were also all 15" or larger. Acer has a bunch of interesting looking Chromebooks though. One could maybe convince to run Linux instead.

Asus: Anecdotally there are a variety of Asus laptops that work with Linux. It seems some of the grunty gaming machines do a good job. But nothing to see here for me.

Next, I investigated integrated system sellers who promise an integrated Linux solution. With that I mean that you’d be getting a customised solution with hardware that works out of the box with one or many supported Linux distributions.

The ones I knew of were System 76 and Tuxedo Computers. System 76 is a US-based company and Tuxedo Computers are based in Bavaria, Germany.

There are probably more companies offering solutions like this. Both System 76 and Tuxedo Computers I’ve been aware of for years from advertisement at events or in magazines. I’ve also seen their machines in tests and being reviewed positively in various places in print and online.

It turns out that both companies offer a similar solution. They use laptop barebones with main boards that support Linux well. Then they add custom hardware according to the needs of the customers: RAM, SSD, Wifi/BT cards, 4G data modules etc.

Tuxedo: The machine I looked at on Tuxedo’s end was the InfinityBook Pro 13 v3. There is now a v4 of the same product available. Configured with 512GB and 256GB SSD drives, 32GB RAM, a QHD+ display and some other bits it’d cost me around 1.300 EUR.

Very good was the option to configure a non-German keyboard (Note: German keyboards are the WORST for coding, but that’s a topic for another day) and that I could easily get a second power brick so that I would have a US- and German power socket.

Other options on Tuxedo’s end I was considering but discarded in the end:

• InfinityBook 13/14 (only up to 16 GB RAM)
• InsanityBook 14 (awesome laptop, but with 1.9kg too heavy for my requirements).

System 76: The relevant equivalent of Tuxedo’s InfinityBook Pro is called Galago Pro at System 76. In fact it seems to be pretty much the same (or extremely similar) barebone the two companies use. Configuration options are similar and the price for a configured machine according to what I wanted would have been around USD 1,600 (~1.400 EUR).

I liked the idea of an integrated solution and decided that it’ll be either the Tuxedo or System 76 system. Tuxedo don’t ship to Australia or NZ. System 76 do (even though I can’t remember the cost).

From a warranty point of view, Tuxedo would be the much better option. Should there be any issue with either machine, I’d have to ship them overseas. But Tuxedo offers a 2-year warranty and lifetime support. Typical for the US and their lack of decent consumer laws, I’d have to pay extra to even get a 2-year warranty from System 76.

I was going to be in Germany for a couple of weeks in June and July anyway. I was speaking at Droidcon Berlin and then wanted to do some work and Android community meetups around that time in Berlin.

Also, it was a great opportunity to see some friends and family. It turned out we’d be going to a city about 30 mins away from Tuxedo Computers HQ to visit Diane’s step-sister for a couple of days. That falling into my lap, it seemed to be too good of an opportunity to pass on and I ordered a Tuxedo InfinityBook Pro 13" v3.

What played into the final decision to go ahead with Tuxedo was that before I purchased I had a series of really positive customer service interactions with their support. They were super helpful when it came to configuring the machine and providing recommendations on how to squeeze some more (well, actually — less 😂) weight out of it.

Additionally, I knew I was going to be back in Europe in October/November this year for more conferences (Droidcon UK, DACHFest and CF Camp). My “Moving to Linux” project wasn’t time-critical and I didn’t have to rush anything. I though that if anything would go wrong between the two trips, at least there’d be an easy way for me to return the laptop to base then and get things sorted. With that, ordering for the June/July trip it was.

Buying the machine went all well, it was manufactured and then shipped to Tuxedo’s HQ near Augsburg. At some stage in July I went past there on the way to deep rural Bavaria and picked up my new, shiny laptop!

I hope you find this informative and useful. As usual, I’d really appreciate any comments and feedback. You can find me as AgentK on Twitter.

Title photo: Screenshot of Google Maps