Originally, this article was supposed to be a review of a specific laptop model, but I decided to share a lot of details with you, and in the end the article will have a total of three parts. I obtained the review computer by purchasing it. It is not on loan, the manufacturer does not know about this review of mine. In the first part, you will learn something about Linux hardware manufacturers and their offer.
Satisfied user
I have been running Dell laptops at home for many years. In 2018, I was the umpteenth in a row to buy a Dell Vostro 14 laptop. It is a mid-range model. For normal office work and occasionally for some video and photo processing. I never ran the supplied Microsoft Windows on it, I installed Linux there from the start. First Zorin OS for a long time, I finally settled on Manjaro Linux. After six years of operation, I started to figure out what to do with the laptop, mainly considering how I struggle more and more with the fact that I process graphics or photos.
In 2022, I increased the memory from 8 to 16 GB in the Dell and replaced the battery, and it helped to make it more comfortable. The computer handles it quite easily, but bulk operations take a bit longer after all. When you take a batch of photos and need to develop them en masse, you like to save time – a standard “race” set of photos is developed for me in the order of tens of minutes to hours. However, if I hooked up a more powerful graphics card, the operation would speed up to units of minutes. This is exactly my case.
Maybe it’s a surprise to some that I can work quite well even on a slightly upgraded six-year-old system, but that doesn’t surprise me with Linux. Subjectively, I don’t feel any major shortness of breath. The computer continues to run at full speed.
If I talk about the applications that I normally and daily use, it is a classic Internet browser (Vivaldi), an office suite (LibreOffice), graphic software (Ansel, Darktable, GIMP, XnView MP), video software (OpenShot, VLC) and other things like VS Code, Lyx, Ferdium or LAMP server. All this in Manjaro Linux built on KDE Plasma 5. I need the performance more in bursts when mass developing photos from RAW format or during simple video editing. But the existing hardware is actually not that limiting.
I look around
Since I have been using Linux at home for many years, I buy devices of one brand that work well with Linux, I have never encountered a major problem of hardware not working under Linux. Changing the hardware is good to see if there is a supplier or manufacturer that builds machines from the ground up that are equipped with problem-free hardware that works in Linux and is not from the category of so-called big manufacturers. I know they exist but I thought they were high priced machines and I didn’t want to spend that much on them. But Linux support is a very big attraction. Sure, I haven’t run into Dell in Linux, but curiosity kept me awake.
The basic requirement is to have a laptop again. But I have absolutely no experience with buying a specialized Linux laptop and I was like Alice in Wonderland. I immersed myself in a whirlwind of articles and videos with reviews of all sorts of hardware available. Many readers have been buying and praising specialized Linux hardware for many years, for me it was a big premiere. I found out that there are several specialists in the Linux world, I found the best offer at three in total – American System76, Spanish Slimbook and German Tuxedo Computers.
If I quickly evaluate all the manufacturers, I see that they deliver quality machines that are in some way optimized for Linux. Either they have their own Linux distribution supplied by the manufacturer as a default operating system or at least they supply you with something pre-installed and working on the given hardware. This was a big attraction, because I didn’t want to spend a lot of time trying to find out whether the laptop model I had chosen would work in Linux, or rather all the hardware included in it. Sometimes there are problems with network cards, sometimes with the sound card. Otherwise, the pre-installation model of the operating system is practiced mostly by all manufacturers of such computers, they mostly offer Microsoft Windows.
Sometimes you find machines without the Microsoft Windows operating system, and the manufacturer declares that they understand Linux, for example. But it’s definitely not a common thing, and the typical end user doesn’t normally come across or care about such computers. The only exception is Apple laptops, which come with macOS or Microsoft Windows, but that’s a world in itself. It must be admitted, however, that the user does not have to be afraid of an alternative system there (not from Microsoft, of course). Anyone who buys Apple products knows why. But Linux is still a relatively big scarecrow for ordinary users, although the same logic as for Apple products can be used here as well – anyone who buys products with Linux installed knows well why.
All three previously named manufacturers offer a fairly wide range of models to choose from. They offer both laptops and desktops. I need a device that will be mobile, I don’t have a specially designated office at home where I would permanently place a monitor and other accessories. Depending on how I’m going to use the computer, I looked at the category of so-called gaming laptops. I won’t be playing, but I need a more powerful graphics card for other operations. Most applications for demanding graphics and video processing support the use of the graphics processor power of the graphics card, and you can tell by the speed. The mentioned manufacturers could offer me several models in different configurations and price levels.
It was necessary to somehow narrow down the selection. In the first stage, I disabled System76. At the time I was picking, they had a fairly empty warehouse and the cheaper models were not available, but that has changed. I found the Adder WS model. The price was acceptable, but the fact that System76 is based in the USA was immediately apparent. After payment, you must increase the resulting price by customs duty (currently CZK 0) and VAT (21%) when entering the Czech Republic, and take into account that the standard warranty is only for one year. You can pay extra for more, but it’s another hundreds of dollars extra.
The price of the model suddenly rises significantly and it does not make economic sense compared to others. I also failed to configure the appearance of the keyboard, I assume that the only one available will be the US one. It’s not exactly an obstacle, but a certain discomfort. But this does not mean that the computers from System76 are somehow bad, maybe on the contrary. But how much money you spend on a computer and what you get for it is ultimately the deciding factor.
The offer of the Spanish Slimbook is more interesting from this point of view. The Hero series seems most acceptable to me, especially the Hero S model, when for very reasonable money you get a fairly powerful Linux computer made up of components released on the market some time ago (three years ago). In terms of my parameters, it might be better to look at the higher model Hero, which has slightly upgraded and more contemporary hardware for 2024.
I ended up keeping Tuxedo Computers. They too have plenty of models to choose from. I ended up with the Polaris series models. Overall, the computer from Tuxedo Computers appealed to me quite a bit. Plus, you’ll find plenty of reviews of their hardware, and it’s usually pretty good.
Both Slimbook and Tuxedo Computers have one indisputable advantage – the price is more or less final because we are with a manufacturer within the EU and you get the standard two-year warranty with them at no extra charge. Further selection was already at the level of personal preferences. I landed at Tuxedo Computers.
Note: None of the manufacturers mentioned here have an official importer for the Czech Republic, but offer delivery on their website, where the Czech Republic is in the list of countries for delivery. As for the service, they also offer it themselves, and the shipping costs in the event of a claim go to them.
About the manufacturer
Tuxedo Computers Gmbh is a German company based in Augsburg, Bavaria. Founded in 2004, it manufactures PCs and laptops that primarily run on its own Ubuntu-based Tuxedo OS. However, it is possible to install a large number of other distributions, and drivers are also released for the Microsoft Windows operating system, on which their hardware also runs. The hardware is supplied by Hong Kong-based TongFang and Taiwan’s Uniwill, and the computers are assembled and assembled to order in Germany.
Not only laptops are available, but also desktop computers, with which the company started long before it offered laptops. A certain delight is that some models also support water cooling, which you can also purchase for them from Tuxedo Computers. There is also cloud storage operated directly by Tuxedo Computers.
Another 27 photos
Note: Both manufacturers (TongFang and Uniwill) supplying Tuxedo Computers actually have the same model range with the same model names, with identical parameters, only Uniwill has more of them and also offers water cooling, but does not have the docking station that TongFang offers. It looks (and according to the internet it is) that they are two factories producing the same range, probably with the same owner. Even the same typos on the pages are amusing (see the word “Appilcation” in the description of the IDM model). A mix of hardware from both manufacturers is then available at Tuxedo Computers, which has apparently chosen the hardware for further modifications in Europe. Both manufacturers also supply to other vendors such as Eluktronics (USA) or Schenker XMG or Clevo Computers (both Germany), however they all only support the Microsoft Windows operating system.
But it’s not just about the hardware being “repackaged” and “rebranded”. At Tuxedo Computers, you can choose the option of configuring the notebook assembly, whether it is operating memory, disk storage or just graphics cards. A number of models also have several different processors or displays and are not in TongFang/Uniwill’s offer because they are the result of modifications in Europe. I’m not talking about beautifying things like an engraved logo, keyboard labels from standard to a completely custom keyboard look. This possibility of individual configuration is not only the domain of Tuxedo Computers, the other two named competitors are also capable of it.
What attracted me the most as a Linux user was that all hardware is optimized for use in Linux. This is both in the “home” Linux distribution Tuxedo OS and in other distributions such as Ubuntu, Manjaro, Fedora, openSUSE, Linux Mint or Debian. Practically, the hardware runs on common, mass-used distributions. However, Tuxedo OS brings several modifications that are directly related to the hardware. I will go into more detail about Tuxedo OS.
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There is also user support in German or English and a lot of documentation in the form of sections for individual models, frequently asked questions or a blog. They have several communication channels available, e.g. via Reddit, Facebook, YouTube channel or other social networks.
If you are thinking about a new laptop optimized for Linux, it is probably worth going through the offers of the manufacturers mentioned here, you will probably choose. They are not exactly the cheapest machines, but when compared to more well-known competitors without obvious Linux support, it is not so bad. Tuxedo Computers really takes Linux support seriously. In the next part, I will describe more about the laptop I chose and how satisfied I am with it.
(The author of the images is Svatopluk Vít.)
