The Linux hardware provider System76 is promising a 14-inch notebook with a Ryzen eight-core processor and Pop!_OS.
The HPDevOne.com website is attracting attention among Linux fans: it promises a 14-inch notebook with a Ryzen eight-core processor and Full HD screen that comes with preinstalled Linux instead of Windows. Is there a competitor for Dell’s XPS 13 Developer Edition? The answer is yes and no.
The Dev One is an HP notebook designed for developers with Linux preinstalled. However, the concept and sales are not the responsibility of HP, but of System76: The US company is an established supplier of desktop PCs and notebooks with pre-installed Linux – namely with Pop!_OS, an in-house Ubuntu modification. In this project, HP only provides the technical basis and part of the product name.
US-only
The catch for local interested parties: System76 primarily sells its devices in the USA. In the meantime, the Dev-One website is therefore also emblazoned with a reference to this. It is unclear whether the HP Dev One can also be shipped to Europe like other System76 notebooks. Even if: You would then get a notebook with a US keyboard and power supply, because the provider does not localize. And in the event of a defect, you may have to send the device back to the USA at your own expense.
So far we have not been able to find out which HP notebook model serves as the technical basis. Based on features and price ($1100), the ProBook 445 would be the closest match, but its current iteration, the G8, looks slightly different than the model in the image used by System76. The same applies to the more expensive EliteBook 645 G9 and EliteBook 845 G8.
All three notebooks have Ryzen 5000 processors. It is unclear whether these will also be used in the HP Dev One or whether the Linux notebook is waiting for the 6000 generation and a corresponding HP model. You can’t even buy the Dev One yet, you can only put it on a list of interested parties.
BIOS conversions
And unfortunately it’s also not guaranteed that after a successful barebone -Identification easily gets a Pop!_OS image downloaded from System76 onto a device sold in this country. There would then be a UEFI BIOS on board, while notebooks sold directly by System76 usually initialize the hardware using core boot.
