When a lot of companies reveal their new Linux hardware, it often ends up being towards the high end. Slimbook have come along to help remedy that with their Slimbook Essential line.
Slimbook said in an email to us today: "A new computer that may establish a milestone in our trademark history, not for being the best Linux ultrabook, because some already claim that the PRO X holds that title, but for being the most affordable Linux ultrabook for everyone.
During our 5 years of service, we have released several high performance ultrabooks targeting professional environments with relatively moderate / high prices, but never as low as 499€ like the new Essential. With this new addition, we aim to widen our client base and reach customers that look for the best price / quality ratio."
Here's some specs for you to save you a click:
| Model |
ESSENTIAL 14" |
ESSENTIAL 15" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU |
Intel i3-1005G1 |
Intel i3-10110 Intel i5-10210 Intel i7-10510 |
||||
| Screen |
14 inch, 1920x1080 |
15 inch, 1920x1080 |
||||
| Keyboard |
White backlighting |
RGB backlighting. Numeric keypad. Spanish, available with most European keyboard layouts |
||||
| RAM |
2 DDR4 2666Mhz slots up to 32GB |
|||||
| HDD |
Fast NVMe drives |
|||||
| Graphic card |
Intel Iris Plus |
Intel UHD | ||||
| USB |
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 port (Type A) |
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 port (Type A) 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 port (Type C) 2 x USB 2.0 (Type A) |
||||
| Video outputs |
1x HDMI (with HDCP) |
|||||
| Warranty |
2 years premium warranty in Spain |
|||||
| OS |
Windows, Linux or both |
|||||
| Outer material |
Aluminum & ABS in titanium gray finish |
|||||
| Wireless LAN |
Intel 9560AC |
|||||
| Bluetooth |
Bluetooth 5.0 |
|||||
| RJ45 network |
10/100/1000Mb Base-TX |
|||||
| SIM 4G LTE |
Not available |
Optional SIM module available |
||||
| Webcam |
HD 720p (1280 x 960) |
|||||
| Audio |
Stereo speakers, internal MIC, 3.5mm headphone&mic combo jack, 5.1 channels audio through HDMI. |
|||||
| Weight |
1.34~ Kg |
1.63~ Kg | ||||
| Battery |
49 Whr Li-Ion Battery |
|||||
| Card reader |
Micro SD reader |
|||||
| Size |
324.9mm x 219.5mm x 18.95mm |
360.4mm x 239.3mm x 19.7mm | ||||
| Charger |
100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC output 19V 2.1A, 40W |
|||||
| CD-ROM/DVD |
Optional External DVD/RW Recorder |
|||||
| Box content |
1 Laptop, 1 AC Charger. |
|||||
For both models you can pick between: no operating system, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, KDE Neon, Ubuntu MATE, Debian, elementary OS, Linux Mint, Manjaro, Windows and a dual boot. They offer up some pretty good options to get all types of users going.
The pricing seems quite reasonable too with the Slimbook Essential 14" starting at €499 and the 15" model at €549. Hopefully it will do well, so we can see more reasonably priced machines come out from Slimbook and other vendors with Linux properly tested and supported like this.
You can check out the Slimbook Essential here.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
... and Windows installation is an additional > 100 bucks! 👍
Last edited by Eike on 16 September 2020 at 10:35 am UTC
Philadelphus Sep 16, 2020
Last edited by Philadelphus on 19 September 2020 at 12:49 am UTC
no_information_here Sep 16, 2020
Unfortunately it looks like I lose the warranty if I try to import it to Canada.
I hope they sell lots of them in Spain, though.
Quoting: BielFPsQuoteaffordable
I guess if that's not affordable for you, you should look for used ones...
Quoting: mahagrNot using AMD CPU.. I am so happy with my upgraded AMD powered desktop that I'm not going back to Intel until they have something to offer...
Ditto. I've got a Ryzen 2500u based notebook that's a few years old, and there's nothing from Intel that's very compelling over it.
Avehicle7887 Sep 16, 2020
- They only have Intel CPUs;
- They don't offer Samsung 970 Pro or a "no storage" option, so I can add my own. Clearly, I don't want to pay for something I don't want to use. And I noticed this issue with other PCs on their website, so that's a no go for me. (not exclusive to them, System76 does the same
)Also, on their "Buy" pages the 15" model doesn't list the Intel AX200 WiFi, but only the AC model, and the 14" model doesn't list any WiFi adapter. Weird. These, plus the 404 link I got when I wanted to see their cookies policy made me think their website is a messy hack-job that wastes everyone's time with getting properly informed, decide if you really want to buy, ask questions, get answers, and then support, should you decide to buy anything. And then they have various usability issues and lacking translations here and there.
I know they're not very new to the market, which is why I expect better. I hope someone from them will read my message and set the necessary wheels in motion to fix and improve stuff. We're IT people, we're supposed to set an example for other industries.
Cloversheen Sep 17, 2020
Not being able to get a Nordic layout have been a complete no-go for me when considering the next laptop and the price puts it in the right range as well. Hmm... maybe a Yule present?
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