Visit http://linode.com/linuxexperiment for a 20$ credit on your new Linode account ! As you guys might have noticed, there are a ton of new hardware being announced left and right, and specifically, hardware running Linux. There is a huge uptick in the build quality, in the specs, and in design, which is really giving me some serious hardware lust. Linux is also expanding into new markets, so I’d like to take a tour of what’s been announced recently. Let’s start ! Support the channel on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thelinuxexperiment Follow me on Twitter : http://twitter.com/thelinuxEXP What I use to make my videos: Microphone: https://amzn.to/2PsNWXl GPU: https://amzn.to/2LHZ5o5 Motherboard: https://amzn.to/2KZt63t CPU: https://amzn.to/2IFjKrw Well there was the Kubuntu Focus, which is a powerhouse of a laptop, with fast storage, loads of RAM, powerful CPUs and a real dedicated graphics card. While the distro it ships with seems way too heavily customized for my tastes, it still looks like a fantastic gaming / content creation machine. Then, there are the Tuxedo computers running manjaro. They focused on customization, and while they’re not available as of now, it looks like you’ll be able to really tweak them to your liking, and manjaro is an awesome distribution, so there’s another temptation. You also got System76, with their beautiful Thelios, and I keep going back to their website every other week to see how much one would set me back, if I could get it delivered to France. They even ship one with the latest Ryzen Threadripper 3990X, which should pretty much breeze through anything on the market. And then you’ve got all that The Pine 64 is doing with ARM computing: the pinebook and its pro variant, the pinephone, the pinetab, the pine time… I really want to try all of their stuff, which is actually feasible, since they are on the inexpensive side of the spectrum. If you look at all of this, you can notice a trend: with open source drivers getting better and better, and the graphics drivers situation being much better than it once was, these machines are actually getting better and better specs. The Kubuntu Focus, and the latest Thelio Massive with the threadripper are clear indications that Linux computers are not restricted to intel graphics and mid-level hardware. These are still available, obviously, and are great choices for work machines, but for content creation, gaming, or other resource heavy usages, there are now Linux machines available. This wasn’t really the case a few years back, and this means that Linux devices are now covering a wider range of usages: as desktop Linux covers more and more of people’s needs, so does the hardware it runs on. I think the recent rise of Linux gaming with Proton boosted the appeal of such machines. Now the second observation is that Linux hardware is expanding to new markets. Well, new for Linux hardware, at least. With the Librem 5 and the pinephone, we now have alternatives to Android and iOS. They’re still in their infancy, sure, and they are arriving about 12 years after the battle, but it doesn’t matter as long as they’re here. The pinetab and pine time are also trying to expand Linux to other markets, which is pretty great. Now you could ask: why buy Linux hardware ? We can already buy pretty much any computer on the market and install Linux on it. THe easy answer is: it helps support linux hardware makers. And that’s a conscious choice, since in general, Linux hardware is not as mass produced as other more known brands, and are more expensive as well. For example, the Librem 13 looks like a great laptop, good looking, privacy focused, Linux compatible. But it’s also 300$ more than my Matebook 13, which has a better CPU and a better screen. So, is supporting Linux hardware makers important enough that you’re ready to pay such a big premium ? Well, there is also the consideration that all the hardware used in these machines is definitely Linux compatible: when you buy one of these machines, you know that everything will work out of the box with Linux, either with the distro that ships preinstalled, or with pretty much any other distro. I already have all the hardware I need. I have a powerful desktop, with a ryzen 5 2600, an RTX 2060 and 16Gb of RAM. It runs Resolve and games at 1440p60 without any problems. I have a good laptoop, in the form of the Matebook 13. It’s really good with Linux, is fast enough for my work and looks fantastic and modern. I also have a PinePhone I’ve been playing with more and more, trying out various distros and OSes, and trying to find replacements for what I currently use on Android. I don’t need any new hardware. But these new linux computers… they really make me want to buy something new and shiny. I’m just a little push away from grabbing some new hardware, even though I definitely don’t need anything.