A Kubuntu-Powered Laptop Is Launching In 2020 For High-End KDE Computing

[zparihar]

deppman

Thanks for taking the time to build this laptop.
I think my only critique of it should be that the Screen should have at least a 2K resolution, especially for that size of screen.

I've picked up the LG Gram 17 recently and its running Kubuntu 19.10 quite flawlessly (given that I supplied 1 particular kernel parameter) and the highlight of that machine is the screen resolution... funnily enough, it outweighs the light weight of the Laptop ;-)

[Citan]

Hi everyone. I am Michael Mikowski, founder of MindShareManagement, and director of this project.

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Parting thought:

The key refrain from MBP lovers is it "just works" and "it's beautiful". The first definitely isn't true, and the second, while true, is why their performance is almost always throttled. The goal of Kubuntu Focus is provide a device that "just works" better. This is user serviceable, runs circles around a MBP and retails for $1,000 less. It's not as beautiful, but it works much better for many tasks.

Hi!

Thank you very much to take the time explaining the thoughts behind architectural choices.
There are some things I wouldn't have suspected at all, but it does allow me to understand better some choices (notably the Nvidia one, as much as it pains me personnally).

One thing you didn't explain though unless I missed it: why Intel? It's obvious that AMD is much better now in performances. Were you afraid a "regular" processor would consume too much energy and/or that the low-power offering was still not performant enough?

Because I was really expecting a Ryzen 8-cores at least here...

[mearon]

IMO "Disabled ME" is a delusive marketing scam.

We know nothing about what implications it really has.

[deppman]

Hi!

Thank you very much to take the time explaining the thoughts behind architectural choices.
There are some things I wouldn't have suspected at all, but it does allow me to understand better some choices (notably the Nvidia one, as much as it pains me personnally).

One thing you didn't explain though unless I missed it: why Intel? It's obvious that AMD is much better now in performances. Were you afraid a "regular" processor would consume too much energy and/or that the low-power offering was still not performant enough?

Because I was really expecting a Ryzen 8-cores at least here...

Great question. We'd love to offer a Ryzen system, however, available laptop configuration are thin on the ground right now. It's premature to have that as a differentiating factor. At present, our Focus is tightly tuned Hardware + Software combination that reliable, beautiful, and self-explanatory. We will be offering some interesting support features we don't believe have been seen before.

[hiryu]

Looking at the picture... This looks like the latest Oryx Pro from Sys76 (which isn't really a surprise since they're both Clevo based)... I have essentially the latest Oryx Pro model myself, but I got mine just before the 9750h became available so I'm stuck with the 8750h. Neither of these CPU's have the latest speculative execution fixes though. The 9750h comes in 2 variants... One without and one with.. But no one has seen a version of the 9750h with the fixes (the stepping 13 version) in all my searches.

Anyway, the only visual difference I see is the keyboard. The WASD keys aren't highlighted on mine.

Are these specs set in stone or can they be configured? Ie, can it be upgraded to an RTX 2080 with 64g of ram?

It's also worth noting that this is going to be the Max Q version of the GPU due to the thinness of the laptop. Performance is still pretty decent though with my RTX 2080 Max Q IMO.

[phcaorel]

Lots of laptops are going to release at CES 2020. Mostly the Ryzen laptops will hit the market.

[phcaorel]

Lots of laptops are going to release at CES 2020. Mostly the Ryzen laptops will hit the market.

ASUS TUF also runs the kubuntu very well. I tried it on my AMD Ryzen model and it works great.

[deppman]

Looking at the picture... This looks like the latest Oryx Pro from Sys76 (which isn't really a surprise since they're both Clevo based)... I have essentially the latest Oryx Pro model myself, but I got mine just before the 9750h became available so I'm stuck with the 8750h. Neither of these CPU's have the latest speculative execution fixes though. The 9750h comes in 2 variants... One without and one with.. But no one has seen a version of the 9750h with the fixes (the stepping 13 version) in all my searches.

Anyway, the only visual difference I see is the keyboard. The WASD keys aren't highlighted on mine.

Are these specs set in stone or can they be configured? Ie, can it be upgraded to an RTX 2080 with 64g of ram?

It's also worth noting that this is going to be the Max Q version of the GPU due to the thinness of the laptop. Performance is still pretty decent though with my RTX 2080 Max Q IMO.

Upgrading is fine. These are minimum specs.

[hiryu]

Upgrading is fine. These are minimum specs.

I see... Will a stepping 13 CPU be available as an option? Or are we still stuck with stepping 10 9750h CPU's?

But thanks for the response!

[deppman]

I see... Will a stepping 13 CPU be available as an option? Or are we still stuck with stepping 10 9750h CPU's?

But thanks for the response!

The processor is the stepping 10 i7-9750h ("GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 158 Stepping 10"). We have not asked when the stepping 13 model may be available. Almost certainly in next generation hardware.

We did Geekbench runs with and without mtigations and found little change in performance. The Focus configuration did quite a bit better than the average i7-9750h and better than the most recent MBP results (which scores a bit better than average).