My sincere overview of the HP Dev One

A number of weeks in the past, HP joined the bandwagon of main laptop computer producers releasing a Linux-based laptop computer, the HP Dev One. The model joins others comparable to Lenovo and Dell, providing a laptop computer with a pre-installed distribution of Linux within the US market. HP joined forces with smaller Linux-based laptop computer model System76 to pre-install Pop!_OS as their distribution of selection on the gadget. Pop!_OS is a Ubuntu-based distribution, which System76 began (and is at the moment the first maintainer) to maximise the options of its personal laptops offered on its web site.

This article is a fast have a look at the HP Dev One, together with first impressions of the {hardware} itself and working the pre-installed Pop!_OS after which Fedora on it after a couple of days. It isn’t about evaluating them, just some notes on how nicely they did on the HP Dev One.

HP Dev One {hardware}

I haven’t owned an HP laptop computer in over a decade. I don’t even keep in mind why I distanced myself from the model, however in some way it simply occurred. So, once I learn in regards to the HP Dev One, a number of issues sparked my curiosity. Here’s a listing of them. Some could also be foolish or nit-picking, however they nonetheless carried some weight in my determination:

• The most evident cause was it got here with Linux and never Windows.
• I’ve by no means used Pop!_OS, so the truth that HP selected Pop!_OS made me curious to make use of it.
• I’ve by no means owned an AMD-based laptop computer. The HP Dev One comes with an AMD RYZEN™ 7 PRO 5850U Processor with eight cores and 16 threads.
• The specs versus worth appeared good. The worth is $1099 USD, which may be very affordable in comparison with different manufacturers with related specs.
• No Windows key on the keyboard. Instead, it says “super,” which I believe is cool.
• Upgradeable RAM. The laptop computer comes with 16 GB of RAM, however in contrast to so many laptops these days, it’s not soldered on the board, so you’ll be able to improve it (extra on upgrading beneath).
• The laptop computer was in inventory with a dedication for quick delivery.
• Reviews have been favorable.

For the entire causes above, I ordered it, and two days later, I had the HP Dev One on my doorstep.

By the time the laptop computer arrived, the additional 64 GB of RAM I had ordered had additionally arrived, so the very first thing I needed to do was improve the RAM. It turned out that the underside plate of the HP Dev One has very small, particular (but not proprietary) screws, so I needed to run to the ironmongery shop to get the right screwdriver.

Image by:

(Anderson Silva, CC BY-SA 4.0)

I agree with other online reviews relating to the standard of the laptop computer. It does really feel sturdy. The trackpad really feel is sweet sufficient, and I had no difficulty with it. I discovered the keyboard to not be nearly as good as another reviewers declare. To me, the keys are a bit of heavy, and so they really feel virtually a bit like silicone or rubber. I did not discover it terribly snug. In reality, I’m typing this text within the HP Dev One, and I virtually really feel like I have to take a break right here and there to let my fingertips relaxation.

The 1080p display screen is shiny, but in addition very reflective. If you’re a Thinkpad trackpoint fan, you’ll undoubtedly take pleasure in this function on the HP Dev One. The backlit keyboard is sweet, and the built-in digital camera cowl is one thing extra laptops ought to undertake.

Image by:

(Anderson Silva, CC BY-SA 4.0)

One query or doable difficulty I’ve with the HP Dev One is the truth that their web site talks in regards to the one-year customer support and guarantee on the machine, however I haven’t been capable of finding a technique to prolong that guarantee and even improve to one thing extra premium like an onsite or subsequent day half substitute in case I have been ever to want it.

Pop!_OS on HP Dev One

As beforehand talked about, I’ve by no means used Pop!_OS. I’ve used Ubuntu and lots of different distributions, however to me, Pop!_OS was a comparatively acquainted but new expertise. Here are a couple of notes:

The good

• Coming from a Fedora and largely vanilla GNOME background, the four-finger gesture in Pop!_OS took a bit of getting used to, however as soon as I obtained into it, it made navigating their implementation of GNOME borderline enjoyable.
• The Pop!_OS’s software program store known as Pop!_Shop. It incorporates a terrific number of software program with none have to allow particular repositories. It is straightforward to make use of, and set up is quick.
• The integration between Pop!_OS and the {hardware} actually is nicely completed. Congratulations to each System76 and HP engineers for placing this machine collectively.
• Pop!_OS has a pleasant built-in function for backup and restoring your set up w/o destroying your own home listing.
• I put in Steam and some video games, and it labored fairly nicely.
• I ran a few take a look at containers with podman, and it labored very properly as nicely.
• I put in a digital machine, and it ran very easily, too.

The not so good

• The default wallpaper that comes with the HP Dev One appears a bit fuzzy to me. For such a pleasant machine, it feels just like the wallpaper is working on the unsuitable decision. To be truthful, there are different wallpapers to select from within the Settings.
• The out-of-the-box fonts for Pop!_OS could possibly be higher. I discover them exhausting to learn, and in my view, it makes the UI too crammed.
• Adding the USB-C powered 4K monitor labored OK, however my eyes seen slight flickering in some elements of the display screen. Could this be an X11 difficulty, provided that Pop!_OS defaults to X11?

Fedora on HP Dev One

I performed round with Pop!_OS for about two days earlier than deciding besides into Fedora utilizing a stay USB media. I did that first to see what kind of {hardware} detection Fedora might do out of the field. To my shock, the whole lot labored straight away. That’s once I determined to wipe your complete 1 TB SSD and set up Fedora on the HP Dev One. As promised, this isn’t a Fedora vs. Pop!_OS comparability article; it’s merely a couple of notes on each distributions working on this Linux-focused {hardware}.

In case you haven’t learn my bio on this article, and for the sake of transparency, I’m a Fedora contributor, so it’s truthful for me to say that I’m biased in the direction of the Fedora distribution, however don’t let that make you assume I like to recommend Fedora over Pop!_OS on the HP Dev One. They are each nice distributions, and so they each run very properly on it. Take your choose!

I can inform you that Fedora runs easily on the HP Dev One, and though there could also be some efficiency tuning to match a number of the benchmark numbers in opposition to Pop!_OS, I’ve been more than happy with its efficiency. Using the three-finger gestures to maneuver between digital desktops is much more pure to me than the four-finger ones in Pop!_OS, and I’ve been capable of run Steam and Proton-based video games on Fedora identical to Pop!_OS.

The solely comparability I’ll make is that when utilizing the secondary USB-C 4K monitor with Fedora, I didn’t expertise any flickering. Was it due to Wayland?

Final ideas

I’ve had the HP Dev One for a bit of over 4 days now, and I’ve run Pop!_OS and Fedora on it up to now. I even restored Pop!_OS after a full Fedora set up, which was an easy course of. Somehow, Pop!_OS detected it was an HP Dev One and did all of the wanted set up, together with the HP-based wallpapers, with out me having to do any additional steps.

As I completed this text, but once more, I went again to Fedora (drive of behavior), however I wouldn’t have any difficulty staying on Pop!_OS on the HP Dev One. Who is aware of, possibly I’d even strive totally different distributions sooner or later.

At the tip of the day, the HP Dev One is a strong Linux laptop computer with out a Windows key and no AMD, Intel, or Windows stickers on it. It is quick, feels nicely constructed, and is fairly priced particularly given how rapidly it ships to you (US solely). I’d like to see HP present extra documentation on their web site about extending the guarantee, and I hope they are going to be capable of make this laptop computer out there in different elements of the world.