HP’s Latest Linux notebooks saw the computer maker teaming up with top competitor (or at least, fellow Linux laptop maker) System76. It seems like an odd combination, since System76 makes its own competing laptops, but the partnership still works.
The Dev One is a very nice Linux machine that has enough power for developers or advertisers without compromising on the price of a high-end laptop. Even more impressive is the work HP and System76 have done to make Linux work perfectly with AMD chipsets.
Combine HP’s hardware capabilities and industry experience with the Pop! System76’s _OS makes the best Linux laptop you can buy today.
HP Hardware
In a fresh change from the way most laptops are sold today, there’s only one Dev One model. Another interesting point is that it has a dedicated website, which makes ordering simple. Dell, are you listening?
The Dev One costs $1,100, getting you a 14-inch laptop with a 1,000-nit 1080p display, an AMD Ryzen 7 5850 chip, integrated Radeon graphics, 16 gigabytes of RAM, and a 1 terabyte NVMe M.2 2280 SSD User can upgrade RAM and SSD (RAM support is limited to 64 gigabytes). Going into the components is very simple. There are only five screws between you and any upgrades you want to make. The most recent Windows version of this same laptop scored 9/10 on iFixit’s repairability scale.
As the name suggests, Dev One is geared towards developers, just like Dell’s XPS 13 Developer Edition. Despite the name, these are really just laptops with Linux pre-installed. Dev One should work well for almost any task, developer-related or otherwise. Don’t let the word “developer” in the name deter you if you’re not a developer.
That said, I put Dev One through some developer-style tasks. I’ve set up a Python development environment, which shouldn’t be difficult, thanks to the extensive repository that Pop! _OS provides, and I ran benchmark tests geared toward developer tasks (i.e. CPU and RAM-intensive tasks). Dev One works well for all of these. 4K video editing is no slouch either, thanks to that AMD chip. If benchmarks are your thing, check out the tests Phoronix posted on OpenBenchmarking.org. The results were impressive. Dev One runs around many Intel-based competitors.
Photo: HP
Honestly – when Dev One first arrived, I wasn’t immediately impressed. The design is conservative, which I consider suitable for the developer audience. It’s not unattractive, it’s just unremarkable. This is not an XPS 13 (8/10, recommended wired) when it comes to design. Still, the Dev One feels very well built and very portable at 3.24 pounds. It’s thicker than the slimmer options out there, but one thing I love is how easy it is to open. There’s nothing worse than a laptop you can pry open with your fingernail, but the Dev One has plenty of room, thanks to its beveled front edge.
