Linux users who’ve dreamed of buying a laptop that runs Manjaro Linux can wake up happy — one has just been announced.
The ‘Station X Spitfire Manjaro Special Edition’ is the first Manjaro-based laptop from UK-based computer sellers Station X.
What’s really exciting about this (at least for those of us who like that sort of thing) is that this isn’t a lazy pre-load; Station X hasn’t just taken the install ISO and slapped it on their machine.
“This goes WAY beyond a simple pre-load,” Station X gush in their release announcement. “The Manjaro team has been working closely with Station X for months, and the results are simply astounding.”
Described as the ‘ultimate marriage of software and hardware’, the UK-based computer company explain that Manjaro created a new spin of its XFCE-based distribution that is ‘fully tuned’ to the Spitfire’s hardware.
“From intricate kernel tweaks, to streamlined settings, and even custom changes to battery, cpu, and sound settings – our humble Spitfire has now become the ULTIMATE Manjaro Machine.”
Much claims! Big Hyperbole! Such Superlatives!
But you know what? I’ve no doubt that the Manjaro special edition does run like a dream on this hardware — which, given the plastic-fantastic cases typically favoured by other Linux laptop vendors like System76, sounds pretty compelling in its own right.
There’s an all-aluminum chassis with a laser-etched Manjaro logo on the lid, a 13.3-inch 1080p IPS display, and backlit keyboard (complete with Manjaro super key).
The internals pack an 7th generation Intel processors (either an Intel core i5-7200u @ 2.2GHz or Intel core i7-7500u @ 2.7GHz); up to 32GB RAM; Intel HD graphics; and a choice of storage options.
While there is currently no word on pricing for this special edition you should expect to pay roughly the same as for the standard version of the Station X Spitfire, which retails from £850, when pre-orders open on October 13, 2017.
Linux Laptops Go Forth!
As some Linux laptop sellers lose the plot spin up their own Linux distributions, it’s interesting to see so many Linux distributions going the opposite way to snag themselves a hardware deal!
KDE Neon is available on the (seriously impressive) Slimbook line; Linux Mint ships on industrial chic Mintboxes; Ubuntu has the (phenomenal) Dell XPS as a flagship; and even little ol’ Ubuntu Budgie is now rockin’ up as a preinstall on a slate of laptops and PCs.
What’s particularly exciting about seeing Manjaro Linux join that lineup is that, unlike the distros listed above, it’s not based on Ubuntu.
Thanks Spyros