I have been looking for a new laptop, and based on recent CPU launches from intel and amd, I am most certainly settled on getting an amd 4000 u-series thin & light laptop.
I don’t care too much about gaming on a laptop, I need it for work (software development) and I need it to be mobile and small (exactly 14" display) and as upgradable as possible, especially RAM.
I came across this option from MSI (still not released at the moment) and I love it.
It is a perfect fit for my requirements, officially supporting 64GB of memory through two sodimm 3200 MHz slots, some militarty standard certified for durability, lightweight & thin, good enough battery, good enough dispkay, keyboard backlight, etc… And really good value (starting at $650)
I have no prior experience with MSI laptops, I am not too concerned about build quality since MSI is a reputable brand, but I am really concerned about linux compatibility.
I am most concerned about audio drivers, webcam, keyboard backlight and shortcuts and a little concerned about wifi drivers.
So I though since MSI usually sends you parts for review, and obviously you happen to be the best channel to review linux related subjects, I am REALLY hopeful that you can review this laptop, if it works OK, I will definitely buy it, and I am sure many others will do as well based on your review … If it doesn’t work, well I think it is an interesting laptop for many people and worth reviewing anyway … At the end not everybody uses linux desktop. I have been using it for over 18 years, and it’s not changing soon
If there are other suggestions, please mention in comments, I think the new HP Probook 445 G7 is a good option and usually everything runs ok out of the box on HP laptops, but I don’t like that they are officially supporting only 32Gb ram instead of 64, and it’s a little on the heavy side for its class.
I have been tempted by the new ryzen laptops but I haven’t picked one out to buy, yet. Almost all this kind of hardware is bought for a purpose or someone specific and I just keep it a few days to review.
It makes me sad that you @wendell would have to buy it, I think MSI guys (and OEMs in general) should send you FREE review units … It is true that linux community is relatively smaller than other communities, but the count of relevant media outlets is even smaller, and I think we are willing to spend much more on IT simply because many of us are IT professionals.
To PR & Marketing guys out there: the importance of a media outlet (youtube channel) is not solely determined by number of subscribers … Just give it a thought.
I read an article on phoronix, it seems those renoir APUs are playing very nicely with linux kernel, the core functionality is definitely compatible and well supported by amd, from my experience, the problem is oem support for peripherals like audio drivers, webcam, keyboard, etc … Mostly things connected to ACPI or i2c buses, often needing some measly drivers to read/write to some special registers or activate some gpio pins on the CPU, some stupid configuration for that one specific PCB and BIOS (which they would not publish any documentation for).
After Lenovo’s announcement about officially supporting linux on some of their business lineup, I think I will continue with Lenovo, even though I will probably pay much more for similar specs, but I think we should be supporting oems who show respect to us, instead of waiting for MSI to send a free review unit to @wendell.
