Heavy, man: Tuxedo puts out 2.2kg Stellaris AMD Gen 4

Tuxedo Computers offers an unusual machine: a Linux-based laptop with, of all things, a mechanical keyboard. The Bavaria-based company offers a range of guaranteed Linux-compatible laptops (and a few desktops, which tend to be a bit easier in compatibility terms: it's easier to swap bits in and out 'til it all works). We …

[ectel]

Standards!

What is this 2.2kg? We all know it should be 0.2529 adult badgers

I don't know whats the point of having standards if no one uses them.... <mutter mutter>

[Dave K]

Screen?

Looks interesting, but chunky. It's a pity they've gone with a 16:9 screen however. I spy a decidedly chunky bezel at the bottom of the screen and it's a pity they couldn't have gone for a 2560x1600 screen to turn some of that plastic into extra screen space.

[sad_loser]

Re: Screen?

Agree.

Went with system76 power laptop due to POP-OS but this looks interesting.

Best laptop keyboard for me was 2012 gen MacBookPro- still use this for true mobile work.

It may be that because of water then they must have an earthed enclosure?

[Roj Blake]

Stellaris

But can it run Stellaris?

[seven of five]

Bavaria

Though neither party is exactly happy with the situation as it is, Bavaria currently still is part of the German Federal Republic. I mean, it's not like Dell, Texas; IBM, New York; or Deutsche Telekom, North Rhine Westphalia, are reported the same way.

[Spazturtle]

Re: Bavaria

Apple is regularly referred to as being Cupertino based.

[Ken G]

Re: Bavaria

I always thought that was the name of their operating system.

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: Bavaria

BMW - Bavarian Motor Works

BOS - Bavarian Operating System

[imanidiot]

Re: Bavaria

Have you tried telling that to the Bavarians? They will regularly refer to themselves as separate from "Germany" as a whole.

[VoiceOfTruth]

FreeBSD

-> Out of curiosity, we also tried FreeBSD 13.1, but it was unable to see either wired or wireless network adaptors.

According to the specs the ethernet adapter is a Realtek RTL8125BG. There is a FreeBSD package/port for this. I don't know why this is not included with stock FreeBSD.

WiFi, dunno. May or may not work with the CURRENT branch of FreeBSD.

[oiseau]

Why not?

We threw various OSes at it to see which would stick.

Is there a valid reason for Linux Devuan not being on that list?

Save BSD, the OSs on the list all use systemd.

Why not Devuan, it is also Debian based but does not use the systemd virus for init.

I'm quite sure it would stick. 8^)

Best,

O.

[Liam Proven]

Re: Why not?

[Author here]

Time, mainly. I tried all the most recent distros I have. Since I discovered MX Linux, I have not reinstalled Devuan on anything.

The machine is still here for now; if I have time, I will give it a try and report back.

[oiseau]

Re: Why not?

... if I have time, I will give it a try and report back.

That would be great!

Thanks a lot for considering it. 8^)

Devuan Chimaera 4.0 and here are the Release Notes.

Best,

O.

[Liam Proven]

Re: Why not?

Sorry for the delay on this -- I took my first proper holiday of the year, and since then time has been scant.

I tried 2 systemd-free distros on the machine: Devuan 4.0.2 and MX Linux 21.2.2 advanced-hardware version.

Devuan installed fine, although I swear that the installer gets worse with every release. However it is unable to see the system's wifi adapter, only the onboard Ethernet.

MX Linux installed perfectly, and offered me the choice of using the ATI integrated graphics or the discrete nVidia ones. I got a blank screen if I picked nVidia, so I tried again with ATI and it worked flawlessly. I then added the nVidia drivers Bumblebee and Primus, and switching seems to work fine.

I am happy to report that the machine feels even quicker under MX Linux. It verily shifts like organic fertiliser off a shovel.

I installed with kernel 5.18 and it works perfectly. Post update the keyboard illumination works too.

Kernel 5.19 installed fine and boots, but the keyboard no longer works at all, as with Fedora and Tumbleweed with kernel 6. So I couldn't even log in to troubleshoot it. I am sure this will be fixed soon, if it hasn't already.

I did not think that systemd would cause any compatibility issues at all, and indeed, as far as I can see, it did not.

I hope that helps, and I will try to include at least one systemd-free distro in future compatibility testing. :-)

[Sgt_Oddball]

It'd have to be something special

To beat the feel of an X200 (I own a much abused x200t variant) keyboard - for such a relatively small machine, it's keyboard has no right been that stiff, pleasent sounding or comfortable to type on...

It's still my goto machine for non-work related long typing (and this is from someone with 3 different mechanical keyboards about the house/work desk).

[Liam Proven]

Re: It'd have to be something special

[Author here]

I have a X200, W500, X220, T420 and W520.

Their layout is better than the Tuxedo machine, but the Tuxedo has better key feel.

[Will Godfrey]

Interesting

I been thinking about a new laptop for a while, and this looks very attractive... except for the price. I don't actually need a laptop at all, and sadly can't justify this amount - unless I switch the heating off, and significantly reduce socialising :(

[Liam Proven]

Re: Interesting

[Author here]

There are multiple different versions and specs of it available: Intel-based, AMD-based, with lower-end CPUs, etc.

And they have smaller, lighter machines too.

[Updraft102]

"Another surprising feature is the hefty power, which uses a C13 connector – in other words, a desktop-style "kettle lead" – rather than the C5 connector (or "mickey mouse lead") we're used to."

It is the norm in higher-powered laptops. All of my gaming laptops have been that way.

[Liam Proven]

[Author here]

Fair enough. I have mostly got Thinkpads and a few Dells here, including some chunky Core i7 Thinkpads with discrete GPUs. All of them, without exception, use C5 power cables.

I haven't seen a laptop with a C14 connector since the 1980s, I think.

[Updraft102]

"We did hit some snags, though. On some distros, for instance Ubuntu, the keyboard backlight didn't come on."

Did you install the package tuxedo-keyboard-ite from the Tuxedo PPA?

[Mostly Irrelevant]

Looks like they just slapped Linux on a standard Clevo notebook.

[Anonymous Coward]

it is actually a xmg neo17 based on clevo. just saw it after peeling the sticker underneath while upgrading additional HDD. It is a fantastic macjine all the same