Personally I don't get the hype with any of these products. Just because they run Linux by default isn't a strong enough selling point when I can get better specs for cheaper elsewhere and install Linux myself.
If one can afford to pay the higher price, then Star Labs' (or System76' etc) laptops will offer far superior Linux support. Modern hardware from non-'Linux-first' vendors have shown causing troubles with 'deep sleep'. Issues like these can and have been resolved on Star Labs' (or System76' etc) devices. Furthermore, they don't only sell 'Linux-laptops', but they also contribute to the upstream of coreboot and other Linux projects. Thus, by buying their laptops, one is actively contributing to that cause.
This. If you've ever bought a laptop and then realized you couldn't use the touchpad or thr WiFi because it wasn't supported in Linux, you'd see the importance of a vendor that explicitly supports linux.
I've also been in charge if buying laptops at work for employee's. After a few devices wouldn't work 100% in Linux, we only bought devices that were explicitly made for Linux. It's not worth the risk of throwing $1k-$3k at a device only to learn later that it's not usable.
I also hear that battery life can be optimised better!
Personally I don't get the hype with any of these products. Just because they run Linux by default isn't a strong enough selling point when I can get better specs for cheaper elsewhere and install Linux myself.
If one can afford to pay the higher price, then Star Labs' (or System76' etc) laptops will offer far superior Linux support. Modern hardware from non-'Linux-first' vendors have shown causing troubles with 'deep sleep'. Issues like these can and have been resolved on Star Labs' (or System76' etc) devices. Furthermore, they don't only sell 'Linux-laptops', but they also contribute to the upstream of coreboot and other Linux projects. Thus, by buying their laptops, one is actively contributing to that cause.
This. If you've ever bought a laptop and then realized you couldn't use the touchpad or thr WiFi because it wasn't supported in Linux, you'd see the importance of a vendor that explicitly supports linux.
I've also been in charge if buying laptops at work for employee's. After a few devices wouldn't work 100% in Linux, we only bought devices that were explicitly made for Linux. It's not worth the risk of throwing $1k-$3k at a device only to learn later that it's not usable.
I also hear that battery life can be optimised better!
Yup. "Due to how lightweight coreboot is, it will offer better performance and lower power consumption. For example, the LabTop Mk IV combined with coreboot will deliver approximately 8% more performance and around 20% longer battery life (with a record of 13 hours and 42 minutes for general use)."