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I wonder if this gets mostly upvoted because of the notebook or because of Void Linux. For me, mostly the notebook (Huawei MateBook X Pro) looks interesting, as

I wonder if this gets mostly upvoted because of the notebook or because of Void Linux. For me, mostly the notebook (Huawei MateBook X Pro) looks interesting, as I'm a MacBook Pro (Mid 2014) user, and I'm slowly looking for a good modern replacement (and I'm obviously not happy with the current MacBook Pros). As my future notebook would be non-Apple, I would want to install Linux, and want good Linux support, and otherwise a high hardware quality. I like that this Huawei MateBook has an all aluminium unibody. (How much other notebooks are there? Maybe not necessarily unibody, but I like a solid body out of aluminium.) A touch screen is also a nice addition. His choice of Linux distribution is maybe a bit strange. I would probably go with Ubuntu or so, and hope to have even better support. E.g. I would want to use software like CLion, PyCharm, Steam, etc just out of the box. Also, I would want to make use of the NVIDIA card. This is also nice for CUDA development. I wonder (I would hope) that this works fine with a more standard Linux distribution. I wonder how the long-term usage quality is. My MacBook Pro 2014 works still mostly fine now (2019), and even the original battery gives me still about 3-4h of usage.

rzzzt 7y ago
Dave Lee has a review on the MateBook X Pro with some performance numbers included: https://youtu.be/W15yKKbHE80 https://youtu.be/W15yKKbHE80
wezm 7y ago
There are very few other options with an aluminium body. Razer laptops are one but Linux isn’t great on them from what I’ve read. I’ll be interested to see how it ages as well. I have a 2013 MacBook Pro and it’s still in excellent condition.
mytailorisrich 7y ago
I much prefer MacOS to Linux but I've been hard by the butterfly keys debacle and I'm now very wary of buying another Mac. Huawei's laptops do look very good.
lonelappde 7y ago
System 76 claims to offer an aluminum alloy laptop with Nvidia and Linux https://system76.com/laptops/oryx https://system76.com/laptops/oryx but the quality is reportedly bad (flaky hardware, too-fast power drain, reflash bios to toggle discrete graphics (!), slow support) https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/review-system76-oryx-pro https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/review-system76-oryx-pr...
- cgidriver 7y ago
  Isn't privacy an issue buying anything form Huawei?
- opencl 7y ago
  That model is a rebadge of the Clevo P960(16")/P970(17").
- robrtsql 7y ago
  > reflash bios to toggle discrete graphics Really? My understanding was that the RTX series of GPUs support toggling discrete graphics on the fly if you use beta/dev versions of the drivers and X. Even if you don't, the worst case scenario should be having to reboot to enable or disable your graphics card, right?
  - dTal 7y ago
    If so, that's a step backwards - on my MX150 system, both nouveau and the proprietary driver can turn the card off (indeed, that's about all nouveau can do, and it does it by default).
  - hughw 7y ago
    That Oryx model in the link uses a GTX 1070
- hughw 7y ago
  Yep. Mine is in the System 76 repair shop right now for the third time. Which is why I'm using my Matebook Windows laptop for dev. Extremely unsatisfied with Oryx Pro materials and build quality. Oh it's back for the third time because when they replaced the top case last time, they installed a defective touch pad. Never again.
robin_reala 7y ago
I honestly use my webcam too much for the MateBook to make sense. The under-a-button camera is a neat packaging solution that’s useless in the real world when I’ve tested it.
__warlord__ 7y ago
I've been running a matebook x pro with ubuntu mostly with the nvidia card disabled for about a year now and I have nothing but nice things to say about this laptop. Steam works fine out-of-the-box but the GPU and CPU are not powerful enough to run newer games with high resolutions. Screen ratio and resolution is amazing, battery life is not bad, is dead silent which I truly appreciate, and the keyboard is very very nice to type on. Also, for the battery, after 1 year of hardcore use, it's at 90% of capacity, I don't know if this is good or bad TBH. I wrote a bit about my configuration here if you are interested [0]. [0] https://memogarcia.mx/posts/linux-matebook/ https://memogarcia.mx/posts/linux-matebook/
- kadfak 7y ago
  For reference, I own an Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro which is at 87% capacity after 1 year.
- jorvi 7y ago
  > Also, for the battery, after 1 year of hardcore use, it's at 90% of capacity, I don't know if this is good or bad TBH. I can't talk for windows laptops but my MacBook Pro 13" 2015 is at 87% after ~3.5 years of daily use. It's often docked in a Henge dock though.
baybal2 7y ago
> (How much other notebooks are there? Maybe not necessarily unibody, but I like a solid body out of aluminium.) Chuwi — very cheap and practical.
ChrisRackauckas 7y ago
I have one for Julia CUDA development. CUDAnative.jl and the whole JuliaGPU stack works like a charm. The battery life is much better than it says it would be too. I regularly take this on an oversees flight and get 10 hours of straight programming time if I set it to conserve battery. The only real problem is that when you plug it in it goes to a billion degrees and the fan turns on. Also the webcam is worthless. But other than that it's great!
kadfak 7y ago
I've been using Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro [1] for a little over a year now and there is not a single visible sign of wear. People have had various problems with this laptop, but mine is still in a great condition. I'm running Arch Linux and so far everything has worked without hiccups. Build quality, in general, is very good. Some positive highlights: - It has an aluminum body and feels very sturdy. - Lid can be opened with one hand and even after one year it feels like when I first got it. - Keyboard feels very nice: there's a great amount of travel and keys have a great clicky feedback. - Touchpad is superb, very smooth and responsive. It's definitely better than that of XPS, but obviously not as good as Mac's. Some negative aspects: - Some keys started to squeak rather quickly. - One of the speakers rattles at higher volumes. - Screen of my unit had several dead pixels on arrival. Fortunately they are only seen in pitch-black darkness on a black background when the screen is at near max brightness. Not once have I noticed them during daily usage. - Keyboard stays lit for a fixed time. - Soldered RAM. - Fans seem to not be of very high quality. - Slow SD card reader. Specs: Quad Core i7-8550U, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce MX150 GPU, 256GB NVMe SSD. Overall I find it an excellent laptop with great specs. I got it for 920 EUR and it's impossible to find such laptop for such an incredible price where I live in Europe. [1]: https://www.gearbest.com/2in1-laptops/pp_009171639711.html?wid=1433363 https://www.gearbest.com/2in1-laptops/pp_009171639711.html?w...
hughw 7y ago
I'm running Windows + WSL2 on my Matebook X pro. Couldn't be happier with the construction, performance, battery life, and the 3:2 aspect ratio.

rzzzt 7y ago

Dave Lee has a review on the MateBook X Pro with some performance numbers included: https://youtu.be/W15yKKbHE80 https://youtu.be/W15yKKbHE80

wezm 7y ago

There are very few other options with an aluminium body. Razer laptops are one but Linux isn’t great on them from what I’ve read. I’ll be interested to see how it ages as well. I have a 2013 MacBook Pro and it’s still in excellent condition.

mytailorisrich 7y ago

I much prefer MacOS to Linux but I've been hard by the butterfly keys debacle and I'm now very wary of buying another Mac. Huawei's laptops do look very good.

lonelappde 7y ago

System 76 claims to offer an aluminum alloy laptop with Nvidia and Linux https://system76.com/laptops/oryx https://system76.com/laptops/oryx but the quality is reportedly bad (flaky hardware, too-fast power drain, reflash bios to toggle discrete graphics (!), slow support) https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/review-system76-oryx-pro https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/review-system76-oryx-pr...

cgidriver 7y ago
Isn't privacy an issue buying anything form Huawei?
opencl 7y ago
That model is a rebadge of the Clevo P960(16")/P970(17").
robrtsql 7y ago
> reflash bios to toggle discrete graphics Really? My understanding was that the RTX series of GPUs support toggling discrete graphics on the fly if you use beta/dev versions of the drivers and X. Even if you don't, the worst case scenario should be having to reboot to enable or disable your graphics card, right?
- dTal 7y ago
  If so, that's a step backwards - on my MX150 system, both nouveau and the proprietary driver can turn the card off (indeed, that's about all nouveau can do, and it does it by default).
- hughw 7y ago
  That Oryx model in the link uses a GTX 1070
hughw 7y ago
Yep. Mine is in the System 76 repair shop right now for the third time. Which is why I'm using my Matebook Windows laptop for dev. Extremely unsatisfied with Oryx Pro materials and build quality. Oh it's back for the third time because when they replaced the top case last time, they installed a defective touch pad. Never again.

robin_reala 7y ago

I honestly use my webcam too much for the MateBook to make sense. The under-a-button camera is a neat packaging solution that’s useless in the real world when I’ve tested it.

__warlord__ 7y ago

I've been running a matebook x pro with ubuntu mostly with the nvidia card disabled for about a year now and I have nothing but nice things to say about this laptop. Steam works fine out-of-the-box but the GPU and CPU are not powerful enough to run newer games with high resolutions. Screen ratio and resolution is amazing, battery life is not bad, is dead silent which I truly appreciate, and the keyboard is very very nice to type on. Also, for the battery, after 1 year of hardcore use, it's at 90% of capacity, I don't know if this is good or bad TBH. I wrote a bit about my configuration here if you are interested [0]. [0] https://memogarcia.mx/posts/linux-matebook/ https://memogarcia.mx/posts/linux-matebook/

kadfak 7y ago
For reference, I own an Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro which is at 87% capacity after 1 year.
jorvi 7y ago
> Also, for the battery, after 1 year of hardcore use, it's at 90% of capacity, I don't know if this is good or bad TBH. I can't talk for windows laptops but my MacBook Pro 13" 2015 is at 87% after ~3.5 years of daily use. It's often docked in a Henge dock though.

baybal2 7y ago

> (How much other notebooks are there? Maybe not necessarily unibody, but I like a solid body out of aluminium.) Chuwi — very cheap and practical.

ChrisRackauckas 7y ago

I have one for Julia CUDA development. CUDAnative.jl and the whole JuliaGPU stack works like a charm. The battery life is much better than it says it would be too. I regularly take this on an oversees flight and get 10 hours of straight programming time if I set it to conserve battery. The only real problem is that when you plug it in it goes to a billion degrees and the fan turns on. Also the webcam is worthless. But other than that it's great!

kadfak 7y ago

I've been using Xiaomi Mi Notebook Pro [1] for a little over a year now and there is not a single visible sign of wear. People have had various problems with this laptop, but mine is still in a great condition. I'm running Arch Linux and so far everything has worked without hiccups. Build quality, in general, is very good. Some positive highlights: - It has an aluminum body and feels very sturdy. - Lid can be opened with one hand and even after one year it feels like when I first got it. - Keyboard feels very nice: there's a great amount of travel and keys have a great clicky feedback. - Touchpad is superb, very smooth and responsive. It's definitely better than that of XPS, but obviously not as good as Mac's. Some negative aspects: - Some keys started to squeak rather quickly. - One of the speakers rattles at higher volumes. - Screen of my unit had several dead pixels on arrival. Fortunately they are only seen in pitch-black darkness on a black background when the screen is at near max brightness. Not once have I noticed them during daily usage. - Keyboard stays lit for a fixed time. - Soldered RAM. - Fans seem to not be of very high quality. - Slow SD card reader. Specs: Quad Core i7-8550U, 16GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce MX150 GPU, 256GB NVMe SSD. Overall I find it an excellent laptop with great specs. I got it for 920 EUR and it's impossible to find such laptop for such an incredible price where I live in Europe. [1]: https://www.gearbest.com/2in1-laptops/pp_009171639711.html?wid=1433363 https://www.gearbest.com/2in1-laptops/pp_009171639711.html?w...

hughw 7y ago

I'm running Windows + WSL2 on my Matebook X pro. Couldn't be happier with the construction, performance, battery life, and the 3:2 aspect ratio.