I’m looking to purchase a new laptop for school in 2021(CS Major).
I wanted a machine that works well with most distros, and has repairable and upgradeable components.
The new HP Envy X360 15 inch laptop seems to fit that need.
I’m looking at thr Ryzen 5750H processor, with a 1080p ips display.
Some basic web searching gives some conflicting results from locked down BIOS preventing installation all together, to working perfectly fine on the Fedora Wiki…
If anyone else has any experience with this machine, please share them here.
My cousin installed Linux on that machine and he had one issue that I don’t remember, but maybe it wasn’t major or anything. Give it a try at the store before you purchase it, if the people there allow you to.
I doubt you’re not allowed to test the product, software-wise, to see if it fits your needs. Or maybe ask the people that work at the store if x pc/laptop can run Linux.
Installing Arch was mostly without hiccup; you do need to disable secure boot (F10 for BIOS options; F9 for boot options). Dual boot was not tested. The laptop does not have a CD drive, so you have to use a USB stick. The UEFI also would not startup from the USB stick, but you can browse the USB, and choose the loader.efi to startup from.
Issues
Speaker
Only the front speakers work out of the box right now.
I actually did that for LG and Samsung laptops, once the managers realized I was doing something way over their pay grade they stopped bothering me and made sure the machine was back to normal state once I was finished.
Not that simple, the machine is currently only available in the U.S. Getting it shipped to here in Korea will be a pain in itself, and sending it back would be a bigger challenge.
I solved such issues in the past by changing the wireless card. Bought a supported one on ebay. The original one can be sold on ebay (or local ebay alternatives) too.