I am debating purchasing the Librem 14 and was wanting others feedback.
I understand its typical for others to speak up when things are not working more so than if things are working so I am more wondering if there are others happy with their Librem 14 and purchasing hardware from Purism.
I would be kicking myself pretty hard to spend over 1k for anything and having it not work out, but I do like what Purism is selling. My main concern is can they back it up?
If I do purchase the L14 I would probably have to buy the extended warranty from what I have been reading.
I’m curious too, but more specifically about the keyboard and the bizarre right-shift location. I’m somewhat picky about keyboards (having reverted to a buckling spring IBM with Caps Lock mapped to Super [but a ubiquitous Dell USB would be okay]) and I am bothered by the lag on the Librem 13 keyboard I have. To type a capital, say A, it’s Shift then A, but on the Librem keyboard, the Shift is not registered for 10-40 ms I would guess, so I often end up with “A, Shift-down” (e.g. lowercase a) being captured by the input.
I like the Librem 14. I upgraded from the Librem 13 because of the wrecked hinge issue and age. I wanted some of the new features, especially the Librem Key secure boot.
The keyboard is slightly wonky for me. Some key presses don’t register, so fast typing is out. I hadn’t noticed the right shift key issue, but now I look at it, it is weird. They definitely need to redo the keyboard, but I wouldn’t call it a deal-killer. Moving the hardware kill switches to the top of the keyboard is brilliant. Marking the side ports on the top of the keyboard should be done – it’s so simple.
I have reserved my ire for the Librem Key boot process. It just sucks. Every other update requires you to guess whether your boot files have changed and update the checksums. The commands to change the default Librem Key passwords is defective, but at least it gives you a chance to practice the disaster recovery process which does work. You can easily bypass the key, so what’s the point? Skip the key until they implement it right.
When you consider no other company is addressing privacy like Purism, buy it. I want a Librem phone too and the AWEsim phone service, but both are far too expensive.
Yes, I am very happy with my Librem 14. I am a former Apple user that switched from a MacBook Pro to a Librem 13 a few years ago, and then I pre-ordered the Librem 14 when it was announced. I think PureOS is great for former Apple users, but QubesOS is the absolute best OS, and it is awesome on this laptop with 64GB of RAM and an NVME SSD. I wrote a review here.
As you pointed out, there is no way to know how many or what percent of Librem 14 users have issues with their laptop. I can only share my experience.
Coming from a Mac I love my Librem 14. I’ve had a few issues, but I’m VERY understanding as to the why. Still learning how to use linux, minor software things, but overall I’m extremely happy with it. The main move is I love Purisms mission with their devices and OS. I support a company whos goal is to keep users safe in this digital age. When you get a Purism laptop your getting that.
The thing for me was the design. Clean, simple and has hardware kill switches. I love the Pureboot feature as i do travel a lot. Good to know my data is secure.
The holes for the keys are cut in the top, so you can’t swap a different keyboard. But I suspect you can replace a defective keyboard. It’s covered in the warranty.
I’m not sure how this can be addressed. If the kernel is updated, then the files in /boot are updated, and I don’t know how Pureboot could distinguish between files modified by an update, or ones modified maliciously by an attacker
I loved it while it was working but I suggest you take a look at this thread before sinking a bunch of money into a Librem 14: New Librem 14 will not power on
I bought mine two months ago, it has failed twice with the same known defect that many others have reported and that Purism is clearly aware of, and I’ve had a functional laptop for less than 21 days since I paid for it. Purism is refusing to offer a refund, and will only cover another round at a warranty repair. I would not buy this brand again.
Since Pureboot is the only entity that is supposed to modify kernel files, this becomes a basic problem of authentication and as such there is a solution(s).
Why can’t there be a mechanism where the keys are re-signed when an authorized update modifies boot files are done as opposed to the next boot where the user is guessing whether or not the changes in the boot files were the ones authorized by them?
there could be, but it would need to be handled by the OS then, not Pureboot. And while we could do that for PureOS, that wouldn’t help anyone running Qubes or any other OS, so it would be of limited value.
BLUF: I’m not satisfied with the Librem 14 and would not make the purchase again. I came from the Mac Universe and probably have too high of expectations. I paid short of two grand, and I now know it was a financial mistake. The Librem 14 was (supposed) to be my daily driver and the screen stopped displaying in under a year. Additionally, if you do not have an interest in learning Linux, do not buy the Librem 14. You will have to address weird quirks, and dig into the terminal.
One pro to buying is: this forum/community is very responsive and willing to help if there are issues.
Well, I’ve had my L14 for maybe six months and its been faultless. I purchased it with 8gb ram and maxxed it out to 64g with the more expensive pro ssd.
Mine came with qubes and as a long time qubes user it runs it perfectly. Even that annoying bug with sys-usb that I’ve had with every other laptop with qubes, is non existent on the L14. Obviously with 64gb I can do lots of stuff at once.
Believe me I agonised over the purchase but my hand was forced as I had an L5 ordered which was months and months away and I needed a new phone so I got my money credited and they added $100 to it, plus I got the $60 or $100 special (can’t remember which one it ) and I bought the L14.
I had been meaning to report my experience and then this thread popped up. I love the whole package. Its the perfect size laptop (IMHO), its slim, sturdy, I love the keyboard and it just works. I did purchase the three year warranty however.
Now that’s funny.