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I add that NVMe Pro drives are not only faster, they come with exceptional endurance (TBW: Terabytes Written) and longer warranty.
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@dean
here is how you can benchmark your HDD/SSD in a very easy way so that you can compare to what you get later when you get your new Librem product
i used GNOME Disks 3.36.1 in the following way :
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The hinge issue is key for me also.
Me too. But one could make the sticker hack: there seems to be the right number of keys - just re-label a couple with stickers. Keys will map to what you set them to, even in PureOs, don’t they? (Yes, I know, it’s not as pretty up close, but it works)
It would be cheap(er than stocking kayboards) for Purism to sell right size, shape and color vinyl keyboard stickers fro those that could use them… Including colorful WASD stickers for gamers 
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Instead of stickers, I’d be curious on the feasibility of selling keycap sets. Sure manually swapping the keycaps isn’t ideal, but might be a more palatable option than complete keyboards while looking nicer than stickers.
As someone who doesn’t do 3D printing, maybe it’s also possible to print your own keycaps if you can’t buy the ones for your region?
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Matt Devillier (MrChromebox) on this Reddit thread answered a bunch of questions about the Librem 14.
On the hinge issue:
Also, what design changes have been made to solve the hinge issues?
it’s a completely new design from a different partner/ODM. I’ve held it by the screen and flapped it until my arms got tired
In another reply:
the hinge issue on the 13v4 was, AIUI, limited to a single batch where the ODM changed the chassis mounts without our knowledge, and is one of the reasons why we are using a new partner to build the L14.
On why Thunderbolt wasn’t included:
Thunderbolt would have made this perfect!
TB is problematic on Comet Lake since it requires an extra chip. We debated on going with IceLake instead, which has TB built-in, but seems like a bit of a shit show still (Google canceled their ICL Chromebooks and is going straight to Tiger Lake it seems)
On video out:
In the tech specs HDMI is listed as 4k60hz but USB type c just mentions 4k. Does that mean we’ll only be able to get 4k30hz out of it?
the USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode will support 4Kp60 via both DP and HDMI adapters. The HDMI port uses a LSPCON (HDMI 2.0) like the Librem Mini does, so the L14 will be able to drive two 4Kp60 displays simultaneously
Can you use a USB-C dock from, let’s say Lenovo, to get 2 external monitors connected?
depends on resolution/refresh rate, and type of dock. USB-C Alt mode only has enough bandwidth for a single 4Kp60 display, or two 1080p displays. The L14 doesn’t support Thunderbolt (which is PCIe over USB-C, and has a lot more bandwidth), so you can’t use a TB dock with it.
On the disk drives:
How many nvme slots are there? 2? And 1 2.5” sata? So total of 3 drives possible?
… it’s going to be 2x m.2 slots
On Qubes:
Could you perchance discuss installing & using Qubes on the laptop? One thing I see in Qubes forums/boards/reddits/etc is people constantly asking what laptop to buy - you might consider putting up some how-to, documentation, etc for people to point to - might net you some extra sales, ala Project Sputnik. Speaking of which, is regaining Qubes certification something Purism is working towards on this laptop or in a future product out of curiosity?
We ensure that Qubes runs without issue on all of our devices out of the box, with either our standard coreboot/SeaBIOS firmware, or our Pureboot firmware. Installation isn’t any different than any other Linux distro really.
Qubes certification has a lot of IMO silly and unnecessary requirements that serve no purpose other than to keep the number of certified devices artificially low. But I need to update the Qubes HCL for all our current models with the latest firmware (something they require to be static for a period of time).
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@OpojOJirYAlG I thought of that and you are right, It could be nicer looking, but as far as I can tell, most laptop keyboard keys aren’t easy to swap. But what’s more important, is that stickers are already available (and they are much easier to design, get, distribute, use - plus cheaper) and they’re relatively nice when done right. Here’s one of my old laptops that has transparent vinyl stckers (plus some black marker since didn’t want to use black to cover the Fn keys - cost was about 5 coins [€/£/$]):
So, even if different keyboards aren’t offered, it would be nice to have sets of model specific stickers (or keycaps or even just stl-files for printing fi they can be changed) available at the shop for those that can and want to use them. It does not solve all the problems for everyone, but some.
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Thanks, I didn’t know that page existed.
SATA M.2 is half a GB/s.
NVMe M.2 is 3 GB/s read and 2/3 that for write.
The Pro has both read and write speeds above 3 GB/s and lasts longer for enterprise.
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So on your NVMe PRO 3D MLC-based disk average write rate is 614,5 MB/s (128 samples), coming from your current PCIe Gen3(?) motherboard. Isn’t this going to change with the new one? L14 is going to support PCIe® Gen4 NVMe™ SSD controller for sure 
, or not? Or at least have NVMe PCIe Gen3 ×4 M.2 connectors onboard, if not there already? I just want to be informed of what generation the PCIe slot will be there (to probably avoid getting ×2 in Q4, 2020).
@reC, thanks anyway! In addition, could you please post output from: $ sudo hdparm -tT /dev/NVMe_PRO (nvme0nX), just for general comparison, hoping that with L14 sequential write speed max. might eventually result in something closer to 2,700 MB/s. As, for example, brand new NVMe PRO PCIe 4.0-based M.2 SSD is promised to be able to manage data with r/w speeds of up to 6,500/5,000MB/s.
And, not to forget, another official/important: “Stay Tuned” link is here:
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unfortunately the CPU used in the new Librem 14 does not support PCIe Gen4 so the highest level might be PCIe 3x4 for the NVME Interface.
But I think there is still some gain to be had by installing a PCIe Gen4 NVME into a PCIe Gen3 Port since the Storage Driver on the NVME SSD is designed for more transfer-rate and might use the PCIe Gen3 Lines to their max data-rate.
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thank you for asking !
since i’m not familiar with this command could you maybe explain what you expect this command to reveal ?
note that marketing jargon is - sometimes, if not most of the time - intended to confuse people so that products can’t be criticized post-market …
also note that the marketing BS states that the Read and Writes are coalesced into the total bandwidth so it’s entirely possible to get lower ACTUAL rates than the ones EXPECTED …
however look at the average access time - it is IMO one of THE reasons why a boot drive is so fast with nvme compared to other SSDs/HDDs …
yes my desktop mother-board is capable of pcie gen 4 but the 970 pro is only pcie 3 x4 max …
higher “sample size” (MiB) MIGHT be able to give better seq write speed at the cost of a longer benchmark time … want me to try it out ?
I do think this laptop will work with Windows 10 out of the box though. Of course we’ll see.
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That was my point, same as yours, getting real R/W speeds of your own personal computer configuration, by installing hdparm and not relying on max. manufacturer’s numbers blindly as they depend on your computer CPU + type of PCIe M.2 connector, IMO. Your proposal to use GNOME Disks impressed me, as result was in real numbers/data terms and therefore appreciated from my side. And therefore, I just wanted to propose to look at hdparm from CLI output, to compare, nothing else. Repeated results might differ, yet they should stay with you (it was just another recommendation, similar if not the same).
Another point of mine was that dreaming of putting most expensive PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD on poor motherboard configuration, in short, will not help much either. Third point was that by choosing expensive variant of 3D MLC-based NAND someone like you knows it is investment into long term reliance. But also, just having relatively small SATA MLC memory based SSD for my /home partition on second M.2 slot might be relevant option to invest into, if type of memory known. If customer is not having feeling of being king, right to play with more options than seller/manufacturer might fail to find broader pre-order audience, even though that this have nothing to do with my own point of view. Or should I invest in something that is nice to have, but doesn’t serve the intended purpose (buying more food than I can eat or other way around)?
thank you for clarifying … it’s less confusing now … i’m quite reluctant to run CLI commands that i’m not familiar with in my BASH terminal for obvious reasons but now i think i’ll give it a try.
on my next visit i’ll post some screen-grabs with higher sample size and the same with a similar 970pro running in an external m2 to usb3(10gb/s) enclosure.
damn ! ShanSung needs to pay up for this plug …
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Besides other methods, for safety reasons, I always start with:
$ sudo fdisk -l
Pick up my drive, to make sure this is the one I need to work with:
$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/NVMe_PRO
Proceed when sure, run the intended command(s):
$ sudo hdparm -t /dev/NVMe_PRO
P.S. M2E1BMU31C with ASM2362 might be cheaper if bought in Europe, but this Super Early Bird looks tempting (to me).
Hi,
I am also looking into buying one of your laptops and while luckily (and hopefully 
) the keyboard layout will not be an issue with the Librem 5 Evergreen version I am eagerly awaiting, it is an issue when it comes to the new desktop replacement I am looking for. Even more so as this laptop will be a lot more expensive than comparable Clevo barebone-based “Linux-laptops” sold by competitors.
Privacy is important but it doesn’t make much sense to buy a product that I can’t use efficiently in my environment.
Because of this, it would be great if you could let us know whether and how you would like to collect the info regarding demands for specific keyboard layouts ?
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Is there a any change that we get a US international keyboard with the Librem 14 instead of only a US one? That way you could give other regions the possibility to buy a new Librem 14. I need the characters öäü please! I don’t want to copy it from the browser any more.
Does any one know how big the keyboard keys will be for the Librem 14? 14x14 mm ? Unless we get a US International keyboard I need to install a keyboard overlay. I am really excited for the new laptop.