[_d3Xt3r_]

I have the same laptop (with a slightly faster CPU though), bought it for similar reasons to OOP - I needed something light compact, 32GB+ RAM, Ryzen 6000+ APU for some decent light gaming, and excellent Linux support of course.

Like OOP, I would've preferred a Framework, but since they didn't have an AMD option at the time, I chose this. In fact, it was the ONLY laptop in the entire market at the time which met my criteria.

I've been using it for over 10 months now and it's held up pretty well. Running Nobara (Fedora-based gaming distro) and it runs incredibly well, everything worked out-of-the-box, including all the Fn keys and suspend/resume.

I used to get around 40-45 FPS playing Diablo 4 under Proton-GE, and it was more than playable (I don't play it anymore btw). The games that I do play currently are a bit more old-school, like Project Diablo 2, Age of Empires 2, Skyrim etc and some retro gaming on emulators, all of which it handles like a champ.

I'm glad this is getting some attention now. We need more AMD-based and Linux-friendly laptops and end Intel's monopoly in this space.

[ilikenwf]

As much as I dislike the intel/amd "two party" thing we have now, why AMD when intel is the devil we know?

I realize performance and power and heat can be the concern but ultimately we know how to cripple ME, while the PSP isn't really fully understood yet.

System76 Serval WS - I ordered this and it arrives this week, however there is at least one AMD laptop they offer, again, I believe, with Coreboot and OpenEC.

[_d3Xt3r_]

- I trust AMD more than Intel, and the PSP doesn't rank high on my threat model. It is a concern, but not enough for me to avoid it. Perfectly understandable if it's a big concern for you though.

- Also, Intel iGPUs are still pretty bad at gaming, at least compared to AMD's equivalents.

- System76 did not (and still does not) offer a compact AMD laptop, they only offer a 15" one. I needed 14" or smaller for better portability and weight (I'm one of those people who actually uses a laptop on their lap).

[ilikenwf]

Your model makes sense, at least for situations like yours...

I got the serval because it includes a 4070 8gb...so graphics and battery life aren't really a concern to me...I usually am plugged in. I also trust AMD more but they haven't been very forthcoming on the PSP.

[dangus]

The answer to “why AMD” is that you get better performance (especially graphics) for the money and better mobile power efficiency than Intel at present.

[ilikenwf]

Makes perfect sense for your situation. In my case it is more...portable power, without a lot of concern on efficiency because I'm always plugged in.

I guess it depends on priorities. I prefer first to be as assured as I can that despite my 0 trust model, my machine isn't factory backdoored, or at least, is less factory backdoored than everyone else's machine.

[dangus]

Yeah, no, I can’t do the paranoid computing thing. That’s not for me.

[skrtskrt]

Intel integrated graphics are terrible, so if you're buying a smaller laptop which will usually not have a dedicated graphics card, it's gonna poop itself if you're on a video call while some basic code compilation is happening.