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Add to SafariWhen comparing Librem 15 vs KDE Slimbook, the Slant community recommends KDE Slimbook for most people. In the question“What are the best ultrabooks for running Linux?” KDE Slimbook is ranked 3rd while Librem 15 is ranked 6th. The most important reason people chose KDE Slimbook is:
Comes with an AMD version, something many have been asking for (*cough*Framework*cough*).
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Optional physical kill switches for microphone/camera and wireless/bluetooth
Pro Built with security in mind starting from each chip placed onto the motherboard
Pro Good connectivity
3 USB 3.0 (one being type C) and 2 USB 2.0 with the HDMI feels very nice to have on such a lightweight laptop. Sadly no Ethernet port, otherwise it would have been perfect.
Pro Good keyboard
Keyboards are usually bad on laptops, companies reusing small version ones on bigger size laptop with big paddings. Purism managed a good quality and use every bit of space to get a keyboard that feels good to use.
Pro Runs privacy focused software
Librem runs PureOS, a privacy focused operating system, and runs software that respects your rights.
Pro Intel or AMD?
Comes with an AMD version, something many have been asking for (coughFrameworkcough).
Pro Good build quality
The laptop's chassis is made of aluminium which gives it a very "premium" feel. It's extremely lightweight at 1.36kg and rather thin at 1.8cm.
Pro Optimized for use with KDE software
This laptop was developed with help from KDE developers and its performance with KDE apps was tested thoroughly.
Pro Comes with Linux pre-installed
The KDE Slimbook comes with KDE Neon, a Ubuntu derivative out of the box.
Pro Decent screen
Very good screen, nice build quality and solid aluminium feeling.
Cons
Con It's quite expensive
You'll be paying a higher price for Purism's commitment to secure, privacy, and freedom respecting electronics.
Con Wifi is weak
Any other laptop or smartphone will have better signal than the Librem 15. Having a strong signal is very rare (you need to be in the same room within 10m of the router), it is still working but a Ethernet port as back-up would have been very much appreciated. This is probably due to the FOSS constraint for the hardware.
Con Speakers are bad
The sound feels really wrong, the trebles are way too high and there is no bass.
Con Touchpad not centered
Touchpad is not centered due to addition of little used numeric keypad keys on the right.
Con Low quality touch-pad
The first-generation touchpad was quite cheap, plastique feeling, imprecise. Hopefully, they have improved on the new Elan touchpad.
Con Shipping outside the EU is rather expensive
Since this laptop is built by a Spanish company, shipping outside the EU is rather expensive and can go as much as $106.
Con Fairly expensive
The KDE Slimbook is a fairly expensive laptop, with the base model having a price of 729€ even though it only has 4GB of RAM. The price is even higher when you have to take into account shipping costs if you are buying outside of the EU.
