Hi Everyone.
I was looking for something like this when I was considering purchasing the Ultranote IV, and I found only spotty results that fit my configuration so I thought I would take the time to piece together what I wanted when I was looking, but never found.
First off, I bought this laptop with the sole intention of running Linux on it. I de-selected Windows but still the M.2 ssd came with Windows pre-installed (??? I am certain I did not pay for that). Nevertheless, that partition did not survive long.
For the record, I have installed Solus linux on my machine. I initially tried Ubuntu Mate 16.04 but removed that later.
First of all - Here's what I ordered with a comment attached to each part
Chassis & Display UltraNote: 14" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
This looks great. Works out of the box with Linux, correct resolutions detected and so forth. Also, the keyboard shortcuts (dim and brighten display) works out of the box.
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i5 Dual Core Processor i5-7200U (2.50GHz, 3.1GHz Turbo)
Slight coil-whine off the CPU, not excactly great but can hardly hear it. Otherwise. Excellent CPU. Better support that Skylake for Linux.
Memory (RAM) 16GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
No comments there.
Graphics Card INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 620 - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Works out of the Box, as with most Intel gear its very well supported under Linux.
Memory - Hard Disk NOT REQUIRED
I installed a 128GB SanDisk SSD here myself. More about that after the Spec
M.2 SSD Drive 128GB M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (534MB/R, 150MB/W)
No issues here, nice and fast and recognised by gParted and Linux without issues.
Memory Card Reader Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Tested with SD car, Mini SD Car and MMC card - all worked perfectly.
Sound Card Realtek 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Microphone leaves something to be desired, speakers are fine. All audio recognised and worked out of the box
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
Ok so this one is a bit tricky. This seems to be relatively new, and as of the stock kernel of Ubuntu Mate 16.04.1, the wireless card was NOT recognised (unsure what kernel) HOWEVER, since kernel 4.6 the driver has been included (Intels site about this here) and when I installed Solus with Kernel 4.8 this worked out of the box and is surprisingly fast compared to WiFi on my older laptops.
USB Options 1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
USB 3 port is not straight. What I mean is, if you wanna stick something in there, either use a lot of force or "wiggle" whatever you are sticking in, up and down. USB2.0 port is fine. Have not yet tried USB C.
All in all, all the hardware in the laptop worked out of the box so long as you use a relatively new Kernel, I reckon Ubuntu Mate 16.04 would have worked just fine had I installed a newer kernel. I believe the current version is 4.4 and the Wifi Card was only added in 4.6 as far as I can gather (I might be wrong here but it fits my experience).
Before I bought this, I was reasonably sure that all the components would work out of the box - most of them being Intel. What I REALLY wanted to know, and could not find an answer to, was whether or not this laptop would be as easy as my other ones (generally thinkpads) to replace and upgrade components on. Notice, I had specifically NOT ordered a hard drive in there in order to save money since I had a perfectly good SSD lying around.
What kept me relatively safe in my presumption that it would be doable, was that the UltraNote IV 14" seems to share a case/chassis with the System76 Lemur which is built for Linux and for geeks meaning it would have to be somewhat accessible for the customer.
I had to remove a good few screws, but they are ALL easily visible. Taking the backplate off was not as straight forward as other laptops, but absolutely doable even for the inexperieced. Once it is off, all the components are easily accessible and replaceable. Very happy with this. Only thing is - its a little tricky to get the back plate on again and might take an attempt or three (it took me three attempts).
Overall - as a Linux user: I am SUPER happy with my new Laptop. This is such a great price for the spec, and it fits all my needs. I would absolutely recommend this laptop to anyone wanting to install Linux as their daily driver.
EDIT: - a good few weeks into the experience: Now dualbooting Solus (which boots in 3 seconds!!) and Ubuntu 16.10 - damn smooth experience. Everything works out of the box and Unity looks GREAT on the 1080p IPS display. I got my linux stickers to cover up the Super-key and I am all set to go.
I've tested some high-load stuff and I am very happy with how the fan is controlled. It speeds up but never gets very noisy and as soon as the workload is over it goes back down to silent. I've been playing a few steam games on it (CS:Condition Zero mainly - yea I'm old fashioned) and it works wonderfully well even with resolution set to 1080p.
Fantastic laptop, can only recommend it. I would love to see PCSpecialist offer a linux installation as default though.
I was looking for something like this when I was considering purchasing the Ultranote IV, and I found only spotty results that fit my configuration so I thought I would take the time to piece together what I wanted when I was looking, but never found.
First off, I bought this laptop with the sole intention of running Linux on it. I de-selected Windows but still the M.2 ssd came with Windows pre-installed (??? I am certain I did not pay for that). Nevertheless, that partition did not survive long.
For the record, I have installed Solus linux on my machine. I initially tried Ubuntu Mate 16.04 but removed that later.
First of all - Here's what I ordered with a comment attached to each part
Chassis & Display UltraNote: 14" Matte Full HD IPS LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080)
This looks great. Works out of the box with Linux, correct resolutions detected and so forth. Also, the keyboard shortcuts (dim and brighten display) works out of the box.
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i5 Dual Core Processor i5-7200U (2.50GHz, 3.1GHz Turbo)
Slight coil-whine off the CPU, not excactly great but can hardly hear it. Otherwise. Excellent CPU. Better support that Skylake for Linux.
Memory (RAM) 16GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
No comments there.
Graphics Card INTEL® HD GRAPHICS 620 - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Works out of the Box, as with most Intel gear its very well supported under Linux.
Memory - Hard Disk NOT REQUIRED
I installed a 128GB SanDisk SSD here myself. More about that after the Spec
M.2 SSD Drive 128GB M.2 2280, SATA 6Gb/s (534MB/R, 150MB/W)
No issues here, nice and fast and recognised by gParted and Linux without issues.
Memory Card Reader Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
Tested with SD car, Mini SD Car and MMC card - all worked perfectly.
Sound Card Realtek 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Microphone leaves something to be desired, speakers are fine. All audio recognised and worked out of the box
Bluetooth & Wireless GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) +BT 4.0
Ok so this one is a bit tricky. This seems to be relatively new, and as of the stock kernel of Ubuntu Mate 16.04.1, the wireless card was NOT recognised (unsure what kernel) HOWEVER, since kernel 4.6 the driver has been included (Intels site about this here) and when I installed Solus with Kernel 4.8 this worked out of the box and is surprisingly fast compared to WiFi on my older laptops.
USB Options 1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
USB 3 port is not straight. What I mean is, if you wanna stick something in there, either use a lot of force or "wiggle" whatever you are sticking in, up and down. USB2.0 port is fine. Have not yet tried USB C.
All in all, all the hardware in the laptop worked out of the box so long as you use a relatively new Kernel, I reckon Ubuntu Mate 16.04 would have worked just fine had I installed a newer kernel. I believe the current version is 4.4 and the Wifi Card was only added in 4.6 as far as I can gather (I might be wrong here but it fits my experience).
Before I bought this, I was reasonably sure that all the components would work out of the box - most of them being Intel. What I REALLY wanted to know, and could not find an answer to, was whether or not this laptop would be as easy as my other ones (generally thinkpads) to replace and upgrade components on. Notice, I had specifically NOT ordered a hard drive in there in order to save money since I had a perfectly good SSD lying around.
What kept me relatively safe in my presumption that it would be doable, was that the UltraNote IV 14" seems to share a case/chassis with the System76 Lemur which is built for Linux and for geeks meaning it would have to be somewhat accessible for the customer.
I had to remove a good few screws, but they are ALL easily visible. Taking the backplate off was not as straight forward as other laptops, but absolutely doable even for the inexperieced. Once it is off, all the components are easily accessible and replaceable. Very happy with this. Only thing is - its a little tricky to get the back plate on again and might take an attempt or three (it took me three attempts).
Overall - as a Linux user: I am SUPER happy with my new Laptop. This is such a great price for the spec, and it fits all my needs. I would absolutely recommend this laptop to anyone wanting to install Linux as their daily driver.
EDIT: - a good few weeks into the experience: Now dualbooting Solus (which boots in 3 seconds!!) and Ubuntu 16.10 - damn smooth experience. Everything works out of the box and Unity looks GREAT on the 1080p IPS display. I got my linux stickers to cover up the Super-key and I am all set to go.
I've tested some high-load stuff and I am very happy with how the fan is controlled. It speeds up but never gets very noisy and as soon as the workload is over it goes back down to silent. I've been playing a few steam games on it (CS:Condition Zero mainly - yea I'm old fashioned) and it works wonderfully well even with resolution set to 1080p.
Fantastic laptop, can only recommend it. I would love to see PCSpecialist offer a linux installation as default though.
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