System76 has plenty of its own laptops and desktops, and in 2017, it started developing its own variant of Ubuntu Linux called Pop!_OS. Pop is now a popular Linux distribution in its own right, with a customized desktop interface and additional built-in drivers, and the OS can be installed on third-party PCs. However, the only computers that shipped with Pop were from System76 itself… until now.
HP has started accepting pre-orders for the HP Dev One, a new laptop primarily aimed at development work. It appears to be a slightly-customized version of the HP EliteBook 845 G8, with an 8-core/16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 5850U processor, a 14-inch LED screen (without touch), a glass touchpad, a 1TB NVMe SSD for storage, 16GB RAM, and a 720p camera. That amount of RAM might be too little for some development work, but System76 confirmed that the SSD, Wi-Fi card, and RAM can be easily replaced or upgraded.
There are also plenty of ports on the laptop, including two 10Gbps USB Type-C ports, two USB Type-A, a headphone/microphone combo jack, and HDMI 2.0. You can either use USB Type-C to charge the laptop, or the proprietary power connector with the included 65W AC wall adapter. There’s also Wi-Fi 5 (not 6 or 6e, sadly) and Bluetooth 5 for wireless connectivity.
The main selling point is that it ships with Pop!_OS Linux installed by default, instead of Microsoft Windows. It’s usually not too difficult to install a Linux distribution on any PC, but that usually means you’re on your own for technical problems. The HP Dev One has “HP Support integrated into Pop!_OS,” and expert technical support is available if you need it. HP also removed the logo from the Windows key in favor of a generic “super” label.
The HP Dev One is available for $1,099 from the official store. It’s only sold in the United States, and there’s only one hardware configuration offered.
