Questions we actually get asked.

No. We do not manufacture laptops, and we do not “build” a white-box chassis. We source new OEM machines from Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Asus — the same name-brand hardware you would buy with Windows — wipe the factory OS, install the Linux distribution you pick, and test it before it ships.

You keep the manufacturer hardware warranty. When a hinge or a keyboard fails, you are talking to HP or Dell, not a boutique no-name.

Brand-new. We do not sell used, refurbished, or open-box machines as laptops. Linux is installed here, on the East Coast of the USA, then the machine is tested and packed.

Yes. That is the product. We do not ship a laptop whose Wi-Fi, GPU, audio, webcam, Bluetooth, or touchscreen failed testing. If it does not work, it does not leave.

Anyone who has spent a Saturday on a Broadcom card or an NVIDIA blob already knows why that sentence is on this page.

Yes. Hardware warranty stays with Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, or Asus. Installing Linux does not void a U.S. manufacturer hardware warranty. We stand behind the Linux install; they stand behind the chassis.

About 3–5 business days. We source the OEM unit, install your distro and desktop, test Wi-Fi and the rest of the hardware, then send it UPS Ground from the East Coast of the USA.

Yes. The RAM and storage options on the product page are configurations we can source. Pick one, we install Linux, and it ships.

No. Catalog is x86 — Intel and AMD. Snapdragon and other ARM “Copilot+” PCs are a different world for Linux, and we will not pretend otherwise. If a listing looks like Windows Copilot marketing, it is not ours.

Yes. If you are not ready to commit 100% to Linux, dual-boot is an optional add-on on every laptop. Pick it while you configure the machine. We partition the drive, keep Windows on one side, and install Linux on the other. Each time it starts, the BIOS boot menu asks which OS to load.

We can also dual-boot two Linux distributions the same way. Call and we will set it up before it ships if you would rather talk it through.

On the NVIDIA machines in the catalog — Victus, TUF, Nitro, G16 — we install the proprietary NVIDIA driver with Linux so the GPU is actually usable: Steam, Proton, Blender, ffmpeg. Plenty of titles run well that way. Native Linux games on Steam still exist too.

Integrated graphics (Intel, AMD Radeon 780M and friends) will play older and lighter games. AAA at ultra is not why you buy an iGPU laptop. If the product page says RTX, that is the card we tested.

No. Installing Linux on a random OEM laptop is the part that is hard. That is the work we already did. Ubuntu LTS with GNOME is the default: a dock, an app store, Firefox, LibreOffice. It looks like a computer.

If you have never heard the word “distro,” you are allowed here. If you already compile kernels, you can still pick Arch or Debian and skip the weekend of firmware. Either way, when you call, you talk to someone who already lives on the same kind of machine.

If you do not have a favorite: Ubuntu LTS and GNOME. That is what every tutorial assumes, and it is what we recommend. Linux Mint is the other kind default — especially if you are coming from Windows and want a start-menu-shaped desktop (Cinnamon).

Fedora, Debian, CachyOS, Bazzite, Pop!_OS, EndeavourOS, NixOS, Kali, Arch, Manjaro, Zorin, elementary, openSUSE, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and others are on the product page. Pick the distro and the desktop at checkout. We install it. You do not have to.

Linux is the kernel — the engine. A distribution (“distro”) is the whole operating system around it: installer, desktop, apps, updates. Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, and Debian are distros. They all run Linux. They do not all feel the same.

You pick a distro the way you pick a city, not a religion. We will put whichever one you want on the machine.

Hundreds. You do not need hundreds. We keep the ones people actually use on the product page so you are not guessing from a wiki. If you need something unusual, call — if we can install it and stand behind it, we will.

The operating system is free. No Windows license, no Copilot subscription, no “Pro” upsell for a local account. You pay for the laptop and for a Linux engineer to install and test it so you are not the one on a Saturday with a Broadcom card.

Office documents, PDFs, email, browsers, Zoom — yes. LibreOffice opens the .docx from school. Firefox and Chromium are first-class. Steam Proton runs a surprising amount of Windows games.

Adobe Photoshop, iTunes, and some industry-only Windows apps are not native. Wine can get you part of the way. If a specific Windows program is a deal-breaker, tell us before you order and we will be honest about it — or set up dual-boot.

Use the Software / App Center that ships with Ubuntu or Mint, the same way you would on a phone. Packages come from the distro’s repositories, which is why we prefer that over random .exe downloads from the web. Most of it is free.

If you already live in a terminal, apt, dnf, or pacman is there too. You do not have to start there.

You do not need to pay for Windows-style antivirus. Keep the system updated — Ubuntu and Mint will offer that — use a unique password, and do not run random scripts from strangers. That is most of it.

Linux is not magic. It is just not a business model built on ads, Copilot, and a Microsoft account standing between you and your own files.

Yes. The major distros we install already include the common languages and keyboard layouts. You do not buy a separate SKU. Tell us the language at order if you want it set before it ships; you can also switch it later in Settings.

No ads in the Start menu. No Microsoft account required to use your own computer. No Copilot or Recall watching so they can “help.” Updates on your calendar, not theirs. The OS is free, and the source is public.

Windows 11 can still run Excel. It also spends a lot of your CPU and attention on Microsoft’s other products. Linux does not. Longer version is on the Why Linux page.

It runs most of the internet’s servers, most supercomputers, Android in your pocket, and a lot of the cloud you already pay for. On the desktop it is smaller than Windows. That is why we exist: so a normal person can open a name-brand laptop and already be on Linux, without a weekend of firmware.

LINN-ucks. Short i, as in Finland — Linus Torvalds is Finnish — not “lie-nux.” It rhymes with cynics. You will hear it both ways. This is the one Linus uses.

The Linux Laptop Company is a small side business, not a corporate entity. Parent company KIRE has been in the Linux world since 1998. We have been shipping machines since 2007 — more than 5,000 of them — from the East Coast of the USA.

When you call 877-547-3638 or email info@thelinuxlaptop.com, you are not in a ticket queue. You are talking to someone who already lives on the same kind of machine we just shipped you.

Call us first: 877-547-3638. Email info@thelinuxlaptop.com. We installed the machine; we would rather hear from you than send you to a forum.

Ubuntu, Mint, and Fedora also have huge communities if you like to poke around. That is extra, not a substitute for us.

Contact us before you ship anything back. Product needs to stay in the boxes it arrived in. We do not reimburse shipping costs. Hardware defects are covered by the manufacturer warranty; Linux install issues are ours.

The full terms are on Shipping & Returns and Conditions of Use.