New Slimbook KDE Plasma Ultrabook Rolled Out

The KDE community and the Odin Group have announced a new version of the Slimbook, the KDE-branded laptop running Neon. While it's an improvement over last year's model, it's still a tough sell against other laptops/ultrabooks.

The KDE Slimbook II is the new model and comes in Intel Core i3 and Core i5 options. First of all, it unfortunately is still using Kabylake rather than the newer Kaby Lake Refresh Mobile CPUs. Alternatively, no AMD Raven Ridge option for those that may be wanting to a Zen+Vega notebook.

Other hardware specs includes 4GB / 8GB / or 16GB of DDR4 RAM, 13.3-inch 1080p display, varying M.2 storage options, WiFi, two USB 3.0 ports, and weighs about 1.3 kilograms. There is a larger touchpad as another improvement over the original device.

It's an improvement over the original Slimbook, but the Slimbook II is a tough sell going up against the likes of the latest Dell XPS with Linux or other devices from tier-one vendors when considering the build quality / specifications while still being able to load your favorite flavor of Linux on most of them and especially if comparing on the price/value.

But if you are interested in a KDE Plasma / Neon loaded laptop, the Slimbook II is available as of today. More details can be found via dot.kde.org or Slimbook.es.