NovaCustom

They offer a unique service that is very limited to a handful of companies around the world. Seeing as how they work with established laptop manufacturers (Clevo), this avoids a lot of the pitfalls of designing a computer from scratch. There customer service is good, i only wish they offered an upgraded service that allowed you to contact them 24/7 and by phone and they could screen share with you. I bought a Librem 14 from Purisim (another company that disables Intel Management)and it came with 4 keys that were inoperable (B,N,G and H) a week later and i am yet to be issued a ticket. CustomNova are prompt at returning enquiries and i make my fair share. Heads and Qubes are very detailed and it takes time to wrap your head around the intricacies. But if you are security conscious this is the one for you.

Nova did an outstanding job answering questions and building my machine. Shipping was very fast and the packaging was excellent. The computer is very well built and I like the keyboard. I did not like the trackpad at first. I am use to using the old Lenovo style trackpad but as I used the new trackpad I’ve grown to like it. I am very happy with Nova Custom. I now have my dream machine and know that I have excellent support if problems arise. Thanks Nova Custom.

This is the second time I purchase a NovaCustom NV41 -- soon, the whole family will have one ;-) The first one I purchased was to be powered by Linux; this time, I needed a Windows PC. I was surprised to see how well it worked with Windows (I'm not a fan of that OS, to say the least...) I could almost find Windows enjoyable, when it's installed in this privacy-friendly manner by the NovaCustom team on their super cool device. Also, as usual, amazed at the customer service. Excellent processing of the order, fast delivery... I am a fan. Thanks again to the team!

The selling point for NV41 laptop was Dasharo coreboot firmware, Linux compatibility and having the option to fully customize it. Customer support answered my questions professionally and quickly on Signal. The laptop looks nice, seems sturdy and it was really easy to install Debian on it (purchased without operating system). It is a tad heavier than other 14'' laptops and the choice of processor could have been better. The processor 28-64 W TDP is not great for the battery life. Maybe it was needed to get the Qubes OS certification? Shipping to Canada was the fastest ever with all fees included and very well packed. Shipped on March 22, received on March 25. Thank you NovaCustom and all the best!

I was delighted with the whole experience in ordering, delivery and the laptop itself - NovaCustom is putting great and reasonably secure Linux laptops in the hands of even novices like myself! I got the NV41, and the build quality (whilst not on the level of Apple industrial design) is great (though the shell feels like it will dent/scratch easily if not careful), buttons and ports in convenient places, all requested extras were as described. My only minor gripes worth considering for future models are: • The keyboard is my least favorite part of the whole unit. It does have any indicator if Caps Lock (or any modifier) is active or not, leading to password mistyping issues on screens where password is hidden. Also not a fan of the PgUp/PgDown keys being squashed in with the arrow keys, leading to frequent accidental pushes which jump you around a terminal window. This is sometimes useful, but it is pushed in error so often that I feel they should be in a different position - the keyboard needs a complete rethink for next gen! • On previous laptops I had a Micro-SD card slot with push in/push out, which meant you didn't need an adaptor and nothing is protruding from the unit, so you can safely leave a MicroSD card in permanently. The NV41 only has a full-size SD slot so you need a MicroSD adaptor, and it protrudes quite far out of the unit. This is a very minor QoL improvement I'd love to see make its way into a future model. These minor issues aside, I am very satisfied with the laptop AND NovaCustom's service - I see the owner (Wessel?) is passionate about what they do and are I've seen them on multiple sites engaging with users in a very polite, knowledgable and helpful manner which speaks to the kind of company they are. Thank you NovaCustom!

I've had the NV41 14 inch laptop as my daily driver for a few months now and I absolutely love it! I always worry whenever I get a new laptop that there will be some hardware/driver issue when using Linux on it (like the driver for the wireless card not working, or some issues with the audio or graphics card etc). I've had no such issues this time, everything just worked perfectly from the start! Also, the laptop came with exactly the specs that I ordered. Among other things, I like that it came with coreboot, has plenty of ports and a privacy screen. I also like that it's very light and the keyboard is excellent. Usually there's an adjustment period before I get used to the keyboard of a new laptop, but with this one it was pretty much perfect right from the start (also, I like to put a silicone sheet over the keyboard so that it doesn't get stained and with other laptops this makes it so that you have to press harder on the keys or the sheet moves around when you type; but in this case the sheet stuck to the keyboard and typing was the same as without the sheet). The one nitpick I have is that the left and right arrow keys and the page up/down keys are tiny and right on top of each other, so it would occasionally happen that I'd press the page keys instead of the arrows keys. The one other minor negative is that the battery life is usually just 2-2.5 hours with daily usage. I'm usually almost always within reach of a power outlet, so this hasn't really been a problem for me (just have to remember to plug it in when traveling). Other than that, I've had no issues and would highly recommend NovaCustom! (customer service has also been great)

I have a few decades under the belt when it comes to dealing with IT suppliers and FOSS / open source products, and I can tell: I haven't seen that level of commitment to customer satisfaction since the 1990s! Products are great, assembled with care, maintainable (which is not a quality we often see nowadays), stable and, of course, fully customizable. All these things are already worth a five stars rating. But what makes the real difference in my opinion is not there (many suppliers can make good products... and still, I wouldn't buy from them): what truly differentiates NovaCustom is Wessel and his team working behind the curtain, their customer-satisfaction mindset, their technical expertise, and their willingness to go the extra mile to make a happy client... even happier! When I asked questions, investigating compatibility issues I encountered on my Linux distribution of an accessory they shipped, they not only replied to me but even joined the investigation and eventually shipped to me (at their own expenses!) an alternative product they had taken care to test themselves before. I thought suppliers who genuinely care were an extinct species: it seems I was wrong; we have NovaCustom ;-) Thank you, guys: keep making great products and amazing service like you do!

Very good service. It was quite easy to customize and order the laptop and I receive it at home after a couple of days exactly the way I want it.

From the get go, this company has assisted me all the way through the configuration process as well as the post configuration process. They are very friendly and value their customers. At the end, I got almost exactly what I wanted with the exception of some minor issues that are solvable by me. I didn't like the UPS service because they require me to be home the whole day and I had to choose an access point which was all the way into town with a bike and home again. The rest of the configuration was what I had ordered, very few mistakes and excellent support service that solved all my issues. I didn't like that the Dasharo firmware had a lot of issues on the 1.7.1 release, they shouldn't release something with those kind of issues. When I upgraded to 1.7.2, I skipped 1.7.1 and ran with an older build. With 1.7.2 I get the feature that the laptop doesn't charge the battery any more than 98% which is so very handy for using the laptop for work with a docking station. At one time my WiFi card failed to initialize mysteriously but a reboot solved it. I also tried to close the laptop lid today and it didn't enter sleep mode like it should. Although suspend from the menu works like it should so I use that instead until I can troubleshoot this issue. All in all, a few minor issues which seems to be solved most of the time. Heavily outweighed by the excellent support these guys give you. They even work on Saturdays and respond rapidly to email, it's a matter of waiting a few hours or early to the next day.

It really is better then I expected. From researching, I could see novacustom was customer focused and very good at service delivery. They were excellent at handling my delivery query and other queries and you can see attention to detail everywhere you look when looking at the laptop, the service, etc Everything from ordering, to customising to delivery, to the end product feels like customer first is a priority. The laptop (nv41) itself surpasses my expectations. I didnt like the light baby blue color and look. I thought it was maybe purple-ish. Either way, wasnt too much of a fan, but I bought it for other reasons. The look in real life is much better then I thought. But the really great thing is the laptop is built for the user and optimised for a free OS (linux bsd etc). I love the dasharo core boot. SOO easy to update the firmware. Everything works great and I find the hardware support and linux integration better then my lenovo e14 gen5 laptop. I still prefer the look of the lenovo though. But that's very minor and not worth the difference for me. I also prefer the keyboard of the lenovo, but this one is fine. I guess, it would be nice, if the hard drive bay was easy to access. Its still easy now, but one needs to remove the whole back cover. It would be nice if it was even easier, so I can swap the hard drive frequently and try different OS'es on the machine quickly. I shopped around but in the end, I'm happy with buying through them and wish them luck.

I discovered the NovaCustom while poking around for Linux laptop first inspired by the likes of System76 and Framework. I visited a number of companies websites. The first thing about NovaCustom is that I find their website amongst the most readable, complete and well designed - other websites tended to hand, failed to find offers or where "cheap" on information front. Second important thing that I verified is that they offer reasonable pricing - especially for auxiliary products like disks and memory. I checked should I get a laptop with lowest spec and buy ram locally or get them from NovaCustom and it turned out that the price was competitive it was not worth the hassle to buy locally. Contact was also pretty nice, I had some concerns about suspend details and dasharo features - I received a competent and enticing response - which eventually led me to purchase. The offer is quite impressive , for example free shipping around the world - not very common I would say. The out of the box warranty of 3 years is also extraordinary - here in Poland 1-2 years is standard anything else is extra paid. The shipping time was also top notch. Declared assembly time 2 days, actual 1,5 ( till 11 next day ). Website estimated total delivery time was also meet. It is important to note that request was made on 15 december a "busy" to say the least time of the year. The package was well secured, laptop charged and configured as requested. The device exceeded my expectations. Since receiving, I only had chance to test battery life - this is also point for NovaCustom for honesty. Website states 7 hours of battery life and it is the least you can get ( assuming rationing the power usage ). I managed 8 hours. From what I could test so far everything is perfect. I can only assume the rest of the promises will be met ( although I would prefer not to test the waranty :) )

From the customer service provided to the quality of the laptop they built for me, I wish every experience in my life was as good. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another laptop from this company. I'm very happy.

Great customer service, and really fast turn around from ordering the laptop to coming to my doorstep.

This was the best ordering experience ever. Thursday evening I ordered online. I customized all that I could. custom logos on windows key, bios and even on he laptop case. Friday they shipped. Thursday the week after I received it! Everything worked perfectly. And the customization looks perfect

The battery overheated on occasions, the fan command was working great and I found a way to make battery not overheat anymore. I'm satisfied with the results, the looks and the functions. Good job!

Fast delivery. Configuration is as ordered. Default wifi is a bit weak. I wish I would have an upgrade option.

I was pleased with the responses to my questions and the updates I received after I placed the order. I was slightly disappointed when I was told the shipping would be delayed one day. However, I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived only three days later - I live in Idaho, USA so that was quite a feat. The laptop was all it was advertised to be and I am very happy with it. Thanks

Support requests are a bit slow.

I worked with Wessel for a few months as he rolled out Qubes support. He was always very helpful and creative. The laptop arrived promptly and well packaged. The case is sturdy. The hardware seems to be functioning correctly. I'm very happy with it.

I really like the openes of NovaCustom. The service and suport is also really good. You can see that the people behind really care about a satisfied customer.

From the time I first found the laptop I eventually ordered I received clear answers to my questions on software and hardware. After purchase some issues developed with the service manual in relation to how to open the laptop for installation of an additional SSD and after a few emails I figured out how to do what I needed to do, they were nice and clear all the way. The only hiccup was the delivery; between my order and shipment there was an internal delay according to support which pushed the delivery date up somewhat. Overall my experience has been very good.

I'm impressed by speed and lightweight. Less than 20 seconds from push power button to login window. Slim, beautiful and elegant. I like it. I'm very satisfied with this buy.

I custom ordered my laptop with a Portuguese keyboard (which is not easy to find outside of Portugal) and got it delivered in three days!

This was the first time I had bought a customized laptop, so I appreciated how easy the NovaCustom website made it! Once I decided what I needed, the step-by-step process of configuring the product online was very clear and simple, even for a technically ungifted person like me, and I loved the component/pricing options that you can jiggle until the configuration matches what you would like with what you can afford. Very fast turnaround time – 2 days from placing the order until receiving email notification that the laptop had been built and was being shipped. And very fast delivery time via UPS, arriving in perfect condition in robust packaging. I'm delighted with the product itself – an NJ70 series laptop that looks sleek and has the perfect (for me) keyboard and technical characteristics. To anyone considering taking this route of purchasing a customized computer, I would wholeheartedly recommend NovaCustom, whom I found to be extremely responsive, communicative, and fast in delivering a super product!

The support team is awesome! I kept the communication with them from opening an order till delivery! Was very pleased that "Free worldwide delivery" is not a lie - all customs fees and payments were covered by NovaCustom!