I bought a Minifree x200 before the meltdown, and I've been very happy with
it. I was using an HP 14" screen laptop before, so I was worried about the
smaller screen, but it hasn't bothered me at all. The screen is big enough to
do everything I want, and the small size of the laptop makes it significantly
lighter and easier to take with me. I upgraded it with an SSD and extra RAM,
so it runs more smoothly than any other laptop I've had. I also bought mine
when the dock still came with it by default, and while I don't use it often,
I'm glad I have the DVD drive and the capability to hook my laptop into a
full desktop "station" if I choose. When it was sent, the keyboard's left
Shift key didn't work, so they sent me another one free of charge. All in
all, I'm extremely pleased with my purchase, and would recommend the x200 to
anyone looking for a Libreboot laptop.
I don't know why Technoetic's x200 isn't certified, but looking at the FSF
certification page, it hasn't been updated in a while. They appear to have
the same specs except for the wireless chip, and I don't know the difference.
Technoetic will install a GNU-certified free software OS, while Minifree will
install just about anything (including Trisquel). There's also Libiquity
mentioned on the FSF page.
In terms of who to support, I can't say one or the others. One used to be
certified (but probably technically isn't anymore), one probably should be
certified, and one probably still is. The way I see it, no matter who you buy
it from, as long as the hardware is sound and the way it's supposed to be,
you can do whatever you want with the software to bring it up to your
standards.
