Minifree Reviews 69

It has been over 14 months and I still have no laptop, and the owner won't respond to my inquiries, despite promising refunds on Twitter. This place is a scam. And now they're trading again, as retrofreedom. Avoid like the plague.

I've ordered an X200 tablet at Minifree in 2019. After I paid they went completely dark. Pursuing getting my money back isn't really worth the hassle, so I want this to be a warning to all potential future customers: Don't do business with Minifree or Leah Rowe (their CEO).

Placed order in September, 2019, didn’t not receive item TEN MONTHS after order, and suffered from very bad communication with Leah (the owner).

Likely to be months after she would possibly issue refund. If there will be any.

Avoid this company.

I have bought a number of machines from Minifree and they all run like proverbial guns. The build and service quality are top-notch. Nuff said.

Avoid at all cost. Ordered and paid for laptop in October 2019 over 3 months ago and nothing but a bunch of lame excuses on the website. No responses to emails. No laptop. Nothing. Now the website is up and taking new orders. Avoid at all cost.

I just went to minifree.org to order another laptop, and saw that it was "taking a break." I then saw the recent reviews and decided to put in my two cents. I ordered a laptop from this website maybe 2 years ago. I paid for it, it was shipped, and it arrived in perfect condition. I've used it heavily, indeed abusively, for 2 years- it is as rugged as they come. The software Leah installed took a bit of getting used to by a non-techie type like myself, but I use it now for my web browsing, emails, and the Libreoffice programs. The machine works fine. My mistake was ordering the tablet type of machine instead of just the simple type, which added weight to the unit without adding usefulness (for my case). I am under the impression that Leah works either alone or with very little staff. She charges very reasonable prices for her machines, and if there is a problem, she helps you (she sent me 2 support emails to help me get started properly). Perhaps her business outran her capacity to service it (that happens) or perhaps other issues came into play. To those who are angry with her delays at either responding or refunding, I would suggest to show a bit of human understanding for someone who offers an excellent product and ran out of either steam or capital or capacity. You are entitled to your machine or a refund. According to her web page, you will get it. Things happen in life. Between the cheap, rugged, and capable machines minifree offers, and spending $1000 on a new Dell XPS13 Developer, I'd rather keep buying machines from Leah.

I too have paid for a tablet (11 weeks ago) and received nothing. I sent lots of emails to Leah asking for updates and got a few responses, the last being 5 weeks ago when she told me that my laptop was ready and awaiting shipment. But nothing has arrived and nothing further from Leah. I have started legal proceedings against her and expect a full refund plus costs.
I recommend avoiding this company.

Jan 2020 I have now received a full refund from Leah, plus an apology.

I've paid weeks ago, no communication whatsoever and now there's a note on their website that minifree is temporarily out of business. After writing a review here that has been removed a week or so ago, it still looks like they ran away with my hard earned money. From my experience I can only recommend to avoid this company.

The service seems to have deteriorated considerably. I had already ordered an X200 in 2016 and received it quite quickly.
But now I wait almost one month after my order and payment for a feedback. I didn't get an answer to any of my e-mails.
Maybe I have been cheated, maybe everything takes only very long. I don't know.
To Leah Rowe if you're reading this: Is this the communism you want? Take the customers' money and don't contact them anymore.

I've ordered a Libreboot X200 Tablet exactly one month ago because I needed the delivery in Africa, expecting few days of shipping time . Sent the money by bank transfer (418 €), which Leah acknowledged adding that she would have been back with tracking number.
After one month I am still waiting the shipping number ( I guess the product was never shipped). I've sent half a dozen mails - including the refund request - none of which have been answered.
Today event the their site is down...
So they've got the money and quickly disappeared.
I only found good reviews before and the project was known in free software community and press, so it didn't look like a scam at the beginning. But now it does.
I will have to process them as my unlucky partners who gave them 1 star in these reviews hoping to recover my money.

I ordered my first X200 about half a year ago. I half expected the delivery to take a few weeks. As far as I could tell this is a really small company, but I heard positive feedback from people I trust, and know what they're talking about.
Communication about the order was clear, and swift. Delivery was a mere 8 days later. Which is impressive, considering what you're getting: this is not the usual Amazon / CoolBlue / ... webshop! A minor delay in delivery was due to UPS not shipping to mainland Europe during a weekend.
I am also impressed by the quality of the goods received, and the "getting started" instructions that are included. Clear and to the point. Packaging was really good as well.
I've now ordered a 2nd X200 for my son. The experience is the same. The laptop was delivered at home 8 days after placing the order, in the same impeccable state.
Thank you Leah and R. for your excellent service!

Update 6th August 2019: I have now received a refund, apology, and explanation from Leah regarding the below. Unfortunately it all boils down to mental health difficulties that apparently recur several times a year, resulting in orders not being processed. This is very sad, since I think the Libreboot project is worth supporting and Leah has now proven herself an honest person. She is also looking to hire another person to help prevent these kinds of issues. Nevertheless, as things stand, if you order from Minifree then there is a real chance that you and your order may just get ignored for an extended period of time. Hopefully moving forwards the new hire will be deal with customer communications and these issues will get resolved.

Original review:

Like other reviewers on this board I have had some serious problems with Minifree, to the point that I have now instigated legal action against them.

The facts of the dispute are as follows:

• On 21st July I paid £449.96 for a T400 computer and spare battery.
• On 24th July Leah Rowe confirmed receipt of payment via email.
• On 29th July Leah emailed me promising that the goods would be dispatched that day and provided me with a UPS tracking number.
• On 30th July I emailed Leah requesting an update on the transaction, because the UPS tracking information showed that the goods had not been dispatched. She failed to reply to that email.
• On 31st July I emailed Leah again asking for an update. She again failed to reply.
• On 1st August I emailed Leah again requesting either that the goods be shipped by 5pm on 2nd August or that a full refund be issued by that time. She again failed to reply.

I am therefore now taking legal action to recover my money and also reporting Minifree to Trading Standards. It has all the hallmarks of a scam company: insisting on payment by bank transfer, not delivering on promises, not delivering the goods, going silent on customers, etc. It makes me question whether the positive reviews on here are genuine or fake.

To make matters worse, Leah's Twitter feed from 24th July to 31st July shows not only that she was able to communicate online during this period, sending multiple tweets a day, but also that instead of dealing with my order she was too busy playing video games and watching the Handmaid's Tale.

There is the further dubious aspect that she is trying to raise money for the person she lives with. One has to wonder whether or not that is the purpose of the scam.

It may just be that Leah is an incredibly poor communicator with very poor executive functioning. Regardless, this is no way to run a business, and I have lost all trust in the company.

The bottom line is, Leah has taken my money and given me nothing in return, not even a reason for why the T400 failed to ship on time.

I would strongly advise avoiding this company.

I was recommended to Minifree by my security specialist, and they are just wonderful. My order came within a few days, the T400 box I bought seems pretty reliable, and initially I had trouble installing the software I need for my secure work environment. I contacted Leah, who replied overnight (she often seems to work til 2 or 3 a.m.) offering to do a system re-install to my specifications. So I shipped the box back to her and she did a very quick turnaround. I was then able to smoothly load my work environment. I had some further tricky moments with passwords, but again she was super helpful via email and got me going really quick.

I love the Minifree focus on security and privacy as well. Leah is really on it, which is very reassuring - her standards are far higher than mine, so I know that what I'm getting is super clean.

Finally, I reckon her prices are really reasonable for what you get. I get the feeling she's pitched her prices to get by rather than to make a fortune - more like she's oriented to community service rather than self-enrichment. Again, I find this very reassuring.

All in all, I highly recommend Minifree for reasonably priced good solid hardware that's highly security-oriented, backed up by excellent service.

Minifree is not Amazon. And that is a good thing.

True, we had to wait longer compared to usual vendors. (Then again postal & delivery service here in Germany is so crappy in general --due to privatisation-- that we're used to waiting.)

But whoever expects an Amazon-like experience I encourage to rethink your approach to such a small and idealistic company. You support a great project, and Jeff Bezos would never directly e-mail you to communicate about your order. Just add a little extra in your scheduling if you need a notebook at a certain point in time. Speaking of time, I saved tons of it by not having to install LibreBoot myself.
The package arrived in superb state with all ordered components. At NO time did I fear to be scamed.

I ordered an X200 Thinkpad from MiniFree in Jan 2019. Minifree is one of the very few companies selling truly free (as in freedom) laptops, including bios (thanks to the Libreboot project) & drivers.

First off, I want to highlight that my order got shipped very quickly – on the same day the payment was received. Communication from beginning to end was also very good, always clear, on time and professional. The parcel arrived in just a few days even though I am located in a different country. The items – the laptop and its docking station – were both very carefully packaged.

Even though it's a reconditioned item, the laptop looks almost new and performance is good. It was usable right away since it comes installed with Trisquel, a very easy-to-use GNU/Linux distribution approved by the Free Software Foundation – no installation or configuration needed.

One of the things that I especially liked is the hardware kill switch for wifi/bluetooth. Also the docking station includes an optical DVD/CD drive, something that has almost disappeared nowadays but that I still need from time to time.

I am very satisfied with the products and the service. I will definitely buy from Minifree again!

I ordered a X200 Thinkpad from MiniFree in Jan 2018, and I am overjoyed with it!
1) I'm always amazed that the x200 is now 10years old, yet it functions perfectly well - as well as many new laptops today!!! I only have the most basic specs (4gb RAM, 250gb HDD), which is perfect for my work needs, so I'm sure higher specs it would be much faster! I'd get higher specs (or the X400 I guess) if you want a higher performance machine (e.g. doing any kind of complex tasks e.g. video editing, I'd get more RAM).
It's also light and very compact (love how the keyboard is still full size)... other features like spill holes for draining liquids spilled on the keyboard, strong casing etc... just goes to show how tech is waaaaay ahead of its time compared to the average consumer products at any time.
2) I'm happy with Libreboot – boots very fast. And Trisquel – overall very simple to use. Had some minor issues configuring drivers e.g. for a graphics tablet I bought, and I find it's not as convenient as windows/mac for sure... but less convenience is the price paid for more control/'privacy' over your digital hardware and data...
3) Minifree Service: Unfortunately, when I ordered, Leah from minifree was dealing with certain things that meant the delivery of the laptop was heavily delayed. I didn't know what was going on for a couple of weeks, until she got back online and explained everything. She then did her absolute best to get it shipped asap, and I give her credit since then for improving her service massively and always getting back to me quickly when I asked her for technical support and advice on e.g. flashing an X60... she has also hired more people to help her with her work load and the Libreboot project which is her baby – and I really respect her work and give her total credit for being human and not having been perfect, but improving things massively.
So overall, I would recommend, for anyone looking for a totally functional, retro, awesome legendary laptop with Free Software Foundation certification, for a cheap price.

Update: after 2 months from my original purchase and a number of unanswered e-mails, Leah replied to me apologising and sent me a full refund. This does not fully compensate from the 2 months wait and for having to buy a laptop elsewhere in order to catch up with job stuff but at least now I know that Minifree is NOT a scam-company. There was a problem with customer support and lack of communication hence I am not sure I'd buy from them again. Leah, the owner, had a difficult time undergoing surgery and now she's recovering so things should be smoother for new customers. Unfortunately, my personal experience was not very pleasant but Libreboot remains a valid project worth supporting.

Original review:
I liked the idea behind Minifree and when my laptop stopped working I decided to order a Libreboot. This happened on the 12 July 2018 and after almost 2 months I haven't received my laptop nor any update to my order. At first, Leah kept on telling me that an employee was taking care of the order "quickly" (this was at the beginning of August) and I've waited patiently for weeks. Since the 9 August, she doesn't even bother replying to my e-mails and I thought that maybe she wasn't fine as she underwent surgery but then I saw she is been active on her personal website and I felt very disappointed. I feel I've been scammed because I put my trust in Leah and in her Minifree project and she won't send the laptop and not even reply to my e-mails to let me know what's going on with my order. I now just want my money back to buy something else from a more trustworthy seller.

Monday 03rd, September and from Minifree I have received niether an answer not my refund that I have being asking since 08 August 2018.
I made my Order on July 15th 2018.

After a long waiting time (about a month) my laptop arrived.
From packaging to the general state of the computer, everything is impeccable; carefully packed in bubble wrap was the laptop itself, charger, an extra battery and 3 sheets to accompany with general data and quick tips for working with a laptop with Libreboot.
The notebook was neatly clean, with everything running smoothly.

The less good it was the waiting time and the service of exchange of messages ... will have to evolve a lot in these 2 aspects, moreover, recommended.

I felt compelled to leave a review because of the mixed ratings here. My experience was good - I asked about a laptop, they answered, I ordered via email and paid the invoice via bank transfer.

Now I have a wonderful laptop that is the only viable option around that truly respects your freedom.