I am Tom Fichtner from Leipzig, soon to be based in Taiwan.
This website covers some of my work and a lot of my hobby photography.

Hello World!
I am soon to be based in Taiwan as an expat. I work for Schenker Technologies GmbH, a computer and laptop manufacturer from Leipzig, Germany. We specialize in customized, high-performance systems and we have a strong commitment on quality control, reliable support and community engagement.
Our main brands are bestware, XMG and SCHENKER. Another affiliated brand is TUXEDO, a sister company that specializes on providing full Linux to similar high-end and portable systems.
My responsibilities
With over 10 years of experience in this particular field, I share a number of responsibilities:
- Community Management, being the primary public-facing speaker before, during and after all product launches on traditional bulletin-boards and especially on Reddit with a solid degree of transparency and a rapid turnover of public perception into internal solutions and action
- Product Development, being the main contact window to our ODM system partners for high-end laptop products, managing the flow of information in both directions
- Product Testing, often being the first one to test engineering samples and leading the team that manages the day-to-day validation and deployment activities in Germany
- Quality Assurance / ODM Escalation Management, being the first and last line of defence when products do not act as intended, providing efficient solutions and rapid damage control
- Product Marketing and PR, feeding product definitions and unique selling points to product managers, PR contacts and various related teams
- Product Customization, managing most of the big and little things that make our products stand out against similar LOEM boutique brands, including software and firmware (BIOS) customization
- Documentation and FAQ, writing the bulk of non-legal and non-marketing driven public copy for this company in both English and German, including internal product- and support-related documentation
- Innovation Ambassador, driving suppliers and internal departments towards excellence and innovation while representing our brand to corporate-level contacts in semiconductor global leaders
Our websites:
- XMG.gg for XMG, our gaming brand
- bestware.com – our own built-to-order online shop
- tuxedocomputers.com – our friends at TUXEDO
Our social media and communities
If you would like to learn more about our products and see our community engagement in action, feel free to join any of our social media channels and forum communities. I sign all my comments and replies with my name, so you can go ahead and track my daily activities if you have nothing better to do. ;-)
- /r/XMG_gg – Our own subreddit is our main English-language forum for support and product discussion
- XMG/SCHENKER on Notebookcheck – Notebookcheck is hosting a German-language support forum for us. In this forum it’s possible to post anonymously without user registration
- XMG/SCHENKER on Computerbase – Similar to Notebookcheck, but with a much larger community overall
- XMG on Youtube – Most of our Youtube activity actually happens in other channels, when people review our product. Whenever someone posts a high-profile review, I’m ususally pinned in the comments with an “Ask me anything” thread where I reply to community questions in real-time. For some recent best-of reviews, check the list below.
- XMG on Instragram – Original content around eSports and classical marketing activities – usually handled by other team members
- XMG on Twitter – Follow us on Twitter, but also follow my own private account
- XMG on Facebook – Yes, we are on Facebook. It’s like IG and Twitter but with even more ads!
Hall of fame
I am listing a few personal favorites of content that I was involved in. For the product reviews, I was either the main contact window to the reviewer or I had a pretty heavy hand in developing or pushing forward the particular product. Sometimes both.
Product Reviews & Trailers
- The Most Powerful Laptop EVER!!! [LinusTechTips]
- INSANE: 16 Core AMD Desktop CPU in a NOTEBOOK. Ah yea and I added some Liquid Nitrogen [der8auer]
- The CRAZY laptop manufacturer you’ve never heard of… [LinusTechTips]
- The Razer Blade Defeated?! 😱 XMG NEO 15 Review [PCCentric]
- XMG Fusion 15 – GAMING Laptop | 4K EDITING | RGB | 1.89KG [mboxDE]
- XMG WALKER – Der VR Backpack-PC von XMG [Offizieller Trailer]
Community Topics
I’m often told by partners in Taiwan that my e-mails are too long. Perhaps some of their screens are too small. Our customers seem to appreciate our verbose, transparent and data-driven writing style. Here are a few significant threads and documents I have written recently for SCHENKER/XMG:
- First Steps & Troubleshooting: comprehensive guide for beginners and experts alike
- #1 in Service and Support: major award given by readers of Notebookcheck
- CPU Undervolting in BIOS Setup for XMG and SCHENKER: politics and overview
- [Insights] Undervolting on Comet Lake (10th Gen Intel Core): deep dive into risks and benefits on the latest gen
- BIOS and Tuning on XMG CORE with AMD Renoir: take a semi-deep dive into a new product platform
- XMG FUSION 15: Major Update on BIOS and Control Center: Launch thread for a huge content update in June 2020
- Our plans for XMG FUSION 15 in 2020
- XMG APEX 15 Launch Thread: everything you need to know about the world’s first laptop with AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
In the future I hope to be able to extend this hobby and publish articles on my personal blog and other outlets.
Follow me
You can follow me on:
- My Twitter
- My Instagram
- My RSS feed list (coming soon)
Or just send me an e-mail.