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After the busy work of using Linux and making a hobby of configuration (I think I started in 1992 with Slackware), it was so nice buying a System76 laptop last

After the busy work of using Linux and making a hobby of configuration (I think I started in 1992 with Slackware), it was so nice buying a System76 laptop last fall and having everything ‘just work.’

acomjean 8y ago
I have the laptop too. It does just work in a way that made phasing out my Mac book pro easier than expected. It’s not perfect but I haven’t had to spend much time on dealing with the os which is what I wanted and their “value add”. I don’t do much Linux system work, I just want to develop. For a desktop I’d expect replacing Linux would be easier, but if it’s like their notebooks having a easy to support system it probably worth the premium. That being said, what’s wrong with larger desktops that support 3.5 inch drives. I like cheap slow storage, but I work in bioinformatics.
- SirensOfTitan 8y ago
  How's the battery life? I'm deeply considering a non-Apple laptop as my next purchase, but have read that System76 laptops just don't last battery wise.
  - TuringNYC 8y ago
    You need to compare apples to apples though...The MBP doesnt have a high-end NVIDIA card. My System76 lasts about an hour w/o power. However you can shut off or reduce the power on your GPU and it will last longer.
    - chrisseaton 8y ago
      Wow that’s more like a desktop with a UPS than a laptop.
      - TuringNYC 8y ago
        I work at a GPU-powered in-memory DB startup. So well...fast GPUs and memory are pretty important :-) So in that light, the System76 is a lifesaver. It is nicer than a desktop as many of us take the laptop home. Also, for light lounge usage and workshops/presentations, we usually turn off the GPU for longer life.
    - acomjean 8y ago
      I can get 2-3 hours on my system 76 if I switch to the internal intel graphics. The machine I have requires a restart to do this. It’s one of the more annoying things because it won’t drive an external monitor without the Nvidia stack. So it’s more like a portable workstation than a “work at the coffee shop all day” kinda of note book
  - ZeroCool2u 8y ago
    I went this route, but I went with the Dell XPS 13 Developer edition, which comes with pure, supported, Ubuntu. Great battery life. Even the track pad is solid.
  - truncate 8y ago
    I use Dell XPS (2015) 4k model with Linux installed. I'm super happy with the laptop so far. I bought a refurbished i7 model when I was student, it still is the best laptop investment I've made so far. The issues I've had with it: 1. I had to change my power adapter twice. I dunno why it has such low life. But an original new one is just costs around $20. 2. Since, it was non-developer edition came with broadcom wifi card, I switched it to Intel which has much better Linux drivers IMO. I think they now use some "Killers" wifi module. I've no idea how they are. 3. After 3 years, it stopped charging because the power socket was damaged. I think it wasn't unexpected because of my rough use, and often bending the cable there. I got it fixed for around $130. In hindsight, it probably wasn't hard thing to fix, as long as I can get the part from eBay. 4. After 3.5 years, the battery life got really bad (like < 2 hours on 4k). I bought an original battery from eBay and replacing it was pretty easy. Now I think I get like 7 hrs on 1080p, and maybe little less than 5 on 4k. 5. Using 4k resolution on GNOME is kind of laggy. I think its mostly software issue than hardware. Unity used to work great, and I think Windows was smooth too. The body is still solid, and I think I can use it for another couple years for all my development needs. I really like the carbon fiber finish. Its usually pretty warm and comfortable (when you first open it), unlike aluminium bodies which gets chilly.
    - voltagex_ 8y ago
      Also use a 9350 (I think that's what you have). I have absolutely no idea why Dell use such terrible wifi cards. It gets worse - the 9380 (this years' model) has a "Killer" card that's soldered in. Back to Lenovo for me. If you find a source for the rubber strips on the bottom of the Dell, let me know. Dell's answer is to replace the entire bottom panel at a cost of $300AUD.
      - truncate 8y ago
        I've one gen older -- 9343 (early 2015). >> I have absolutely no idea why Dell use such terrible wifi cards. It gets worse - the 9380 (this years' model) has a "Killer" That absolutely sucks. It is particularly annoying when a product that is so close to being perfect, screws up with something so trivial and obvious. A bad wifi is definitely a dealbreaker, whatever the other upsides are. Maybe its just easier to buy the complete bottom panel from eBay, which is still much cheaper than $300 AUD. [1] https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-DELL-XPS-13-9350-SERIES-BOTTOM-CASE-COVER-NKRWG-0NKRWG-E1-05/173015617894?epid=2149585809&hash=item284888d166:g:q3QAAOSwdjdaJYP~:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-DELL-XPS-13-9350-SERIES-BOTTOM-...
TuringNYC 8y ago
I use a high-end System76 for work (~10+hrs a day) and love it. The only problem seems to be multi-monitor support. The screens go into strange resolutions. They flick on and off. I've never had strange issues on other system with 2 or 3 monitor support (currently do this at home w/ a Lenovo + 3 monitors and with my wife w/ a MBP + 3 monitors.)
- acomjean 8y ago
  I haven't had this problem with my "Oryx". I'm running the laptop monitor, a dell 24" vertical and old dell "Dual link dvi" 30 monitor. Sometimes I plug into a hight dpi 28". Thats hit or miss depending on the applications. There are a few that don't scale well at all. The only problem I have sometimes is the apple thunder (lightning?) adapter sometimes doesn't wake up, so I have to unplug the usb cable thats powering it.
markbnj 8y ago
Agreed, that was my experience buying a gazelle laptop a couple of years ago. I still use it daily and have never had an issue with the software. They also make it trivial to reinstall by providing all needed drivers in installable packages. Now if they could just get the build quality where it needs to be it would really be a great experience. With mine, generally, the software was the high point and the hardware was the low point.

acomjean 8y ago

I have the laptop too. It does just work in a way that made phasing out my Mac book pro easier than expected. It’s not perfect but I haven’t had to spend much time on dealing with the os which is what I wanted and their “value add”. I don’t do much Linux system work, I just want to develop. For a desktop I’d expect replacing Linux would be easier, but if it’s like their notebooks having a easy to support system it probably worth the premium. That being said, what’s wrong with larger desktops that support 3.5 inch drives. I like cheap slow storage, but I work in bioinformatics.

SirensOfTitan 8y ago
How's the battery life? I'm deeply considering a non-Apple laptop as my next purchase, but have read that System76 laptops just don't last battery wise.
- TuringNYC 8y ago
  You need to compare apples to apples though...The MBP doesnt have a high-end NVIDIA card. My System76 lasts about an hour w/o power. However you can shut off or reduce the power on your GPU and it will last longer.
  - chrisseaton 8y ago
    Wow that’s more like a desktop with a UPS than a laptop.
    - TuringNYC 8y ago
      I work at a GPU-powered in-memory DB startup. So well...fast GPUs and memory are pretty important :-) So in that light, the System76 is a lifesaver. It is nicer than a desktop as many of us take the laptop home. Also, for light lounge usage and workshops/presentations, we usually turn off the GPU for longer life.
  - acomjean 8y ago
    I can get 2-3 hours on my system 76 if I switch to the internal intel graphics. The machine I have requires a restart to do this. It’s one of the more annoying things because it won’t drive an external monitor without the Nvidia stack. So it’s more like a portable workstation than a “work at the coffee shop all day” kinda of note book
- ZeroCool2u 8y ago
  I went this route, but I went with the Dell XPS 13 Developer edition, which comes with pure, supported, Ubuntu. Great battery life. Even the track pad is solid.
- truncate 8y ago
  I use Dell XPS (2015) 4k model with Linux installed. I'm super happy with the laptop so far. I bought a refurbished i7 model when I was student, it still is the best laptop investment I've made so far. The issues I've had with it: 1. I had to change my power adapter twice. I dunno why it has such low life. But an original new one is just costs around $20. 2. Since, it was non-developer edition came with broadcom wifi card, I switched it to Intel which has much better Linux drivers IMO. I think they now use some "Killers" wifi module. I've no idea how they are. 3. After 3 years, it stopped charging because the power socket was damaged. I think it wasn't unexpected because of my rough use, and often bending the cable there. I got it fixed for around $130. In hindsight, it probably wasn't hard thing to fix, as long as I can get the part from eBay. 4. After 3.5 years, the battery life got really bad (like < 2 hours on 4k). I bought an original battery from eBay and replacing it was pretty easy. Now I think I get like 7 hrs on 1080p, and maybe little less than 5 on 4k. 5. Using 4k resolution on GNOME is kind of laggy. I think its mostly software issue than hardware. Unity used to work great, and I think Windows was smooth too. The body is still solid, and I think I can use it for another couple years for all my development needs. I really like the carbon fiber finish. Its usually pretty warm and comfortable (when you first open it), unlike aluminium bodies which gets chilly.
  - voltagex_ 8y ago
    Also use a 9350 (I think that's what you have). I have absolutely no idea why Dell use such terrible wifi cards. It gets worse - the 9380 (this years' model) has a "Killer" card that's soldered in. Back to Lenovo for me. If you find a source for the rubber strips on the bottom of the Dell, let me know. Dell's answer is to replace the entire bottom panel at a cost of $300AUD.
    - truncate 8y ago
      I've one gen older -- 9343 (early 2015). >> I have absolutely no idea why Dell use such terrible wifi cards. It gets worse - the 9380 (this years' model) has a "Killer" That absolutely sucks. It is particularly annoying when a product that is so close to being perfect, screws up with something so trivial and obvious. A bad wifi is definitely a dealbreaker, whatever the other upsides are. Maybe its just easier to buy the complete bottom panel from eBay, which is still much cheaper than $300 AUD. [1] https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-DELL-XPS-13-9350-SERIES-BOTTOM-CASE-COVER-NKRWG-0NKRWG-E1-05/173015617894?epid=2149585809&hash=item284888d166:g:q3QAAOSwdjdaJYP~:rk:2:pf:1&frcectupt=true https://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-DELL-XPS-13-9350-SERIES-BOTTOM-...

TuringNYC 8y ago

I use a high-end System76 for work (~10+hrs a day) and love it. The only problem seems to be multi-monitor support. The screens go into strange resolutions. They flick on and off. I've never had strange issues on other system with 2 or 3 monitor support (currently do this at home w/ a Lenovo + 3 monitors and with my wife w/ a MBP + 3 monitors.)

acomjean 8y ago
I haven't had this problem with my "Oryx". I'm running the laptop monitor, a dell 24" vertical and old dell "Dual link dvi" 30 monitor. Sometimes I plug into a hight dpi 28". Thats hit or miss depending on the applications. There are a few that don't scale well at all. The only problem I have sometimes is the apple thunder (lightning?) adapter sometimes doesn't wake up, so I have to unplug the usb cable thats powering it.

markbnj 8y ago

Agreed, that was my experience buying a gazelle laptop a couple of years ago. I still use it daily and have never had an issue with the software. They also make it trivial to reinstall by providing all needed drivers in installable packages. Now if they could just get the build quality where it needs to be it would really be a great experience. With mine, generally, the software was the high point and the hardware was the low point.