[lug] Jeffrey, please add me to your LinkedIn network

[Brennen Bearnes]

On Mon, Dec 15, 2014 at 2:10 PM, Jeffrey S. Haemer <
jeffrey.haemer+linkedin at gmail.com> wrote:


> Since I need new hardware, I wonder if you know anything about "System 76"
> there in Colo.  Apparently, they sell machines pre-loaded with Linux --
> usually Ubuntu ( which I'm OK with.)
>

What I'm about to say, I say only reluctantly, because I've had a very
positive experience of their customer service (I got a call from someone in
their Denver office shortly after placing my order), and I appreciate that
they're selling pre-installed Linux boxes.

With that out of the way, I just can't recommend their product for most use
cases.  I got a Galago UltraPro earlier this year:

https://system76.com/laptops/galago

Upsides:

- Really nice display.
- Good number of ports, built-in ethernet.
- Generally beefy hardware specs - it's fast, 4 cores, and has lots of
memory.
- Thin profile - it's no Macbook, but for the screen size it's not going to
take up crazy amounts of space in your bag.
- Keyboard's not great, but it's serviceable.

Downsides:

- Overall build quality is mediocre-to-bad.
- Screen's flimsy, ethernet jack is terrible.
- The trackpad is garbage.  Basically unusable, especially if you want to
use right/middle click for, well, anything ever.
- Battery life is just unbelievably bad.

That last is what really kills it for me.  Given the processor, screen,
etc., I don't expect a huge amount of runtime on battery when awake.
What's sort of boggling is that it doesn't last all that much longer when
suspended.  Maybe I'm spoiled, but I've gotten used to being able to close
a laptop and leave it unplugged for *days*.  This critter, more often than
not, has already run the battery down and shut off by the time I get it
back out of a bag, even on relatively short trips.  It *might* last 6 or 7
hours suspended, but I wouldn't count on it.

For the money, get a ThinkPad.  (I've had my ups and downs on build quality
with newer Lenovo ThinkPads, including my most recent one, an X230, but
I've come back around to thinking that they're pretty much unbeatable in
the "actually runs Linux without pulling your hair out" space, and the
keyboard with eraser mouse is still pretty great, even after recent layout
tweaks.)

-- Brennen
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