[lug] Experience with System76

[Brennen Bearnes]

This is probably like the 20th iteration of this message I've posted
somewhere or another.  I'll try to make this the last one.

My primary machine right now is a Galago Ultrapro, a model that looks
to have been discontinued for a bit.  Other folks I know use rebranded
machines from, I think, the same baseline manufacturer.

re: other distros, I'm running Debian Jessie at the moment without
substantial problems.  Occasionally it fails to sleep on closing the
lid and I wind up pulling a very hot laptop out of my bag.  Once in a
while it just turns off for no discernible reason.  These things also
happened under the System76-provided Ubuntu.  Battery life is bad, but
has actually improved quite a bit since I bought it, which I'm sure is
down to something in kernel or configuration that I am not smart &
motivated enough to have discovered yet.  Hardware-wise, internals are
really quite nice.  It's a respectable machine for running a pile of
VMs and compiling stuff on.  (This probably also has a lot to do with
bad battery life.)

The case and keyboard are in general super terrible, particularly for
a $1600+ laptop, although I'll give them credit for ease of
disassembly compared to other recent laptops I've tangled with.  The
one my SO uses is a much lower-end model but actually seems like a
better build, case and keyboard wise.  There's probably a bunch of
variation here within the product line, but if you are used to
ThinkPads or Apple hardware, you are unlikely to be thrilled.

I think at this point I'd buy a desktop system from them and expect
good value.  I'm unlikely to go for a laptop again because keyboard
quality is a bit of a dealbreaker and I feel sad about the most
expensive thing I own flexing in a stiff breeze as if made of
paperboard.

-- bpb