I own one of these as my daily driver. Its... fine.
Pros
- dead simple to upgrade the hardware. I was able to get 32GB of RAM and 3 1TB hard drives installed with no hassle or voiding of warranty.
- its a beast of a machine when you spec it out capable of any workload you throw at it.
- linux support is 1st class (obvs)
- all aluminum chassis
- the display is nice even tho its only 1080p
- the keyboard key action is nice. I have a thinkpad for work and they are similar feel.
- PopOS is amazing.
- the backlit keyboard is cool
Cons
- you cant use external monitors without the NVIDIA card enabled which requires a reboot. This is the single largest failing IMO and is more annoying than you'd think it is.
- you only get about an hour of battery life with the NVIDIA card enabled making it totally useless to keep on unless you plan on using this thing like a desktop all the time.
- its a rebranded Clevo laptop and kinda ugly. It feels cheap to me despite the aluminum chassis.
- the keyboard layout is weird. The number pad is unnecessary.
- the speakers suck. Seriously. Like my headphones lying on my desk sound better
- web cam is crappy
- the screen itself feels flimsy
- I dual boot into windows and its a second rate experience there.
> - you cant use external monitors without the NVIDIA card enabled which requires a reboot. This is the single largest failing IMO and is more annoying than you'd think it is.
> - you only get about an hour of battery life with the NVIDIA card enabled making it totally useless to keep on unless you plan on using this thing like a desktop all the time.
With these 2 caveats I'm surprised you still think it's fine! I guess it depends on your work situation and pain tolerance. If I had to toggle graphics cards and reboot every time I detached or re-attached my laptop from/to my desk-with-external-monitor setup... Well, I wouldn't be happy about that.
I'd pay a 100 Euro extra to remove the number pad and center the keyboard and the touchpad. Having to slide any laptop to the right is so annoying (the space bar must align with the center of the body, no matter what.)
While I do like my Gazelle a lot, to add to the GPU issues: It is capable of running 2x 3440x1440 with the internal screen on, but not if one of them is used vertically. As in, it will work, just not rotate. Once you close the lid (and disable the internal display), it suddenly works. That is something that just amazes me. Does it take that much more GPU power to run a large screen rotated 270 degrees?
This is crazy. The hybrid graphics approach has been around for a decade, and I had one of the very early ones in 2010, running Windows 7, and even that one didn't require a reboot to switch. It switched automatically based on load, just like Macbook Pros do (it had a bit of a display blink when doing so, but still).
Is this some kind of limitation with Linux itself?
What's worse, they have zero information about the quality of this screen. It's almost certainly not HDR. Does it even cover the sRGB gamut? Plus there's no option for a glossy coating, no information about viewable angles, no option for 4K, etc etc.
One of the primary ways I judge the quality of a laptop offering is by the quality of the screen the manufacturer is willing to put in it. If they're not skimping on the screen, it's a good sign for the quality of the rest of the product. And every single Linux-first manufacturer has fallen down here. The general expectation from them seems to be that you'll pay mid-level Mac prices for mid level Dell-quality products, in exchange for first class Linux support.
It's really too bad, because I'd pay the premium for a high quality build with great components that would last me a decade. Not so much for this, though.
> its a rebranded Clevo laptop and kinda ugly. It feels cheap to me despite the aluminum chassis.
I've been interested in buying a System76 unit for awhile (specifically a Darter Pro), but I've always been concerned about their sourcing from Clevo. I previously owned a Sager which was also sourcing from Clevo at the time and the build quality was absolutely horrible.
Can anyone who has used a System76 for awhile chime in regarding the longevity of the hardware?
This is absolutely crazy why are we still putting screens into laptops that would be disappointing on a CRT from the year 2000? How can you work with just a thousand lines?
Work bought us System76 Gazelle laptops [1]. Quick thoughts after six months of use, coming from a MacBook Pro user:
* Chiclet keyboard feels nice to type on
* Plastic fake brushed-metal case is
* Battery life is about an hour, almost unusable away from a charger. If I were spending my own money on this laptop, this would be a dealbreaker.
* Built-in display sucks. It's allegedly matte, but still has incredibly high reflectiveness. 1080p resolution and just okay LCD color reproduction
* Fan noise is a serious issue. I made the mistake of un-muting myself on a video call while the fans were going and other people on the call immediately muted me. They thought I was in a wind tunnel.
* Webcam quality is low. Video calls with an open window behind you mean you will be washed out by backlighting
* Performance is great. Runs a bunch of simultaneous headless Chrome browsers in Docker and completes our unit test suite pretty quickly.
* The trackpad is truly horrendous. I use tap to click on my MBP, and I had to turn that off on the Gazelle real fast. Palm rejection is nonexistent - had false clicks every 15 minutes. That is not an exaggeration.
* Keyboard is backlit
* USB-A, HDMI, ethernet means it's easy to use it as a desktop
* Built-in speakers sound tinny and low-quality
* Large and clunky, but weight isn't bad
I'm torn: Ubuntu and GNU/Linux generally are excellent developer environments, but the laptop hardware is horrible. It feels like the $600 Windows machines my friends used in college.
I love that this is a professional laptop that comes with a 144hz screen. But 1080p? Not even 1920x1200? Boo..
I want to replace my aging MacBook Pro and move to Linux, but finding a non-gaming laptop with a good screen seems to be an impossibility.
Edit - To the people recommending laptops in this thread:
Thanks for the suggestions, but none of them so far have had a 144hz screen. It's very hard to go back to 60hz after using a higher refresh rate monitor, even for simple things like literally moving a mouse around the screen and looking at the cursor.
The only 144hz laptops I've found are 1080p, and that extra 120px of vertical room is a luxury I'm not yet willing to part with.
Really wish they would get rid of the numpad layout and center that touchpad or make it bigger. Really bothers me that the touchpad isn’t centered, makes it awkward.
Maybe I'm weird, but when I bought my current laptop 2 years ago I specifically looked for one with a numpad, as I occasionally need to insert numbers into spreadsheets (working on replacing this workflow but I have a feeling it's still going to be manual number input overall, and some documents I extract numbers from are not copy-paste-able).
I found it convenient to have the numpad available at all times and the muscle memory I developed while typing on it makes the process less frustrating than looking all the time at the number row on the main keyboard body. As I understand it, the laptops with no numpad have a toggle that turns keys on the right side into a numpad, don't remember how exactly, might be vendor specific, some even have numeric markings on those keys, but the keys are laid out slanted, not in a square grid like the real numpad, so it's less precise that knowing you can feel the bump on the no. 5 key and to get to the others you just have to move straight up/down/left/right.
The fact that the touchpad is not centered never bothered me at all; I use a macbook for work, which is centered, and I felt no difference in hand position or comfort. In fact, the inverted position of CTRL and FN were (and still are) way more frustrating to deal with, even the switch to ISO keyboard from ANSI was less frustrating that that, but the off center touchpad/keys, never.
I've never expressed this wish anywhere before and I'm pretty sure it will never happen[0] but, anyway, here it goes: Can laptop manufacturers please standardize their laptop<>keyboard hardware interface, so that we can finally have custom laptop keyboards? (Think ErgoDox for ThinkPads.) Actually, I'd already be happy if only Lenovo did that with their ThinkPads…
[0] Especially not given the current trend for laptops to become thinner and thinner.
They might have chosen that due to their intended audience. The numpad is pretty handy for many professional applications. Let's say you are using Blender - there are many keys bound to the numpad. You can work without those, but it's awkward. Not to mention applications requiring lots of numeric input.
You could plug in an external numpad(or better yet, a bluetooth one). But this is a laptop, it's one more thing to carry.
I personally don't require a numpad these days - I'm typing this on a mechanic keyboard without one. Have I missed it occasionally? Yes. Would I prefer a laptop without one? Yes. Give me more keyboard real state and a better layout.
Now, the off-center small touchpad is the biggest offender here, IMHO. This is a design reminiscent of early 2010 cheap 15.6" laptops. Maybe it's a good touchpad. But I am already prejudiced against it, because it looks like the old synaptics (or the even worse competitor I forgot the name). They don't provide any details in the specs, they just say "multitouch".
Up to 64GB RAM (more than more people need), up to 4TB of fast NVMe SSD storage (more than most people use), an NVIDIA 8GB RTX 2080 GPU (you know, for training deep learning models on the road, if you ever feel like it), every port you could ever need and more (includes USB 3.2 Type-C w/Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.2 powered and unpowered, SD Card Reader, Wired Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI w/HDCP, Mini DisplayPort 1.4, regular Thunderbolt 3 -- it can be connected to everything), all in a fairly slim 4-5lb package. Not bad.
It's awesome to see Coreboot on a laptop with discrete graphics.
Sadly, though, this is a bittersweet deal imo, since you will get NVIDIA's trademark Linux experience, including binary blobs that occasionally prevent you from updating to the latest stable kernel and practically being stuck with Xorg for the rest of your life. I understand that NVIDIA simply has the best options (or at least, that would be my guess) but it's hard to still not be a little disappointed since I've been having a great time with AMDGPU on my desktop, running Wayland, up-to-date kernels and having great system stability.
In my niche at least (ML, data engineering) one of the main reasons to go with a Linux laptop instead of MacOS is so that you can run GPU accelerated ML workloads (i.e. CUDA) in development without shipping all your data to the cloud. I've been a happy System76 customer for years and I think this use case is fairly common for them -- they even ship a fantastic "out of the box" TensorFlow/CUDA setup (https://support.system76.com/articles/install-tensorflow/) that has saved me days of dev time over my career so far. It's totally reliant on NVIDIA's products of course, but unlike AMD, Nvidia has heavily invested into the deep learning community so there's not really an alternative.
System76 is likely going to fab their own laptops (instead of using Clevo as an ODM) within the next 2-3 years (just a hunch I have based on how long it took for them to go from talking about fabricating desktops to doing it).
If you really want a great Linux-first laptop, copy/paste all of your complaints/desires for hardware from here into that repository.
Top of the list for me:
- High powered laptop (e.g. 47W TDP CPU) without a graphics card.
- Centered keyboard without a numpad.
- 14" 1080p option for high-end laptops.
Edit - Formatting + I used to work there, but this is NOT based on anything from when I did - just speculation. It was an AWESOME place to work as a Linux nerd though. :)
I know, I know - getting a laptop with linux running natively is great, but seriously folks - just go buy something like an XPS 13 or Razer Blade for the same cost and put Linux on it.
You'll get an infinitely better piece of hardware.
The Blade tops out at 16GB of ram and the XPS 13 only allows integrated graphics.
I've heard complaints on HN about S76's keyboard and display choices before but this categorical dismissal of them feels remarkably unfair and frankly, false.
I bought an Ubuntu XPS 13 and Dell mailed me a Windows XPS 13. I spent some hours on the phone with support to asses if I should keep the device or return it. The support techs (many of them) seemed to agree I would be running into multiple significant troubles if I installed Ubuntu on their Windows XPS 13. I returned it.
Now I'm on a System76 Galago Pro. It isn't perfect but gosh it has served me well these years.
I bought a system76, because I didn't want to give MS money. It was janky and broke a year later. It had a lot of problems with the wireless connection dropping.
So I bought a zareason laptop. It was basically the same hardware, it was janky and lasted two years.
So then I splurged on a Thinkpad via LAC Portland, and it's been pretty wonderful. I just wish I could buy them from Lenovo directly.
This is almost ideal for what i'm looking for in a laptop. I wish there was an option to get a better screen and no nvidia.
I might be in the small group who wants this, but i wish it was easy to find a 15" laptop with a CPU like the one in oryx but without an NVIDIA gpu. I'd like to have a better cpu and i don't mind a laptop that's larger than the xps 13 or carbon, but i don't need/want a dedicated nvidia gpu. While we are wishing for things, please make more laptops with higher dpi screens. There are a lot of options for 1080p or lower, but very few good options (outside of macbooks or dell xps) that have high quality UHD displays.
I'm on the market for a new laptop and the screen quality is the only reason i'm even contemplating a macbook.
Doing a search by laptop spec [1], there is exactly one laptop model, the Lenovo Legion Y740S-15IMH [2] that has an i7-10875H CPU, a 4K display, and no dGPU. Sadly, it seems to have pretty limited region availability so far (see the PSREF listing to check).
If you're willing to forgo the 4K display (a 15.6" 1080P screen at 24" is >60ppd, so it should be close to a "retina" display [3]) then you might have another option (the one I've been looking at). The latest AMD 4800H processors perform neck and neck with the i7-10875H (with much better power/perf) [4] and there's one ODM, Tongfang, that has a Renoir refresh (model PF5NU1G) that looks like it might be the best option available this generation (I'm looking for much the same thing as you - the highest CPU power possible, no dGPU for better battery life and less Linux hassle). It's using the same (1.5kg 15") chassis as their older Picasso model (see the Schenker VIA 15 NBC review for a good overview [5]) but with some notable improvements:
* Improved dual fan, dual heat pipe cooling means it can boost to 65W and sustain 54W CPU performance
* Dual channel, dual DDR4-3200 SODIMM slots (but the tradeoff is now only 1 M.2 slot)
* slight display upgrade from N156HCE-EN1 [6] to a NV156FHM-N67 [7] - matte, 300nit, 100% sRGB, dE<2, 1000:1 contrast ratio FHD screen w/ DC (not PWM) dimming
* USB-C PD (Power Delivery) support added, but no DP (DisplayPort alt mode); but has HDMI 2.0 support for a single 4K@60 external output
It's currently on-sale already in China as the Mechrevo Code 01 for ~$750 [8] and is supposed to be coming to Schenker/Tuxedo soon (lots of technical details and an interesting discussion in DE here [9]). Eluktronics should be bringing it to the US soon as well [10]. I'd expect a price point of around 1000 USD/EUR.
That was disappointing when this thing also has the specs to be a decent gaming laptop if the GPU was usable in Windows. Not to say there aren't some great games available on Linux, but they're still the minority.
I suspect those of us outside of System76 can only speculate, but it definitely has to do with the firmware. My best guess is the firmware must be initializing the GPU enough to get it up for Linux but not Windows, or dual booting requires a boot path that does not currently support initializing the GPU. I believe, from my limited experience hacking with laptops, that rather than use the traditional mechanisms for initializing PCI cards, video cards on laptops, particularly hybrid graphics ones, need special initialization on the laptop firmware itself.
What is the difference between buying a Clevo and installing PopOS versus buying a System76 laptop?
As a Linux user, I'm generally just looking for a nice piece of hardware with good Linux support, and I have never felt Clevo /Sager were particularly good quality.
I like their OS, but I will be interested in their laptops when they build their own chasis like they did with the Thelio desktop[0] & offer something other than Intel CPUs.
Is this worth it? I've eyed System76 laptops for a while, just to see what the experience is like to run a laptop build with Linux integration in mind.
On eBay, you can get a 32GB RAM, mid-range i5/i7, with RTX-2060 6GB for ~$1,300 used.
It looks like ~$1,800 for the same specs (though brand new, and with a better CPU since it's 10th gen i7).
I'm not a hardware guy, can anyone here weigh in? Would really appreciate it.
Don't have a ton of money, I've been using a $650 Acer Nitro 5 with 8GB RAM + GTX 1060Ti (absolute steal) for few years but it's been freezing multiple times a day recently (lots of containers, my IDE, etc) so trying to future-proof best I can for max value.
I do wish System76 could sell a Lenovo P53 and/or the new Dell XPS 17, but with pop installed with all the right drivers etc. It's worth the premium IMO to get a laptop you know will work well with linux.
[+] [-] vikingcaffiene|5 years ago|reply
Pros
- dead simple to upgrade the hardware. I was able to get 32GB of RAM and 3 1TB hard drives installed with no hassle or voiding of warranty.
- its a beast of a machine when you spec it out capable of any workload you throw at it.
- linux support is 1st class (obvs)
- all aluminum chassis
- the display is nice even tho its only 1080p
- the keyboard key action is nice. I have a thinkpad for work and they are similar feel.
- PopOS is amazing.
- the backlit keyboard is cool
Cons
- you cant use external monitors without the NVIDIA card enabled which requires a reboot. This is the single largest failing IMO and is more annoying than you'd think it is.
- you only get about an hour of battery life with the NVIDIA card enabled making it totally useless to keep on unless you plan on using this thing like a desktop all the time.
- its a rebranded Clevo laptop and kinda ugly. It feels cheap to me despite the aluminum chassis.
- the keyboard layout is weird. The number pad is unnecessary.
- the speakers suck. Seriously. Like my headphones lying on my desk sound better
- web cam is crappy
- the screen itself feels flimsy
- I dual boot into windows and its a second rate experience there.
[+] [-] vosper|5 years ago|reply
> - you only get about an hour of battery life with the NVIDIA card enabled making it totally useless to keep on unless you plan on using this thing like a desktop all the time.
With these 2 caveats I'm surprised you still think it's fine! I guess it depends on your work situation and pain tolerance. If I had to toggle graphics cards and reboot every time I detached or re-attached my laptop from/to my desk-with-external-monitor setup... Well, I wouldn't be happy about that.
[+] [-] pmontra|5 years ago|reply
I'd pay a 100 Euro extra to remove the number pad and center the keyboard and the touchpad. Having to slide any laptop to the right is so annoying (the space bar must align with the center of the body, no matter what.)
[+] [-] otter-in-a-suit|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _bxg1|5 years ago|reply
This is crazy. The hybrid graphics approach has been around for a decade, and I had one of the very early ones in 2010, running Windows 7, and even that one didn't require a reboot to switch. It switched automatically based on load, just like Macbook Pros do (it had a bit of a display blink when doing so, but still).
Is this some kind of limitation with Linux itself?
[+] [-] bscphil|5 years ago|reply
What's worse, they have zero information about the quality of this screen. It's almost certainly not HDR. Does it even cover the sRGB gamut? Plus there's no option for a glossy coating, no information about viewable angles, no option for 4K, etc etc.
One of the primary ways I judge the quality of a laptop offering is by the quality of the screen the manufacturer is willing to put in it. If they're not skimping on the screen, it's a good sign for the quality of the rest of the product. And every single Linux-first manufacturer has fallen down here. The general expectation from them seems to be that you'll pay mid-level Mac prices for mid level Dell-quality products, in exchange for first class Linux support.
It's really too bad, because I'd pay the premium for a high quality build with great components that would last me a decade. Not so much for this, though.
[+] [-] OminousWeapons|5 years ago|reply
I've been interested in buying a System76 unit for awhile (specifically a Darter Pro), but I've always been concerned about their sourcing from Clevo. I previously owned a Sager which was also sourcing from Clevo at the time and the build quality was absolutely horrible.
Can anyone who has used a System76 for awhile chime in regarding the longevity of the hardware?
[+] [-] epanchin|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chrisseaton|5 years ago|reply
This is absolutely crazy why are we still putting screens into laptops that would be disappointing on a CRT from the year 2000? How can you work with just a thousand lines?
[+] [-] apozem|5 years ago|reply
* Chiclet keyboard feels nice to type on
* Plastic fake brushed-metal case is
* Battery life is about an hour, almost unusable away from a charger. If I were spending my own money on this laptop, this would be a dealbreaker.
* Built-in display sucks. It's allegedly matte, but still has incredibly high reflectiveness. 1080p resolution and just okay LCD color reproduction
* Fan noise is a serious issue. I made the mistake of un-muting myself on a video call while the fans were going and other people on the call immediately muted me. They thought I was in a wind tunnel.
* Webcam quality is low. Video calls with an open window behind you mean you will be washed out by backlighting
* Performance is great. Runs a bunch of simultaneous headless Chrome browsers in Docker and completes our unit test suite pretty quickly.
* The trackpad is truly horrendous. I use tap to click on my MBP, and I had to turn that off on the Gazelle real fast. Palm rejection is nonexistent - had false clicks every 15 minutes. That is not an exaggeration.
* Keyboard is backlit
* USB-A, HDMI, ethernet means it's easy to use it as a desktop
* Built-in speakers sound tinny and low-quality
* Large and clunky, but weight isn't bad
I'm torn: Ubuntu and GNU/Linux generally are excellent developer environments, but the laptop hardware is horrible. It feels like the $600 Windows machines my friends used in college.
[+] [-] apazzolini|5 years ago|reply
I want to replace my aging MacBook Pro and move to Linux, but finding a non-gaming laptop with a good screen seems to be an impossibility.
Edit - To the people recommending laptops in this thread:
Thanks for the suggestions, but none of them so far have had a 144hz screen. It's very hard to go back to 60hz after using a higher refresh rate monitor, even for simple things like literally moving a mouse around the screen and looking at the cursor.
The only 144hz laptops I've found are 1080p, and that extra 120px of vertical room is a luxury I'm not yet willing to part with.
[+] [-] nyxtom|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _odey|5 years ago|reply
I found it convenient to have the numpad available at all times and the muscle memory I developed while typing on it makes the process less frustrating than looking all the time at the number row on the main keyboard body. As I understand it, the laptops with no numpad have a toggle that turns keys on the right side into a numpad, don't remember how exactly, might be vendor specific, some even have numeric markings on those keys, but the keys are laid out slanted, not in a square grid like the real numpad, so it's less precise that knowing you can feel the bump on the no. 5 key and to get to the others you just have to move straight up/down/left/right.
The fact that the touchpad is not centered never bothered me at all; I use a macbook for work, which is centered, and I felt no difference in hand position or comfort. In fact, the inverted position of CTRL and FN were (and still are) way more frustrating to deal with, even the switch to ISO keyboard from ANSI was less frustrating that that, but the off center touchpad/keys, never.
[+] [-] codethief|5 years ago|reply
[0] Especially not given the current trend for laptops to become thinner and thinner.
[+] [-] outworlder|5 years ago|reply
They might have chosen that due to their intended audience. The numpad is pretty handy for many professional applications. Let's say you are using Blender - there are many keys bound to the numpad. You can work without those, but it's awkward. Not to mention applications requiring lots of numeric input.
You could plug in an external numpad(or better yet, a bluetooth one). But this is a laptop, it's one more thing to carry.
I personally don't require a numpad these days - I'm typing this on a mechanic keyboard without one. Have I missed it occasionally? Yes. Would I prefer a laptop without one? Yes. Give me more keyboard real state and a better layout.
Now, the off-center small touchpad is the biggest offender here, IMHO. This is a design reminiscent of early 2010 cheap 15.6" laptops. Maybe it's a good touchpad. But I am already prejudiced against it, because it looks like the old synaptics (or the even worse competitor I forgot the name). They don't provide any details in the specs, they just say "multitouch".
[+] [-] cs702|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ebg13|5 years ago|reply
> NVIDIA graphics currently unavailable when dual-booting Windows
How the hell did they manage to do that?
[+] [-] jchw|5 years ago|reply
Sadly, though, this is a bittersweet deal imo, since you will get NVIDIA's trademark Linux experience, including binary blobs that occasionally prevent you from updating to the latest stable kernel and practically being stuck with Xorg for the rest of your life. I understand that NVIDIA simply has the best options (or at least, that would be my guess) but it's hard to still not be a little disappointed since I've been having a great time with AMDGPU on my desktop, running Wayland, up-to-date kernels and having great system stability.
[+] [-] sbrother|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] FunnyLookinHat|5 years ago|reply
They've started asking people to share what they want here: https://github.com/system76/laptop-suggestions/issues
If you really want a great Linux-first laptop, copy/paste all of your complaints/desires for hardware from here into that repository.
Top of the list for me:
- High powered laptop (e.g. 47W TDP CPU) without a graphics card.
- Centered keyboard without a numpad.
- 14" 1080p option for high-end laptops.
Edit - Formatting + I used to work there, but this is NOT based on anything from when I did - just speculation. It was an AWESOME place to work as a Linux nerd though. :)
[+] [-] rumanator|5 years ago|reply
I've been hearing this for years, and System76 keeps on charging a premium for rebranded cheap Clevo laptops.
[+] [-] nickv|5 years ago|reply
You'll get an infinitely better piece of hardware.
[+] [-] liquidise|5 years ago|reply
I've heard complaints on HN about S76's keyboard and display choices before but this categorical dismissal of them feels remarkably unfair and frankly, false.
[+] [-] cryptoz|5 years ago|reply
Now I'm on a System76 Galago Pro. It isn't perfect but gosh it has served me well these years.
[+] [-] lunchladydoris|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dbcurtis|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SAI_Peregrinus|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] edent|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gfodor|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robrenaud|5 years ago|reply
So I bought a zareason laptop. It was basically the same hardware, it was janky and lasted two years.
So then I splurged on a Thinkpad via LAC Portland, and it's been pretty wonderful. I just wish I could buy them from Lenovo directly.
[+] [-] _jordan|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] driverdan|5 years ago|reply
WHY?!? Why do they keep using outdated, low res panels? I want to like system76 but can't with their bad displays.
[+] [-] anuragsoni|5 years ago|reply
I might be in the small group who wants this, but i wish it was easy to find a 15" laptop with a CPU like the one in oryx but without an NVIDIA gpu. I'd like to have a better cpu and i don't mind a laptop that's larger than the xps 13 or carbon, but i don't need/want a dedicated nvidia gpu. While we are wishing for things, please make more laptops with higher dpi screens. There are a lot of options for 1080p or lower, but very few good options (outside of macbooks or dell xps) that have high quality UHD displays.
I'm on the market for a new laptop and the screen quality is the only reason i'm even contemplating a macbook.
[+] [-] lhl|5 years ago|reply
If you're willing to forgo the 4K display (a 15.6" 1080P screen at 24" is >60ppd, so it should be close to a "retina" display [3]) then you might have another option (the one I've been looking at). The latest AMD 4800H processors perform neck and neck with the i7-10875H (with much better power/perf) [4] and there's one ODM, Tongfang, that has a Renoir refresh (model PF5NU1G) that looks like it might be the best option available this generation (I'm looking for much the same thing as you - the highest CPU power possible, no dGPU for better battery life and less Linux hassle). It's using the same (1.5kg 15") chassis as their older Picasso model (see the Schenker VIA 15 NBC review for a good overview [5]) but with some notable improvements:
* Improved dual fan, dual heat pipe cooling means it can boost to 65W and sustain 54W CPU performance
* Dual channel, dual DDR4-3200 SODIMM slots (but the tradeoff is now only 1 M.2 slot)
* slight display upgrade from N156HCE-EN1 [6] to a NV156FHM-N67 [7] - matte, 300nit, 100% sRGB, dE<2, 1000:1 contrast ratio FHD screen w/ DC (not PWM) dimming
* USB-C PD (Power Delivery) support added, but no DP (DisplayPort alt mode); but has HDMI 2.0 support for a single 4K@60 external output
It's currently on-sale already in China as the Mechrevo Code 01 for ~$750 [8] and is supposed to be coming to Schenker/Tuxedo soon (lots of technical details and an interesting discussion in DE here [9]). Eluktronics should be bringing it to the US soon as well [10]. I'd expect a price point of around 1000 USD/EUR.
[1] https://laptopmedia.com/specs/?q=&hPP=20&idx=laptops&p=0&dFR...
[2] https://psref.lenovo.com/Product/Legion/Lenovo_Legion_Y740S1...
[3] http://phrogz.net/tmp/ScreenDensityCalculator.html#find:dens...
[4] https://www.notebookcheck.net/i7-10875H-vs-R7-4800H_11949_11...
[5] https://www.notebookcheck.net/Schenker-VIA-15-Laptop-Review-...
[6] http://www.panelook.com/N156HCE-EN1_Innolux_15.6_LCM_overvie...
[7] http://www.panelook.com/NV156FHM-N67_BOE_15.6_LCM_overview_4...
[8] https://item.jd.com/100013420504.html
[9] https://www.computerbase.de/forum/threads/mechrevo-code-01-n...
[10] https://www.reddit.com/r/eluktronics/comments/gs9e89/will_el...
[+] [-] jdalgetty|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jandrese|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] michaelmior|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jchw|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zumu|5 years ago|reply
As a Linux user, I'm generally just looking for a nice piece of hardware with good Linux support, and I have never felt Clevo /Sager were particularly good quality.
[+] [-] floatboth|5 years ago|reply
It's ridiculous that the most "Linux focused" laptop maker doesn't offer AMD GPUs.
[+] [-] eberkund|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] staticvoidmaine|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] whycombagator|5 years ago|reply
[0] https://system76.com/desktops
[+] [-] gavinray|5 years ago|reply
On eBay, you can get a 32GB RAM, mid-range i5/i7, with RTX-2060 6GB for ~$1,300 used.
It looks like ~$1,800 for the same specs (though brand new, and with a better CPU since it's 10th gen i7).
I'm not a hardware guy, can anyone here weigh in? Would really appreciate it.
Don't have a ton of money, I've been using a $650 Acer Nitro 5 with 8GB RAM + GTX 1060Ti (absolute steal) for few years but it's been freezing multiple times a day recently (lots of containers, my IDE, etc) so trying to future-proof best I can for max value.
[+] [-] _jordan|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] read_if_gay_|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kdamica|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] choward|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] LyndsySimon|5 years ago|reply