System76 have refreshed their most powerful Linux laptops now with 7th Gen Intel CPUs

Quoting: ArehandoroSpeaking from an ignorant point of view, what are the advantages of getting a System76 Ubuntu dedicated desktop to a desktop choosing the components myself and installing Ubuntu (or any other distro)?

1. You support a small Linux-oriented business instead of big companies that mostly sell Windows hardware, and by that:
- You help Linux widespread
- You invest money in people who actively work to improve Linux drivers and hardware compatibility (as well as desktop user applications)
2. You are guaranteed that your hardware is 100% Ubuntu compatible
3. You get customer support from people who know how to solve Linux-related issues

Quoting: GuestYes, they are insanely overpriced. The original laptops and components are all made by robots and slaves and should be nearly free, but those along the chain want to price gouge you because capitalism is immoral without laws preventing that immorality. That isn't to say System76 doesn't do some additional work, but the end result is ridiculously overpriced compared to the source. Not sure if these are passing from China to IBM to System76, or what, but the way around it is to get a laptop directly or more directly from China, Taiwan, etc yourself. Look up Clevo laptops for example.

I legitimately can't tell if you're joking.


Last edited by johndoe86x on 17 February 2017 at 6:00 pm UTC

I've had the oppportunity to meet the System76 team twice at their HQ in Denver. I can say, without a doubt, they are the best option for premuim Linux support and hardware. They might be a bit more expensive than identical hardware elsewhere, but there are countless improvements that System76 puts into their products. They have a PPA which houses their custom driver set for the nvidia stack, as well as linux improvements in general (and yes, they do submit these fixes upstream). I've bought 2 of their machines, a Galago Pro, two years ago, and an Oryx last year, and i can say without a doubt it has been the best linux experience I've had on any hardware.


Last edited by artvandelay440 on 17 February 2017 at 6:48 pm UTC

Quoting: Arehandoro

Quoting: hardpenguin

Quoting: ArehandoroIs it just me or are they pretty overpriced?

The competition (mostly Lenovo) has better prices, but again, System76 is a company dedicated to Ubuntu hardware...

If it wasn't for the cost of shipping to Europe + the custom tax, I would consider getting a laptop from them.

Speaking from an ignorant point of view, what are the advantages of getting a System76 Ubuntu dedicated desktop to a desktop choosing the components myself and installing Ubuntu (or any other distro)?

To put it into perspective, ask yourself when was the last time something on Linux didn't work right and you called the company you bought it from for support?

Quoting: ArehandoroIs it just me or are they pretty overpriced?

Quoting: GuestThat isn't to say System76 doesn't do some additional work, but the end result is ridiculously overpriced compared to the source. Not sure if these are passing from China to IBM to System76, or what, but the way around it is to get a laptop directly or more directly from China, Taiwan, etc yourself. Look up Clevo laptops for example.

They're Clevo (which is based in Taiwan) laptops. As far as I can tell Clevo doesn't sell directly to retail customers. I checked prices of Clevo laptops with identical configurations from Sager, XOTIC PC Sager, CyberPowerPC XPLORER, etc; but there's not a large difference in price (and in some cases I've noticed that some of these other retailers end up costing more). As far as I know Sager, XOTIC PC or CyberPowerPC don't provide customer support if one decides to install Linux on a laptop purchased from one of them.

http://www.clevo.com/
http://www.sagernotebook.com/
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

As others have noted System76 provide BIOS customizations in addition to video & audio driver customizations to fully support the hardware. Their lifetime customer support service is excellent, every time I contacted them I always received a response within one business day. One can either call them during their local business hours or contact them via their website. I purchased a Bonobo WS from System76 last August and I have been extremely happy with my purchase. I don't work System76 nor have I ever received any promos or comps from them, I'm just a very satisfied customer.

I bought an Oryx Pro, an older release with gtx 980m. Highly recommended if you are looking for a Linux gaming PC. The specs and the customizability are great.

The price may be a bit higher than a competition with similar specs, but you won't get the same level of support, nor will you get a BIOS flashed with a more Linux compatible firmware from other vendors. I know this because at the beginning they shipped me a laptop with the incorrect firmware. Then I contacted support and they guided me through detecting BIOS version and realized their mistake, so they shipped me a replacement and carried all the shipping costs of the replacement. The minor random glitches I was seeing disappeared with the correct BIOS.


Last edited by sarmad on 17 February 2017 at 7:53 pm UTC

Quoting: Arehandoro

Quoting: hardpenguin

Quoting: ArehandoroIs it just me or are they pretty overpriced?

The competition (mostly Lenovo) has better prices, but again, System76 is a company dedicated to Ubuntu hardware...

If it wasn't for the cost of shipping to Europe + the custom tax, I would consider getting a laptop from them.

Speaking from an ignorant point of view, what are the advantages of getting a System76 Ubuntu dedicated desktop to a desktop choosing the components myself and installing Ubuntu (or any other distro)?

Depends who you are, really. If you're a committed Linux user but either not particularly techie or short on time, having a computer which someone else has already made sure works from top to bottom, all drivers in place and functional, can be pretty valuable.
Secondarily, there is a political and sort-of-economic advantage if you're the kind of person who cares about that kind of thing: By a tiny increment, you strengthen Linux and weaken Microsoft by buying your computer that way. One Windows license does not get sold, statistics of operating system sales show one more Linux sale and one less Windows sale. It's somewhat like trying to avoid buying games you will have to play on Wine, except a bit more basic.
Finally, every time someone buys from a dedicated Linux-box-seller, it strengthens them a little bit; they will be able to order larger batches, meaning their boxes may be cheaper in future; they will be able to advertise more and so on. This will strengthen their ability to sell more in future. And the thing is, computer sales outfits dedicated specifically to selling Linux boxes are among the few commercial entities with anything to gain by increasing the market share of desktop Linux, so if we want desktop Linux to grow in market share (and by corollary presence in the gaming world), we want these folks to succeed.

Of course these factors don't apply only to System76, but to any dedicated seller of (non-server) Linux computers. I, for instance, have never bought from System76 although I may in future, but I have from ZaReason, who are a somewhat similar outfit, a bit smaller maybe, but who offer a few alternatives in terms of distro installed rather than just Ubuntu. Specifically pleasing to me, I can buy a computer preloaded with Mint from them.

(I won't pretend to perfect virtue--despite all I've said, sometimes I just buy something from a store and wipe Windows off it. One doesn't always have the extra cash or time, or maybe you see something that's exactly what you need and System76 or ZaReason or whoever aren't offering something equivalent. My latest laptop is not from any of these people because I wanted something as thin and durable as I could easily get, and saw something as thin as a Macbook Air with a metal shell and an SSD. I couldn't get anything really like it from a Linux vendor and I was sick of my clumsiness breaking my laptops, so . . .)

Yes, shipping/taxes to Europe is a bitch. If only there was a way around that :D

My 1st laptop, I bought while I was a starving student in 2005. I spent weeks researching something that would be 100% Linux compatible. I still ended up with something where suspend/resume, didn't work (although Linux had support for it within my first few months of owning the laptop). Even after extensive and lengthy research and after having had used Linux since 1998, and having worked with Linux professionally since 2000, I still had a significant incompatibility with the laptop I had purchased.

Come 2008, I had graduated, and I was able to work time (still in the same sysadmin/devops field) and therefore had a lot more income, but also far less free time. I remembered how much effort I had to put into researching my 1st laptop, and I really didn't want to go through it again with my 2nd now that I had even less free time.

I Googled for Linux laptop companies as I had heard some existed. I only found Sys76 (there may have been others at the time, but I didn't find any for whatever reason). I knew Thinkpads were supposed to be great with Linux, but my work allocated laptop was a Thinkpad (albeit running Windows), and while functional, it was very spartan.

I knew I had to be paying a premium... But I looked at like this. I was paying a premium to not have to waste weeks of my time (I had even less free time after graduating) to get something that still might have some incompatibilities. I had no regrets. The machine was well built, powerful, had absolutely no incompatibilities.

I'm currently typing this on my 4th Sys76 laptop (a Broadwell Oryx Pro w/GTX 980m). Well, 5th if you count the one I bought for my wife. My need for companies such as Sys76 has only increased now that I have children. I'm also very happy to support a Linux company.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to use my personal laptop for work at my new job, but I'm still considering one of these new Oryx Pro's in the near future. It's been nice to be able to game from bed!

Has anyone done the research? Are the premiums really that high? I suspect, at least for their higher end machines, the premiums are probably pretty small/reasonable.

Some notes:
A lot of the screens available for the Sys76 laptops are technically capable of gsync, so it is probably worth it to ask them. The reason and the problem why they don't advertise them as such is that gsync for laptop screens is software based. For whatever reason, Nvidia doesn't support this method of Gsync under Linux. For desktop monitors, Gsync uses dedicated hardware and this works completely fine under Linux. However, Nvidia will probably add support for Gsync on laptop monitors in the future, and I can confirm gsync works fine in Windows (yes, I tried it).

I don't see a use for a 4k screen if you're going to play games. As we've seen, the vast majority of Linux ports aren't well optimized and it can be a struggle to hit 60 fps at even 1080p. Especially on laptop hardware.

Quoting: hiryuMy 1st laptop, I bought while I was a starving student in 2005.

Thanks for sharing your story!