System76, Linux hardware and software vendor has today formally begun teasing the new 'Lemur Pro' laptop and it's their most open yet.
With a price that will start at $1099 it's not going to be a low-end machine, far from it, sounds like a sweet unit for many uses. System76 say you will be able to "Watch all of Lord of the Rings in 10 hours. Read Wikipedia articles for 16 hours or write code in VIM for 21 hours straight…without plugging in", at the default brightness level. Pretty good sounding battery life, compared with my own laptop lasting all of 2 hours doing anything.
Okay, so what makes it their 'most open yet?'. Well, they're going to be using System76 Open Firmware for starters which includes Coreboot, EDK2, System76 Firmware Apps. It's also going to have their open source embedded controller firmware System76 EC.
As for some specifications, get a load of this:
Operating System |
Pop!_OS 19.10 (64-bit), Pop!_OS 18.04 LTS (64-bit), or Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (64-bit) |
Processor |
10th Gen Intel® Core i5-10210U: 1.6 up to 4.2 GHz - 6MB Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads 10th Gen Intel® Core i7-10510U: 1.8 up to 4.9 GHz - 8MB Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads |
Display |
14.1″ 1920×1080 IPS, Matte Finish |
Graphics |
Intel® UHD Graphics |
Memory |
Up to 40 GB DDR4 @ 2666 MHz |
Storage |
2× M.2 SSD. Up to 4TB total. |
Expansion |
USB 3.1 Type-C, 2× USB 3.0 Type-A, MicroSD Card Reader |
Dimensions |
12.64″ × 8.5″ × 0.61″ (32.1 × 21.6 × 1.55 cm) |
There's no exact date mentioned on when it will go live, however we've been told they will be sending out details on that sometime soon.
I am once again getting some serious hardware envy, sounds like a good machine. Good screen, great battery life, plenty of ports and lots of storage space backed up by some reasonably strong other internals with the recent Intel CPU.
Check out the System76 Lemur Pro here.
Quoting: chr* USB-C as main charging port or bust.
Actually, I'd love to see a laptop just abandon USB "Type A" ports altogether in favor of (only) USB "Type C" ports... Why the hell is everyone still making laptops with a million USB "Type A" ports and just one USB "Type C" port?
There are so many advantages to USB "Type C" its ridiculous, and "legacy" USB products (i.e. USB "Type A") work just fine with USB "Type C" to USB "Type A" adaptors, which are available for next to nothing... Or you could just buy a USB "Type C" hub like I did, but they're almost always incredibly over-priced.
Quoting: chr* 2-in-1 form factor with touch screen is pretty sweet for a portable laptop like this one.
Just get a Microsoft Surface Go, if you want a "2-in-1" with a touchscreen... Unless you're doing something pretty intensive, they're cheap-ish, lightweight, have excellent usage times / battery life and work flawlessly with most Linux-based operating systems.
Originally, I bought mine just for digital comics... But now I've had it for a few weeks, I use it all the time as both a Ubuntu tablet (e.g. for watching Disney+ or reading the news online) and as an "ultra portable" laptop (e.g. when I need to take some files with me, but don't want to lug my "real" laptop around).
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 25 March 2020 at 12:16 pm UTC
Quoting: scaineCTRL has to be the most bottom-left key on a keyboard, or I'm out.
This, this, this! I love the keys, and the feel of my Lenovo keyboard, but whatever jackass decided that the Function key should be the bottom-left key needs a kick in the ass. If the Function and Ctrl key were flipped, it would be a near perfect laptop.
Quoting: Cyba.CowboyDunno about you, but I haven't seen any USB-C memory sticks on sale yet. In general, you want some old ports for your old stuff; adaptors are a PITA. It might be time to shift the weighting towards more "C" though.Quoting: chr* USB-C as main charging port or bust.
Actually, I'd love to see a laptop just abandon USB "Type A" ports altogether in favor of (only) USB "Type C" ports...
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 25 March 2020 at 5:06 pm UTC
Quoting: Purple Library GuyQuoting: Cyba.CowboyDunno about you, but I haven't seen any USB-C memory sticks on sale yet.Quoting: chr* USB-C as main charging port or bust.
Actually, I'd love to see a laptop just abandon USB "Type A" ports altogether in favor of (only) USB "Type C" ports...
There's a couple around... The best one I have found is this one, which has both USB "Type A" and USB "Type C" connections (in the same memory stick / flash drive / thumb drive)!
Last edited by Cyba.Cowboy on 26 March 2020 at 2:06 pm UTC
Quoting: hummer010Quoting: scaineCTRL has to be the most bottom-left key on a keyboard, or I'm out.
This, this, this! I love the keys, and the feel of my Lenovo keyboard, but whatever jackass decided that the Function key should be the bottom-left key needs a kick in the ass. If the Function and Ctrl key were flipped, it would be a near perfect laptop.
Some models of laptops have this configurable in BIOS. I mean it won't switch the physical label on it, but that can be worked around with some sticker (or ignored).
Quoting: scaineQuoting: RoosterWhy do you hate trackpoint? I mean I get why you would not want to use one, but the way Thinkpad integrates it, it is not really in the way is it?
Hate is indeed probably too strong a word. I don't like how it looks, and I absolutely do hate using one, but I can tolerate its existence if I must. But give me the option to remove it? I'll take that option! :D
The thing is, once you get used to using it, your brain will not want to go back to just touchpad. I don't have it on my business laptop, yet my hands automatically go to the trackpoint position every time.
I mean, if I had to decide whether to buy a trackpoint laptop with Windows preinstalled or laptop without trackpoint, I'll go for the second option. But if I have the option to buy a laptop with trackpoint without Windows, I'll take it ;)
Quoting: scaine..."get used to using it"? Why? I want to punch walls after 10 seconds of fighting with that finicky, innaccurate button monstrosity. It doesn't just look awful, it is awful. No thanks.
Not you specifically, I was speaking in general.
As for accuracy, I'm able to play FPS with it. Of course, I don't do it (although I do play turn based strategies with it), but I tried it few times and did reasonably well. I would like to see someone do the same with a touchpad.
Quoting: Cyba.CowboyI'd be more concerned that the "rubber" part of the trackpoint would wear away over time... You don't have the problem with trackpads.
I had my laptop for 4-5 years and use it every day. No sign of wearing away yet.
See more from me