Bringing back something of a fan favourite, hardware vendor and Linux distribution maker System76 have announced the brand new Galago Pro.
"The Galago Pro has always been a fan favorite of our laptop offerings," says Carl Richell, Founder and CEO. "The extremely light chassis and well balanced mix of components, all for a very good price, make the Galago an all around excellent computer choice for gamers and engineers alike."
Click the image to view more.
Much like other recent hardware from System76, the new Galago Pro comes with System76 Open Firmware and the System76 Embedded Controller Firmware. This means you get a more FOSS-friendly unit, along with fast boot times and "code-level access over important functionality such as the keyboard, fans, and battery".
Check out some fancy specifications:
| Operating System |
Pop!_OS 20.10 (64-bit), Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS (64-bit), or Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (64-bit) |
| Firmware |
System76 Open Firmware (coreboot, EDK2, System76 Firmware Apps) |
| Processor |
11th Gen Intel® Core i5-1135G7: 2.4 up to 4.2 GHz - 8MB Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads 11th Gen Intel® Core i7-1165G7: 2.8 up to 4.7 GHz - 12MB Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads |
| Display |
14.1″ 1920×1080 FHD, Matte Finish |
| Graphics |
Intel® Iris Xe Graphics, Optional NVIDIA GTX 1650 |
| Memory |
Up to 64GB dual-channel DDR4 @ 3200MHz |
| Storage |
1 × M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe. Up to 2TB total. |
| Expansion |
1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C / Thunderbolt™ 4, 1 × USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 × USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, MicroSD Card Reader |
| Input |
Multitouch Touchpad, Backlit Chiclet US QWERTY Keyboard |
| Networking |
Gigabit Ethernet, Intel® Dual Band Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5 |
| Video Ports |
HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C w/ DisplayPort 1.2 |
| Audio |
Stereo Speakers, 1× Headphone/Microphone Combo |
| Camera |
1.0M 720p HD Webcam |
| Security |
Disabled ME, Kensington® Lock |
| Battery |
Li-Ion - 49 Wh |
| Charger |
Dependent on Graphics: Intel Graphics: 65 Watts, AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC-out 19V, 3.42A GTX 1650: 90 Watts, AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, DC-out 19V, 4.74A |
| Dimensions |
12.79″ × 8.86″ × 0.69″ (32.49 × 2.50 × 1.75cm) |
| Weight |
3.1 lbs (1.41kg) Base weight. Varies on configuration. |
Click to enlarge.
Sounds like it's actually quite a nice little unit and with a good amount of horsepower backing it up too. Unlike a lot of offerings, it's not super expensive either with a minimum $999 price tag. However, the initial RAM only being 8GB for that price is a bit of a sore spot, it's about time we had 16GB as a minimum because 8GB really doesn't last long. Apart from that though for a thoroughly well supported Linux laptop with modern specifications it's quite reasonable and System76 are a company well worth supporting.
Writing on Twitter, System76 CEO Carl Richell mentioned "An interesting side-note for the new Galago: we’re able to yield higher watts and performance thanks to a cooling system that’s over-sized compared to most Intel 11th gen U class products." which sounds great.
System76 mentioned that the builds with an NVIDIA GPU aren't going to be ready until December (Intel Xe is fine) but you can still order them ready now.
You can buy it here.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
slaapliedje Nov 10, 2020
I don't even own one of their laptops, but did inquire about them a while ago and never unsubscribed from their list.
My next laptop purchase will probably be from them. Even tempted to get a Thelio, and I haven't ever bought a prebuilt desktop system.
PublicNuisance Nov 10, 2020
slaapliedje Nov 10, 2020
Open firmware; Xe graphics; 14" screen; checks a lot of my boxes. I doubt that wifi is FOSS but even if I was right that's an easy fix.From my understanding of System76 they try to make sure all of their stuff is as open source as possible. The issue with most wifi adapters is that while the open source stuff, works, the performance is kind of crappy without the firmware blob. It's much like geforce or radeon cards in that regard. What would be nice if there were a project to reverse engineer these blobs (as there are some NICs and other random pieces of hardware that use them) so that we no longer have to use closed source crap at all.
I find it funny that nvidia gets a large chunk of the hatred from open source advocates, and while they do deserve it more for having a fully binary driver, we should be just as harsh against others like Intel and Atheros and Realtek for having binary firmware blobs.
The issue with most wifi adapters is that while the open source stuff, works, the performance is kind of crappy without the firmware blob. It's much like geforce or radeon cards in that regard. What would be nice if there were a project to reverse engineer these blobs (as there are some NICs and other random pieces of hardware that use them) so that we no longer have to use closed source crap at all.
Part of the problem with WiFi devices is that they're radios. There are strict compliance requirements - such as power output - insisted on by regulators around the world. For example, by the FCC in the US. Without being able to show that they restrict the power output of these software-defined radios, they aren't allowed to be sold. If someone can tweak a value and recompile, they can't show that, and the devices are prohibited. So you either have to have some parts that can't be open source, or you have to have different product lines for different regulators.
slaapliedje Nov 11, 2020
Wifi APs already have a setting to choose which country / broadcast settings to use. And there really is no reason to not have the requirements of whichever governing body chooses to be a public spec.The issue with most wifi adapters is that while the open source stuff, works, the performance is kind of crappy without the firmware blob. It's much like geforce or radeon cards in that regard. What would be nice if there were a project to reverse engineer these blobs (as there are some NICs and other random pieces of hardware that use them) so that we no longer have to use closed source crap at all.
Part of the problem with WiFi devices is that they're radios. There are strict compliance requirements - such as power output - insisted on by regulators around the world. For example, by the FCC in the US. Without being able to show that they restrict the power output of these software-defined radios, they aren't allowed to be sold. If someone can tweak a value and recompile, they can't show that, and the devices are prohibited. So you either have to have some parts that can't be open source, or you have to have different product lines for different regulators.
I understand the need to set limits, but you could do that at a hardware level.
Cell modems are ones that definitely have no open source version either.
holisticboy Nov 12, 2020
I don't mind spending a bit more money on a system76 over a Lenovo or something, but I would also love a machine that augments that sweet open source firmware with an open source VGA driver (amdgpu). I note that the Intel XE is pretty good, but would prefer an AMD CPU with an AMD GPU (preferably dedicated).
slaapliedje Nov 12, 2020
I love system76, truly do (their products and commitment to Linux are amazing). Like a few others, the thing that really puts it out of reach for me is no AMD CPU/GPU combination for a machine like this.I think the hardware to do that is only barely becoming feasible with this recent release by AMD. Wonder if pop_OS will get an AMD release like they have for intel/nvidia. Is there any gcc flags that tweak for AMD specific features? I know I have read one of the reasons amd has suffered for so long has been tied to most things in windows land has been compiled with intel compilers. If I recall, that was one of the reasons Clear Linux also seems to run pretty damned fast compared to some other Distros. Also would be interesting if AMD released their own Linux distro to compete with Intel's.
I don't mind spending a bit more money on a system76 over a Lenovo or something, but I would also love a machine that augments that sweet open source firmware with an open source VGA driver (amdgpu). I note that the Intel XE is pretty good, but would prefer an AMD CPU with an AMD GPU (preferably dedicated).
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me