System76 launch multiple new powerful Linux laptops

My Analysis:

Pros:
- Coreboot
- Great Construction
- Linux Software / Hardware 1st class citizen
- Great Refresh Rate Screen
- Matte Screen
- Nice Keeb
- Actual Plugs and Ports (Looking at you Apple)

Cons:
- Intel CPU is "okay" -- and "fine" when paired with Intel GPU for basic usage. Would prefer a AMD Coreboot (but maybe that's too much to ask for idk).
- Nvidia GPU -- 50/50 -- if you have a specific use-case (I'm assuming CUDA), but I find I'm just happier on AMD

I bought a Librem 14 a while ago over 76 since I liked the kill-switches for Camera, Mic, and Wifi on the side. Also having Librem-Boot/Core-Boot was slightly silly but a selling point to me.

For me personally if System76 could "steal" those kill-switches it would be a very noticeable upgrade to me.

Also, I am not a fan of 19:6 even though nearly everything is the "TV" aspect ratio -- Valve doing 16:10 on Steam Deck and Framework doing other ratios are noticeable ⭐⭐⭐Golden Stars ⭐⭐⭐ to me personally.

--

Someone not me -- these things seem to be a beast and absolutely kill it -- It's no wonder System76 are wildly popular when they get so much right and appear to have such great premium construction, style and specs.

(Edit: My eyes are peeled for their AMD releases, and I admittedly am a fully realized tech-snob -- my feedback is a "squeaky wheel" just in the hopes that it gets incorporated into their business so I can take the leap in the future to 76-- after all -- who else is there really? Very impressed by their look and style.)


Last edited by ElectricPrism on 20 Apr 2023 at 6:59 pm UTC

I agree with @ElectricPrism re intel / nvidia. I greatly prefer AMD for anything linux related, so as long as I can customize it with amd cpu and gpu, then great, but if not, I'm sorry but I'll look elsewhere.

Much more looking forward to their custom laptop launch! Also will be interesting to see where the Cosmic DE goes.

Nvidia GPU -- 50/50 -- if you have a specific use-case

In my experience an Nvidia GPU is not that bad when combined with an Intel one.

Nvidia GPU -- 50/50 -- if you have a specific use-case

In my experience an Nvidia GPU is not that bad when combined with an Intel one.

So I had this Wacom MobileStudio laptop drawing tablet ($3500) that I sold.

It supposedly had a really powerful Nvidia M1000 or whatever GPU with Intel fallback.

I ended up having to disable the Nvidia GPU and just using the Intel one to keep the thing from overheating and powering off randomly.

YMMV -- in some ways it went perfectly fine (admittedly it was probably Gen1 and maybe Wacom has squared away weird issues as I see Wacom touts their Linux support on their Cintiq page the last year or so [and this was several years ago]).

For most people, Nvidia is just fine. But I __NEVER__ dual boot -- and it's not like I'm a cheapass either I got at least $4,000 of AMD GPU's in 2022.

I am holding out for a good AMD Linux laptop. I need a laptop I can drag to work, hook up to the servers and not deal with Nvidia weirdness booting my ass to Shell after a software update (Admittedly it wouldn't be the end of the world, but if I ever needed a device to put employee workstations on or family or whoever AMD really does a good job keeping things stable and running -- MESA is great, Intel GPU is adequate but doesn't pack the punch I prefer just yet).

I think I partially agree with you, Nvidia is enough for most people -- maybe a AMD core-boot is much more difficult than I realize or ROI requires a commitment or the available combinations are not as robust as I or they would like. Who can say?

Again just crossing my fingers as the Squeaky Wheel hoping they get inside my head and understand the potential market.

This one is pretty compelling:

https://system76.com/laptops/pangolin

But then, lacking core-boot means I don't have that tech "off-grid" level that I strongly prefer halfway from [ 1. Proprietary and Steam is fine ] and [ 2. Wouldn't a FOSS GNU world be great? ] -- If I can shell money at something that increases privacy and freedom instead of takes them away I'm game.


Last edited by ElectricPrism on 20 Apr 2023 at 7:56 pm UTC

I agree with the weird complete lack of AMD dgpu's offered by linux notebook vendors.
The Ryzen cpu's also perform notably better unplugged than the Intel ones, but on the counterside, the Intel CPU's tend to have fewer powermanagement bugs and coreboot is also much better supported. So I', not really too concerned about that.

But I keep on remembering the abysmal experience with an Nvidia GPU on linux as the device gets older...
My kids are still using an old Sandy-bridge notebook with a Radeon 7730M (unmuxed dual gpu) and it works great. At least that old device is still useful, whereas my Ivy-bridge era notebook with its Nvidia gpu stopped being usable half a decade ago. Seems such a waste.

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

I agree with the weird complete lack of AMD dgpu's offered by linux notebook vendors.

Framework AMD version coming soon...

https://frame.work/ca/en/products/laptop-diy-13-gen-amd

Edit: Not discrete GPU, but good enough for me.


Last edited by no_information_here on 20 Apr 2023 at 10:32 pm UTC

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

RIP netbooks. Something along those lines would make a great (and, for my purposes, much more useful) alternative to Chromebooks in this day and age!

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

Pinebook-pro may be what you're looking for:

https://www.pine64.org/pinebook-pro/

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

Pinebook-pro may be what you're looking for:

https://www.pine64.org/pinebook-pro/

Arm, huh? That might actually be even more wimpy than I had in mind. But it might be a great replacement for my wife's Chromebook (which still fundamentally works fine, but Google have decided to make it gradually unusable by ceasing all updates).

I can't tell from the website what Linux it has on it, if any. I wouldn't be up for too much fiddling, especially for something my wife would be using.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 21 Apr 2023 at 4:58 am UTC

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

RIP netbooks. Something along those lines would make a great (and, for my purposes, much more useful) alternative to Chromebooks in this day and age!

My wife manages OK with a Chromebook most of the time because her computing needs are very modest. But when she wants to do something it doesn't want to do, she's basically hooped. If MacOS is a "walled garden", ChromeOS is a "walled planter"!


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 21 Apr 2023 at 4:55 am UTC

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

RIP netbooks. Something along those lines would make a great (and, for my purposes, much more useful) alternative to Chromebooks in this day and age!

My wife manages OK with a Chromebook most of the time because her computing needs are very modest. But when she wants to do something it doesn't want to do, she's basically hooped. If MacOS is a "walled garden", ChromeOS is a "walled planter"!

What about something like the StarLite ?

alternative to Chromebooks

great replacement for my wife's Chromebook

Install Linux, give them a second life.
https://mrchromebox.tech/

alternative to Chromebooks

great replacement for my wife's Chromebook

Install Linux, give them a second life.
https://mrchromebox.tech/

Ugh. I looked up stuff about how to do that once. It wasn't pretty; on top of the basic Arm difficulty, Google seem to have gone out of their way to make it hard. Given this site which looks helpful I might give it a try, but I'd for sure want to have a replacement lined up in case it didn't work.

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

RIP netbooks. Something along those lines would make a great (and, for my purposes, much more useful) alternative to Chromebooks in this day and age!

My wife manages OK with a Chromebook most of the time because her computing needs are very modest. But when she wants to do something it doesn't want to do, she's basically hooped. If MacOS is a "walled garden", ChromeOS is a "walled planter"!

What about something like the StarLite ?

That looks rather nice!

It's nice that they're putting out powerful Linux laptops.
But, could somebody maybe do a wimpy Linux laptop? That's more what I'm in the market for.

RIP netbooks. Something along those lines would make a great (and, for my purposes, much more useful) alternative to Chromebooks in this day and age!

My wife manages OK with a Chromebook most of the time because her computing needs are very modest. But when she wants to do something it doesn't want to do, she's basically hooped. If MacOS is a "walled garden", ChromeOS is a "walled planter"!

I would avoid ARM for your use-case for the time being. Maybe the story will change in another 7-10 years.

So that leaves us with what everyone has been doing a long time now: buy an old but gold laptop off eBay and put a new battery in it. When the thin Thinkpads (X Elite?) were new many years ago, they were the envy of many co-workers. The screen was touch capable and you could fold it in the open position.

Intel only? Really? Are there any vendors selling Linux configured (no Windows tax) laptops with the choice of AMD CPUs, and combined GPU and/or NVidia cards? I have a Asus TUF Ryzen with Renoir and a RTX2060. Great machine, 2 NVME SDDs, 1x HDD. Great machine, and not so great screen. A wide gamut screen would be good, at least covering 99% AdobeRGB. But it seems that there are corners cut everywhere. And i certainly dont want intel. Wife has a XPS15. Amazing beautiful gorgeous screen. Except it buckled due to the heat from the CPU. Unusable piece of crap.


Last edited by mborse on 26 Apr 2023 at 9:44 am UTC