Shopping for future laptop

[BoneSmash]

I have begun the process of shopping for a new laptop for college and I really want to get one from System76 because I want to support a company that supports Linux. I have some questions:

Do you plan on updating your line of laptops sometime before October?
Do you plan to offer LED backlit displays on your larger laptops (15 and 17 inch) anytime soon?
Will you ever offer SSDs from companies other than Intel (Intel is very expensive)?


I realize that you may not be able to answer some of these questions, but any information you could give me would be very appreciated.

[jpoRS]

I don't work for, or speak for, System76, but I don't know when Thomas will be in today so I figured I could try and help out.

1. S76 has a more rolling-release cycle. They update one model at a time rather than revamp everything at once. They just released the Starling, so I am sure there is something else in the pipes well before October.

2. I have no idea, you will have to wait on Thomas for that.

3. In posts I have seen before, they are reluctant to use solid state drives. Not only are they more expensive, but their tests don't show better battery life or performance. Now that doesn't mean that they won't offer them, but I personally wouldn't hold your breath.

Hope I helped! And I hope I didn't step on any toes by trying to answer a post clearly directed at the business rather than the community.

jim

[thomasaaron]

# Do you plan to offer LED backlit displays on your larger laptops (15 and 17 inch) anytime soon?

We've had requests about this, so we are definitely considering it. But I've not heard of any definite plans thus far.


# Will you ever offer SSDs from companies other than Intel (Intel is very expensive)?

jpoRS is right on the money.

[miniyak]

[QUOTE=

3. In posts I have seen before, they are reluctant to use solid state drives. Not only are they more expensive, but their tests don't show better battery life or performance. Now that doesn't mean that they won't offer them, but I personally wouldn't hold your breath.

[/QUOTE]

the battery life is no surprise from what i've read, but performance? i'm kinda interested in seeing the results of the test.

is this a limitation of the current ssd tech or the capabilities of the current laptop hardware/ubuntu?

i was thinking of up-grading when good ssd prices came down to earth and when OSs become more accommodating toward them but if the befit is null, i might as well forget about it

[thomasaaron]

I don't have access to all of the details, but cheap SSD drives definitely do not perform up to snuff. The Intel drives, if memory serves, were the equivalent of a 10K standard hard drive, and super reliable.

The cheap ones just didn't cut the mustard. I'll see what I can dig up on it, though.

[BoneSmash]

I've been doing some research on SSDs and I found this article (http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3531&p=1), it is very informative and I recommend it to anyone interested in SSDs

Mainly what I got out of the whole article is that Intel apparently has a very well designed memory controller for their SSDs, the kind that makes it good for desktop use. Apparently other companies like OCZ use their own memory controllers that in general perform worse for desktop use, but might be better than the Intel if used in a server environment.

Another thing that seemed is important is the lack of a TRIM command in current SSDs. The lack of a TRIM command is what causes a SSD's performance to tank after extended use, you can read about why it happens in that article.

So after doing research I think I've decided to stick with a standard HDD for now and then do the upgrade to SSD myself later when all the technology is there (should be later this year). Hopefully the Linux kernel adds support for the TRIM command soon so that Linux isn't left behind.

[TheBuzzSaw]

For what it's worth, I am still running the Daru2 (a model behind) for college use, and it runs great. Don't get too hung up on having the latest model. Find the specs you want and go for it!

[jpoRS]

For what it's worth, I am still running the Daru2 (a model behind) for college use, and it runs great. Don't get too hung up on having the latest model. Find the specs you want and go for it!

I will second that. I bought a very middle of the road Pangolin, and it is at least a model behind now (Panp4i? I don't know where we are now). But despite being "old" it is still more than capable of handling everything I can throw at it. Wine gets a little sluggish but I didn't upgrade the RAM/Processor much so thats par I guess.

jim

[BoneSmash]

We've had requests about this, so we are definitely considering it. But I've not heard of any definite plans thus far.


Please add an LED LCD, I might wait to pull the trigger on this buy until that feature is added.

[jml]

I agree with TheBuzzSaw. Computers will always be upgraded. I am still using a first generation Daru as my main desktop replacement and it also is working well. My suggestion is to buy the laptop that best suites your needs, (size, battery life etc.) Then max out the specifications (RAM, Hard Drive, Video card, etc.) at least as much as your budget can afford. Do that and you will get the longest useful life out of your purchase. Oh, and after you buy one, stop reading about computer hardware. Just assume your choice will be updated. The alternative is to consider laptops "disposable" and buy the cheapest generic laptop you can find and assume you will be replacing it every two years. Not my recommended way to go. Oh, and good hunting.

Joe

[BoneSmash]

It's true that computers are in a constant state of change, but it would be foolish for me to not consider the options. The point I was trying to make in my earlier post is that the lack of an LED LCD might be enough to make me decide to shop somewhere else for my new laptop, even though I would rather buy a System76.

[miniyak]

what the deal with led back lighting anyway? ive seen a couple of laptops with it but still the same claim to 4 hours battery life. Are the OEMs just downgrading the batteries in proportion to better efficiency for some sort of consumer status-quo or do the advantages to led lie elsewhere. For instance, something bright an sufficient for outdoor use, or something else?

since we are on the topic of future devices. I have question that occured to me yesterday when watching "The Matrix" on my pangolin. When are displays with "true blacks" going to jump into the realm of affordability? Or at least to show up in a consumer device, Like OLED or something else i'm unaware of.

The 1680*1050 on the panp5 is a very impressive screen but i was disappointed when i started to find that the back light defeats dark scenes in movies

[BoneSmash]

Advantages of LED backlit displays:

Screens can be thinner
Screens are at full brightness instantly
Use less power
Should provide better black levels
Eliminates backlight bleeding

[irv]

I want to buy a new laptop from either best buy or futureshop, but i want to make sure that it has a good graphics card, the first time i bought a laptop i didnt know that laptops wernt good for gaming, so none of my games work well on it.There is no such thing as a gaming laptop. Trust me, I should know. I bought a top-of-the-line Alienware laptop last year and I have had so many problems with it, it wasn't worth the money and the stress. I would definitely suggest getting a desktop gaming computer. If you really can't or don't want to get a desktop, try newegg.com, they have some good cheap laptops.
I bought my last laptop from Best Buy, and I will never buy another one from them. When I bought it, I bought the extended warranty. A short time after I bought it, I had trouble with it, and called there geek squad, and they wanted to charge me for the call. I told them it was under an extended warranty but they told me it was a software problem not a hardware issue. I told them I bought the laptop hardware and software together and I was paying for the warranty so I wanted the service an no charge. To make a long story short, I went back to Best Buy and told them I didn't want the laptop if I could not get it serviced but they told me no, because I had it over 14 days. So I told them I wanted my money back on the extended warranty, which they gave me after pro-rating the days I had it. I fix the problem myself by putting on Ubuntu and so I will never buy a laptop from Best Buy again. By the way it was a Dell, and Dell would not even talk to me, they told me to go to Best Buy for help.
Before you buy a laptop make sure you can get it serviced no matter what the problem.

[thomasaaron]

You will not have that problem with System76. Period.

[Georgesl]

...By the way it was a Dell, and Dell would not even talk to me, they told me to go to Best Buy for help.

Dell isn't much better, even when they will talk to you.

I had an obviously failed hard drive on one of my Dell laptops with their so-called "in-home service" extended warranty. I got on their on-line chat and had to go through a 3-hour diagnostic "script" (which included me playing amateur computer technician, unscrewing parts of the computer) before my friend in India finally got to the end of his script and agreed to send me a replacement drive. I didn't realize that "Dell in-home service" meant that _I_ did the service in my home.

It was a happy day for System76, though, since it made my decision to buy the Starling I'm typing on now as opposed to the Dell mini 10. I'd rather buy from a company invested in making Ubuntu work on the hardware I buy.

In reference to the original question, I've used netbooks with both SSDs and mechanical drives. While in theory the SSD drives should be faster, in practice they are not. Perhaps the next generation will improve this, but for now the mechanical drive wins.

Technologies tend to come to us a piece at a time, and no matter when the computer is purchased something better will be along shortly. The best way to handle it is to buy a good machine at the present time and then ignore all the specs you hear thereafter! :)

[Henrike Corinna]

Hi I have a laptop i bought form future shop bc can my laptop still have a 1 year warranty but my laptop hinge is lose so i was wondering does future shop cover it and can they fix it.

[BoneSmash]

I was just looking at Dell today and saw this: http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/laptop-studio-xps-16/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-studio-xps-16&s=dhs&cs=19

This laptop is fantastic for several reasons, it's got a 16 inch screen (the perfect size in my opinion, 15.4 is slightly too small, 17 inch is slightly too big), it's very thin and light, the screen looks amazing, and it has a slot loading DVD rom drive.

I realize that what I say won't magically cause System76 to have something comparable, but I hope that you will offer a 16 inch laptop with a similar feature set in the near future. I think if you did it would be a big seller for a lot of people.

I would be buying that Dell laptop if it weren't for it having an ATI video card. Impress me System76!

[thomasaaron]

Looks to me like it offers less hardware for more money than the Pangolin Performance.

Another thing I'm not sure about... they're saying it is 16" edge-to-edge. Is Dell going rogue with how they measure their laptop screens? They're typically measured from corner to corner.

That would make it 18-20" from corner to corner, unless their measuring from edge-to-edge on the A-panel. In that case, I don't know what to think of it. Our 17" Bonobo is only 14.*" across the LCD, edge-to-edge.

So, if I'm reading their specs correctly, that laptop isn't a step between a 15" and 17" machine. It's something else altogether. But, frankly, I'm not sure how to read it at all.

[packrat1]

I think that Dell "edge-to-edge" comment means it doesn't have any black space at the sides of the screen. It says it's optimized for 16:9 viewing, so I guess it doesn't have any black bars at top and bottom either when watching a movie.

I know it annoys me no end when the glass of the screen is said to be a certain number of inches as some fancy expensive feature, yet the actual picture on it does not come anywhere near the edges. (The one pixel band around the screen on the old Palm devices comes to mind as well.)

[drewbenn]

From the linked page, if you click on 'Features' (it's a picture of the laptop screen) you'll see they measure 16" from the top left corner of the screen to the bottom right corner.
I hadn't heard of a 16" screen before. It does sound nice, but I like my 15" Pangolin Value far too much to ever think about giving it up :).

[miniyak]

my experience has been primarily with dell computers. I have come to the conclusion that everything they sell is crap once you seriously start using it.

here is a list of issues ive had with them

1- They cut corners, Everywhere. You may be getting 4gb of memory or 3.0ghz of processing power but take a closer look at bus speeds then compare to other brands. Also cheeping out on PSUs and powerbricks is bad news for the longevity of your investment

2- Support blows, Dell Ubuntu support may be ok as far as i know but im still doing their job for at least 5 windows customers because those customers know what to expect if they go to dell instead of me...

3- dell wont sell ubuntu units side by side with their windows counterparts because they think people are stupid

4- dell sold an elderly friend of mine a vista laptop with 446mb of ram. they must have been protecting her from a bad buying decision<sarcasm>... how does 446mb of ram happen anyway? (unclean power supply i suspect.. damaging a 1gb stick)

5- dell has ugly looking computers, their laptops with the slot loaded dvd drives look like giant square bricks (probably feel like bricks too)