S76 Lemur vs Dell XPS 13 vs ZR UltraLap430

[ObiDamnKenobi]

ugh, if only one of them would put a better, higher res panel in their laptops! Both the Lemur and Ultralap look great, but I refuse to buy anything with 1366x768! I have that on my 11" laptop and it sucks. Please-please! offer a 1600x900 panel (for $100 or something) and I'd instabuy!

[isantop]

ugh, if only one of them would put a better, higher res panel in their laptops! Both the Lemur and Ultralap look great, but I refuse to buy anything with 1366x768! I have that on my 11" laptop and it sucks. Please-please! offer a 1600x900 panel (for $100 or something) and I'd instabuy!

HD+ on a 14 inch panel doesn't work for Ubuntu; the UI gets too small to use. Once Ubuntu develops in support for high-DPI panels, we'll start looking into them on our laptops, but right now, it's not the best experience possible.

[ObiDamnKenobi]

HD+ on a 14 inch panel doesn't work for Ubuntu; the UI gets too small to use. Once Ubuntu develops in support for high-DPI panels, we'll start looking into them on our laptops, but right now, it's not the best experience possible.

Interesting, I was not aware of that. As I've only used linux on my desktop or 11" laptop.
I do have an old higher res (expensive at the time) laptop I've been meaning to try to revive. Testing ubuntu or mint on it would be interesting then

[mstef]

Alright I finally got my Lemur Ultra and spent a few days using it..

It's pretty amazing and I love it.

Performance: Unbelievable. I know this probably isn't specific to this laptop, and it's just the specs, but the performance is amazing. Well, I guess they are usually quality components. 8-10 seconds to boot. Log-in takes about 3-4 seconds. Applications open like they're popping up from being minimized.

Compatibility: Every single thing, button, etc works perfectly. It's really nice to not have to worry about that now and in the future. Once I ran the initial Ubuntu set up, everything was ready to go.

Battery: I only ran it from full to dead once. I got about 3.5 hours on WIFI doing nothing but web browsing. Seems fine for me.

Misc: The pictures on the website don't do this justice. It's way more slim/sleek in person. It's not paper-thin, of course, but the size and weight is fine.

Problems: The keyboard seems a bit weak. I haven't had any problems but I just feel like it's going to break eventually. It's very likely that I could be completely wrong. The casing does seem a little cheap and weak as well (all plastic). My *major* concern is that the brush finish on the plastic where your palms/wrists sit will wear away eventually. I've had laptops with painted finishes there and they go pretty quick. The keyboard is nice and big, but it's taking some getting used to. The seamless trackpad is strange at first, but you get used to it - I still accidentally either move off the pad or have a hand leaning on it. The two-finger scroll works well and is useful verses the side-swipe since there is no boundry, but you really have to have your finger horizontal for it to work (and it will also scroll side-to-side as well as up-and-down which is annoying). The ubuntu key is just a sticker on the key - no way it's going to last there without falling off.

--

Overall, I love it and and very happy with the purchase. The machine is great and the performance is really amazing. The value of knowing there are plenty of smart techs just an email away, as well as the continued Ubuntu-support is so valuable. There are some minor issues, but with the price being as low as it was, this is a great buy. Hopefully everything stays great and intact.

[isantop]

Alright I finally got my Lemur Ultra and spent a few days using it..

It's pretty amazing and I love it.

Performance: Unbelievable. I know this probably isn't specific to this laptop, and it's just the specs, but the performance is amazing. Well, I guess they are usually quality components. 8-10 seconds to boot. Log-in takes about 3-4 seconds. Applications open like they're popping up from being minimized.

Compatibility: Every single thing, button, etc works perfectly. It's really nice to not have to worry about that now and in the future. Once I ran the initial Ubuntu set up, everything was ready to go.

Battery: I only ran it from full to dead once. I got about 3.5 hours on WIFI doing nothing but web browsing. Seems fine for me.

Misc: The pictures on the website don't do this justice. It's way more slim/sleek in person. It's not paper-thin, of course, but the size and weight is fine.

Problems: The keyboard seems a bit weak. I haven't had any problems but I just feel like it's going to break eventually. It's very likely that I could be completely wrong. The casing does seem a little cheap and weak as well (all plastic). My *major* concern is that the brush finish on the plastic where your palms/wrists sit will wear away eventually. I've had laptops with painted finishes there and they go pretty quick. The keyboard is nice and big, but it's taking some getting used to. The seamless trackpad is strange at first, but you get used to it - I still accidentally either move off the pad or have a hand leaning on it. The two-finger scroll works well and is useful verses the side-swipe since there is no boundry, but you really have to have your finger horizontal for it to work (and it will also scroll side-to-side as well as up-and-down which is annoying). The ubuntu key is just a sticker on the key - no way it's going to last there without falling off.

--

Overall, I love it and and very happy with the purchase. The machine is great and the performance is really amazing. The value of knowing there are plenty of smart techs just an email away, as well as the continued Ubuntu-support is so valuable. There are some minor issues, but with the price being as low as it was, this is a great buy. Hopefully everything stays great and intact.

I'm glad you like it! A couple of notes:

You can disable horizontal scrolling in System Settings, under Mouse > Touchpad.

We haven't heard any complaints about the finish, and our demo model in the shop is holding up nicely, despite being close to a year old.

Similar with the keyboard. Obviously, if yours does break, then we'll replace it for you, but it should actually hold up just fine.

[Mize]

It's not mentioned on the system 76 web site so I assume the answer is no, but does the lemur have a backlit keyboard?

[mstef]

It's not mentioned on the system 76 web site so I assume the answer is no, but does the lemur have a backlit keyboard?

No it doesn't. The one weird thing about the keyboard is that there is no caps-lock light either.

[mstef]

Just to reiterate to everyone out there, I highly, highly recommend the Lemur. It's really an awesome machine and have exceeded my expectations. Also, system76 is a great company, especially their tech support guys that answer every question you throw at them ridiculously quick. I'm extremely happy with my decision.

[mstef]

We haven't heard any complaints about the finish, and our demo model in the shop is holding up nicely, despite being close to a year old.

Well my worries came true - just after 2-3 months of use. The mouse pad already has a noticeable weared-out circle in the middle where my finger usually resides.

So you guys either lied to me twice about the finish wearing off or have never really used your own products. Why even use such a finish? I don't make laptops and I even knew it would be an issue right after receiving the unit...

[quazi]

HD+ on a 14 inch panel doesn't work for Ubuntu; the UI gets too small to use. Once Ubuntu develops in support for high-DPI panels, we'll start looking into them on our laptops, but right now, it's not the best experience possible.

The new Dell XPS 13 developer edition sports a 1080p 13.3" screen and comes preinstalled with Ubuntu. I have not seen one in person, so it is possible that it requires a magnifying glass to use, but it seems that Dell is willing to give it a shot. Are there specific patches that they've used to make the higher resolution usable?