Performance Pangolin Review, issues you should know

[alphaamanitin]

Have minor issues with the Performance Pangolin:

Power button is a bit wonky. I find that it works best if I press down on the left side of the power button and slide my finger to the right. Directly pressing down often results in nothing. Wouldn't mention but it seems that a few others have had issues regarding the power button. Definitely something that the actual manufacturer of the laptop should work on fixing.

RAM. So, I bought new RAM separately ($65 dollars for 16 gb from NewEgg versus over $100 from System76), and went I replaced it only 8 gb was showing up in BIOS and via free -m command. I checked that both RAM sticks were good, and then went to looking at the seating. I found that to get the top sitting RAM into the slot was so difficult I was extremely worried I would break the RAM stick or a part on the motherboard forcing it in place. This was absolutely the worst I have seen. I am not some one who just hasn't done this type of thing before either. I have replaced the RAM on more than 7 laptops for friends and the like, built my own desktop, replaced the RAM on more than 25 desktops for friends, so I am know that the RAM seats can be tight. This, however, was so tight I initially thought the RAM seat was malformed and the laptop would have to be sent back.

Battery life: crap. I knew that going in though and it works for me. I only use a laptop to go back and forth between work; I don't need a battery life of more than an hour for anything I do really.

Heat: Well, it's hot. Typical of an i7-3630M. I wish I could modify the fan speeds in the BIOS or something. Mush invest in a good cooling laptop rest with fans.

Keyboard: Quality. Wish that I could use the page up/down and home/end buttons while using the number pad though.

Touchpad: Nice. The two finger features are great, I'm used to a laptop from 2006 so big change and I find I like it. Use two fingers to scroll up and down, and tap the touchpad with two fingers and it is like right mouse button, very nice.

Graphics: whatever, didn't buy it to play games. I bought it for word processing, and graphics editing (not photos), dna sequence editing, etc.

Wishes: I wish it had one more USB 2.0, but again not a huge thing.

Solid laptop and I am very happy to support a linux focused company.

One issue I do have though is that the quality of the laptop seems a bit lower than hoped. Doesn't feel as solid as I would like. Hard to explain, I just get the feeling that a slight tap could crack the case.

AlphaA

[isantop]

You actually can use PgUp, etc. with the Numlock turned on. There are duplicates of these keys mapped to the arrow keys. To use them, use Fn+the arrow key you want (They're labled for convenience).

Also, I haven't heard any other reports on the PanP9 regarding the power button. It is possible that you have a defective unit, which can be repaired under warranty. Also, I've noticed that on many of our laptops, it often helps to hold the power button down for about a second or so. That always works for me.

[alphaamanitin]

You actually can use PgUp, etc. with the Numlock turned on. There are duplicates of these keys mapped to the arrow keys. To use them, use Fn+the arrow key you want (They're labled for convenience).

Also, I haven't heard any other reports on the PanP9 regarding the power button. It is possible that you have a defective unit, which can be repaired under warranty. Also, I've noticed that on many of our laptops, it often helps to hold the power button down for about a second or so. That always works for me.

I wouldn't call the power button defective by any means. Just that it is not as responsive as other power buttons. I also agree that the holding the button will work.

As for the pg up/pg down, that is true, and I should have mentioned it to be fair. I just don't like to use those keys and prefer separate pg up/pg dn keys.

I want to convey that the issues are very minor and the laptop is a quality laptop. So far I would recommend System76 to anyone that wants to buy a laptop and support the linux community.

I should also be fair that I didn't buy a laptop for a battery life, and the battery life is quite comparable to other laptops with similar hardware.

I would also like to clarify that in regards to the case, it may just be I am use to my old laptop that is a bit heavy and thick. It might be that I am just not use to modern laptops. I do like the look and texture of the case.

Also, the monitor is nice, high resolution videos look great.

AlphaA

[jwbrase]

I wouldn't call the power button defective by any means. Just that it is not as responsive as other power buttons. I also agree that the holding the button will work.

Is this on battery?

I have an older revision of the Pangolin (P5) and find that I need to hold the power button down for a second or two when the machine is not on AC power. When it is on AC power, however, the power button responds pretty much instantly.

If this matches what you're seeing, it would seem to be a protective feature against accidentally powering the laptop on and draining the battery.

[samalex]

Is this on battery?

I have an older revision of the Pangolin (P5) and find that I need to hold the power button down for a second or two when the machine is not on AC power. When it is on AC power, however, the power button responds pretty much instantly.

If this matches what you're seeing, it would seem to be a protective feature against accidentally powering the laptop on and draining the battery.

Yup, my PanP5 (which I LOVE!) is like this, I have to hold down the Power button a second or two for it to kick in. And I agree with your assumptions on why this is so. With a 2yo often hovering around my computer it's nice that he won't shut it down by just tapping the Power button