Your thoughts on the System76 $359 netbook?

[days_of_ruin]

Don't know if this has been talked about but I think its cool.
Link (http://system76.com/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=92)

[gymophett]

Seems like a perfect quality netbook to me.

[wsonar]

Not bad but I'm determined to get 4 gigs on my next purchase

I may get the Darter

but the gazelle has the back lit logo which is kinda cool

[Luggy]

They seem pretty comparable to the other netbooks offered by Dell.
Netbooks from Dell (http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/notebooks?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn#subcats=&navla=5263~0~52559&navidc=Operating%20System&navValc=Ubuntu%20Linux&a=5263~0~52559)

The biggest difference appears be be that System76 offers a 160GB SATA hard drive and Jaunty as opposed to a 4GB Solid State hard drive and Hardy.

I can't recall how SATA compares to Solid State in terms of battery life, but I know SATA will be slower to boot.

[BslBryan]

Not bad but I'm determined to get 4 gigs on my next purchase

I may get the Darter

but the gazelle has the back lit logo which is kinda cool

It just looks back lit, actually. Both designs on the back of them are just vinyl stickers with clear coating on the top. Still cool, though. :)

[wsonar]

It just looks back lit, actually. Both designs on the back of them are just vinyl stickers with clear coating on the top. Still cool, though. :)


Maybe they will incorporate that in the next version :)

[mamamia88]

looks good whats 9.04 netbook remixed version?

[gn2]

It was mentioned in another thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7176685#post7176685) about netbooks recently.
My opinion remains the same, it's too expensive compared to the competition.

[TwiceOver]

It's a little pudgy and could use another gig of ram for the price.

[TheIdiotThatIsMe]

It looks nice. I'm sure it'd be great, if I could afford it. Also one thing to note, is that it comes with a 6-cell instead of the normal 3 to 4 cell batteries included on netbooks. Something to keep in mind

[thegreenblob]

Not bad. The design looks good. But personally I would want 2GB of RAM and a SSD instead of a regular drive in a netbook. And niether of which seems to be an option.

[jwbrase]

It was mentioned in another thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7176685#post7176685) about netbooks recently.
My opinion remains the same, it's too expensive compared to the competition.

Not really, the Dell netbook that best competes with it is $499, and even then it only has 40 Gig of hard drive space. If I want 4 gigs of solid state storage, I have four times that in two USB thumb drives sitting in my pocket on a keychain, which I bought at Best Buy for $20 each. May as well go for the netbook with the 160 gig hard drive rather than the 4 gig SSD. Even when you take the DVD drive option on the System 76 machine it's still less than $450.

[jfloydb]

Looks like a nice computer. Good price too. The monitor is about an inch bigger than most of the smaller netbooks (though the resolution seemed an odd size). BUT the fly-in-the-ointment is the touch-pad and mouse-buttons configuration. I have an acer Aspire One with the same type configuration (I'm using it now), with the mouse-buttons on each side of the touch-pad. It is terrible! The buttons are too small to use comfortably and very hard to use in conjunction with the pad. I often find myself using two hands to manipulate simple point and click manoeuvres, and I constantly have to look at the pad to make sure that my fingers are actually on the buttons. Gone is the one-handed index-finger-scrolling and thumb-clicking that makes a touch-pad really useful. Be aware of that if/before you buy a computer with that type of mouse pad. Don't get me wrong; I really like my Aspire One and would buy it again; but I do get actual hand cramps if I use the touch-pad and buttons for any length of time.

[jwbrase]

Touchpads are already annoying enough that they can't be made any worse. When I do get a laptop, whether it's a netbook or not, I will most certainly make sure that I buy an actual mouse to go with it. A touchpad is not a mouse. It is a dead rat that the laptop industry tries to foist on users as a mouse.

[jfloydb]

Touchpads are already annoying enough that they can't be made any worse. When I do get a laptop, whether it's a netbook or not, I will most certainly make sure that I buy an actual mouse to go with it. A touchpad is not a mouse. It is a dead rat that the laptop industry tries to foist on users as a mouse.

That is true. But part of the reason one might buy a netbook is portability, and an actual mouse is just another thing to drag around...

[hanzomon4]

Touchpads are already annoying enough that they can't be made any worse. When I do get a laptop, whether it's a netbook or not, I will most certainly make sure that I buy an actual mouse to go with it. A touchpad is not a mouse. It is a dead rat that the laptop industry tries to foist on users as a mouse.

No, have you used a macbook or pro? The trackpad is smooth.. twofinger click for right click is the coolest.. screw going back to two-buttons(or any buttons). In Ubuntu I always have to tweak the settings quite a bit to get good trackpad performance. I'd say don't knock it until you try it in osx with twofinger-click rightclick enabled

[chris200x9]

pfft I like how it has radio buttons to "choose" but the only thing you can choose is the optical drive and warrenty yet it's on every option!

[jwbrase]

No, have you used a macbook or pro? The trackpad is smooth.. twofinger click for right click is the coolest.. screw going back to two-buttons(or any buttons). In Ubuntu I always have to tweak the settings quite a bit to get good trackpad performance. I'd say don't knock it until you try it in osx with twofinger-click rightclick enabled

Ugh... Taking away the buttons is taking the worst feature of trackpads and making it worse. Trackpads always end up interpreting dragging the finger as tapping it, and thus clicking when all you want to do is move the mouse. They ought to be taking out the "tap the trackpad to click the mouse" feature and leaving that to buttons. Instead they're taking away the buttons and leaving "tap to click" as the only way of clicking without an external mouse. Trackpads would be awkward but tolerable without "tap to click." With it they're unspeakable.

In any case, the ease of use of an external mouse highly outweighs the extra awkwardness of carrying it around.

[slick666]

Ugh... Taking away the buttons is taking the worst feature of trackpads and making it worse. Trackpads always end up interpreting dragging the finger as tapping it, and thus clicking when all you want to do is move the mouse. They ought to be taking out the "tap the trackpad to click the mouse" feature and leaving that to buttons. Instead they're taking away the buttons and leaving "tap to click" as the only way of clicking without an external mouse. Trackpads would be awkward but tolerable without "tap to click." With it they're unspeakable.

Sounds like you haven't used a properly tweaked trackpad in a while.

but back on the topic at hand.....

I think the build looks great I love that fact that it uses UNR 9.04. My biggest question would be the quality of the trackpad and the keyboard. I would also like to see how well that big 6 cell battery works to keep the unit waiting for reviews

[gn2]

Not really, the Dell netbook that best competes with it is $499,~

But this isn't (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152093).

[Orlsend]

Thats a good price although an EeePC with he same specs (the 900HA) is 50$ cheaper, with that money you could get 2GB ram upgrade (gSkill 17$) and good netbook carrier (28$)

[Uzmati]

Having now owned a HP Mini and MSI Wind, I find the price point and config. to be pretty "standard". Couple that with the customer service you get from System76 and their reputation for build quality, I think it's a bargain. So much so that I ordered one last week. Eagerly awaiting delivery.

[chris4585]

Personally I wish netbooks would do away with touchpads too..

It would only make more sense to use a touch screen instead, I'd rather have a touch screen netbook (higher price), then one without a touch screen and a touchpad I never use. A dock for a stylist would be cool.

8-)

On topic, yes I like the Starling Netbook by System76.

[Pinoy915]

I do not know much about the Intel Atom processors. Are they good enough to run programs like Gimp and Blender ok? I am interested in this notebook but I want to make sure it is powerful enough for me. Also, I do use Virtualbox with a stripped down version of Windows XP for some engineering programs. Will this be ok?

[Orlsend]

I do not know much about the Intel Atom processors. Are they good enough to run programs like Gimp and Blender ok? I am interested in this notebook but I want to make sure it is powerful enough for me. Also, I do use Virtualbox with a stripped down version of Windows XP for some engineering programs. Will this be ok?

I am web-designer and I use Gimp everyday, It never ran slow nor it crashed. I haven't tried blender with my Eeepc but I know VirtualBox works great. Atom processors are dual-layered,not to be confused with dual core )Although for some reason Ubuntu does confuse it.

[mips]

Atom processors are dual-layered,not to be confused with dual core )Although for some reason Ubuntu does confuse it.

The Atom 330 is a dual-core cpu, but that is not what this netbook uses.

[gn2]

I do use Virtualbox with a stripped down version of Windows XP for some engineering programs. Will this be ok?

No, it will be like wading through treacle.

[mips]

No, it will be like wading through treacle.

Lol, I had to google that. I learned it is similair to molasses which is the word I would have used seeing I live in a sugar cane producing area.

[kamitsukai]

It was mentioned in another thread (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=7176685#post7176685) about netbooks recently.
My opinion remains the same, it's too expensive compared to the competition.

From a UK perspective it looks cheap:) and comparable to a Samsung nc10

[ELD]

From a UK perspective it looks cheap:) and comparable to a Samsung nc10

My exact thoughts, works out to be £239 which for a netbook is pretty good.
Consider it has a decent size screen, a decent size hard drive (size over speed for me!).

Looks to be better value for money than any netbook on ebuyer.com!

[gn2]

It's not cheap. £239 is far too much for a netbook when you can get an Aspire One for under £180 (http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_One/prod.asp?page=2&sort=0) new or an A1 condition re-pack from under £120 (http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/box_opened_laptops/prod.asp).

[ELD]

I would never get any second hand pc or laptop, i like mine to be untainted so second hand prices don't come into it for me.

As for your "£180" link the lowest i saw was £212, which if you note smaller screen, small hard drive on most (yes i know its SSD but i prefer size like i said).

Edit > after searching i did the find 180 one, but its got a small screen and an even smaller size hd than the rest, lower ram etc. You pay for the specs, and System76 seem pretty good in that respect. Besides that they fully support Ubuntu, and no matter what you say the prices ARE good for the specs.

[gn2]

The fact is, where the System 76 is available, there are better options which are available more cheaply, as I have shown previously.
Here in the UK, the best netbook choice is easily the Aspire One.
All 9" and 10" netbook screens (with the exception of the old HP2133) have the same native resolution, so the marginally bigger screen size is an irrelevance.
SSD v HDD is personal preference, it's easy to argue that for the netbooks intended purpose SSD is best, but as you suggest, more is definitely more as far as storage is concerned.
You mentioned Ebuyer earlier, they are definitely a good supplier, but not for netbooks, their range is very limited.

[jfloydb]

I do not know much about the Intel Atom processors. Are they good enough to run programs like Gimp and Blender ok? I am interested in this notebook but I want to make sure it is powerful enough for me. Also, I do use Virtualbox with a stripped down version of Windows XP for some engineering programs. Will this be ok?

The Atom processor used in most netbooks (I forget it's designation) is supposed to be equivalent to the Pentium M (1.6 GHz) in performance, but it's supposed to run cooler and use less power than the standard (more powerful) processors. Other than that, I couldn't say whether or not a netbook would have the power that you need. My guess is: in the long-run, probably not. I will say, however, my acer Aspire One is a lot of fun...