Lemur Ultrathin Review - underwhelming and unprofessional

[z.s.tar.gz]

I recently ordered a Lemur Ultrathin Laptop (after a run-around actually getting it ordered) and I must say it is not what I expected.

The first thing I noticed was that the plastic along the top of the screen (especially around the webcam) can be completely removed with minimal effort. This being unacceptable as it is for a brand new laptop is magnified when you realize that it comes off every time you close the lid.

After using it a bit I found that the screen would randomly freeze and the entire system would come to a halt until the mouse was moved. This wasn't ubuntu's fault as the same thing happened with opensuse and even a barebones install of archlinux. This lead to ridiculous install times, horrible video viewing performance, and constant dropping of wifi.

If that wasn't enough what I presume to be the fan or hard drive makes a nice "rrrrrrrrrr" noise every once in a while just to break up the monotony of an otherwise silent experience.

On a positive note however, this laptop is very very thin, thinner than even other brand's slimmest machines by a quarter inch. It is also practically silent when it wants to be and is very light to carry around. The performance is not bad either, especially for the size.

Overall this is a good laptop with a few quirks that make it practically unusable. The noise I could come to live with. I could even glue the plastic down and ignore that. But having to wiggle the mouse every 20 seconds or so just to install updates? That's just too much.

So next time you're looking for a laptop from System76, make sure you save your receipt.

[msrinath80]

I beg to differ. As mentioned on one of my other posts, I've been using the Lemur day in and day out for about 3 months. Touchwood. Absolutely no issues with any of the things you mentioned (plastic, touchpad, noise etc.). Please remember that I am merely stating my experience just as you did. No offence :)

The reason I bother to write this post is very simple. I would not call the folks at System76 unprofessional in *any* way. My experience with them has been the most pleasant. In fact, they actually charged my CC twice when I bought the Lemur. Later when I pointed out their error, they were very quick to refund my money with an apology. I just don't want others to judge the company hastily based on posts like yours. Once again, no offence intended!

If you are facing touchpad problems in more than one OS, it is very likely that your unit is faulty. I can imagine how frustrating this can be. My recommendation is that you send them an email today or just wait till tomorrow morning. I'm sure someone from System76 will respond.

[tgalati4]

Sounds like the equation is balanced. The Matrix can continue to function . . . .

[thomasaaron]

z.s.tar.gz, I believe you also contacted us over the weekend via email on this, and I sent back an answer early this morning.

As I said in the email, it sounds like your Lemur took a banging in shipping, as the symptoms you mention certainly aren't typical.

Also, I wish you would give us a chance to address the issue before posting negative reviews of a product.

[ldiduck]

I took delivery of a Lemur a few days ago. I am very happy with it. I ordered with 80GB solid state drive, 6GB RAM and took the upgrade on the wifi card. So yeah it is very silent, and fast.
My other computer is a 17" Dell Inspiron "laptop" -- the Lemur does not feel as solid, but then against the Dell is a brick, and much slower, mostly due to HD churn.

The Lemur is very thin and lightweight as advertised -- you can almost play frisbee with it. And I needed Lucid 64, and just got tired of trying to make my Dell work with it. So it is nice to have a nice small laptop that will run the same stuff as my workstation as the office does.

Thanks