Announcing Ubuntu Notebooks and Desktops

[crichell]

Our small venture is now providing Ubuntu pre-installed notebooks and desktops. All systems are fully supported and include a 30 day money back guarantee.

Check it out – www.system76.com (http://www.system76.com) - Let us know what you think – we'd love your feedback


We have also started the Open Hardware Project – www.openhardwareproject.org (http://www.openhardwareproject.org)

This project is in its infancy. Our goal is to provide transparency in hardware much in the same way open source provides transparency in software.

[sigma2805]

hello,
i took at the laptops and desktops. Very nice! :) the one thing i wanted to point out is that you might have some issues with HP because some of their laptop model numbers are dv1000 and so on which match or are very close to your desktops in the Ratel line. I'm not sure what legal implications that has though...

[KingBahamut]

Our small venture is now providing Ubuntu pre-installed notebooks and desktops. All systems are fully supported and include a 30 day money back guarantee.

Check it out – www.system76.com (http://www.system76.com) - Let us know what you think – we'd love your feedback


We have also started the Open Hardware Project – www.openhardwareproject.org (http://www.openhardwareproject.org)

This project is in its infancy. Our goal is to provide transparency in hardware much in the same way open source provides transparency in software.

To see the Success of Linux on Laptops , look at a friend of mines company ,
EmperorLinux -- http://www.emperorlinux.com/

[crichell]

good point sigma – we are going to make that change – we wish we noticed that earlier, now we have to adjust the site, wiki and docs – oh well

bahamut - it's always encouraging to know there are others out there successfully selling Linux machines

[matthew]

Very nice looking and your prices seem quite reasonable. I wish I was in the market. In any case, I truly wish you success.

[phanboy_iv]

Our small venture is now providing Ubuntu pre-installed notebooks and desktops. All systems are fully supported and include a 30 day money back guarantee.

Check it out – www.system76.com (http://www.system76.com) - Let us know what you think – we'd love your feedback


We have also started the Open Hardware Project – www.openhardwareproject.org (http://www.openhardwareproject.org)

This project is in its infancy. Our goal is to provide transparency in hardware much in the same way open source provides transparency in software.

Very, very nice! When I buy my next laptop, I'll definitely go to you first! I like your selection of Ogg-compatible music players, too.

[quietglow]

This is just fantastic news! I'll talk you up for people looking for machines in our teacher ed program. Thanks for providing a great service for our community!

[crichell]

Thanks for the encouraging posts

Linux, Ubuntu, and the Community have given us so much that we only hope that success in this venture will allow us to give back.

[sethmahoney]

I know nothing about putting together laptops, or what hardware is available for them, but why don't you use nVidia cards on your ultra portable machines?

[MetalMusicAddict]

Wow. I like that you guys are doing a MediaCenter PC. What will be the stats? Will you be using full on Ubuntu with MythTV or a custom install?

[poptones]

Why is Abe Lincoln wearing a traffic cone?

[argux]

No AMD? How come?

In laptops, I mean. I've just seen the Wild Dog series. They indeed carry AMD64 chips.

[crichell]

I know nothing about putting together laptops, or what hardware is available for them, but why don't you use nVidia cards on your ultra portable machines?

Good question - I wish I had a great answer. Unfortunately thin and light notebooks with nVidia aren't available to us. I think that it is typical of thin and light machines to use shared memory to reduce heat, power consumption, and thus weight.


Wow. I like that you guys are doing a MediaCenter PC. What will be the stats? Will you be using full on Ubuntu with MythTV or a custom install?

We don't have stats for you yet; however, we will be using Ubuntu and MythTV. We have a lot of testing to do with these systems. We want you guys to be able to plug them in and run - no matter what cable/sat operator your using.


Why is Abe Lincoln wearing a traffic cone?

It's actually not Lincoln but a statue somewhere in Europe. We're not sure who it is but we thought it was funny. :)


No AMD? How come?

We have more flexibility using Intel at this time, although I imagine that may change as we progress. For notebooks Intel's chip is more efficient than AMD's Turion. I suspect this will change - AMD is very competitive. We do use AMD in our Wild Dog desktop series.

[JaspSoft]

This is fabulous.

I'm looking at providing a desktop ubuntu line of computers myself here in the UK. Unfortunately I don't have the resources for such a nice website that you have.

[crichell]

Why is Abe Lincoln wearing a traffic cone?
The statue is of George Stephenson - A British engineer responsible for advances in locomotives and rail. His rail gauge is the standard for most railroads around the world.

The Wikipedia article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stephenson


This is fabulous.

I'm looking at providing a desktop ubuntu line of computers myself here in the UK. Unfortunately I don't have the resources for such a nice website that you have.

I wouldn't worry to much about resources - just get out there and provide great products and service.

Also, our Open Hardware Project isn't reserved for System76. Anyone who meets the projects transparency guidelines can join and post their machines and hardware. We are currently refining these guidelines - there's more to come.

[JaspSoft]

Also, our Open Hardware Project isn't reserved for System76. Anyone who meets the projects transparency guidelines can join and post their machines and hardware. We are currently refining these guidelines - there's more to come.


Oh man... I love it. I'd better get working on my systems right away.

[feign]

Maybe you did this intentionally, but I would say which version of Ubuntu is installed on the notebooks.

[psyguy92]

Nice site. What I would love to see is an online vendor selling ONLY Linux compatible hardware. Nice offering of digital media players / cameras there. Maybe in the future you could expand to include all sorts of PCI cards, routers, etc etc etc that 'Just Work' for us :)

I'd love to think, ok I need a modem/router/whatever, and go to a site and buy what looks best without having to search for an hour to make sure the model is referenced in some forum as being compatible with Linux kernel so-and-so.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck!

[Drain]

The last couple of times I've priced out notebook PCs, the first thing I looked for was battery life, even if it was just an estimate. Any chance that might make it into the stats of your webpage? I think that'd be useful...

[jdong]

excellent prices, nice polished looking site! I wish you luck.

Though I suggest you consider Sempron (Socket 754 based) a bit more for the lower-to-mid line desktops. Sempron 2600's are fairly cheap and pack a very powerful punch -- matching my A64 3000+ ClawHammer for most tasks, even Backports compiling.


P.S. Are you shipping these preconfigured? I'd love to see an official vendor include breezy-backports in sources.list :)

[uberlinux]

so, does the HW suspend work on the laptops?

[JaspSoft]

Nice site. What I would love to see is an online vendor selling ONLY Linux compatible hardware.


That is exactly what myself and my friend at the Linspire Network (http://www.linspirenetwork.com/) (and many other Linspire vendors) are doing right now.

Whilst I am not going to be supplying Linspire myself anymore, I am certainly going to be continuing to sell Linux based hardware.

[hoodwink]

Our small venture is now providing Ubuntu pre-installed notebooks and desktops. All systems are fully supported and include a 30 day money back guarantee.

Check it out – www.system76.com (http://www.system76.com) - Let us know what you think – we'd love your feedback


The products appear to be excellent, if a little pricey. The only thing missing from my standpoint is Kubuntu since I'm not a Gnome fan.

Best of luck in your endeavor.

[crichell]

Maybe you did this intentionally, but I would say which version of Ubuntu is installed on the notebooks.

Good point. We do use the latest version of Ubuntu (Breezy). We don't state the release, strangely enough, to reduce confusion. Linux is enough of a beast to the newbie. Not the OS its self but the number of options out there. It's the same reason we chose one distro and we don't provide a dual boot option.


What I would love to see is an online vendor selling ONLY Linux compatible hardware

All of our products are Linux ready and we will only sell hardware that works with Linux. We hope that the Open Hardware Project will help to fill the gaps we're missing - one place to look for what you need - whether it be from us or someone else.


The last couple of times I've priced out notebook PCs, the first thing I looked for was battery life, even if it was just an estimate. Any chance that might make it into the stats of your webpage? I think that'd be useful...

I agree. Battery life estimates will make it into our stats.



P.S. Are you shipping these preconfigured? I'd love to see an official vendor include breezy-backports in sources.list

The systems are preconfigured. Our images deviates from the Ubuntu standard in places such as multimedia playback and a few software choices - I love Amarok.
Backport are in our sources list; however, this is of some concern to me - maybe you can help. We noticed that during the transition from Hoary to Breezy the backports went down - everyone of them we moved to. This means confusion for our customers and support calls to us. Why did this happen and what's going to happen when we're supporting customers moving to Dapper?


so, does the HW suspend work on the laptops?

This I am unsure of. I'll find out what the status is of hardware suspend.


The only thing missing from my standpoint is Kubuntu since I'm not a Gnome fan.

This was an area of great debate around here - I'm a gnome guy, others aren't. Do we load both and let the user choose or go with one and lower cost. We choose to go with gnome - reduce complexity and testing time for ourselves as well as some support time. KDE can of coarse be installed and I imagine that we will provide both preinstalled down the road. We will support KDE users that install it themselves.

[jdong]

Backport are in our sources list; however, this is of some concern to me - maybe you can help. We noticed that during the transition from Hoary to Breezy the backports went down - everyone of them we moved to. This means confusion for our customers and support calls to us. Why did this happen and what's going to happen when we're supporting customers moving to Dapper?

Were you guys using Mirrormax? Well, Mirrormax was the last of the unofficial backports series. Now, Backports is going to be on breezy-backports. There was a bit of lag between Hoary->Breezy before Ubuntu archive administrators were able to get breezy-backports up. I hope this won't happen in the future, and will more aggressively persue archive creation prior to Dapper's release. The archive URL also is unlikely to change again in the future.

[tomwell]

Does anyone else think what am thinking??

I mean no disrespect by this i am just curious as to the price difference!!!

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/latit_d810?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

Why not buy the dell laptop and install Linux yourself you save $3000 right??

Perhaps am missing a major thing, if i am I appologies for offending anyone if i did...

Peace to all

Tom

[matthew]

Why not buy the dell laptop and install Linux yourself you save $3000 right??
Did we look at the same price list or are you exaggerating for effect?

[landotter]

Nice stuff, though I'm quite curious as to why you and Emperorlinux don't have any sub $1300 offerings. A basic 12" iBook is $300 less than the cheapest model.

I do understand that most folks wanting Linux lappies often are professionals that need the horsepower, but some of us just want a basic laptop with a 14"-15" screen, 1-2ghz processor, and 256+ ram. Seems you could offer a cheap and cheerful Acer or similar with Ubuntu for $800 or so.

I'm glad the site exists, as preloaded linux is very important, just fail to see any value in the pricing.

[Sirin]

Why not buy the dell laptop and install Linux yourself you save $3000 right??

You mean the PowerMac G5 (with the price tag)?

[nrwilk]

This looks absolutely excellent. Very nice site.

Some things I think would be nice:
talk about the laptop sleep and hardware suspend abilties. (this is something probably every user looks for)
Kubuntu pre installed. (maybe give a guide to installing KDE in the meantime?)

A detailed list of each computer's functionality, with assurances that each function will work under linux.

For, example, I'm in the market for a laptop to install linux on right now, but I am worried that I'll get a machine where something is unsupported by the linux system. Areas that concern me are hardware suspend, sleep, wifi, whether the trackpad works, whether the trackpad's scroll feature (if available) works, whether the whole keboard, including media keys and brightness/contrast/volume keys work.

My point is that unless I'm confident in a product, I won't be comfortable in purchasing it. I know you're aiming to sell these to people of all levels of technical know-how, but maybe you can include a "detailed stats" page for each machine so those of us who like to see all the dirty little numbers and figures can feel comfortable. I like to know just about every little tiny thing about hardware before I buy it.

Thank you for the excellent service! I may be a future customer.

[tomwell]

$1,699.99
OS
Ubuntu Linux
Processor


Intel Centrino 740 @ 1.73 GHz
Memory
512 MB - DDR II 533 MHz
Hard Drive
40 GB – 5400 RPM
Optical Drive
CD-RW / DVD
Display
15.4” Widescreen WSXGA+
Graphics


128 MB - ATI Mobile Radeon X700
Wireless
Intel 802.11 b/g
Card Reader
Integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader
Expansion
PCMCIA 2.1 supports one Type II/I
Battery
8 Cell Lithium Ion
Dimensions


13.9" x 10.7" x 0.87~1.34 (W x D x H)
Weight
5.6 lbs. .
Warranty


1 Yr. Ltd. Warranty and 1 Yr. Technical Support

----------------------------------------------------
$1,290

Processor
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz) w/ATI RADEON X300 64MB

Operating Systems
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2, with media

LCDs
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD Panel

Memory
512MB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS


Hard Drives
40GB1 Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM

Modular Bay Devices
24X CD-ROM Drive

Wireless LAN (802.11)
Dell Wireless™ 1370 802.11b/g WLAN miniPCI Card

Hardware Support Services
3 Year Mail-In Economy Plan

Thats a 409.99 dollar difference...

Mmmm isnt Ubuntu a free OS?? Isnt that one of the major advantages??? Should it really cost more to buy a pc with Ubuntu installed???

That was for the entry price on system 76...

Now to emperorlinux

Rhino M70 NV

2.3 P-M

15" @ 1920x1200

1 G

100

DVD+/-RW

$3800.00 O

----------------------------------------------------------------

Processor
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz) w/ATI RADEON X600 128MB

Operating Systems
Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2, with media

LCDs
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD Panel

Memory
1.0GB 533MHz, DDRII SDRAM, 2 DIMMS - Dual Channel

Hard Drives
60GB1 Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM

Modular Bay Devices
8X DVD+/-RW2 w/ Sonic Digital Media™ and Cyberlink PowerDVD™

Wireless LAN (802.11)
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 802.11b/g WLAN miniPCI Card

Hardware Support Services
3 Year On-site3 Economy Plan


$1,820

Thats $1980 difference, and before you guys mention different hard drive with that kind of money i'll sacrifice using an external drive....

Perhaps am not seeing something blatently obvious but i know where i will buy the laptop!!!

If am completely mistaken please let me know...
I hope i havent made a total fool out of myself.... LMAO!!!

Peace to all....

Tom

[towsonu2003]

Check it out – www.system76.com (http://www.system76.com) - Let us know what you think – we'd love your feedback


oh my god, those are really expensive...

[towsonu2003]

To see the Success of Linux on Laptops , look at a friend of mines company ,
EmperorLinux -- http://www.emperorlinux.com/

*repeats himself*

[tomwell]

Is it not much cheaper to just install Linux on a laptop purchased separetely...??

*Repeats Himself*

Or are these special laptops really "special"??? LMAO

Peace

Tom

[crichell]

Does anyone else think what am thinking??

I mean no disrespect by this i am just curious as to the price difference!!!

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/latit_d810?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

Why not buy the dell laptop and install Linux yourself you save $3000 right??

Tom

I'm glad you bring this up. I think a closer apples to apples comparison is in order.
Tab these two pages
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/latit_d810?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
and
http://system76.com/index.php/cPath/1_11

Take a look at the specs and prices of the three machines - we're competitive with the 60,000 strong Dell - they are tough to compete with on price.

Why buy from System76 rather than Dell and load Ubuntu yourself?

1. Ubuntu pre-loaded with complete hardware support
2. Documentation aimed at a Ubuntu users on our machines
3. Telephone, forum, and knowledge base support for all of the open source software on your machine - ask a Dell rep an Ubuntu question and get silence
4. As we grow we will employ Ubuntu programmers to advanced the OS in directions that are valuable to our customers and the community as a whole

--to name a few--

[tomwell]

Hey,

It seems that yes your prices compete directly with Dell on the Pangolin 1500...

But what about the Ubuntu Community they are the best ressource for installing Ubuntu on a PC...??

Having said all that (in My previous posts) I believe that selling computers preloaded with linux is an amzaing idea...

BUT: Win XP costs $300 in europe... So in that case the fact your installing a free OS should make your pc cheaper....

Just a quick remark, perhaps the fact that i am new to all this is not a bad thing, i mean by that that i am giving you a totaly unbiased opinion similar to that of the people that might purchase your systems...(linux Noobs) I dont see a linux pro buy a computer preloaded with linux at the same price as the Dell one...If he knows bout linux he might aswell do the work himself and save a few $$$$....

Peace

Tom

[crichell]

Nice stuff, though I'm quite curious as to why you and Emperorlinux don't have any sub $1300 offerings. A basic 12" iBook is $300 less than the cheapest model.

We made a conscious decision to go with a higher-end notebook line to begin with. A sub $1000 notebook will surface early next year. Sub $1000 notebooks are tough for small companies like ours. We don't have the buying power of Apple, Dell, and the others.


A detailed list of each computer's functionality, with assurances that each function will work under linux.

We are working on this now - take a look http://system76.com/knowledge/index.php/1300
We're going to take this a step further and document every component complete with model number, specs, and documentation. We will link to these on the commerce side once we feel they are ready. This is the purpose of the Open Hardware Project
* Users can determine exactly what components are in their computers
* Users can use the same components and ideas to build their own computer
* Users can improve systems by suggesting better or different hardware

[nrwilk]

We are working on this now - take a look http://system76.com/knowledge/index.php/1300
We're going to take this a step further and document every component complete with model number, specs, and documentation. We will link to these on the commerce side once we feel they are ready. This is the purpose of the Open Hardware Project
* Users can determine exactly what components are in their computers
* Users can use the same components and ideas to build their own computer
* Users can improve systems by suggesting better or different hardware
Well, then it's looking very professional. Good work! :grin:

[phanboy_iv]

Quick question: I assume these laptops have out-of-the-box 3D support?

And the prices aren't bad at all, even considering the fact that this is a small company as opposed to say, Dell or something. The prices are very competitive, I've found. But even if I could get a slightly better deal somewhere else, I would probably go with you guys anyway and support Linux/open source/small buisness while I'm at it. I like that EVERYTHING on the web site is compatible with Linux.

[crichell]

Quick question: I assume these laptops have out-of-the-box 3D support?

All notebooks and desktops with nVidia or ATI cards include 3D acceleration out of the box.

[sethmahoney]

All notebooks and desktops with nVidia or ATI cards include 3D acceleration out of the box.

Can't Ubuntu do acceleration on the Intel 915GM? I seem to remember reading in the forums that people had gotten it working...

[crichell]

Can't Ubuntu do acceleration on the Intel 915GM? I seem to remember reading in the forums that people had gotten it working...

I don't know - I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the suggestion.

[JaspSoft]

If I lived in the US I would order something from you just cos I think it is great.

[jdong]

I know the Intel 845's do 3D very well -- and even suspend to RAM successfully with 3d accel.

[crichell]

If I lived in the US I would order something from you just cos I think it is great.

Thanks. I'm glad you like it. I hope some people in the US feel the same way.


I know the Intel 845's do 3D very well -- and even suspend to RAM successfully with 3d accel.

We emphasized acceleration on the notebooks and desktops with cards; however, pulling all of the capability out each piece of hardware is our intention.

Thanks for your reply to my Backports question. I'm glad to hear the URL should remain the same and that we may get archives prior to Dapper. We experienced inconsistencies testing the upgrade process. Some we're perfect (servers were the smoothest) others a major pain. It looks as though easier upgrades may make it to Dapper's short list.

[quietglow]

I have a couple of months of warranty left on my current laptop and will probably move up at that time. I'd REALLY like to get a machine from you: I've always thought buying an preinstalled Linux laptop would be kinda sweet, and the fact that you guys are using Ubuntu makes you the obvious choice for me.

The first two things I always check before buying a laptop for linux, though are:
1. battery life and 2. whether is has the ability to suspend to ram (as opposed to hibernating or suspend to disk). #2 is the most important to me.

Can you tell us anything about the status of suspend/hibernation on your laptops?

Thanks!

[crichell]

The first two things I always check before buying a laptop for linux, though are:
1. battery life and 2. whether is has the ability to suspend to ram (as opposed to hibernating or suspend to disk). #2 is the most important to me.

Can you tell us anything about the status of suspend/hibernation on your laptops?

Thanks!
Battery life estimates will be posted here as well as the website next week.

Suspend to RAM and hibernation are a bit stickier. In our testing it appears as though Gnome Power Manager isn't ready on Ubuntu. We have experienced inconsistent results that led us to the decision that we will be waiting for Dapper's release for these features. Gnome Power Manager may be backported sooner. As this seams like an important feature to everyone we will keep a close eye on it and notify our customers with directions to enable the features.

Power management features are on Dapper's short list of advancements

https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+spec/power-management-configuration

This How To describes the installation of Dapper's power management package on Breezy as it stands now.

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=90307

Kubuntu power management features work OK. Suspend to RAM works well. Resume from Hibernation doesn't quite work.

We'll have to be a bit patient on this one but I'm confident the Ubuntu guys will have it ready in Dapper.

[jdong]

Gnome Power Manager may be backported sooner.

Sorry to say, but probably won't happen... g-p-m backports heavily depend on the newer features in HAL/DBUS, so even newer g-p-m won't help without newer hal, and I'm not too fond of the idea of bringing Dapper HAL to Breezy ;)

[crichell]

Sorry to say, but probably won't happen... g-p-m backports heavily depend on the newer features in HAL/DBUS, so even newer g-p-m won't help without newer hal, and I'm not too fond of the idea of bringing Dapper HAL to Breezy ;)

We suspected this would be the case - wishfull thinking on the backport - we're not doing this ourselves for the same reason (HAL version)

[crichell]

--- Battery Life Estimates as Promised ---

Gazelle 2000, 2100, 2300 - Battery Life - 4 Hours
Gazelle 2400, 2600 - Battery Life - 2.5 Hours, 7 Hours with Optional 9 Cell Battery
Pangolin Series - Battery Life - 6.5 Hours
Serval Series - Battery Life - 5 Hours
Bonobo Series - Battery Life - 2.5 Hours

--- We have also released our sub $1000 notebook early ---
The Gazelle 2000 @ $895.99
http://system76.com/index.php/cPath/1_10

And a new low price Pangolin 1000 w/ 128 MB nVidia Graphics at $1,098.99
http://system76.com/index.php/cPath/1_11

[sethmahoney]

As a suggestion to y'all who are doing great work by selling computers with Ubuntu installed and configured about what possible customers want, and also as a request for info if anybody has it:

I'm currently looking for a laptop that is small, light as possible, cheap, and runs Ubuntu (no, a Zaurus is too small and doesn't run Ubuntu). It doesn't need to be powerful at all (I'd be happy running XFCE), just lightweight and portable (and maybe with builtin wireless). Any ideas on where I might find something like that? Or, any plans on putting together a new model?

[gil-galad]

I am very impressed with the site. I wasn't planning on buying a laptop, but I wish you luck!

By the way, mythtv is awesome. Your media pc could work out for you.

[crichell]

I'm currently looking for a laptop that is small, light as possible, cheap, and runs Ubuntu (no, a Zaurus is too small and doesn't run Ubuntu). It doesn't need to be powerful at all (I'd be happy running XFCE), just lightweight and portable (and maybe with builtin wireless). Any ideas on where I might find something like that? Or, any plans on putting together a new model?

It's tough to say without specifics - The closest low cost laptop we have is the Gazelle 2000 @ 4.4 lbs with a Celeron M processor, wireless, and a 12.1" widescreen display. Nonetheless, give me a call -888.468.6482- and ask for Carl. I may be able to put something together for you with an Ubuntu Forum Member discount. --Only for Ubuntu Forum Members Though--

BTW - I had not heard of the Zaurus. It looks pretty cool. We have a linux PDA in the works as well.


By the way, mythtv is awesome. You media pc could work out for you.

MythTV is awesome - we are very excited about our media centers

[sethmahoney]

It's tough to say without specifics - The closest low cost laptop we have is the Gazelle 2000 @ 4.4 lbs with a Celeron M processor, wireless, and a 12.1" widescreen display. Nonetheless, give me a call -888.468.6482- and ask for Carl. I may be able to put something together for you with an Ubuntu Forum Member discount. --Only for Ubuntu Forum Members Though--


Oh, hey, I hadn't noticed the new one! Nice work! Looks like I'll probably be going to you when its time to get rid of the old laptop!


BTW - I had not heard of the Zaurus. It looks pretty cool. We have a linux PDA in the works as well.

Really? Does it run linux, or is it just a PDA guaranteed to work with linux?

I was poking around in your Portable Devices section, and hey, this is good stuff! Having peripherals guaranteed to work with linux all collected in one place is a great idea! One thing you might consider adding to the digital cameras section is, if you have some test models or something you've been working with, photos taken with each of the cameras (or, if anyone has purchased any of these cameras, maybe they can send a couple photos in) so us shoppers can see how well each of them do.

Have you considered adding some other troublesome peripherals, like scanners, webcams, or external drives, to your site?

[landotter]

If I was in the market for a budget lappie (in the US) I'd go to the soulless Circuit City and pick up a basic Acer for $600, reduce XP home to 10g (sometimes it's handy to have) and use the remaining 50g for Ubuntu.

3000+AMD Processor, 512mb, DVD/CDR/RW, 15" widescreen, 60g. Half the price of the OP's obscene prices.

I try to support small and local business, but I don't think it's worth paying double for a lappie to do so.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Acer-Aspire-Notebook-PC-AS3009WLCi-/sem/rpsm/oid/139311/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
Don't know if that particular model's good with Ubuntu, buy my local CC is discounting them for $600. Never been disappointed with Acer either. Basic decent quality.

[crichell]

Really? Does it run linux, or is it just a PDA guaranteed to work with linux?

The PDA will run Linux. Probably from the Familiar Project - http://handhelds.org/familiar/. Although from some things I've seen it looks as though the Zaurus OS is open source. I'm not sure how it is licensed though. Debian also has a pocket pc OS called PocketWorks.



I was poking around in your Portable Devices section, and hey, this is good stuff! Having peripherals guaranteed to work with linux all collected in one place is a great idea! One thing you might consider adding to the digital cameras section is, if you have some test models or something you've been working with, photos taken with each of the cameras (or, if anyone has purchased any of these cameras, maybe they can send a couple photos in) so us shoppers can see how well each of them do.

I like the digital pictures idea. It could work well on our wiki. The only issue I can think of is that comparing the picture quality of cameras on a web page might be deceptive - we compress pictures so the pages load faster - you wouldn't really see the quality differences from camera a to camera b. I could be wrong on this and there may be a way to do it.



Have you considered adding some other troublesome peripherals, like scanners, webcams, or external drives, to your site?

Absolutely - that's our goal. A fully Linux friendly place for all of those things that we have trouble with.

[sethmahoney]

The PDA will run Linux. Probably from the Familiar Project - http://handhelds.org/familiar/. Although from some things I've seen it looks as though the Zaurus OS is open source. I'm not sure how it is licensed though. Debian also has a pocket pc OS called PocketWorks.


Don't know how far along you are in your research, but I've tried several distributions on the Zaurus, so if my experiences can save you any time, here they are:

I don't know whether or not the Zaurus OS is open source, but I do know that it is fairly awful (or at least it was on the 5600) - it looks bad, it is crashy, and just dealing with it in general is a pain. If you can get one to be stable enough on a particular machine, an OpenEmbedded project like Familiar or OpenZaurus is a much nicer way to go - GPE and Opie (the "desktop" environments available for either project) are both beautiful, and when the current build works, its great.

If the Debian OS is the one I'm thinking of, I think it lives on top of another (Sharp's?) OS, and takes huge amounts of memory to run.

The other thing is that it can be a pain to get any of the handheld distributions to communicate with Ubuntu - I have no idea how intensive it would be (cuz I never got it working) but an install/setup script would be a really nice touch.

[crichell]

I don't know whether or not the Zaurus OS is open source, but I do know that it is fairly awful (or at least it was on the 5600) - it looks bad, it is crashy, and just dealing with it in general is a pain. If you can get one to be stable enough on a particular machine, an OpenEmbedded project like Familiar or OpenZaurus is a much nicer way to go - GPE and Opie (the "desktop" environments available for either project) are both beautiful, and when the current build works, its great.

If the Debian OS is the one I'm thinking of, I think it lives on top of another (Sharp's?) OS, and takes huge amounts of memory to run.

Thanks for the information - We are in the research and planning phases so we're a ways off. I think the Zaurus OS is based on Debian's PocketWorks. I'm fond of the Familiar project. GPE and Opie are both sharp - Even though I like Gnome on my desktop I think Opie looks better for a handheld.


The other thing is that it can be a pain to get any of the handheld distributions to communicate with Ubuntu - I have no idea how intensive it would be (cuz I never got it working) but an install/setup script would be a really nice touch.

Working with Ubuntu is of coarse critical. I'd really like to get a Linux PDA --with of coarse cool multimedia capabilities-- out there. I'm unsure; however, about the demand for this type of product. With the mobile phone/PDA blur going on we need to make sure we're putting our resources in the right places. I think this goes for the Familiar guys too. Anything we get our there on the mobile phone/PDA side will be after Dapper. It may be something like a Motorolla phone that runs Linux and plays nice with Ubuntu. I'll keep you posted.

[DerMika]

$1,699.99
OS
Ubuntu Linux
Processor


Intel Centrino 740 @ 1.73 GHz
Memory
512 MB - DDR II 533 MHz
Hard Drive
40 GB – 5400 RPM
Optical Drive
CD-RW / DVD
Display
15.4” Widescreen WSXGA+
Graphics


128 MB - ATI Mobile Radeon X700
Wireless
Intel 802.11 b/g
Card Reader
Integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader
Expansion
PCMCIA 2.1 supports one Type II/I
Battery
8 Cell Lithium Ion
Dimensions


13.9" x 10.7" x 0.87~1.34 (W x D x H)
Weight
5.6 lbs. .
Warranty


1 Yr. Ltd. Warranty and 1 Yr. Technical Support

----------------------------------------------------
$1,290

Processor
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz) w/ATI RADEON X300 64MB

Operating Systems
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2, with media

LCDs
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD Panel

Memory
512MB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS


Hard Drives
40GB1 Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM

Modular Bay Devices
24X CD-ROM Drive

Wireless LAN (802.11)
Dell Wireless™ 1370 802.11b/g WLAN miniPCI Card

Hardware Support Services
3 Year Mail-In Economy Plan

Thats a 409.99 dollar difference...

Mmmm isnt Ubuntu a free OS?? Isnt that one of the major advantages??? Should it really cost more to buy a pc with Ubuntu installed???

That was for the entry price on system 76...

Now to emperorlinux

Rhino M70 NV

2.3 P-M

15" @ 1920x1200

1 G

100

DVD+/-RW

$3800.00 O

----------------------------------------------------------------

Processor
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73GHz) w/ATI RADEON X600 128MB

Operating Systems
Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2, with media

LCDs
15.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA LCD Panel

Memory
1.0GB 533MHz, DDRII SDRAM, 2 DIMMS - Dual Channel

Hard Drives
60GB1 Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM

Modular Bay Devices
8X DVD+/-RW2 w/ Sonic Digital Media™ and Cyberlink PowerDVD™

Wireless LAN (802.11)
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 802.11b/g WLAN miniPCI Card

Hardware Support Services
3 Year On-site3 Economy Plan


$1,820

Thats $1980 difference, and before you guys mention different hard drive with that kind of money i'll sacrifice using an external drive....

Perhaps am not seeing something blatently obvious but i know where i will buy the laptop!!!

If am completely mistaken please let me know...
I hope i havent made a total fool out of myself.... LMAO!!!

Peace to all....

TomHello,

Take a look at the size of the screens. WSXGA+ is 1680*1050 i think, while WXGA is something like 1280*800. That's a big difference. I guess that explains the difference in price.

[psyguy92]

-=snip=-
Working with Ubuntu is of coarse critical. I'd really like to get a Linux PDA --with of coarse cool multimedia capabilities-- out there. I'm unsure; however, about the demand for this type of product. With the mobile phone/PDA blur going on we need to make sure we're putting our resources in the right places.
-=snip=-

Speaking as someone whose main reason for having an XP partition is the PDA, I'd love to see a Linux alternative. The problem is, it won't be viable for many without the closed-source software some use. You can get calendaring + contact info + etc onto a Linux PDA, that is not that big of a problem and it would be nice. However, I think you make a good point about the market for these devices. It seems to me that those that use palm/pocket pc for basic PDA functions would be generally happy with the current style of PDA/Phone integration. Those who use the PDA as a mini computer (in the lab coat or suit-jacket pocket, for easy access to vast amounts of professional-level information driven by a closed source paradigm), this wouldn't work. This is a nich market. I think the only way you can appeal to both the nich market and gain broader appeal (cool, an integrated camera and games!), is to come up with a fully functional WINE-type solution for Palm OS or the windows variant. Now that would be nice.

[crichell]

The problem is, it won't be viable for many without the closed-source software some use.

This is the issue for Linux in general. We are, nonetheless, well along an evolutionary path in which software leaves the private domain and enters the public domain. This is what open source is. For your particular situation, the only logical development path for medical information and records software is open source. I'm confident this will occur with government or philanthropist funding kick starting a lofty opensource EMR solution. Patience and perseverance...the Linux way

[xbaez]

Congratulations
I will buy one if I'd live in the USA, unfortunately I am travelling there and I can't buy a whole computers, only motherboards, processors and such

[crichell]

Can't Ubuntu do acceleration on the Intel 915GM? I seem to remember reading in the forums that people had gotten it working...

Just an update on Intel 915GM acceleration. We do some acceleration with the chipset and achieve about 5,000fps via glxgears. nVidia and ATI achieve 8,000 to 9,000fps.

[DigitalDuality]

If you wouldn't mind....

I'd like to advertise your site on a message board I run. I'll custom make the banner myself, but only if you don't mind. I'll await your response. :)

[crichell]

If you wouldn't mind....

I'd like to advertise your site on a message board I run. I'll custom make the banner myself, but only if you don't mind. I'll await your response. :)

We appreciate all of the help, marketing and otherwise, that the community provides us. Is the message board Bluelight?

[apollyonis]

I am interested in the Gazelle 2000, but I'm curious as to whether or not you will be shipping it with Dapper once it comes out next month. If that's the case, I'll wait until then.

[crichell]

We will be shipping Dapper when it is released next month. We may be slightly behind the official release.

update - looks like dapper will be delayed - maybe June 1st?.

[ubuntu27]

Good Luck crichell/Carl :)
Someday I will buy from you, until then I shall recommend your site to everyone interested in Linux. :)

[aysiu]

Good Luck crichell/Carl :)
Someday I will buy from you, until then I shall recommend your site to everyone interested in Linux. :)
Same here. My wife is in school, so we're a bit strapped for cash, but some day... Edgy +1 or whatever. Fuscia seems pretty happy.

[ubuntu27]

Same here. My wife is in school, so we're a bit strapped for cash, but some day... Edgy +1 or whatever. Fuscia seems pretty happy.

:eek: :eek: Is Fuscia your wife!!?? :confused: :eek:

[aysiu]

No, Fuscia's another user on these forums--someone who bought a System 76 laptop. (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=191984)

My wife uses a G4 Mac Powerbook. She's happy, too, but for different reasons.

[ubuntu27]

No, Fuscia's another user on these forums--someone who bought a System 76 laptop. (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=191984)

My wife uses a G4 Mac Powerbook. She's happy, too, but for different reasons.
Oh! I see, I see! :D I was going to congratulate you for marrying a Linux user. :KS

[jan]

Well that is definitely a perfect news!!!

[Adamant1988]

crichell, I wrote an email to your sales dept...not sure if that was the appropriate place... asking about support for a project I'm going to be under-taking at my school. I know this is incredibly unprofessional of me, but I just wanted to make note of it here so that I can make sure you get to it...

My address is similar to my forum name adamant1988@gmail Thanks in advance :)

[crichell]

crichell, I wrote an email to your sales dept...not sure if that was the appropriate place... asking about support for a project I'm going to be under-taking at my school. I know this is incredibly unprofessional of me, but I just wanted to make note of it here so that I can make sure you get to it...

My address is similar to my forum name adamant1988@gmail Thanks in advance :)

Not unprofessional at all - we did receive your email and will be reviewing it. It sounds like a cool project you're undertaking. We'll get back to you in a couple of days (probably after the 4th holiday).

[smtelegadis]

Love the concept, but the price/spec need to improve if there is going to be any real success. Point in case:

Koala Mini Performance vs Apple Core Duo Mini

799 = 799 - 25(MIB) + Free Shipping (via MacConnection)

But with the mini you get 40GB more HD space, EFI firmware, 802.11a/b/g aircard, Apple remote, Legal DVD playback, Quicken 2006, 90 days 24hr phone support + 3 year hardware warrenty, and a DVD+/-RW DL Superdrive.

Oh and the mini runs Linux.

Don't get me wrong I love ubuntu/linux. I use it as my primary Desktop platform, but the cost don't add up. The only real advantage to buy one of your systems is the service and support channel. Even then, I still would go with Apple.

Good luck with the endevor.

[aysiu]

Did you compare a Pangolin to a Macbook? (http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=1290063&postcount=6)

[fuscia]

i am, indeed, quite happy with my system76 pangolin. it's as fast as i want it to be and i can do all the things i want with it. if i had gotten a macbook and put ubuntu on it (aside from the novelty of its prettiness not completely wearing off on me yet, i pretty much find OSX to be the 'r' word), i would have to find a wireless solution and go through all the hoops one has to go through to get mac hardware to work. it might work as well, but i don't have the skill to get it there. my system76 came already set up for me and i haven't had to do a thing except install all the fun stuff, like other DEs, stupid games, etc.

just to confirm: aysiu and i are just friends.

[bobbybobington]

yes they finally came out with a notebook (http://system76.com/index.php/cPath/1_12) with dualcore and an nvidia card. I'm sooo getting this,or the equivelent that they have when i buy my lappy in about 9 months for collage. It would be nice if you guys would sell compatible mp3 players, cause mine is crippled drm plays for sure (how ironic) and i think alot of people would buy em cause its hard to find mp3 players without drm, have ogg support and work with linux without much hassle.

anyways keep up the great work!

[crichell]

It would be nice if you guys would sell compatible mp3 players, cause mine is crippled drm plays for sure (how ironic) and i think alot of people would buy em cause its hard to find mp3 players without drm, have ogg support and work with linux without much hassle.

Give these guys a shot - I haven't checked out their latest players but I know many have Linux/Ogg support.

http://www.jetaudio.com/

[spiral777]

Are there any plans to put better screens on your laptops? I really like the serval, but the resolution is not good enough for what I want to use it for.

[crichell]

Are there any plans to put better screens on your laptops? I really like the serval, but the resolution is not good enough for what I want to use it for.

1280x800 WXGA is our standard for the time being.

[bruce89]

It would be nice if you guys would sell compatible mp3 players, cause mine is crippled drm plays for sure (how ironic) and i think alot of people would buy em cause its hard to find mp3 players without drm, have ogg support and work with linux without much hassle.

http://wiki.xiph.org/index.php/PortablePlayers

I don't know how many times I have said this now, but Ogg is the container format, the word you were looking for was Vorbis, which is its audio componant.

[bobbybobington]

wow i never knew that thanks! great wiki too!

[bobbybobington]

ronniew.... Im sure you're very excited about fossystems, but its kinda getting annoying to have the same message in everyother thread. Try mixing it up a little or start your own thread for fossystems. It may be more work, but at least it isn't spamming (which u are doing now).

[Skoreo]

I was looking at a Fujitsu T1010, and that's about $1700 CAD, so, not too bad for a Tablet PC right. But then I checked out the other Linux computer site, and the alternative was a Linux for over $4000 CAD. So, to the people who made comments about it being expensive, perhaps that is true in that case.

BUT! I looked through the System 76 site and I am very impressed. I would like to see a Tablet, and since I won't be buying for a few months at least, I'd be interested in finding out if you have one planned in the near future. If not, I was interested in the two smaller notebooks you had available. I custom configured a few and could still have it under $1000 CAD, I would say this is a better option than the Dells being offered with Ubuntu on the Canadian site. Additionally, your laptops look much nicer than a Dell.

Now then, I hope you will be able to answer a few questions for me. I am in Canada, and I want to buy a laptop from you, but I haven't signed up for an account or anything, just wondering off hand, how much that might cost, in addition to whatever else. I couldn't find any "International Shipping Fee" on the site. The next question I have is about all the software. I put Ubuntu on my Compaq Presario R3000 which had a Broadcom router; that was stressful. However, once I got internet working I wasn't able to use the MP3 player because the plugins available were incompatibly with my computer type, and then, the IM did not work either. I am figuring that since you guys put these together it should bypass any of that stress, right? I don't need to spend a week trying to install stuff to make MP3's play, correct? I am assuming so, but you seem to have a really comprehensive Tech Support setup, so I'm pretty confident about that. Finally, I want to know about the batteries on your laptop. When I put Linux on my Compaq, I noticed it managed the power much better, and it was a 2006 model. But, it had a 6-cell battery, and your laptops have a 4-cell battery, How long is that battery going to last? There are some mentions of "additional batteries" So, I think each custom configurable site has a different way of doing this, sometimes it means you can have an 8-cell instead of the 4-cell, othertime it means its comething you carry around and connect to it, and then sometimes its a much huger thing that hangs out the back. Will I be able to have an 8-cell primary battery in one of your smaller laptops, or is it going to hang out the back awkwardly?

Look forward to hear back. :KS