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Thread: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

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    New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    I am extremely excited by the new Gazelle Professional laptop model released today. I'm hoping this will be my next laptop.

    Are there any third party reviews of the new model available or has anyone seen one yet?

    Does this model require special drivers for a fresh Linux install like prior models?

    I do wish System76 didn't name all their versions the same, it makes finding reviews impossible.

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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by braddock View Post
    I am extremely excited by the new Gazelle Professional laptop model released today. I'm hoping this will be my next laptop.

    Are there any third party reviews of the new model available or has anyone seen one yet?

    Does this model require special drivers for a fresh Linux install like prior models?

    I do wish System76 didn't name all their versions the same, it makes finding reviews impossible.
    I know that we have one going out for review soon. If you're looking for information, you can also search by the model number rather than just the name; the current Gazelle is the GazP7.
    Ian Santopietro - System76 Technical Support.
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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    Does anyone know if the new Gazelle supports two hard drives in the hard drive bay? I know you can install one in the space of the DVD drive but I'd rather have the DVD.

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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Maghik View Post
    Does anyone know if the new Gazelle supports two hard drives in the hard drive bay? I know you can install one in the space of the DVD drive but I'd rather have the DVD.
    No, there is only room for one hard drive, besides the optical drive bay.
    Ian Santopietro - System76 Technical Support.
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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by isantop View Post
    No, there is only room for one hard drive, besides the optical drive bay.
    Ok Thanks isantop.

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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    I own the old Gazelle Pro, having purchased it in October. I note that the new one is a little bit of a step down when it comes to the connections it has. It has VGA rather than DVI video, and it lost the line-in audio and the optical audio out. IIRC, the old one could be upgraded to 32 GB of RAM, this one only 16 GB.

    It has Intel 4000 rather than nVidia graphics, though I am not sure how much difference this makes. Intel is in some ways better supported by Linux.

    On the plus side I note that the new one is quite a bit lighter than the old one, so that might be a plus. Also, since it only uses 90W, the power adaptor is likely to be considerably lighter than the brick I carry around.

    I wonder, is there going to be a new machine with specs more like the old Gazelle?

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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Maghik View Post
    Does anyone know if the new Gazelle supports two hard drives in the hard drive bay? I know you can install one in the space of the DVD drive but I'd rather have the DVD.
    You can a secondary hard drive with the optional caddy. My Gazelle Professional is arriving on Wednesday so I can't wait to check it out and give a brief review.

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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    I own the panp9 model myself and I have been very pleased. The new Gazelle laptop appears to use the same chasis so I will go ahead and give you all the low down on it.

    [a] Chasis only supports a single hard drive. S76 support was extremely helpful and told me which optical hd caddy to buy so that I could add a 2nd one (after I asked). I boot off a 120 gb SSD and keep another 500 GB HD around for storage and I wasn't willing to give up either. The machine boots great off the $35 USB2 dvd burner I bought from NewEgg.

    [b] If you purchase a model with a 3rd Gen Core I7 processor - you'll get the Intel HD 4000 graphics. My 3610QM is an extremely fast processor. My last machine contained a 2230QM and this one appears to be a substanial upgrade in terms of speed. Both the graphics and the processor perform admirably. The HD 4000 is able to play pretty much any indie game I throw at it and can handle most AAA games of yesteryear along with a handful of today's brand spanking new games at low detail. Diablo III plays on it at low details and still looks good. As a self styled retro and indie gamer, the HD 4000 is a perfect fit for me.

    [c] Although System 76 in no way officially supports Windows beyond providing a few driver downloads, Windows does work great on the machine. I'm currently dual booting between Arch Linux and Windows 7.

    [d] Now in terms of Linux compatibility, that can be a bit rough. Which seems mostly due to the fact that the hardware is quite cutting edge. Ubuntu 12.04 and Mint 13 RC install without issue. Rolling distributions (the ones I prefer), tend to have issues however as their installation discs aren't updated very often. Arch's official disc was updated last August and doesn't work with the wireless hardware in the machine. The latest nightlies have a bug that renders the installation impossible to complete. I ended up installing ArchBang to get around this and that appeared to solve my problems as their install disc was just updated late last month. Other rolling distros like Linux Mint Debian would boot off the live CD fine but as soon as the graphics drivers were loaded, the screen would get corrupted. I'm sure these situations will resolve themselves in one way or another over the course of the next few months, but it is still better to be aware of them in advance.

    [e] Misc items: The panp9 is extremely quiet and runs very cool. Occasionally I can get it bothered enough to fire up the side fan, but beyond that, it's really very well behaved in that respect. The machine seems to last about 3 hours on battery regardless of which OS I am booted into. The case design is very slick and has received numerous compliments from people I know who have seen it. In addition the machine is extremely easy to get into (which is a huge change from the Asus G53SW I owned). Oh and one last thing, if you order yours with bluetooth, it will ship in an "off" state. You have to turn it on using the Fn-F12 key combination. Anything else won't do

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    Wink Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    That's it! I am moving to Ubuntu!

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    Re: New Gazelle Professional Laptop Thread

    I placed my order for the new Gazelle Pro last Monday, and received it today. Quite surprised I was in having it shipped out so soon, but appreciative all the same. Thanks, System76!

    I will say that I was a little hesitant in purchasing this laptop given that it's rather new to their laptop scene, though it did check most of the proverbial boxes with respect to what I was after in this, my first laptop.

    The matte screen is pretty lovely, and a welcomed option - and the sole reason I chose this over the Lemur. Though, I still have the protective sheet over it as a figure out my feelings regarding the machine overall (in terms of keeping it). So, it'll probably look even better once fully revealed. I'm just hyper gentle with things I buy that have even the slightest potential of being returned so that should I, whatever is returned shall be received in mint condition.

    The laptop itself has a nice look to it, though the plastic feel kind of cheapens the effect once picked up. Then again, the reduction in weight in using plastic is perhaps an okay end result. It's a little thicker than I'd like, and a little heavier too, but I knew all of this going into it so I can't complain too much about that now. No fault to System76 for this, as this was kind of sort of out of their control.

    The keyboard is nice, though a backlight would have been awesome, and the Ubuntu sticker covered Windows button is a little tacky looking, as the sticker showed immediate signs of age in that once removing the laptop from its protective plastic bag, there was a ring of dust around the sticker's edge. Not a huge deal, but it would be nice if System76 could have someone manufacture specific Ubuntu keys for their Clevo laptops. My typing speed and accuracy on this keyboard, I must note, is perhaps better than with my desktop Logitech keyboard. So, this is a welcomed bonus.The if you split the keyboard in half, the left side is performs with delitcate ease in sound, while the right produces vibration from whatever is below. Kind of an annoyance this is, when it's almost perfect in touch and sound. Perhaps unavoidable given what is below the right side, but then again, I haven't a clue as to what could be causing the not-so-smooth sounding keystrokes. I just know it isn't uniform, and that's no fun.

    The laptop stays warm once engaged, but not exceptionally so. Probably average in feel to experienced laptop users. However, the trackpad is just above the heat source, thereby making a warmer than preferred fingertip sensation. And speaking of the trackpad, its location does allow for accidental palm pointer movement. Just in typing up this message, my palms have moved the cursor all over the place, resulting in my typing in places I didn't intend to. However, I have read that I can disable the trackpad when typing. I will look into that, and not a big deal all things considered.

    The DVD/CD drive is pretty cheap, with my uttering such as soon as I pressed the eject button. I'm not sure what I expected, but yikes. Not a fault of System76, per se, but I certainly have no great expectation of it lasting, and given this, I wish I would have opted for a hard drive in its place (though the option for such wasn't made available until the day following my order). Perhaps this kind of drive is the norm, but the laptops I have used (though not owned, but borrowed), have had the much preferred slot drives.

    Not to dwell on the negative, but the speakers are rather ho-hum and shallow sounding, despite the boastful THX branding and quality claims. The sound would probably be much better had the speakers been placed atop the chassis and not below. Perhaps the sound is good for a laptop of this class, but I'm not impressed. I will listen to music and such through external speakers, as what's on board simply won't do if you have a penchant for quality sound. I'm kind of a snob in this regard.

    The system is also virtually silent - surprisingly so. That being said, I have not taxed it too terribly. However, when trying (and failing) to watch a DVD movie (as a test), the fan kicked in and the DVD/CD drive became unbearably noisy. I still can't get a movie to play (even after downloading some stuff from the store), but I'm sure it's just a temporary thing. Well, that and the eject button wouldn't work after the movie failed to play. Only when pressing eject via the running DVD program did the drive eject.

    The battery life has been the only true major bummer (other than the super cheapo DVD/CD drive and speakers). Then again, I'm not sure what I should be expecting. I fired the system up (after ensuring it was fully charged) at around 5:15p, and have had it running and in use ever since. Brightness at the default 50% for about an hour or so, and then about a half hour ago, I cranked it up to 100%. I watched a few short videos, downloaded some stuff from the store, listened to some music (via YouTube), and perused the internet. It is now 7:00p, and the system is telling me I have about 28min left. So, 2hrs for moderate to low use? I'm not sure if that'll do. But, we'll see how things improve after a full discharge and full recharge. I just expected more from a laptop running an efficient processor, integrated graphics, LED screen, and SSD drive, all the while doing simple tasks.

    Oh, and most surprisingly of all, I actually like 12.04. GASP! Though, I plan to get that bottom panel activated post haste. I have to have it!!

    Overall, at this early stage, I'm somewhat satisfied (with the emphasis on somewhat). If I paid half as much, I'd be nearly completely satisfied, I would think. We'll see what later tonight or tomorrow brings. I just wanted to update as early as I could, should my input be of any interest at all.

    More as it develops.
    Last edited by norfair; May 30th, 2012 at 11:02 AM.

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