System 76... Good or Bad?

[pauljw]

I admit that the lifetime support is a selling point. My only worry is that the machine is put together sloppily. Loud fans and plastic cases I can deal with. Hardware that isn't assembled properly is a deal breaker for me as I use my laptop daily and mailing it back and forth for repair would really make things difficult for me.

I would say go for it, I have a Gazelle-Pro that is soon to be 2yrs old and have had zero problems with it. Yes, it's plastic, but it still feels solid. I have it on 24/7 and share it with my daughter. The fan rarely runs and is variable so it's not normally very loud when it does. Right now I have 26 tabs open in Firefox; Thunderbird; and xchat w/4 channels open. CPU is showing 3-4 percent usage and 1.44G out of 8G RAM in use. Everything just works out of the box.

One thing I recommend, pick yourself up an xpad, your lap and your laptop will thank you.

[Geoffrey_Arndt]

Also if you're familiar with Sager Gaming PC's . . . these all come from the same manufacturer. Quality is excellent (as most Taiwan based companies are).

[one.finefellow]

My Gazelle Pro is one of the best electronic devices I have ever purchased. If there's any negative reviews it's because those who bought their computers were looking for something more than System76 offers. The laptop works out of the box and is seamless with several popular Linux programs. Some things require a little more knowledge to configure, which one would expect working with Linux software.

[Wraflov]

One last question: which System76 laptop would you recommend for gaming through Steam?

[Geoffrey_Arndt]

Looks like System76 has revamped their hardware models for laptops - see link below. Of the 3 models (seemingly all available), the Oryx or Serval would be great for Steam (with Serval 17" being top choice). But, each laptop can be customized for your needs:

https://system76.com/laptops

[saamde]

It's been love hate relationship with the company. I have a Lemur Ultra since 2013, so about two years. I love the idea of what they are doing but haven't been thrilled with the execution. I always had power problems with my laptop, it would go from charging to not charging for no reason and I was always fiddling with the power cord, which finally broke, and the replacement for that was a bit expensive but after replacing the charging cord the connection problems got worse, not better. Then, about two weeks ago smoke started coming from the jack and I quickly unplugged it, the laptop ran fine on the battery but I wasn't about to plug it back in so I sent it back to system76 for a repair. They told me that not only was the jack fried but so was the motherboard, they couldn't explain why the laptop worked fine under battery power, they claimed it didn't work at all. I was ok with all this, the cost was around $300, but because their diagnosis seemed to differ a little from what I witnessed I asked them to give me back the broken motherboard, my dad always said if you don't trust the mechanics replacement ask them for the broken part, system 76 refused to send me back my broken motherboard and that I felt like was a second red flag, first being an overly expensive charger, not to mention the main sin that the power connection was so wonky and finally fried. They were rude and unhelpful the moment I started to ask questions that were outside the box. So in the end, sadly, my Lemur Ultra will be my last System 76 laptop.

[Skaperen]

... I asked them to give me back the broken motherboard, my dad always said if you don't trust the mechanics replacement ask them for the broken part, system 76 refused to send me back my broken motherboard ...

try that with a dead car battery; they will refuse. replacement car batteries are lower in price (maybe not for you) because the lead plates are going to be recycled. many new battery pricing deals depend on you bringing in an old battery.

many parts can be recovered from a motherboard with a few dead parts; just heat it up and many chips and other parts just fall off.

[pauljw]

try that with a dead car battery; they will refuse. replacement car batteries are lower in price (maybe not for you) because the lead plates are going to be recycled. many new battery pricing deals depend on you bringing in an old battery.

many parts can be recovered from a motherboard with a few dead parts; just heat it up and many chips and other parts just fall off.

Apples to oranges there. The OP bought his laptop giving him ownership of the motherboard in it, so unless Sys76 replaced the mb for free, which he didn't say, then he still owns it and should have it back if he wants it. Now, if replacement was free, Sys76 owns it and of course wouldn't be obligated to give it back.

When replacing a battery, there's normally a core charge that you do get back for your old battery.

[saamde]

They did, after a couple days of refusing to, agree to send me my broken motherboard. They told me that typically broken motherboards get sent back to the manufacturer. I saw in another thread that their repair shop, according to the customer, had replaced a few things unnecessarily. What Skaperen said about car batteries does make some sense, I wonder if the manufacturer pays sys76 for the old mb? If they do get money for old boards it wasn't visible in the bill they sent me, they charged me $251 for a new motherboard. I feel like pauljw that unless they are going to pay me for the old mb and I agree to that, the mb belongs to me, and they should send it back if I ask them to, no questions asked.

[pauljw]

Glad to hear you got it worked out.