System 76... Good or Bad?

[philbert]

I purchased a Gazelle Pro 7 three years ago, Have upgraded to every version of Ubuntu released since then, and am at 15.10 now, and have had no issues with it.

[hawkmage]

From my experience I would say that System76 is a good buy and would recommend them. Here is an overview of my experience of System76 over the last 2 years.

In December of 2013 I bought a Bonobo Extreme laptop (bonx7) and have had no major issues with it. The only thing I would have liked to be better is the trackpad sensitivity, trying to click the pointer often moves so it is not great for precision use. I have run a number of Linux distros on it without any issue other than distro specific issues with drivers for things like the nVidia card that you do not run into if you stick with Ubuntu that comes on the system.

A year later replacing an ageing desktop I bought a Leopard Extreme (leox5). I have been quite happy with this system as well. I did have one issue after about 10 months where during boot the POST started to take over 2 minutes and I was getting errors during boot about a the status of a USB device couldn't be read. All of the USB ports seemed to be working when I plugged something into them, after a handful of messages on a support ticket I opened it was decided that there was a hardware problem and that since it was still under warranty they sent me an RMA and shipping label and I sent it in. It took about 2 weeks to diagnose, fix (replaced the motherboard) and ship my system back to me.

[DragonBoy]

I purchased a Lemur from System 76 over a year ago. This system rocks and been running like a champ. It has no issues with the following Ubuntu releases (15.04, 15.10, and 16.04). The support from System 76 team has been great. I had a few questions that I sent them via their online web support. They responded back quickly.

I would recommend either the Lemur if you want to be portable or the Meerkat if you want a small foot print for desktop. Fairly cheap with good hardware specs.

[Replicon]

I've owned three System76 computers: A Serval P from way back when (2008?), my current main box (Wild Dog Performance), and a new Lemur laptop I got for travel. All three have been great.

(p.s. This is, in part, a test post - I can't post new threads in this forum for some reason (no access to newthread.php) - just testing to see if it's because of the System76 forum, or because newthread is generally broken)

[Gremmie]

I have a Gazelle laptop that I got around January of 2014.

When it arrived, the back cover had not been assembled correctly and it had a bulge in it. I ended up snapping some of the little clips off while trying to re-seat it. System76 sent me a new back cover and some screws for free, which I appreciated.

The computer itself seemed fine. Ubuntu ran great on it, and I always updated to the latest versions without issue.

In March of 2015 it started taking minutes to POST. It was just out of warranty, of course. I ended up sending it back to System76 to replace the motherboard.

Now my display is going bad. It has developed a white spot on the lower right edge where all the pixels are brighter than their surroundings. And I have a thin, 1 pixel, vertical black line that goes down the exact center of the screen. This line appears when the laptop has been on for a while (heat?). It appears even in the bios screen. My laptop is about 2 years and 9 months old at this point.

So maybe I just got unlucky but I'm not happy with the quality of components. Currently trying to decide if I should send it back for repair again or just move on to another laptop from another vendor.

System76 as a company seems like a great idea. They have a nice, easy to use website and I can't fault them for their customer support. However I haven't had the greatest experience with the hardware they use.

[neu5eeCh]

My experience hasn't been so great. Compared to current laptops made by Dell, HP or Lenovo, System 76's laptops feel outdated and clunky. Within a couple months of buying my Kudu Pro, I noticed a dead pixel. System 76 doesn't cover dead pixels under their normal warranty. So be it. I've owned dozens of other laptops and have flat screen monitors that are over a decade old. None of them have dead pixels. Further, the colors on the Kudu Pro are dull and never compared to brightness or crispness of my Lenovo Yoga. I never liked it.

Just recently, the Kudu Pro has begun hard-rebooting at random. All in all, one gets the impression that System 76 puts their laptops together with second rate parts.

By comparison, I pulled an old HP desktop out of the metal recycling bin after buying the Kudu. It had been rained on. So had the monitor. Additionally, the case for the HP was missing so that the motherboard had been exposed to the weather. I put in an SSD and it, and the monitor, are humming along beautifully. Outlasted the Kudu Pro.

So, that's my experience. I, personally, will not be returning to System 76. I'll buy the latest laptop from HP, Dell or Lenovo and install LInux on it myself. I'm typing this on a Lenovo Yoga 2 with no dead pixels and nary an issue.

Edit: Hibernate never worked on the Kudu Pro. Seems to me that if one is buying a preloaded Linux machine, everything should just work, otherwise why bother?

[Geoffrey_Arndt]

http://www.xoticpc.com/

http://www.clevo.com.tw/clevo_pro.asp?lang=en

System76 engineers work with Clevo in a similar manner as does xoticpc, and other major brands/names.

There is another OEM for AIO's and Desktops. All mainstream stuff and components.

System76 is a small (15 or so employees) but dedicated company and perhaps their main contribution is knowing what hardware works with Ubuntu and writing/tweaking the Sys76 drivers.

Have two systems with zero issues over several years, and I do plan on buying from them again (rather than go through the quagmire of the HP's etc.)

[g33zr]

I have a System76 Pangolin (Clevo) laptop that's entered its 4th year. I've run several different Linux distros on it since I bought it and am now running Ubuntu MATE on it with no issues. My only complaint about the Pangolin is the battery life isn't great, but the newer System76 laptops have better battery life. I also have a System76 desktop PC, the Sable all-in-one, which is an Asus PC modified for System76.

Would I recommend System76? Yes.

Would I buy another one? Yes.

[kanyatula]

I'm considering purchasing a Meerkat with a matte pro IPS display. Anyone here have any experience with the monitors system76 uses in their desktop custom builds? Do they really not allow returns if the display breaks and is within warranty? Thanks for any answers.

[april-system76]

I'm considering purchasing a Meerkat with a matte pro IPS display. Anyone here have any experience with the monitors system76 uses in their desktop custom builds? Do they really not allow returns if the display breaks and is within warranty? Thanks for any answers.

We use ViewSonic displays in our desktop builds. We allow returns on all purchases including accessories within the first 30 days (as outlined in the warranty) but accessories are not explicitly covered by warranty. If it's not working out of the box, we'll replace it for you. Anything after that is covered by the manufacturer's (ViewSonic's) warranty, and you'd contact them for service and support on accessories. I hope that answers your questions!

Also, the Meerkat mounts to the ViewSonic displays quite nicely if you're looking for a good all-in-one solution. Of course, if it's behind the monitor, the sweet S76 logo on the top case is hidden from view