Comments on: System76 Pangolin Performance Review

By: Dallas

Dallas — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:35:07 +0000

I never knew you were a Linux user. I am as well, but I just use it on my Dell Studio 1555. No fancy 76 stuff here.

By: Giambattista

Giambattista — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:54:58 +0000

Thanks again, this battery issue is indeed a bit worrying. I hope it was only your case, and not something general. I wanted to stop buying a laptop and after 5 min erase win, and put linux. It always feels like you have to put an “alien” OS, and pray that everything goes right. I hope this S76 will improve all the issues you listed, it could be a very good thing for free software.

Cheers!

By: revlimiter

revlimiter — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:15:00 +0000

1: I am indeed still happy with it. It’s a great laptop and runs quite nicely to this day. I’m on Ubuntu 10.04 right now. I decided to stay with the LTS and see how it went.

2: Fan is working great. It runs a lot more in the summertime, obviously, but it’s nice. It turns on at 50*C and off at 45*C. It kicks up to medium at 60* and to high at 65*. It does make some noise on high, but it also works very well and knocks temps back down quickly.

As for the experience overall, I’m not sure I’d buy another System76 laptop. It’s a very good unit, but the hardware support is rather lacking. Mine was shipped with a weak battery. I put in a ticket and got a replacement battery. That one was actually weaker than the original. So.. I shipped it back and kept my original. System76 would not help me at all after this. No emails answered.

Now, it only charges up to 92%. I do keep it plugged in most of the time, so I’m not hurting. I get about 75 minutes on a charge.

The mouse (trackpad) has also been a weak point. It’s very jumpy. You can tweak it with system settings, but the hardware is just not great. There’s a few reports of this in the help forums, but no real fixes on the part of System76. It’s been an annoyance for me since day 1.

When I need another laptop, I’ll just be buying a standard brand name one. Toshiba or Lenovo probably. The money I save over a boutique laptop like one from S76 will be worth it.

By: Giambattista

Giambattista — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 15:39:12 +0000

Thanks for the review. I was browsing system76 and I also got impressed by this pangolin laptop. I have two questions, if you would be so kind to answer:

1-Are you still happy with it?
2-How is the fan going?

The thing I hated the most with my current laptop is the fun noise (it turns on continuously apparently without any reason). Of course I’m running Ubuntu on it!

Cheers!

By: revlimiter

revlimiter — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 22:02:28 +0000

Dual OS: Should be no problem. There’s nothing unique about this laptop that says you MUST run only Ubuntu or anything. It’s just a laptop.

Skype: No clue. I don’t use it. Again, it’s just a laptop. No reason to think skype wouldn’t work on it.

Hybrid drive: Honestly, I’d still go with the standard ol’ magnetic platters. They’re cheap and a known piece. Technology on solid state drives is still maturing.

By: Tracy Moore

Tracy Moore — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:53:38 +0000

Here’s another question. Is the new Hybrid drive a good idea? I am in the process of purchasing the Pangolin from the System76 website. I can get it without the Hybrid drive for a few $100 less. Plus, is an extended warranty really needed or is this telling me I will need it.