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System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

system76.com

61–70 of 448 posts

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#61
post #9

The specs page is a bit vague in places. Graphics AMD Radeon™ Graphics Storage 1 x M.2 SSD(SATA or PCIe NVMe). Up to 2TB total. In the configurator you have to pay attention to the read speeds to figure out if you are getting a SATA or PCIe drive. There is no indication for which brand of drive they are using. I have a few SSD controllers that are on my do not buy list, like anything made by Sandforce[1] after we los…

Sandforce hasn't existed for years BTW. Unfortunately the general problem stands; virtually no laptop will tell you what SSD you're getting.

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#62
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a lot of computers being sold today are still 1366x768

... and 4 GB of RAM

Nothing wrong with that for a lightweight Linux dev/browsing machine. More than that just goes unused.

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed it's nearly perfect, but I would only buy it with a considerably better processor. Both Intel and AMD have incredible stuff lined up for the next few years in that space. For now though, since I have to keep a Mac around for work, I'll probably stick with my M1 MacBook Air for my portable needs and keep using Linux on my desktop.

a great thing about the framework though is the processor is upgradeable! So once the new stuff comes out ...

Yes, if I haven’t just bought this MacBook I’d probably consider it.

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#64
post #18
post #12

1080p screen is a no-go. come on yall, it's 2021

Isn't 1080p way better for battery life + its mostly indistinguishable in pixels? unless you are like, looking really close at the pixels? remember its 1080p inside a 15" monitor, not a 24" monitor a PC has.

If you spend a lot of time reading/typing text on a computer, hiDPI helps as the text is a lot sharper. Though honestly I don't care as much and find that 1080 is an acceptable resolution for smaller screens (<= 22").

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#65
post #57
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea who thought this was a good idea. The trackpad is even off to the left to accommodate it. I'm not a fan of symmetry for symmetry's sake, but I do think some affordances for the human body might be a good idea. How do southpaws enjoy this keyboard setup? The ergonomics of laptops are bad enough without stuff like this.

Southpaw here! I'd never buy a laptop without a number pad. The track pad being off-center is also good. Gaming? 78462 make for the best movement, and the number pad also has seven non-numerical buttons to bind things to. It also puts your index finger right next to lENTER, which is so useful for games that make use of it. Programming? Bind the buttons to commonly-used UNIX programs to make for a better IDE than an I…

> Programming? Bind the buttons to commonly-used UNIX programs to make for a better IDE than an IDE.

Mind sharing some examples of your bindings?

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#66

I wish a person could order one of these without the numeric keypad. I deeply hate being off-center to the screen when typing on these larger portables.

i deeply hate being without a numpad. I understand it's duplicated space, but typing numbers on a numpad is just a million times faster than going above the alphabet keys.

I guess I spend much more time doing regular typing and being off-center really makes it painful (old HP laptop).

I did buy a wireless numeric keypad at one time that had some extra keys and arrows that made data entry really fast.

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#67
post #39

What are system76 keyboards and trackpads like? I wish I could touch one before having to decide whether to buy

I have an oryp5 (2019). The keyboard is ok. The numeric pad is annoying though, as others have commented. I definitely prefer my old mac which didn't have one.

The touchpad is awful. Way too sensitive to palm touches, even in windows - so it isn't just a linux driver issue. This might be related to the fact that its off center but I think its just lousy hardware. In linux I've tweaked both the touchpad area (reduced) and threshold settings but its still barely usable and I palm-touch constantly unless I hold my hand at an awkward angle.

Maybe this pangolin is better but I looked at the overhead picture of the keyboard and it looks almost identical to my oryp5. The touchpad may be upgraded hardware, so I don't know.

I love what system 76 is doing, PopOS is great, but I really wish they'd get off these Clevo laptops. The hardware just isn't very good, IMO.

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#68
post #35

1080p in 2021, targeting a "tech" audience? Good luck with that.

Most people who do tech work in the sense of using a computer for most part of their days such as software devs (I hope) use external keyboards and screens and mice anyway, 99% of the time. AC adapter plugged in. With the WFH trend, this will be a growing trend.

I unplug the AC adapter and monitor to go over to someone's desk or hold a presentation perhaps a few times a month at most. I would not want to write code a whole day on even the best laptop keyboard and the most crispy 4K laptop screen.

There is a surprising lack of choice for laptops targeting this mode of use though. For example the $3k Dell precision I have now doesn't like being used plugged in for extended periods. They put a category of battery in them that swells when heated. So if you, like me, leave it on for say a year at your desk (This happened during the pandemic) - it expands and the keyboard and trackpad stops working.

When you go for a "workstation" class laptop, the manufacturers have crammed so much perf into an impossibly small package, that it's screaming loud and glowing hot. Just make it twice as thick with half the battery size and I'll buy it.

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#69

Obviously the "Linux-first" is a big value-add for this brand, but the hardware for the price isn't amazing. $1200 gets you a Zen 2 (previous generation) 6-core, 12-thread CPU[0], 8GB RAM, 240 GB NVME, 15" 1080p (did not see brightness/color accuracy mentioned.) But I like my laptops to come with fast refresh and a dedicated GPU, and I run Windows, so I'm not their target audience. Would love to hear how this is rece…

$906 gets you Ryzen 7, 16GB RAM, 14", no numpad:

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/search?fq={!ex=733}lengs_Screen...

Re: System76 Pangolin Linux-first laptop with AMD internals now in stock

#70
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't 1080p way better for battery life + its mostly indistinguishable in pixels? unless you are like, looking really close at the pixels? remember its 1080p inside a 15" monitor, not a 24" monitor a PC has.

I have a 4k x1 Carbon and I can confirm that it's dumb. I would prefer the battery life but also the iGPU isn't powerful enough to run an external monitor while the display is using 4k so I have to scale it down for that anyway.

I wonder, can users who want better battery life on their 4k laptop just run the screen in 1920x1080?
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