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System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

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Re: System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

#21

Post by jesuscript »

acomjean wrote: post #14
jesuscript wrote: post #7

What makes their stuff so great? I was customizing a gaming rig on their site the other day and it was wildly overpriced. I imagine you can match their specs for this laptop at cheaper prices.

You can. Its for people like me who want a linux laptop, but don't want to go through the hassle of installing it. While I could, I just didn't want to spend the time on it, plus setting up some drivers here and there. Thats the value prop. I got one for home use, (Oryx pro with Nvidia) 4 years ago. It worked well enough and had so few issues I got one for work.

I totally sympathize with the driver compatibility concern, but what is the hassle of sticking in a linux usb drive to install?

In general, how serious are these driver compatibility concerns for modern laptop hardware?

Re: System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

#22

Post by imachine1980_ »

jesuscript wrote: post #7

What makes their stuff so great? I was customizing a gaming rig on their site the other day and it was wildly overpriced. I imagine you can match their specs for this laptop at cheaper prices.

you are paying for convenience, support the project, and have system that is tested for the ground up and configured by the manufacturer, and branding. I don't feel that is so great, some other laptops and pc in the linux ecosystem are great also, but this is their monetization scheme, high price for niche products. I don't think they can sell for lower price and compete whit companies who doesn't expend the money in developing the distribution, wm, etc.

Re: System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

#23

Post by lwhi »

coder543 wrote: post #12
lwhi wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here .. I think we need a comma. E.g. "System76 AMD-Only Laptop, Returns"

No, that would actually be less correct and less clear. "System76 brings back AMD-only laptop" would be an extremely clear way to phrase the title. I'm not even sure the "only" is even that helpful; it could probably just be "AMD laptop".

Perhaps, but it would continue to allow the poster their own choice of words .. which I think is important.

Re: System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

#26

Post by coder543 »

lwhi wrote: post #23
coder543 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that would actually be less correct and less clear. "System76 brings back AMD-only laptop" would be an extremely clear way to phrase the title. I'm not even sure the "only" is even that helpful; it could probably just be "AMD laptop".

Perhaps, but it would continue to allow the poster their own choice of words .. which I think is important.

No... it's less clear too. The verb is never isolated from the rest of the sentence by a comma, but a list of nouns will be isolated by commas, even if the conjunction is missing for brevity in a title. Separating "returns" like that makes it appear even more to be a noun, which is the thing that the original comment was confused by. Correct interpretation of the title relies on the reader realizing that it is a verb in this context, and the comma does not help with that.

Given the ongoing mess with the AMD 7900 XTX GPU vapor chambers, I initially interpreted the title to mean there was some problem with AMD laptops, so System76 was offering returns only for those laptops with AMD chips. That is not the case.

Re: System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

#27

Post by schaefer »

piinbinary wrote: post #2

This feels like somewhat unfortunate timing, with AMD's 7000 series mobile CPUs just around the corner.

You really have to do your homework with the new AMD processor rebranding. It's super easy to think your getting the latest and greatest, only to end up with Vega 2 graphics like the 5000 series from years ago. I had to whiteboard it to keep it all straight myself.

When I look at AMD's new mobile lineup for 2023, and I didn't notice anything "new" in the U-series power profile (15 watts tdp). I'd be more than happy with a 6800U in linux friendly packaging.

Let me know if you think there's a specific 7000 series chip I've overlooked.

P.S: about the system 76 teaser itself, the static picture used as a "before and after" comparison for 60hz display vs 144 hz display is comedic gold.

Re: System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

#28

Post by acomjean »

I have one (the previous one with AMD Ryzen 5700u). I've been using it for work the last 6 months coming from an 2015 macbook. Its been great for developing. The battery lasts pretty well (forgetting my power supply when working from home I got almost 7 hours), its fast (I've done some genetics blast runs which take hours, where those extra cores really help). Its pretty quiet too (you can hear the fan when it spins up, but its very reasonable). Returning to a Mat screen has been nice.

I really like AMD on the notebook. Compared to my 4 year old Oryx pro (intel 8th gen), which had poor battery life (esp when using the Nvidia graphics) and required a reboot initially if I wanted to switch to intel graphics. This one is much nicer, but it won't game nearly as well as one with dedicated graphics.

Re: System76 AMD-Only Laptop Returns

#30

Post by time_to_smile »

jesuscript wrote: post #7

What makes their stuff so great? I was customizing a gaming rig on their site the other day and it was wildly overpriced. I imagine you can match their specs for this laptop at cheaper prices.

Wildly overpriced compared to building it yourself or compared to other PC building companies?

I purchased a Thelio Mira awhile back and have been happier with it than any other PC/laptop I've owned before.

The big value add that System76 is having a Linux desktop that is guaranteed to just work out of the box the same way you would expect and Apple machine to work out of the box. In fact, I've probably had less issues with this machine out of the box than any new macbooks I've had in the past few years.

I've built plenty of my own PCs before and run linux as my primary desktop multiple times, and my Thelio is a wildly better experience than in the past. The build quality is excellent and for the first time I can really use Linux as my primary desktop with no problems.

Building a PC yourself is always going to be cheaper, and for many people that's the preferred path anyway. The point I'm at in my life I would much rather pay a premium to not have to worry about that at all (especially when it comes to hardware on linux).

If anyone is look for a "just works" linux PC, I've found system76 to be a great experience.

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