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Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

system76.com

211–220 of 468 posts

Re: Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

#211

I can't speak to the 4700u or the pangolin specifically, but I can offer this perspective on PopOS/AMD: I've been using System76's PopOS with my Asus Zephyrus G14 (4800hs) as a daily driver and I really like it. (freelance/web) The battery life is comparable to Windows (on integrated graphics mode, it has graphics switching available)at 7-10 hours with 70% brightness and balanced power settings using VScode and firef…

I'm really unclear on the motivation for sticking a 50wh battery in a machine which can easily burn 25+wh in normal operation.

If the computer can only hold up a 1.5 hour battery it really doesn't satisfy the use case of a laptop, doubling the battery up to 99 wh really allows for a 3-4 hour minimum battery life and a longer battery life for non-GPU work.

Re: Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would buy in a heartbeat if it had a 4k display. Hard to go back to 1080p after six years of Retina and 4K displays.

I find it weird that non-Mac laptops either come with 1080 or 4k display options. Mac displays look incredible, and the 16" MBP resolution is 3072 × 1920 - basically 70% of the pixels on a 4k monitor.

Indeed as backend developer screen real estate is much more important than super accurate colour or viewing angles.

Re: Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

#213

Why aren't there any bold laptop manufacturers? This is a 2021 laptop that uses USB-A primarily, a meh panel, and no particular standout design features. Why do I have to get a mac if I want actually good design? System76 should take a risk and truly make an interesting laptop. leaving the standard, boring design to the big name companies.

System76 is probably one of the least bold laptop manufacturers because they can't afford to be. As other comments have noted, much of their hardware are largely rebadged devices from other manufacturers such as Clevo, because the main selling point of System76 appears to be the software experience and hardware integration. If you want great design that matches a Mac (overall, better in some areas, worse in others),…

I bought an innovative new convertible tablet from HP in 2008. I now appreciate Apple's hesitancy to implement innovative designs before they're ready for prime-time. Sometimes, quality of execution is more innovative than the concept.

Re: Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

#215
post #27

I'd love to replace my thinkpad. But I need/want things that seem unavailable. * trackpoint + buttons (can be without touchpad, disabled anyway) * full keyboard * strong durable * removable battery * 4k screen * ecc 64-128gb * rj45 * lots of ports * hardware switches to disable: networking, camera, mic,.. Thinkpad's are move farther away each year. I hope some company will fill the gap.

It's worse than you think: They are somewhat hamstrung in their hardware decisions by the current offerings from those Apple/Ultrabook chasing OEMs, but in this case they jumped the shark entirely and removed the 2.5" drive caddy.

The nearly identical Clevo NL51RU/NL50RU [1] has a 2.5" drive caddy but a 36 Wh battery. Take a look at the internal photo of the System76 unit at [2]. It's the same laptop. Heck, they didn't even bother removing the boss and brass insert for the 2.5" drive retaining screw by the left speaker.

System76 is not an OEM, they whitelabel and have tweaks made to Clevo/Sager laptops. I think they do a great service to the Linux community with PopOS and driver development/compatibility to make those into machines where Linux "just works" out of the box, don't get me wrong.

This obsession with thin-and-light goes completely counter to the whole point of "Our laptops’ guts are fully accessible!". They say they've got a tactile keyboard, to fit in 20mm thin right on top of the heat sink for the high-power Ryzen processor and discrete graphics I think I'm pretty safe in assuming it's a pathetic 1" thick or more is not too much. You could fit in all the ports, as well as an 80 Wh battery, and cooling to run at boost frequencies for more than 20ms. You don't have to match the dimensions of a Macbook Air and be able to slice tomatoes with the wrist rest.

[1]: https://laptopwithlinux.com/wp-content/uploads/Clevo-NL51RU-... from https://laptopwithlinux.com/product/clevo-nl51ru/ [2]: https://assets.system76.com/products/pang10/internal.png

Re: Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

#216

Interesting choice of animal, given that Pangolins are suspected of being the source of the virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic. https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210210/did-the-new-coronav... All publicity is good publicity, I guess...

This was my immediate thought upon reading this. It is a very bizarre name choice given its potential connection to COVID-19 and that it was released during the ongoing global pandemic. Regardless of whether Pangolins are the true source of the pandemic (it is looking like that is becoming much less likely as time has gone on), the connection is still there in many people's mind and not what I would be naming my product after in 2021. Maybe in 2030 it would be safe, but this might just be a bit too soon.

Surely someone at System76 has to be aware of this, which begs the question, was this naming intentional? It would have to be I imagine. It seems a bit crass to go this route in the current climate.

Re: Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

#217
post #8

I like my System76 desktop but I've had plenty of issues with their laptops, and I really dislike a numpad on a laptop.

Yes! If someone from system76 is listening to this thread, please, make a version without the numpad! That would be the case for me to buy one of these, but with a numpad it is a no.

Re: Pangolin – Mobile AMD laptop with Ryzen CPU and Radeon graphics

#219
post #31
post #8

I like my System76 desktop but I've had plenty of issues with their laptops, and I really dislike a numpad on a laptop.

given the size of the unit it makes sense to have a numpad, no? What would you put instead?

You put nothing, why do you assume if there is space it needs to be more keys in there? I bet they can even improve the structural rigidity by not having the numpad.
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