I bought this computer a few months back and have been using it as my laptop since. I wanted to write a review after having used it for a while to avoid the type of review that goes like I got it out of the box and its shiny.
The Laptop
It is a very nice looking laptop. Not on the same league as Apple’s, but, in the PC space, it looks very good. When I take it out and show it around, it makes a good impression.
It is also surprisingly thin and light. I had previously owned an Eee because it was so light and got this one because I’d be using it as my primary computer when away from home. So, I do value a light laptop over raw power.
Speaking of raw power, this is a pretty responsive machine. Even editing images doesn’t feel slugish. The only time I wish for a faster machine is when editing video. Then again, if editing video is your primary usage, do get something other than a laptop.
It has a HDMI and a VGA output, which is essential. Even Dell now got the Apple bug and ships some laptops without a VGA output. Since one of my main uses for a laptop is to do presentations and there is almost no rooms equiped with an HDMI input, I didn’t want to have to put up with the Mac owners curse of carrying adapters everywhere. For such a thin laptop, having 3 USB plugs, plus a flash card reader, and an Ethernet port is very good.
The only negative is the trackpad whose buttons are too thin and slightly unresponsive. The power on button is also slightly unresponsive, but otherwise workable. The battery is not that impressive at 2 hours for regular usage. There is sometimes a flicker on the screen, which had me worried, but it only happens every once in a while.
The Linux Installed
It came with pre-installed Ubuntu (9.10 was current at the time, now it would ship with 10.04).
I was disappointed to find that it still required an extra step to install the drivers for the webcam and such. There is no reason why it shouldn’t all be pre-installed, no? This is the same with Dell’s preinstalled Linux stuff, but I had hoped that System 76 would do a better job.
The webcam worked once I installed the drivers and interfaced automatically with Skype. Wireless internet works, except when it doesn’t. I didn’t debug it, but at a friends’ house, I couldn’t connect to his wireless network even when I had the password. I just gave up, but not a 100% positive experience.
Hibernate and sleep work well as does CPU frequency scaling. I also got an external DVD writer and it works well for CD and DVD playing. I had to fiddle for a while with k3b’s settings to record DVDs, but I’m blaming k3b on this one.
Verdict
Overall, it is a nice computer. It is not the definite Linux-preinstalled laptop I would hope for, but better than any other experience I’ve had.
I would definitely buy again from System 76 (fortunately, I had no problems with the computer so I can’t comment on their support).
Follow me on twitter: @luispedrocoelho
