First off, the intro video is very clearly comparing the laptop's thickness to proprietary, freedom-denying candies with trademarks on them. The comparison should be to libre candies that don't deny users freedom.
Second... I once came into possession of a bottle of vegan Worcestershire sauce. Well, I love Worcestershire sauce, and I was curious. So I did a side-by-side taste test. And, I learned two things very quickly:
1) The vegan Worcestershire sauce was horrible.
2) It also was in no way reminiscent of Worcestershire sauce. The only way it could be mistaken for Worcestershire sauce is if you'd been a vegan for so long you forgot what Worcestershire sauce was supposed to taste like.
That's what this article reminds me of. This laptop is a "Macbook Killer" if you've never actually used a MacBook before. (And I say this as someone who has never bought a Mac.)
Have you used a MacBook before? I have. I have two and an iMac, and I'd still rate my experience in OpenSUSE (where I've ended up these days) as 1000% better than OSX aside from video codecs. So if you're not using that vegan Worcestershire sauce, could you please pass it this way?
I've used a MacBook before, yes. And, so, don't get me wrong, I've hated every moment of using one. I don't like the OS. I don't like the aesthetic. There is absolutely nothing about the MacBook I like.
But I am very able to recognize that I am not everyone, that there are a lot of people who like their MacBooks, that Apple's build quality is the best there is, that Apple's support is top-notch, that you can FIND Apple support in any major city in the US. That they are built to last. A Taiwanese MacBook visual knockoff running Linux isn't a MacBook killer. If you want one? Good for you. But the majority of the market for a MacBook, in fact, is not buying them because of the color. Making your laptop the same color as Apple's doesn't make your laptop a competitor.
With modern 13 and 14 inch laptops, bezels really matter.
The point of these is to be portable, smaller bezels lead to a lot more portable laptop. It is the reason I'd pass on this laptop.
We do need a decent macbook-like linux laptop. One that has a solid chassis, looks good, is portable and has a decent keyboard. Currently. the dell XPS line is probably the closest match. Otherwise, lenovo thinkpads, though lenovo does not have the best track record.
Personally I chose a lenovo because I got a good deal, ad the keyboard is quite good. But more choice would've been great.
Does Apple have a patent on the exact dimensions of the MacBook Pro? I'd love a purpose-built Linux laptop that was compatible with all the hardcases and whatnot for the MBP.
I own a 2015 Razer Blade 14 and am overall fairly happy with it, just be aware that it is a gaming machine first and foremost, and as such has very mediocre (~5 hour web browsing) battery life. This is compounded by the notoriously bad power management on most Linux distros, and there are some minor driver support issues (mostly due to the NVidia 970M). I ran Manjaro on mine for a few months before going back to Windows 10 after Windows Subsystem for Linux came out, mostly for gaming reasons.
This article is nonsense, the author says the 4K laptop weighs "under a pound" and then admits in the comments that he doesn't actually know the weight.
Yes. I'm pretty sure most of their laptops are just rebranded Clevos. I don't have enough info to track down the Galago, but something like the Gazelle:
It's hard to sometimes get the exact model because Clevo refreshes their line very quickly, but it possible to locate it. The easiest way to find the computer is to take the dimensions from System76, convert to mm, possibly round it, and then search for that with Clevo on Google. For example, the Gazelle is 37.39 × 25.20 cm, so I just searched for Clevo 374 x 252 on Google and found the W650 with similar enough specs. Then, the process is just to root around that particular model till you find matching hardware.
In the U.S., I believe Sager is the exclusive wholesaler and anyone can order from them directly. They set the price for the rebranding companies, so the price from Sager will be no different than from someone like XoticPC unless someone is upselling the computer based on some kind of customization.
Now, theoretically, System76 makes sure than the computer works well with Linux. In my experience, Clevos work just fine. Replace the bios with something like prema and they're incredibly capable computers for the price:
Unless they have a store in every major city where I can walk in, say "my laptop is broken" and walk out with the issue resolved, or a firm plan to have it resolved, then no, it is not a macbook killer.
Not being snarky, but in years of using mid-tier windows laptops with Linux on them, I've never needed or wanted to get someone else to fix anything. There have been little things (a key fell off, wanted to replace the hdd with something bigger), but those were always pretty trivial to fix on your own. If anything really bad happened, like a random catastrophic hardware failure, I don't think hourly employees at a store would be able to fix it anyhow.
Even just looking at the picture, that is shown after opening the page: No, this is not going to be a macbook killer :) It might be a macbook substitute for you, if you do not care about or fail to acknowledge the difference in design execution, that is very apparent to others (i.e. me) even at first glance.
I assume the author knows that though. I also assume, he knows a thing or two about click bait :)
I don't mean this as an attack, but I really just don't get this attitude unless you're buying a laptop primarily as a social symbol or display piece.
I use a laptop as a tool, and suspect that's true for more people here than not. I would argue that for a tool the primary element in design execution is achieving fitness for purpose. You want an aesthetically pleasing tool too, but no amount of pretty makes up for inferior function.
It's debatable where macbooks fall on the fitness for purpose scale, and if they are the best solution to your needs, then by all means use them. But I don't understand how you can evaluate that and come to a conclusion just by looking at a picture on a marketing bit.
Not yet released product destroys product available for purchase. Er, potentially destroys.
I expect the rate of technological—no, human—progress to pick up appreciably once everyone breaks free of the ramshackle MacBook Pro's 16GB barbed-wire garden. Praise RMS!
Second... I once came into possession of a bottle of vegan Worcestershire sauce. Well, I love Worcestershire sauce, and I was curious. So I did a side-by-side taste test. And, I learned two things very quickly:
1) The vegan Worcestershire sauce was horrible. 2) It also was in no way reminiscent of Worcestershire sauce. The only way it could be mistaken for Worcestershire sauce is if you'd been a vegan for so long you forgot what Worcestershire sauce was supposed to taste like.
That's what this article reminds me of. This laptop is a "Macbook Killer" if you've never actually used a MacBook before. (And I say this as someone who has never bought a Mac.)