Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Ubuntu Hardware

System76 Unveils 'Darter Pro' Linux Laptop With Choice of Ubuntu or Pop!_OS (betanews.com) 86

An anonymous reader writes: Today, System76 unveiled its latest laptop -- the 15.6-inch (full-HD) "Darter Pro." It is thin, but not overly so -- it still has USB-A ports (thankfully). The computer is quite modern, however, as it also has a USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port. It supports Pop!_OS 18.04 LTS (64-bit), Pop!_OS 18.10 (64-bit), or Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (64-bit) operating system. It comes in two variants, with the following processor options: 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U: 1.6 up to 3.90 GHz -- 6MB Cache -- 4 Cores -- 8 Threads, or 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U: 1.8 up to 4.60 GHz -- 8MB Cache -- 4 Cores -- 8 Threads, with either coupled with Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPU, and up to 32GB Dual Channel DDR4 @ 2400 MHz, and M.2 SATA or PCIe NVMe SSD for storage. As for ports, there is USB 3.1 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3, 2 USB 3.0 Type-A, 1 x USB 2.0, SD Card Reader. The company says it will announce the pricing at a later stage,
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

System76 Unveils 'Darter Pro' Linux Laptop With Choice of Ubuntu or Pop!_OS

Comments Filter:
  • by Anonymous Coward

    does it support snap packages and crackle streams?

  • If I ever bother paying money for a laptop, its going to be a laptop with a separate GPU not dependent upon Intel Corp. My last laptop CPU was the Arrandale model, and the OS could not be upgraded to Windows 10, because Intel abandoned support for the CPU after 1.5 years. The problem was that the GPU didn't support advanced graphics primitives that became "expected" for Windows 10. Intel could have written an updated driver that would work in Windows 10, and ignored the obscure calls, or even made the AP

    • and the OS could not be upgraded to Windows 10

      And nothing of value was lost.

      • Of course there was. Like it or not, laptops are going to be most power efficient on a Microsoft OS, because they own the Wintel market. One day that may change, but not until hardware chip manufacturers are designing their chips to be power efficient under linux, while linux kernel developers are incorporating those power saving features, and glibc, gcc, and GUIs are mandating power efficient code into their products. "Nice tweak, does it interfere with sleep mode 3X? Then it doesn't get put into the c

        • He may have been going for "Oh, you can't upgrade to Windows 10. Intel did you a favor."

          Meaning, if you are looking to "upgrade" you are coming from somewhere - Windows 7 or Windows 8.

          If it's Windows 7, it's arguable that Intel really was doing you a favor. Windows 8 had a horrific interface but the OS underneath wasn't bad. ClassicShell fixed the UI problem.

        • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

          Not true at all, in fact one great big fat lie. For a computer to be efficient, it has to be efficient in the environment it is used. Just doing internet, and some spread sheeting and word processing, the majority of the market, than Linux is factually the most efficient OS. Want to play computer games, well, technically, "The operating system is Orbis OS, based on FreeBSD 9." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org], is the most efficient. In a business environment it depends upon the main packages you use in tha

          • how is MSN doing M$

            Man, I remember that, talk about a wasted opportunity. They had Windows Messenger, MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Lync, Skype, Skype for Business, Teams... and you just wonder, what talks to what? What's the difference? Just make one goddamn chat program, make it good and polished and available in every platform. But instead they lost focus and people stopped using it.

          • Just doing internet, and some spread sheeting and word processing, the majority of the market, than Linux is factually the most efficient OS.

            Citation please.

            Want to play computer games, well, technically, "The operating system is Orbis OS, based on FreeBSD 9." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ [wikipedia.org]... [wikipedia.org], is the most efficient.

            Yeah, gamers care about hardware efficiency, not what games are available to play on it. (Duh.) That's why Steam on Linux "owns" the gaming market. /s

            In a business environment it depends upon the main packages you use in that environment.

            I'll let the PlayStation4 penetration in the business market speak for itself. Again, you need to provide citations for you to claim "proof" or "fact".

            In the server environment Linux absolutely craps all over Windows.

            Yup, and when I need to buy a standalone server, I will probably run linux on it. But I was talking about laptops.

            Yeah, let your fanboy flag fly, and use Trump style arguments to persuade th

      • by gl4ss ( 559668 )

        sure it's of value if you need 10 for some reason like compiling applications for it.

        oh well at least windows phones dead so nobodys asking to make apps for that.. still. it's better than windows 8. and for the record I had to update to windows 8 because microsoft made(for no technical reason at all, mind you) mandatory to have windows 8 to be able to compile/develop windows phone apps.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      System76 makes linux laptops. Who cares if they fail to run windows - or the next version of windows? That is not what you buy them for. Perfectly fine for them to use components not supported by windows - as long as they support linux.

      • And linux works fine under my old laptop with the Arrandale CPU. But I obviously can't use updated code that expects a graphics hardware primitive that the CPU can't deliver. And it doesn't run 2 hours on battery.

  • I hate Chicklet keyboard! It's like typing on concrete!
  • The keyboard is not centered in front of the screen. The put it to the left to squeeze in a num pad.

    Whatever you think about macbooks, they didn't compromise on the keyboard placement.

    • by Misagon ( 1135 )

      Which keyboard position that is best for you depends on your typing style.
      You could avoid problems with your wrists if you hold them as straight as you can while you type.

      Some people (like me) do type with their right hand angled to the left, with the fingers somewhat aligned with the slanted "columns" of the keyboard. If the alphabetic keyboard is a bit to the left of centre, then my right wrist is straight and my left wrist is only slightly angled.
      I have seen other people type the other way around: with t

    • by vux984 ( 928602 )

      "Whatever you think about macbooks, they didn't compromise on the keyboard placement."

      From what I've seen at work, a LOT of people want a number pad more than they care about the keyboard being centered.

      Me, i couldn't care less about a number pad... if i need one ill use an external keyboard. But lots of people at work are specifically requesting units with number pads.

      • So make it an option. I'm not buying it in it's current form.

      • by _merlin ( 160982 )

        If you need to enter a lot of numbers, the numeric keypad is worthwhile. For example, if you're using a trading terminal, or dealing with a lot of IPv4 addresses, or various kinds of data entry. It's also useful if you use a keyboard layout that uses the topmost row for additional letters/diacritics (e.g. Japanese Kana, or Viet TCVN 6064) so you can type numbers without having to hold Option/Alt. And if you're a hardcore vim user, you can enable application keypad mode and map the numeric keypad to diffe

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        My laptop is like that and it's fine. Of far more concern is the quality of the keyboard. Most laptop keyboards are awful.

        The photo isn't very good, but it looks like this machine may have a bit of travel.

  • Hackintosh (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    If someone came out with a machine like this or the Oryx Pro that was completely compatible with macOS, they'd make a lot of people happy. Ship it with a common Linux distro so that it's good to go out of the box, but ensure all the bits play nice with macOS.

    • I recall one company attempted that and Apple crushed it with lawyers.

      Just forget it. Using a hackintosh professionally is suicidal. You're using a system whose developers try their damnedest to make it NOT run on your unauthorized machine. Even if you get it to work now, the next version could break completely. (Trust me, happened to me.)

  • Pop!_OS (Score:4, Informative)

    by Zobeid ( 314469 ) on Tuesday January 29, 2019 @06:01PM (#58042594)

    From TFA: "When people come to me for advice on buying a computer that comes with a Linux-based operating system pre-installed, my first suggestion is always System76. While other companies, such as Dell, also make great laptops running Ubuntu, for instance, System76 stands above the rest by also offering its own operating system -- Pop!_OS (which is based on Ubuntu). In other words, System76 has better control over the overall customer experience."

    My own "overall customer experience" with the Thelio that I recently bought was this: It came with Pop!_OS, which I dutifully tried out. Its quirks and limitations were so irritating that within three days I gave up on it, wiped the drive and installed Ubuntu MATE, and everything has been running smoothly since then. Great hardware. I have no idea what they are trying to do with Pop!_OS, though.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Anyone with the balls to name an OS project Pop!_OS. Hands down the stupidest name for a project ever.

  • This just seems like an advert.

    Maybe it's different over there in the States, but here in Europe there are plenty of companies selling bare-bones laptops (by the likes of MSI and Clevo) without an OS installed. As components these days are largely standard (same chipsets, same CPUs, same GPUs), Linux runs just as well on them as it does on companies who make a point of mentioning Linux.

    Buy one of those, boot up Ubuntu from a memory stick and bam, all done.

    (I guess if you want someone to install Linux for yo

"It takes all sorts of in & out-door schooling to get adapted to my kind of fooling" - R. Frost

Working...