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Don't get me wrong, I <3 Linux/Ubuntu (have it on my personal laptop as primary OS) and am fond of System76's work ... but how's a 4.5 pound laptop "ultraportable"?

IMO, these offerings are a rip off. First, most laptops are offered with 720p displays (a few with standard 1080p). Intel HD 3000 graphics are minimal, at best. Of course, I'm glad that an i7 processor is offered. However, that too comes at an extra cost.

I understand that hardware comes at a certain expense; however, I won't justify spending 699+ for a Ubuntu box.

I might as well get a lower cost Windows box and install Ubuntu on it. Then at least I have the option of dual booting.

Sales figures don't equal market share. The fact that Linux is open source is not why it's market share is low. Market share is a measure of the OSs that are actually in use for real-world activities. They can sell a million of these Linux laptops, but if people don't actually USE them to access websites and perform real-world functions they won't impact market share at all.

Katherine, have you evaluated these? Also, I'd be more interested in an ultrabook-like device loaded with Ubuntu (Mint would be better) without paying the Microsoft tax.

I have seen both Dell and HP introduce laptops with Ubuntu, but the price never seems to be lower than any "Microsoft" equivalent. Frankly, much of the time, the Linux laptops seem to be more pricey.

telerim, on 09 April 2012 - 12:46 PM, said:

Not unless you have toothpicks for arms then 4.5 pounds is not really that heavy.

MichaelRousseau, on 09 April 2012 - 01:37 PM, said:

I travel frequently. When I do travel, particularly abroad, every ounce counts. To date, I travel with a 2.5lb Netbook. I have Mint 12 running on it with Cinnamon, and it works well enough. I cannot use a tablet because I need a keyboard. I would prefer an 11.5" or 13" ultrabook device around 2.5 to a max of 3lbs. I am a very fit guy (I do a variety of endurance sports), and I work out with my own weight room. However, to be comfortable when travelling keeping weight down is important. A 4.5lb machine + larger travel case + power supply adds up to 7+lbs, at least. My 2.5lb Netbook with everything, comes in at about 3lbs.

tonybradley, on 09 April 2012 - 01:03 PM, said:

dictionary.com said:

Market share is the share of sales within a market... so yes, sales figures equal market share by (ahem) definition. You're thinking installed base, a different metric.

wikipedia.org said:

ricegf, on 09 April 2012 - 07:15 PM, said:

Yea, considering how monumentally stupid his last two articles regarding Linux were, he should probably refrain from trying to talk about it at all. Maybe someday when it's easier to run Windows software on Linux than it is to run software written for another platform on Windows, he'll try Linux again. Oh wait, you can't do that on Windows can you?

i wish i can cast my vote for ubuntu or any linux for that matter.
but in my country nobody sale linux preloaded, all is windows and mac.

tonybradley, on 09 April 2012 - 01:03 PM, said:

Tony why do you bother to reply? You have proven time and time again you are an idiot - - - when talking about Linux. Stick to something you are good at. Like shilling for Apple and Micro$oft.

This post has been edited by RickDobbelmannqbtt: 09 April 2012 - 11:14 PM

Now Kathryn, why are we excited exactly? We have two plastic pigs with low resolution displays (probably low quality as well), a crap keyboard on one for certain, the other is a most likely crap keyboard, no video card worth discussing (sorry, even in Linux I have standards), mediocre hard drives and memory configurations, and the machines still cost as much as their comparable Acer counterpart. Sadly, I think Acer may be selling nicer machines for less money.

If Linux users have to pay a premium for their machines and receive sub-par products, why should anyone bother?

Unfortunately, I agree these are not good choices. If I was on the market for notebook, I would go with a AMD Fusion chip machine. I always have to pay the Windows tax :-(

.

Pablo9jpk, on 09 April 2012 - 10:07 PM, said:

So why buy when Linux is Free, just download and create a disk and set up a dual boot, you have the best of both worlds.

tonybradley, on 09 April 2012 - 01:03 PM, said:

Linux has been around a Long time and in Real World activity's. Linux is not about the Race in operating systems that Windows and Apple seems to always be in. Linux is about Freedom of choice and software and freedom of information. And keeping it free. A operating system for anyone. Linux is almost in everything these days. If every Linux user out there put up that they use Linux on a poll and everything that has Linux on it was counted the Market Shares shown would very much different then what you see in many of these articles. Linux is everywhere.

This post has been edited by YellowEagle: 11 April 2012 - 02:22 AM

As much as I like messing around with Linux, and put it on all of my friends older laptops, these just don't look like they are worth the money. You can buy better featured, name brand , windows based PC for cheaper. Why buy these when you could just make a dual boot for cheaper??

waldojim, on 09 April 2012 - 11:55 PM, said:

Acer does make some nice machines. I bought a Acer laptop for the Mrs for Christmas a couple of years ago and it's still just as strong now as then. She Loves it and it plays all her games like Fear and such. I was thinking of getting me one. It has Windows 7 Home premium on it. Has never ever gave her a problem.

This post has been edited by YellowEagle: 11 April 2012 - 06:01 AM

Papaspud, on 11 April 2012 - 03:55 AM, said:

Except that's not true. I was choosing between the lemur ultra and an HP laptop of the same size. The Lemur ultra is better built, has a more advanced parts and only costs me 600 dollars. The HP laptop with windows would cost me 800 dollars, be of poorer build quality (Its screen wiggling disturbed me), have a lesser hard drive, no optical drive, and an i3 processor vs. the Lemur's i5. Why WOULDN'T I want to have a computer that's better built for cheaper?

By the way, System76 is name, and it is a brand. It's pretty clear you have no clue what you're talking about.

This post has been edited by nicklesbobickles: 12 April 2012 - 06:03 AM

nicklesbobickles, on 12 April 2012 - 06:01 AM, said:

You realize that HP is moving quickly to the bottom of PC sales for a reason don't you? Because they sell the cheapest of the cheaply made machines at prices well beyond what they are worth. Try a Lenovo.

Lets see here, they have a G470 with the same i5, same video card, twice the ram (8GB), a larger hard drive (750GB), MUCH better quality keyboard, and overall better build quality for $70 LESS than the Linux only machine from System 76.

As for the 15" monster, I have to point out the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge. As it's name implies, the ThinkPad Edge is part of the Business line. Meaning that wonderful things like the Loenovo Rollcage and the best keyboard you will ever type on, are included. At $609, $90 LESS than the System 76, it includes the same i5 processor, the same 4GB of ram, choice of matte finish or glossed over display (Ask System 76 for a matte finish, see what they tell you), fingerprint reader, and the same 500GB hard drive. So you basically get to pay System 76 $90 to remove Windows, and give you a sub-par build quality machine.

Don't buy HP, Lenovo is rising to the top in quarterly sales for a reason. Not just because they sell inexpensive machines, but because they are well built machines. Yes, Linux runs on them, and runs well.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 12 April 2012 - 09:33 AM

waldojim, on 12 April 2012 - 09:32 AM, said:

No arguments on HP. But I don't like Lenovo, either. Their hardware is much better than HP, I'd agree -- but the quality of the OEM software and it's integration with the OS is just too -- well, for lack of a better word -- "Chinese". (...Loved ThinkPads when IBM "made" them, though.)