Its terrible. If you want good Linux compatibility, get another Thinkpad.
System 76 sells rebranded Clevos. The best Clevo laptops are mediocre, the worst are unusable. The Ultrapro falls into the latter category. Quite a few models of Clevo laptops have keyboards that randomly drop keystrokes. The Galago keyboard is by all accounts particularly horrible. More than one reviewer listed this as the sole reason for returning the machine. The company "fixed" the issue by sending out new keyboards with metal strips attached to the back of them. This did absolutely nothing to address the fact that the keyboards don't work.
Because they don't actually make their own systems, there is little that System 76 can do to change the fact that some of their systems are defective. System 76 by all accounts has pretty decent support, but when all they can do is continue to send you more defective parts and / or defective replacement systems, it doesn't really mean a whole hell of a lot.
After repeatedly trying to fix these issues, one of their favorite sayings is "most of our customers like our keyboards."
Another great quote from a System 76 rep is that the Galago Ultrapro's touchpad is hands-down better than a Macbook's. Which I found particularly amusing because some of the reviews of this machine specifically mention that the touchpad doesn't work correctly.
The other downside of Clevo laptops is that the company absolutely sucks at making motherboards. They are inefficient, and it ends up contributing to the Galago's poor battery life. This is a machine that should probably get at least 6-8 hours, yet it only gets 3.5-4.
I really love the idea of a vendor dedicated to selling Linux machines, but until System 76 pulls off a miracle and convinces Clevo to stop making defective keyboards, people should stop giving them their money.
If it weren't for the defective keyboard and the terrible battery life, my comment would be completely different and it would probably be getting typed on a Galago Ultrapro. Instead, I have a T430 that I snagged off of Lenovo's outlet with 8GB Ram, an i5, and a 256GB SSD for less than $500. Its the best computer I've ever owned.
I second everything phaus said above. This post was typed on a Galago Ultra Pro. The 3rd generation keyboard is "ok" and doesn't bother me, but many other things do (touchpad drivers, battery life, stability, etc).
For comparison I used Linux (Gentoo & Ubuntu) for years on a Lenovo T61p and didn't realize how well I had it. For work I use a rMBP (not by choice). Both blow the Galago Ultra Pro out of the water.
The single redeeming quality of the Galago Ultra Pro is the horsepower of i7-4750HQ combined with mSATA + 2.5" SSD. I do alot of big builds for embedded devices and the space and horsepower help alot. Unfortunately, everything else is "meh" and the battery life and touchpad are down right disappointing.
And System76 does little to support Linux as far as I can tell. The Intel Wireless 7620 had firmware problems System76 up until several weeks ago they weren't even aware of[1], just to gauge their QA process. And what power user machines don't fully support UEFI[2] these days?
I've had the machine for less then a month and seriously considering sending it back. :(
System 76 sells rebranded Clevos. The best Clevo laptops are mediocre, the worst are unusable. The Ultrapro falls into the latter category. Quite a few models of Clevo laptops have keyboards that randomly drop keystrokes. The Galago keyboard is by all accounts particularly horrible. More than one reviewer listed this as the sole reason for returning the machine. The company "fixed" the issue by sending out new keyboards with metal strips attached to the back of them. This did absolutely nothing to address the fact that the keyboards don't work.
Because they don't actually make their own systems, there is little that System 76 can do to change the fact that some of their systems are defective. System 76 by all accounts has pretty decent support, but when all they can do is continue to send you more defective parts and / or defective replacement systems, it doesn't really mean a whole hell of a lot.
After repeatedly trying to fix these issues, one of their favorite sayings is "most of our customers like our keyboards."
Another great quote from a System 76 rep is that the Galago Ultrapro's touchpad is hands-down better than a Macbook's. Which I found particularly amusing because some of the reviews of this machine specifically mention that the touchpad doesn't work correctly.
The other downside of Clevo laptops is that the company absolutely sucks at making motherboards. They are inefficient, and it ends up contributing to the Galago's poor battery life. This is a machine that should probably get at least 6-8 hours, yet it only gets 3.5-4.
I really love the idea of a vendor dedicated to selling Linux machines, but until System 76 pulls off a miracle and convinces Clevo to stop making defective keyboards, people should stop giving them their money.
If it weren't for the defective keyboard and the terrible battery life, my comment would be completely different and it would probably be getting typed on a Galago Ultrapro. Instead, I have a T430 that I snagged off of Lenovo's outlet with 8GB Ram, an i5, and a 256GB SSD for less than $500. Its the best computer I've ever owned.