For the first time since 1993 I have purchased a new computer that is just for me.  It’s not for work, it isn’t for the kids, it’s not to share with my lovely wife; its just for me.  I have to say I enjoyed the shopping experience and it was enthralling too. After considerable searching and questioning folks whose computing prowess I admire I decided on a Laptop from System76.  The Pangolin.

My wife and I agreed that I could get a new laptop for Christmas but that I should wait until after the holiday and all the Christmas bills were paid. My time had come but in anticipation I began shopping.

I knew I wanted the machine to have Linux natively installed. I have installed Linux dozens of times but this time was going to need to be different. For one I wanted every piece of hardware to “just work”. The SD Card reader, the finger print reader, the web cam, EVERYTHING!. Also I wanted the whole “new computer” experience, like the “new car smell”, the computer I purchased would have to meet this requirement. I also knew I wanted the new computer to be a laptop. Over the past several years I have found myself working almost exclusively on laptops. The issues I had early on like not liking the keyboards as well etc. had all passed away, and I have become totally comfortable with using a laptop and the laptop keyboard.

My first impressions of System76 start with a phone call I made several weeks ago which started with questions about the 13.3 inch “Gazelle” model and ended with me believing that the 15 inch Pangolin was the best fit for me. What attracted me initially to the Gazelle was its size and weight but after speaking with the Sales representative “Tom” and covering the items I wanted to do with the laptop he suggested that my 45 year old eyes would be happy longer with the 15 inch model. I was really impressed with System76′s pre-sales support. I spent also 45 unhurried minutes on the phone asking questions about 64 bit Ubuntu and then went over every detail of the hardware and their after-the-sale-support. Every question was answered in a polite and knowledgeable manner, I never felt like they were trying to get me off the phone or make decide right then and there to make the purchase. They knew at that point I was just-shopping and they were fine with that.

On the topic of after-the-sale support they said that the support process normally starts with an email describing the issue. If emails can’t resolve the issue they will call you or you can call them…and yes you get a person very quickly on the phone, not holding forever waiting for someone. If a hardware part needs replacing they will attempt to assess your proficiency with changing out the hardware part in question. If you both come to the conclusion that you can probably handle the part swapping then they will ship you the part with a pre-paid return package for the defective part. Assuming that fixes the problem you simply package up the defected part and send it back. If however you both come to the conclusion that the repair is out of your comfort zone they will ship you a prepaid box to ship your machine into them. This of course adds time to the process, but the key is customer satisfaction. If you have ever gone through the nightmare of phone support with the big chains then you know the frustration that awaits and the pain of being without the machine you rely on.

So far everything is working great and I have been really pleased with the Pangolin. If you are interested in a System76 machine I can definitely recommend them. Feel free to email me any questions you may have. Check out my podcast episodes 31 and 32. In episode 31 I talk about shopping for a Linux laptop and in episode 32 I give a review of the my new laptop.

I hope to come back and post additional updates going forward, I still have yet to test the modem, HDMI port, SATA port, burn a CD or DVD, heck I haven’t even popped the battery out yet!  I just got my new laptop and I’m lovin’ it!

Pictures of my System76 Pangolin

System76.com

Episode 31 and Episode 32 of “The Techie Geek” Podcast