Similar story to OP. The MBP I acquired in 2017 has been undergoing rapid disintegration while the 2013 model it replaced is still working just fine.
After stressing over the problem that nothing seemed comparable spec-wise, System 76 released their Adder WS and after reading some testimonials from users online I made the leap back to Linux.
So far, I am very pleased with the choice. Here is what I love about it:
- Amazing 4K OLED display configured with pixel scaling a la Retina out of the box
- Suspend / resume "just works" every time (very different from my past Linux user experiences years ago)
- Connecting an external display "just works" like my MBP
- Pop OS is a well-designed, pretty Ubuntu variant that doesn't get in the way
- I'm really productive on it (I haven't wasted any time trying to get things to work)
- Very high-end hardware all around
Things I don't love about it:
- Battery life is atrocious
- The keyboard has a numpad so home row is offset to the left
- It is rather big (though not gigantic)
- It is rather ugly (though not hideous)
- Huge power brick with a short cable
I can't speak for long-term durability. I guess I will get back to you in a few years.
> - The keyboard has a numpad so home row is offset to the left
I'm personally waiting for one of their more powerful laptops to have a centered keyboard. The current models that feature centered keyboards offer 17W TDP CPUs, which just aren't quite enough for my taste.
How is the chassis/build quality? IIRC they are just sager/<insert-third-party> shells
I've read varying reports of the build quality and it's one of the reasons I've not bothered with System 76 - I fear it will be inferior to a Dell/Lenovo product.
The build quality feels great, and it doesn't feel like it is going to fall apart on me (granted, it is brand new). It feels quite solid, it doesn't easily bend or creak, and I feel like I can throw it into a backpack safely enough. Also, the keyboard feels really great, although anything that isn't a modern MBP keyboard feels really great to me these days.
That said, it doesn't feel quite like a single, solid piece the way my 2017 MBP does. I'm not sure why that is, especially since several of the keys on my MBP are actually falling off of it right now.
I would say that it feels comparable to a Lenovo laptop, but I haven't owned one of those for almost a decade.
They are built off of the Clevo based systems, I personally switched from a MBP about 3 years ago. In my opinion the build quality is better than anything Dell offers, I went thru 3 high end Dell's in that time, and switched to a Sagar about 1 year ago. Now I cannot compare it to the higher end Lenovo models as I have not owned one, but my wife has had several mid level models from her work and I have been less than impressed with the issues she has had with them.
Personally I would purchase another system based off of the Clevo designs and I feel it's build quality is on par with the MBP's that I used to own.
After stressing over the problem that nothing seemed comparable spec-wise, System 76 released their Adder WS and after reading some testimonials from users online I made the leap back to Linux.
So far, I am very pleased with the choice. Here is what I love about it:
- Amazing 4K OLED display configured with pixel scaling a la Retina out of the box
- Suspend / resume "just works" every time (very different from my past Linux user experiences years ago)
- Connecting an external display "just works" like my MBP
- Pop OS is a well-designed, pretty Ubuntu variant that doesn't get in the way
- I'm really productive on it (I haven't wasted any time trying to get things to work)
- Very high-end hardware all around
Things I don't love about it:
- Battery life is atrocious
- The keyboard has a numpad so home row is offset to the left
- It is rather big (though not gigantic)
- It is rather ugly (though not hideous)
- Huge power brick with a short cable
I can't speak for long-term durability. I guess I will get back to you in a few years.