Updated on August 26, 2021
+Updated on August 27, 2021
+ See the + System76 Technical Documentation + for more information. +
I ended up purchasing the Oryx Pro 7 with base memory - and storage, then replaced them with parts I bought from - Amazon. The upgrade experience was pretty good. I had - some trouble removing the back plate because some screws - got stuck, but it was overall not too difficult. Coming - from a desktop with a GTX 1070 and a 1440p 60 Hz - monitor, I can honestly say that I prefer the higher - refresh rate over the resolution bump. Gaming - performance has been amazing, and my overall experience - with the laptop has been positive. I will mention that I - occasionally run into some freezing issues even when not - doing anything particularly intensive, but these were - largely resolved when I tried some different kernels. - The fans did get too loud at times, but this was also - resolved by switching kernels. + and storage, then upgraded these components with parts I + bought from Amazon. The upgrade experience was pretty + good. Removing the bottom cover just involves removing a + bunch of screws, nothing too difficult. I had a little + trouble with this because one of the screws seemed to + get stuck, but I eventually got it out. The + Parts & Repairs guide + was very clear and helpful in this regard.
Regarding OS, I initially tried to install Arch Linux with dwm like I had on my desktop, but found that switching between the graphics modes (i.e. Integrated, Hybrid, and Discrete) was just a nightmare. I tried - installing System76 software through the AUR, but ran - into too many issues that I couldn't resolve. + installing + System76 software through the AUR, but could never get it working reliably. Additionally, the laptop speakers did not seem to work - either. Eventually got this working after trying the - solution in ArchWiki. Thus, I decided to switch to - Pop!_OS. The main change I made to the install process - was to use btrfs rather than the default (ext4 I think) - so I could take snapshots and backup my data with - Timeshift. Overall, I'm really happy that System76 and - Pop!_OS have come up with a good solution for switchable - graphics. Being able to just click on the option in the - GNOME menu is so useful. The window management in - Pop!_OS is very good too. Coming from a standalone - window manager like dwm, this provides a pretty good - balance between convenience (having things work out of - the box with a desktop environment) and usability - (keyboard shortcuts in dwm are very handy). + out of the box. I eventually got the audio working + thanks to the + solution in the ArchWiki, but I ultimately decided to switch to Pop!_OS because + of the graphics switching issue. The main change I made + to the default Pop!_OS install process was to use + btrfs + rather than the default (ext4 I think) so I could take + snapshots and backup my data with + Timeshift. +
++ My experience with Pop!_OS was very positive. I'm really + happy that System76 and Pop!_OS have come up with a good + solution for switchable graphics. Being able to just + click on the option in the GNOME menu is so useful. The + window management in Pop!_OS's + COSMIC + desktop environment is very good too. Coming from a + standalone tiling window manager like dwm, this provides + a pretty good balance between convenience and usability.
After some more time with Pop!_OS, I realized that I - really missed Arch so I decided to try some other Arch - based distros. With Garuda Linux, switchable graphics - now works. Couldn't figure out how to get it working on - vanilla arch. Integrated speakers didn't work out of the - box, but was able to resolve it with the solution listed - in the ArchWiki. Garuda linux implements a lot of the - customizations I usually do in my vanilla Arch installs - anyways (e.g. btrfs, zen kernel, chaotic-aur, backups w/ - timeshift, etc.), so I'm pretty happy with it. Ran into - a bunch of crashing and system break issues with the - GNOME edition. Timeshift usually helped me recover from - this, but not always. Thus, decided to switch to KDE - Dragonized edition as it looks nice, uses KDE plasma - instead of GNOME, and comes with a bunch of gaming - related apps pre-installed, which saves me time. Still - encountered freezing issues with KDE Dragonized edition, - so eventually switched to i3 edition, but replaced i3 w/ - Xmonad. Then replaced Xmonad w/ dwm-flexipatch. - Performance is amazing and haven't encountered the - freezing issue that I had with GNOME and KDE any more. + really missed the package management, customizability, + and rolling release of Arch. Since I couldn't get Arch + working before, I decided to try some other Arch based + distros like + Manjaro + and + Garuda. With both of these, I found that switchable graphics + (via the + system76-power AUR package, now works. I eventually decided on Garuda because it + implements a lot of the customizations I usually do in + my vanilla Arch installs anyways (e.g. btrfs, zen + kernel, chaotic-aur, backups w/ timeshift, easy options + to enable gaming tweaks, etc.). The + GNOME + edition immediately ran into crashing and system break + issues, so I tried the KDE Dragonized edition. It looks + pretty nice and uses + KDE plasma + instead of GNOME. After still encountered freezing + issues, I switched to the + i3 + edition, but replaced i3 with + Xmonad + because I was experimenting with it at the time. After + realizing that Xmonad would not really fit my needs + (mainly gaming), I replaced it with + dwm-flexipatch. Now, performance is amazing and I haven't encountered + the major freezing issues that I had with GNOME and KDE.
It may seem that the cons outweigh the pros, but this is - only in number and I am really nitpicking. The things - this laptop get right (e.g. gaming, refresh rate, + only in number and because I am really nitpicking. The + things this laptop get right (e.g. gaming, refresh rate, switchable graphics, general performance) are much more important to me than the other things. Regarding price, you are definitely paying a premium for first-class linux support, but it is well worth it in my opinion. I do not want to use Windows anymore and I am happy to pay extra if it means supporting a company that promotes and - sells Linux computers. + sells Linux computers and having a device that can be + easily upgraded down the line. Overall, I am very happy + with my purchase.
+ These are some images from when I unboxed the laptop, + installed the RAM & SSD, and customized my setup a + little. +
Updated on August 26, 2021
+Updated on August 27, 2021
- Around Summer of 2020, I started experimenting with - Linux to see if it could replace Windows. I had a little - bit of experience with + Around the summer of 2020, I started experimenting with + Linux to see if it could replace Windows as my daily + driver operating system. I had a little bit of + experience with Windows Subsystem for Linux.
General productivity is no different on Linux than - Windows, other than the lack of Microsoft Office. This + Windows, other than the lack of Microsoft Office and + some proprietary software like Adobe's products. This wasn't a big deal for me because there are plenty of free and open-source alternatives as well as web-based options if I ever needed to write documents, create - presentations, or track finances. + presentations, edit pictures, etc. If you rely on + software that only works on Windows for daily + productivity work, you might want to look into free and + open-source alternatives before switching to Linux.