Question about thinkpenguin:

24 replies [Last post]
klepto
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Joined: 02/03/2015

Hey guys and girls,

I have officially gotten tired of being jerked around by computer manufacturers.
A few weeks ago I was going to buy a Thinkpad T440s but after hearing about having to disable secureboot, windows 8 bios settings, and the possibility of bricking I figured that it was time to buy a laptop made for Linux.

I'm planning to buy the Snares Penguin adding i7/8gb ram/256gb or 128gb ssd and matte screen.

I know that this company has dedicated fans and I bought a Wee Penguin for christmas and absolutely love it. I hope that I'll love this laptop the same way.

My only fears are bad support.

Thanks

Martago
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Joined: 01/11/2015

Hello I read that you have already a Wee Penguin and that you love it.
So my question ist what kind of support did you expect exactly?

I dind't by a pc/laptop by Think Penguin so I cant say nothing about the support, but I planning to buy also a Wee Penguin.
I can only compare for example the microsoft support and this support from the documentation and the forum.
If you buy an microfost laptop I don't think that you can get telefon support for this for free. In the most time you have to search via web or has to ask in a forum.
By a gnu/linux computer is this not much different. If you have an problem you search the web to solve it and if you find nothing then you ask in a forum.

klepto
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Joined: 02/03/2015

Well I'm thinking of if I need the laptop repaired or it doesn't work right when I get it. I shouldn't really worry because the biggest names in laptops are more likely to jerk their customers around.

Martago
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Joined: 01/11/2015

If you buy your laptop you can select the warranty. On your Laptop there are four sorts of warranty so you can choose what you want.

Theseus

I am a member!

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Joined: 11/22/2013

I purchased several of their Wifi USB devices and have received incredible support.

t3g
t3g
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Joined: 05/15/2011

I ended up building my own last April which was about $700 total:

Processor: AMD FX-8350 8 CORE 4.0Ghz
Mobo: ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX
RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
Video: GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB 64-Bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
Hard Drive: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos MKNSSDCR120GB 2.5" 120GB SATA III SSD
Case: Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Power Supply: Rosewill HIVE Series HIVE-750 750W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS BRONZE

Of course since then I added an MSI GTX 970 video card, a 3TB Seagate SATA III hard drive, and a Steel Series Sensei RAW mouse, but the initial investment I kept at a decent price since I had a monitor, keyboard, and mouse from before.

tomlukeywood
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Joined: 12/05/2014

did the msi gtx 970 card work with trisquel?

t3g
t3g
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Joined: 05/15/2011

Not fully. Until the 3.19 kernel gets released in jxself's repo, I have to use the latest xorg and non-free Nvidia drivers from https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ubuntu/ppa and install the drivers via DKMS.

It gets basic support with the 3.19 kernel but when 3.20 gets released and Nouveau finally gets signed packages from Nvidia, full 3D support should hopefully happen with the free drivers.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=nouveau-linux-319&num=1

JadedCtrl
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Joined: 08/11/2014

I'm using a Snares myself, and it's fantastic. Excellent build quality, great support. Support has all the answers and commonly responds quickly.

Jodiendo
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Joined: 01/09/2013

JadedCtrl

About Snares, What version are you using and what licensing? Server or home use?

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

What do you mean by licensing?

onpon4
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Joined: 05/30/2012

He's talking about the laptop Think Penguin sells.

JadedCtrl
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Joined: 08/11/2014

Licensing? Well, it's all libre, except for the BIOS, and it works with Trisquel out of the box. I'm not sure if that's what you meant, though.
And I use it for home use and such- it's my primary computer.

Jodiendo
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Joined: 01/09/2013

JadedCtrl
Licensing+GPL, what version or modified? unless you want it with scramble eggs and bread to understand the word licensing, Anyhow you gave me the answer about licensing. But you got only pancakes with real butter and syrup from the maple tree. I ate my "huevos rancheros" this morning.

davidnotcoulthard (not verified)
davidnotcoulthard

Try http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/

(The problem for some poeple is, there's only 1 model with a touchpad, and it's sold out)

tomlukeywood
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Joined: 12/05/2014

looks like its back in stock
http://shop.gluglug.org.uk/
also i don’t know about other people but i prefer the
mouse button on the keyboard thing compared to a touch pad

klepto
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Joined: 02/03/2015

Thanks everyone for the help,

I'm definitely getting the Snares.I saw from the pics that it is easy to get access to the hardware for replacement. I dunno what I was thinking because the Wee Penguin worked perfectly out of the box.

I bought 3 minipcs last year and that one was the only one that had full 1080 video support, hdmi audio out of the box and I didn't have to tweak it at all. It worked great out of the box.

Thanks again!

riddled

I am a member!

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Joined: 04/30/2013

I am looking pretty hard at the snares myself

Onsemeliot
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Joined: 09/09/2011

My old (very chep) Acer Extensa 5220 laptop works fine with Debian stable (beside an impossible wlan card). Especially since I replaced the old (in the end quite wonky) hard disc with a new solid state disk. Unfortunately the hardware seems to reach it's limit slowly. The mouse keeps getting stuck more often lately - no matter if I use an external mouse or the build in touch pad.

I would prefer an 17 inc screen, but there seems to be none fully supported by truly free software such as Trisquel. The greatest thing for me would be to find a laptop with an 17 inch screen and support for coreboot. Therefore the Snares seems to be the most tempting choice so far for me too.

christianbryant
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Joined: 01/25/2015

If you support FaiF, and you are a truly devoted Trisquel user,
I strongly recommend moving to Think Penguin. Outside the Lemote,
this is the best hardware for FSF/GNU/FaiF hackers, from ease
of use to company support (and a pretty nifty community).

- Ian

---
http://gnulinuxlibre.org

klepto
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Joined: 02/03/2015

Amazingly I have received my Snares Penguin. I ordered it last Thursday night and I'm using it right now.
It came with very secure packaging and the first time I ever order a PC that came with a GPL offer to provide the source material.
The quality and form factor is great. I booted into Linux from grub within 5 seconds and was blown away by the 1920x res and matte screen.
The single issue I have with the laptop which is a minor issue at best is the sound. It's loud enough but its very tinny and not that dynamic.
Overall I'm seriously stoked about ThinkPenguin and this great lappy. I'll be avoiding the Lenovo's and Dell's from now on!

tomlukeywood
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Joined: 12/05/2014

"I booted into Linux from grub within 5 seconds"

the linux kernel was loaded but most of the system you loaded was gnu
thats why its best to call it gnu/linux

JadedCtrl
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Joined: 08/11/2014

Glad you liked it! :)
Wlecome to freedom, klepto!

SuperTramp83

I am a translator!

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Joined: 10/31/2014
muhammed
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Joined: 04/13/2013

Think Penguin has very good customer support