Episode: 1923
Title: HPR1923:  Klaatu and System76
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr1923/hpr1923.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-18 11:11:41

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Hi everyone, this is Clat 2 and I'm at all things open.
Standing at the System76 booth talking to Sam about System76, it looks like you've got a
new line of laptops coming out and the cool thing about them that really got me excited
is that it's like you touch it and it's metal.
So essentially it's our first product line to have a complete metallic chassis.
It's something that we've been really pushing for in the last few years and we're really
excited for it to come out in the next two weeks or so.
What are the specs like on, this is a 15 inch, I guess, is that the 15 inch?
That's the 15 inch.
Is there something smaller than that or is that where you guys are starting now?
So that's where we're starting out at, we're starting out with a 15 inch.
It also comes in a 17 inch as well.
The base model is going to come with the I-7, 6 Gen.
Wow, so the base model starts with I-7.
The base is going to start with the I-7.
It's going to most likely start with an 8 gig DDR4 memory and then you're going to get
also the NVIDIA GTX 970M by default.
For the most case we have dropped the optical drive in general.
We've seen a drop in demand for it so it's something that's just kind of, it's going
away.
A few of our products are still going to carry it, however moving forward, I think it
might be something that continues on the way side.
Yeah.
I love one of the things about my gazelle, gazelle is the number of ports.
I think I have like an eSATA and my two USB-3s and like every kind of port I could ever
want.
Same deal here, are we adding anything or is it?
So essentially we've upgraded some video output association for it so with all of our
previous models you were only really able to export to two displays.
Now on this one as well as our new servo WS which comes out Thursday you're going to
get up to three external displays via mini display port and HDMI out.
The eSATA is something that we've tried really hard to keep, I don't think it's going
to be available.
Oh, that's a deal breaker because I've actually never used mine.
It was just cool to have it.
It's a nice feature, we definitely have people that use it.
But with the USB-3.0 we've seen a nice transition for it.
Cool, okay.
We've done desktops since creation and then the workstations we've got six gen coming
out on our retell and our wild dog, I believe we were making announcement today for the wild
dog and then those are going to be released in the next week as well.
The servo WS is coming out on Thursday and then this should be following very short
after and then essentially all of our laptops at this point are now being in the upgrade
stage of six gen from Intel.
Cool.
It seems like I know that System76 sort of not rebranded but like I don't know, did a branding
overhaul or whatever, like a redesign and everything and it seems like you guys have really
been active sort of with I guess the community, I mean I don't know if you consider it the
System76 community or whatever but it seems like even been engaging people with like art
contests and stuff like that.
So I feel we've definitely always tried to do it.
During the last year or so we've brought on some really good new people that have really
helped us in a marketing and design aspect in order to push the brand out there, get it
a little bit more well known, they do a fantastic job.
The super fan contest which just ended on Sunday I think is going to drive some really
cool things.
We've got some fun stuff ready to go for all the people that get to take advantage of
that.
Who do you personally or maybe you're not allowed to say it personally if you're representing
77?
But who do you see as like System76, like ideal audience, like who would you, who are you
really wanting to attract?
So I want to say everyone, right, that guy who's going to steal my computer.
But that's the official answer is we have a product that really can fit any person's
needs and I think that we've got a product that can bring over a lot of, basically make
a lot of converts out of Windows and Mac users just because you know for the most part
people might outside of who already know the environment have never tried it before.
We try to make it as easy for them to get into it as well.
Yeah, well I think you've definitely done that.
I mean your laptops, I've recommended it to several people and they've been really, really
happy with them.
I think the metal case is going to convert probably a lot more people over because it's just,
I mean like, I used to do this to my old brand of computers which were already made out
of metals before I switched to Linux and it just like, it felt so solid, right?
And then the first time I got a non, that brand of computer, I picked it up by the edge
of the laptop and it just kind of felt like it was going to fall or like break apart.
And that thing is like solid but it's not like heavy, it's just solid, it's just a solid
I really hope that we're going to be able to make everything in the future kind of more
towards that quality.
And as we continue to grow, I don't think it will be an issue and we'll get better and
better stuff as we get larger and larger.
Yeah, and I guess it's kind of nice because everything's pre-insolved and it just kind
of, I mean you open it up and it really does just work out.
What's the process of, let's say I bought one and I get it in the mail, I plug it in,
and I turn it on, how do I, does it just prompt me for a username and then it starts
or what, what's the process of install?
It really is, is that simple?
We, it's powered on, you go through a quick couple steps, you're ready, you're up and
running.
Internet works fine, Wi-Fi, connect, surfing and under probably under five, ten minutes.
How does this, have you played any games on the 15th of Gazelle or X-Pro?
Yeah, so the X-Pro, we've actually got Steam on it right now.
Okay.
And it runs phenomenally, we've got some surgeon game that I wasn't too familiar with,
but, but they were running fairly well, I think that really if you're going to be looking
for, for some hardware to run some games on, this could be the new, the new thing for
you, it's lightweight, it provides pretty much everything you need in the 970M, so it could
be the new.
Yeah, the 970 is a good chip, I mean I've never used the mobile version to be honest,
but I mean it's, it's pretty capable.
That's great.
How much is this, the, the X-Pro, 15 inch, what does it start, start out?
Good, so the 15 inch is going to start somewhere around 1300, and then the, the, the processor's
going to be upgradable, a single option as well as the memory from the 8 gig, it's going
to go up to 64 gigs, which we're very happy for and thankful to, to, to Intel's Sky Lake
release, making that a possible option for us, and you can also get four terabytes of SSDs
on there.
So, wow, that's amazing.
Cool, thank you very much for the interview, and thanks for the, the really cool computers.
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