I have similar feelings about the very large glass trackpad. For things like photo editing, the trackpad’s size is great, but I found my palms occasionally clicked the buttons at the bottom of the trackpad when I took a break from typing. It didn’t happen often, but I learned to be careful about where I put my palms.
The 2-MP 1080p webcam is fine for casual use, chatting with family and friends, but if you do a lot of Zoom meetings in a professional context, you may want an external webcam. Also, open-source purists should note that Coreboot still does not support AMD Ryzen chips (or AMD does not support Coreboot, depending on how you want to look at it), so the Pangolin Pro does not use open firmware.
Finally, the Pangolin Pro is easy to open up to replace or repair components. There are nine screws on the bottom of the chassis, and none of them are hidden under the rubber feet or other shenanigans. Unscrew them all, and the bottom lifts off, giving you access to the SSD slots, RAM, WiFi card, and the rest of the internals. You’ll have no trouble upgrading components down the road if you decide to, say, upgrade your memory when RAM prices come back down. (Is that actually going to happen? Who knows.)
Pop!_OS Linux Integration
System76’s Pop!_OS Linux has long provided what I consider one of the best Linux experiences out there. The Cosmic Desktop and the custom apps System76 ships with it provide that “just works” stability you need to use Linux daily without even noticing you’re using Linux.
As a long-time Linux user, I’m probably biased, but I find Linux to offer a better user experience than MacOS or Windows. I never feel like I’m fighting the operating system to get things the way I want them. I mainly run a terminal for writing, email, reading RSS feeds, etc, and a web browser. When I need to edit photos, I open Darktable; videos in DaVinci Resolve. None of that should require much from an operating system, but for some reason it’s all easier for me in Linux.
Pop!_OS is particularly good in this regard, as it manages to feel familiar enough for Linux newcomers to find their way around, while still offering a good amount of power-user features. For instance, if you don’t know what tiling windows are, you never need to be bothered about them, but if you want them, you can enable them with a toggle switch in the settings app. There are loads of (customizable) keyboard shortcuts for developers who eschew the mouse, and there are plenty of trackpad gestures to control workspaces, window focus, and more.
Should You Buy It?
At the beginning, I said the Pangolin Pro is overkill for most peoples needs, which is true. Although the Pangolin is actually cheaper than the smaller System76 Lemur Pro (review coming soon), the more portable Lemur Pro might be a better fit for many. However, if you’re doing highly intensive things with your laptop, building local AI models or training custom agents, compiling software, or just want a powerful, future-proof machine, Pangolin is one of the best Linux laptops I’ve tested.
If you’re a Linux user looking for a 16-inch laptop with all the bells and whistles, and one that isn’t crazy expensive or crazy heavy, this is the machine I would get.
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