System76 Bonobo Extreme Review

We live in a world dominated by Windows and Mac computers. In a time when Microsoft's new modern interface has made the Windows platform into rapidly sinking ship, we see thousands of users adopting pple's proprietary solutions to our computing needs. !ut that doesn't satisfy everyone. "or some, open#source ideals have a much greater value than a perfectly integrated, but proprietary, offering. $hat's one of the reasons platforms such as %inu& even e&ist ' to meet the needs of the user in an open way. I'm not here to debate the popularity of the various software offerings we are presented today, but to review a product from a company that believes in %inu& and open source. Who is System76? (ystem)* is a +olorado#based bouti,ue -+ maker that works with the .buntu community to deliver products that are tightly integrated with the %inu& ecosystem. $hey've been around since /001, and their popularity has only increased since their humble beginnings. $oday, (ystem)* offers a diverse lineup of 21 computers ' from laptops to desktops to servers. (ystem)*, unlike mainstream manufacturers such as 3ell or computers. %arger corporations ' pple, does not design their own pple is a prime e&ample ' have the money and workforce to take

new products through the process of research and development. $hey eventually end up with a completely proprietary hardware design that only they can use. (maller bouti,ue -+ makers such as (ystem)* 4or 5rigin-+ or others, for that matter6 do not have the cash for such investments, and use off#the#shelf computers and customi7e the internal components. (ystem)*, like the ma8ority of bouti,ue manufacturers, obtains their laptop chassis from +levo, a $aiwan#based laptop 53M. +levo has received some criticism in the past for being slightly outdated in their aesthetic design, but bouti,ue vendors really have no other ade,uate choice. 9egardless, (ystem)* markets their products through a variety of online offerings, claiming that they have a better -+. In essence, (ystem)* laptops 4I'm not speaking for desktops or servers here6 are rebranded +levo rigs with customi7ed innards and seamless driver integration with .buntu. $o that end, (ystem)* does a very good 8ob of providing .buntu and hardware related support, both through their online forms 4which is integrated into the .buntu forums, which 8ust shows the company's dedication to %inu&6 and phone services. $hey also claim that their products are less e&pensive than comparable Windows machines 4since (ystem)* doesn't have to pay a Windows license fee6 and less bloated than any other computers on the market. I don't know about the price, but it's certainly true that all (ystem)* -+s have 7ero bloatware whatsoever ' that is, until you take into account what +anonical

is doing with their .buntu 3ash (mart (copes. 5verall, (ystem)* has proven to be a very reliable and helpful company over the years, if nothing else. +ertainly, for %inu& users, (ystem)* is one of the best computer manufacturers. $hat said, is a (ystem)* rig right for you: Well, we'll tell you about one of their best laptops in the ne&t section. The Bonobo Extreme I'm one of those people who believes in open source and %inu&, so when choosing my ne&t rig, I wanted something that I knew would work flawlessly with any %inu& distribution. I needed a laptop with a ton of horsepower to do things like compiling and virtuali7ation with aplomb. (o I got myself the (ystem)* !onobo ;&treme, the company's high#end 2) high performance laptop. 5ne disclaimer< I'm a passionate %inu& user who chose (ystem)* mainly because of their dedication to and support of the %inu& community. $he laptop I'm reviewing is now my own personal machine, and I suppose you could say I'm biased in the sense that I really like (ystem)* as a company. $he !onobo ;&treme is in its ) th generation. It was originally called the !onobo (eries, then the !onobo -rofessional, and finally the !onobo ;&treme. (ystem)*'s ;&treme line of products are the ones that offer e&tremely high#end +-.s and =-.s 4the %eopard ;&treme is the other one6> they're meant for power users with intensive workloads for their computers. ?owever, work doesn't matter as much as play for some users. $he !onobo ;&treme could also be considered a gaming laptop for some folks, and a pretty powerful one at that. @vidia's best mobile =-. is available as a +$5 option for the !onobo, making it a solid choice 4in terms of performance6 for both gamers and video editors. %et's see if the !onobo ;&treme lives up to the standard of a better -+. Configurations and Pri e s a bouti,ue -+ maker, (ystem)* offers a wide range of configuration options for all of their computers. It's almost like custom#building your computer. $his is especially true of the !onobo ;&treme> configuration options range from two display options, four +-. options, two =-. options, five 9 M options, two Wi"i options, and over *000 drive combinations 4the !onobo has two /.1 drive bays and two m( $ slots, so 8ust imagine all of the combinations and permutations6. s you might e&pect, with all of those options to choose from, price varies drastically. $he !onobo starts at A2,1BC 4it's on sale at this time of writing for A2,1DC6 for a 2).E 20B0p matte display, a D th generation Intel +ore i)#D)00MF ,uad#core processor, an nGidia =e"orce =$H )*1M, B=! 9 M, a single 100=! )/009-M ( $ II drive, and Intel +entrino //E0 wireless. "ully spec'd out, you can get the

price up to A*,2DB 4right now, with a AD0 discount on the base price and a A200 discount on the better =-., that would be A*,00B6. $hat's for a 2).E 20B0p glossy +olor-ro display, a D th generation Intel +ore i)#DCE0MH ;&treme ,uad#core processor, an nGidia =e"orce =$H )B0M, a whopping E/=! 9 M, three 2$! (amsung BD0 ;G5 ((3 drives, two DB0=! +rucial M100 (eries m( $ drives, and Intel 3ual#!and Wireless# + Wi"i. @ot that anyone would want to get that. $he model I reviewed has a 2).E 20B0p matte display, a D th generation Intel +ore i)#DC00MF ,uad#core processor, an nGidia =e"orce =$H )*1M, 2*=! 9 M, a /10=! (amsung BD0 ;G5 ((3, a W3+ )10=! ?33, and Intel 3ual#!and Wireless# + Wi"i. With (ystem)* laptops, the design doesn't change as you spec out the machine> only the internals are upgraded. My configuration costs A/,D00> that's A/,E*0 right now. Is the price reasonable: -robably. When compared to comparable Windows laptops or Mac!ooks, the !onobo is either on#par or cheaper. Whether you want to choose a fully %inu& compatible machine or a mainstream rig is up to you. Is it worth the money: $hat's a totally different ,uestion. 9ead on to find out... !esign "rankly, the +levo -E)0(M chassis used in the !onobo ;&treme is not the most attractive or innovative on the market. It's a nearly / inches 4two inchesI6 thick, a stark contrast with today's sub# 0.)1 inch .ltrabooks. What's more, the ma8ority of the body is made of black !( plastic, making some parts of the laptop feel flimsy at times. "or a computer that ranges drastically in price, but has a high price point nonetheless, aluminum or carbon fiber might have been a wiser choice on +levo and (ystem)*'s part. %uckily, the laptop has a sturdy aluminum frame underneath the plastic, protecting it from harsh treatment or 8ust the dings it might get during day#to#day use. In addition, most of the laptop has a rubber#painted e&terior, lending itself to a lu&urious soft#touch feel. $he lid of the laptop is entirely matte black, an aesthetic that is interrupted only by a printed white (ystem)* logo at the lid's center. .nfortunately, the finish on the lid also picks up a substantial amount of fingerprint oil, a problem that the rubberi7ed armrest seems to be immune to. $he understated look continues inside the clamshell. $he keyboard deck is surrounded by a slab of matte black brushed aluminum with a 5nkyo speaker branding below the left hinge and a massive brushed, light#up power button below the left hinge. !elow the keyboard deck is the double rubber# painted armrest, which surrounds the te&tured D./1 & E glossy plastic trackpad. (ince the laptop's keyboard has a dedicated 20#key numerical keypad, the trackpad is off#centered towards the left of the

laptop, but not pushed so far that your left wrist has no space to rest. $he smooth, matte feel of the armrest is interrupted only by an integrated fingerprint reader on the right and two stickers on the right, advertising the (ound!laster Hfi#M!E inside the laptop and its ?3MI port. !oth stickers are easily removable. bove the keyboard deck is a perforated aluminum speaker grille that also contains four status lights ' disk usage, @um lock, +aps lock, and scroll lock. $he grille is home to two of the laptop's four speakers, and is positioned right between the hinges. $he hinges themselves look e&tremely sturdy and rigid, allowing for 7ero movement while the screen is up. (peaking of the screen, the thick, non#rubber# painted be7el around it is dotted with rubber feet and and holes for the webcam and microphone. $he webcam also has a red %;3 light to its left so you know when .ncle (am is watching. $he display has some minimal fle& if you really push hard, but most people aren't even going to try. 5verall, the parts of the laptop you see the most when you're using it are nicely done, with some aesthetically pleasing touches such as the brushed aluminum around the keyboard deck and the absorbent rubber#paint on the armrests. .nfortunately, these features aren't carried over to the bottom of the laptop, where eight vents are clearly visible, with only very thin plastic covering them. simple press on one of the vents results in some very deep and scary fle&. ?owever, the advantage to this is that the laptop can be easily opened, repaired, or upgraded. $wo ram slots are user#accessible, while the other two are hidden away beneath the keyboard. $he two /.1 drive bays have their own enclosure, which makes adding more storage a snap. !oth m( $ slots are also easily accessible. I haven't dissected the !onobo enough to figure out if the +-. is socketed, but I do know that the =-. is soldered onto the motherboard. $here are two fans in the !onobo ;&treme, with the two intakes on the bottom of the laptop. $he fans vent out through sci#fi#looking grilles on the back, below the lid. $his is a good thing became the hot air blown from the vents is never pointed at your legs when the laptop is on your lap. lthough, at nearly C pounds, I don't know how many people would want to keep this on their legs. $hat brings me to the glaring feature of the design of this laptop< it is not very portable. It's really more of a portable desktop than a laptop. I can't comfortably hold it in one hand, and it has too large of a footprint to fit in most laptop bags. ?eck, it couldn't even fit on my laptop stand that I used to use with a 21.* laptop. nd the power brick isn't very convenient either. It measures a huge B & D & /, making it simply not feasible to transport it with the laptop. (o if you want a thin, lightweight ultraportable and that has power on the go, you'd probably be better off with some of the competition 4more on that later6, but you wouldn't have the benefit of the tight %inu& integration that (ystem)* offers.

s for overall looks, this laptop really won't turn any heads, neither in a good or bad way. It's sort of an in#between, casual looking piece of e,uipment. @evertheless, some of the design considerations on +levo's part make using the laptop a 8oy. !is"#ay $he matte full ?3 display on my review model is a double#edged sword. 5n the plus side, colors are vivid and te&t is pretty sharp at normal viewing distance. $he large screen gives you more space to view content without using 3-I scaling. $he display gets C1J of s9=! and )1J of details don't get lost in the darkest of images. 5n the negative side, the display is an okay $"$ panel that has mediocre viewing angles and suffers from some color banding and pi&el shimmer. I suppose a few people could watch a movie on the big screen since hori7ontal viewing angles within D1K are fine, but anything past that causes colors to look washed out. -ity, since the colors look so good upfront. $he panel isn't so bad that you have to open the hinge to a very precise angle, but anything out of a vertical /0K range causes significant color inversion. $he color banding and shimmer isn't that bad, but it might be nuisance for some graphics designers. In addition, it's worth mentioning that, although we haven't seen any mainstream 9etina# caliber 2) laptops displays, there isn't a ?i#3-I resolution option for this laptop. work properly with a mouse and keyboard. In real life, though, the display is perfectly usable and can be a pleasure to work on. $eyboard and Tra %"ad $he !onobo ;&treme has a full#si7ed backlit keyboard with a dedicated number pad. $he keys have a flat surface ' sorry, no sculpted keys here ' and a shape that's a cross between a chiclet#style and traditional style. ll of the keys are full#si7ed, e&cept for the shrunken left (hift key, which can cause ,uite a few typing errors until you get used to it. (o how's the typing e&perience: nswer< really good overall. $he well#spaced keys, although they have a flat surface, provide springy feedback that makes typing a 8oy. $he key travel is very good, as you might e&pect from a laptop that's nearly / inches thick. $he key presses register instantaneously, and there isn't any noticeable ghosting. $he dedicated 20#key is useful for entering long strings of numbers, and the spacing between the keypad and keyboard prevents accidental number entries. $he only oddities I noticed were the reversed -age.pL?ome and -age3ownL;nd keys and a nd, in case you were wondering, the display is not a touchscreen. It doesn't need to be since .buntu is designed to dobe 9=!, which certainly isn't bad for a non#9etina screen. In real world testing, colors look e&cellent and

weird M key ne&t to the lt key that really types N and O. $he keyboard backlighting is also very well done. ;ach key is individually backlit, so the backlighting is very even and there's no bleeding between keys. $he backlight intensity is ad8ustable using hardware controls built into the number pad, as well as the color of the backlight. $here are four lighting 7ones and seven colors available< white, indigo, green, tur,uoise, red, purple, and yellow. $he singe#button clickpad on the !onobo is a pleasure to use. ;ven though its surface is made of glossy plastic, it feels like a very nice te&tured material. $he te&tured design make the trackpad very tactile and easy to use for e&tended periods of time without making your fingers feel numb. $he large si7e is very comfortable for both large and small hands, and the trackpad depresses with a satisfying click when it is pressed. I had no problem with the (ynaptics chip built in to the trackpad for gesture recognition> two# and three# finger clicks worked flawlessly, and more gestures can be activated through .buntu's software tools. (ingle#finger tracking was e&ceptionally accurate, and it was a pleasant surprise to discover that multitouch presses are also recogni7ed. S"ea%ers 5ne of the selling points of the !onobo ;&treme is its ,uad#channel 5nkyo speaker system with subwoofer, powered by a dedicated (ound!laster audio card. $he system certainly does deliver on its promise of true to life audio. (ince the chassis of the laptop is so thick, the speakers are able to move a lot of air, producing rich sounds with deep, punchy bass. $he subwoofer greatly enhances the e&perience, delivering some e&tra oomph in base lines. $he speakers were easily able to fill a medium# si7ed room at D1J volume, so 8ust imagine what they could do at ma&imum. %istening to anything ' from online videos to concerts ' on the !onobo is an ama7ing e&perience, and if you're looking for superb audio performance in a %inu& machine, this 8ust might be the laptop for you. Web am and &i ro"hone $he /.0 megapi&el webcam on the !onobo ;&treme e&cellent. It can capture 20B0p stills and videos, with remarkable low#light sensitivity and color reproduction. +olor differentiation is e,ually good, making the webcam more than enough for video chatting and selfies. $he dual#array microphones in the !onobo are a similar story. !ackground noise is minimal, and my voice sounded loud and clear in my test recordings. gain, perfect for a crisp video conference call.

'inger"rint Reader $he !onobo ;&treme has a .pek !iometric $ouchstrip fingerprint sensor that allows for seamless fingerprint authentication. (upport for the device is not provided out#of#the#bo& in .buntu, but the functionality can be added by installing the third#party "ingerprint =.I app that uses the fprint backend for storing and identifying fingerprints. 5nce I installed the utility, I was able to login and authenticate sudo transactions using the fingerprint reader. $he sensor was remarkably accurate> I never had to swipe more than once, and my fingerprint was still detected when I swiped very ,uickly and at a slight angle. Ports and Conne tivity $he (ystem)* !onobo ;&treme is e,uipped with a plethora of ports to connect to pretty much any device imaginable. (tarting on the right< 3G3 burner, e( $ .(! /.0 combination port, always powered .(! E.0 port, regular .(! E.0 port, and Mini 3isplay-ortL$hunderbolt / port. 5n the left< audio line inLout, optical line inLout, C#in#2 (3 card reader, gigabit ethernet, and Pensington lock slot. nd if that isn't enough, there's more on the back, too< ?3MI 2.D port, .(! E.0 port, charging connector, and another .(! E.0 port. $hat's more ports than you'll ever need at one time, and it's especially nice to see the inclusion of four .(! E.0 ports and $hunderbolt /. I had no problem connecting a variety of gadgets to the !onobo, from e&ternal hard drives to i-hones to plain old flash drives. I haven't had a single problem with any of the connections. s for wireless connectivity, the model of the !onobo ;&treme that I reviewed came with an Intel 3ual#!and Wireless# + )*/0 Wi"i card. $hat chip supports B0/.22 aLacLbLgLn, in addition to !luetooth D.0. I tested all of the connections, and they all work flawlessly in %inu&, with no issue whatsoever. It's also worth noting that the wireless reconnects almost immediately upon wakeup from suspend, so you can get right back on the Internet. If you don't want to upgrade from the default Intel +entrino //E0 wireless, I've heard reports that that Wi"i card works great as well. Performan e I would be remiss to talk so much in detail about this laptop without emphasi7ing its performance, which is certainly one of its strong points. My !onobo ;&treme has a D th generation Intel +ore i)#DC00MF, clocked at /.B =?7 4up to E.B =?7 with $urbo !oost /.06 with an BM! %E cache.

long with that comes an nGidia =e"orce =$H )*1M with )*B +.3

cores and /=! =3391

G9 M, 2*=! of 3ual#+hannel 339E (39 M, a /10=! (amsung BD0 ;G5 ((3, and a )10=! W3+ )/009-M ?33. $hat's more than enough for any productivity task, multimedia operation, or casual to mid#range game. In real world use, the machine simply flies. pps launch instantaneously thanks to that super# fast ((3, video encodes complete in a matter of seconds or minutes, and most %inu& games run butter# smooth. $he computer is an absolute pleasure to use, and spoils you for anything less. I now find myself frustrated with other computers I use because they're so slow 4even if they're pretty good machines overall6. I'm not going to waste time with synthetic benchmarks that most people don't understand anyway, but I will say that if you want really good performance from a %inu& laptop, you should look no further than the (ystem)* !onobo ;&treme. $he =$H )B0M option 421E* +.3 everything they play. 5bviously, this level of performance caters to a niche market> for most people, this is 8ust too much. !ut people who use %inu& and want to do intensive video production, gaming, or development, it doesn't get better than this. s for the storage in the !onobo, my configuration's separate )10=! ?33 is more than enough for ?3 media and office documents. In case you need more, 2$! ((3s and ?33s are also available. Multitasking on this machine is e,ually smooth. My 9 M usage is pretty demanding, but with the !onobo ;&treme, I find myself using O*=! memory and not even noticing. $here's really nothing that you can throw at this rig that will make it stumble. nd if you want even more blistering speed, you can opt to include more ((3 drives, more memory, a slightly better processor, and twice the graphics prowess. !ut really, I can't think of more than a handful of people who actually need more than this for their work. (eat and )oise (o with all of that power, how does the !onobo handle heat dissipation: -retty well. $he two large fans in the laptop spin up only under demanding loads, making the machine silent during web browsing or basic productivity tasks. $he +-. temperature averages at around /1K+ to E1K+ on idle, and goes ranges from E0K+ to D1K+ under some pretty hefty productivity use. 3uring comple& operations such as multimedia 8obs and development, the +-. goes up to about 10K+ and the fans start whirring. It's a similar story with the =-.. cores and D=! =3391 G9 M6 is also really nice to have for %inu& gamers who want the best frame rates in

3uring basic use, the laptop is cool to the touch. ;ven areas around the fan vents aren't even warm, it would be fine on your lap. 3oing a more intensive task, though, the fans kick up and you can certainly hear them. It's not unreasonable, and the laptop never gets hotter than mildly warm, so gaming with this on your lap would never be a problem 4disregarding batter life, of course6. When I ran loops of multimedia encoding and graphics benchmarks, I managed to get the +-. up to *0K+, but that was the limit. In real life use, I would definitely say that the heat is managed very well. $he noise is also ,uite bearable. $he machine is near#silent on idle and during basic use, and only emits a soft hum when you do something more intensive. 5nly when you push the system to its limits do the fans go to full throttle and turn the machine into a ,uiet vacuum cleaner. It's also worth noting that the !onobo has hardware#level fan control that can be accessed by pressing "n Q 2. ?owever, I can't seem to get the =-. fan control to work, but nGidia's -owerMi7er options should be enough to satisfy most folks' fan throttling needs. Battery *ife "or such a high performance laptop, battery life on the (ystem)* !onobo ;&treme is actually ,uite impressive. 5f course, since the machine runs .buntu, utilities like %aptop#Mode#$ools are available to ma&imi7e battery life, but without those tools, the system's default removable BC.)2 Watt# ?our battery got D hours of offline movie playback. 3uring real world, casual usage, I managed about D.1 hours before I got the critical battery message at 1J. 5nce I enabled %aptop#Mode#$ools and configured it with some +-. (caling =overnor and -owerMi7er tweaks, I got about D.1 hours of offline movie playback. 3uring casual usage, I got about 1 hours. 5nce I ramped up my usage and started doing things like some casual E3 gaming, video encoding, and development, my battery life dropped to E.)1 hours. (till, not bad for a computer with so many high performance components inside. ?onestly, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to get 1 hours of casual usage on what could be considered a gaming laptop. gain, the battery life isn't the best#in#class, but it's pretty good for a high# end %inu& rig, and one with so much power at that. 5f course, if you want all#day usage, this isn't the laptop for you. Software 5ne of the defining features of all (ystem)* machines is their %inu& compatibility. distributions. ll (ystem)* computers come with .buntu out#of#the#bo&, but they're also fully compatible with other

$he .buntu 2E.20 installation that the !onobo ;&treme came with was very minimal, with the only pre#installed packages being the (ystem)* 3river .tility, +heese 4a webcam app that really should be included in .buntu by default6, enough to get a new user up and running. My distribution of choice is rch %inu& 4which worked flawlessly6, but I also tried a variety of .buntu derivatives, "edora /0, and 5pen(.(; 2E.2, all of which worked out#of#the#bo& with 7ero issue. nd, in case you're interested, the !onobo is certified to run Windows B and B.2, and (ystem)* does provide Windows drivers. -ersonally, I'm very happy with (ystem)*'s choice of maintaining full %inu& compatibility, especially their .buntu default, but if you're a Windows or Mac user, (ystem)* is probably not for you. The Com"etition $here are two ways to look at the competition for the !onobo ;&treme. $he first is to look only at other %inu& laptops, in which case the !onobo is a clear winner. $he other way is to compare only the hardware of the !onobo with similar machines from other manufacturers, in which case you have a lot more options. 5rigin-+'s ;5@2)#(%H uses a very similar +levo chassis, while M(I, 3igital (torm, Geloce, and lienware offer similar components in different outfits. "or a little more portability 4at the cost of some performance and customi7ation6, shoppers look to 9a7er's !lade -ro and M(I's =()0. "or a little less power in an ultrabook#like form factor with a ?i#3-I display, the 3ell H-( 21 $ouch and 21#inch Mac!ook -ro with 9etina 3isplay are also available. !oth of these machines, however, offer little upgradeability and have less ports than the !onobo. 5verall, %inu& users should go with (ystem)*'s !onobo ;&treme, while gamers should look at computers from other bouti,ue manufacturers and mainstream users should look at offerings from 3ell, pple, and maybe even ?-. Pros and Cons $he (ystem)* !onobo ;&treme has both positives and negatives. ?ere's how they stack up... -ros< %inu& compatibility (oft#touch rubber painted finish Givid display +ons< -lastic body $hick and bulky chassis 5versi7ed power brick dobe "lash, and proprietary multimedia codecs. It's 8ust

(uperb webcam and microphone Immersive audio e&perience +omfortable keyboard (pacious, accurate trackpad "ingerprint reader %ots of ports !listering performance =ood heat management 9elatively ,uiet

3isplay is not I-( @o ?i#3-I display option !attery doesn't last all day

Con #usion (o, should you buy the (ystem)* !onobo ;&treme: If you are a %inu& user in need of a high performance laptop, absolutely. If you are a mainstream shopper who wants a thin and light package with power on the go, absolutely not. 5verall, though, I really like the !onobo ;&treme. It's my main 4and only6 computer now ' that's how much I love it. If I had to give it a recommend or stay away, it's certainly a recommend. (uperb performance, immersive audio, e&cellent input devices, and some comfortable design touches make the (ystem)* !onobo ;&treme a near#perfect %inu& laptop.