I’d recommend alaptop bagif you don’t have one already.
The entire laptop is coated in a black matte material.
There’s plenty of room for stickers on the rear shell.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
There is a backlight, which can be toggled with the Fn+* keyboard shortcut.
it’s possible for you to also switch between a few color options with the Fn+/ shortcut.
The trackpad below the keyboard is also fine.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek Hannah Stryker / Review Geek Hannah Stryker / LifeSavvy
I didn’t really mind that, but it’s worth mentioning.
You almost certainly won’t need aUSB-C hubwith this laptop.
The display is another strong point for the Gazelle.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek Hannah Stryker / Review Geek Hannah Stryker / LifeSavvy
The higher refresh rate also comes in handy for some gaming—more on that later.
System76 even hasdocumentation with photosto help you along the way.
The built-in microphone is not great.
The noise cancellation options in services like Discord and Google Chat might help.
The integrated camera is what you would expect from a normal PC laptop.
It’s only 1 MP, with a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720.
A 1080p resolution feels like the bare minimum, even though the sensor matters more than the resolution.
Software: Pop, Or Not?
You have two choices for the pre-installed operating system when buying a Gazelle.
Pop!_OSis a desktop Linux distribution created by System76 and based on Ubuntu.
It can also be turned off completely if you want to reclaim that screen space.
Pop!_OS also has excellent support for online account synchronization, largely thanks to its Ubuntu base.
You might also have different (or no) options for hybrid graphics on some other distributions.
Windows should also work fine on this laptop, though I didn’t test that out.
The rest of the hardware is configurable when you order the Gazelle.
The laptop starts at $1,299, but the 16GB upgrade I have pushes the price to $1,348.
For comparison, Apple’sM2 MacBook Air(which normally starts at $1,200) hassimilar results.
In real-life usage, I don’t have any complaints about the Gazelle’s performance.
I also tried a few games on the Gazelle.
That problem is unavoidable and also present on most gaming laptops.
Battery life is also what you would expect for a gaming laptop.
A full workday out of the Gazelle will almost certainly require the power cable.
Should You Buy the System76 Gazelle (gaze18)?
The fan noise can also be annoying at times.
If portability is a top concern, you might want to think about System76’sLemur Proinstead orsomething else entirely.
That’s definitely an expensive laptop, but it’s not too far off fromWindows laptopswith similar hardware.
There are also modern MacBook Air and Pro models to consider, especially theM2 MacBook Air.
