November 2025 Update
Orignal Review
In a rare turn of events, I get to review a device I got a week to tinker with—the System76 Darter Pro 9. Using the System76 Darter Pro has been one of the most interesting experiences in using a laptop that just feels different from most other laptops I have ever used before. The System76 experience feels open, fresh, and comparable to other contemporaries from Dell and Lenovo.
Now before you get excited, this computer is not mine. This device belongs to a family member in need of a new computer. System76 didn’t pay for this review and while I didn’t pay for this myself, I was spending someone else’s money. I took a stab in the dark to see what the experience was like. The Darter Pro has not disappointed in bringing what I feel like is one of the best ways to use Linux on a computer, to a point where I am now sold on the concept of a computer constructed with Linux first.
Hardware
The Darter Pro came in a cardboard box, which seemed like an upgrade if you see videos of the same box last year, because now it has a handle! Not only that, the laptop comes in padded foam and with a plastic paper cover. All in all, you are getting computer similar to other flagship computers from companies like Dell and Lenovo, but with a bit of a Linuxy twist.
But you don’t want to hear me regurgitate hardware, let’s get into specifics. You can buy the laptop from System76’s website and I was able to get a $50 discount. The computer cost around $1163 plus shipping and handling. They also gave me a t-shirt for free for some reason, which is far from one of the worst things I’ve worn in my life. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Pop!_OS, but I will be wearing this t-shirt for the rest of this review.
The computer comes provided with a little welcome card, telling you to “unleash your potential” and a quick little message about where to get help online. They also gave a cardboard standout character named Melvin, which okay… but this is a questionable inclusion. Cardboard is easy damaged and I think Melvin here is going to be staying in his little frame. Funnily enough, they also give various branded System76/Pop!_OS stickers, which used to be just individual, now they are 2 sheets together.
Also on the left side, you have an HDMI port and a USB-3 slot. On the right, you get a headphone jack, micro-SD card slot, USB-2 slot, the power button and its corresponding LEDs, an Ethernet port, and a Kensington lock.
The computer also has a barrel jack charger, which I am most certainly docking points for. You have USB-C and Thunderbolt ports, please for the love of all things holy, just replace the barrel charger with a USB-C port. Nobody would be complaining.
Upgrades
I did apply some customization. Under normal circumstances, I typically give my family members the advice if they need to do things, just use your phone, it’s easier. However, this particular family member has a home business and has been operating with a Fedora XFCE on a ThinkPad straight from the Windows 8 era with 4 GB of RAM. So going the full 10 year gap of computing basically gave me the liberty to do anything, because at this point, anything would be an improvement!
Given how long upgrading was in the past, this is what influenced what I chose to do in picking the configuration. I selected 16 GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1 TB NVMe. I’ve been worried about the growing memory requirements to do basic things in a web browser, but also leaving the door open in the future in case something drastic happens to software in the future.
While the stock configuration of the Darter Pro was 250 GB, but I pushed for the 1 TB upgrade. Microsoft has been famous for offering the 1 TB backup in OneDrive and I chose that much to leave enough breathing room to store not just business documents and media to come, but family photos and home videos from decades past.
Firmware
One of the major things I want to start off with is discussing firmware. System76 isn’t one of the only manufacturers to be using Coreboot; Star Labs, Tuxedo, Chrome Books all use it. But one of the things that makes System76 is unique is their own custom BIOS with Coreboot and I have some mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, the BIOS are fully open-source and can be upgraded for free using System76’s firmware tool. This means that you can actually get guaranteed motherboard updates, which compared to some Windows OEMs is a breath of fresh air. System76 also disables the Intel Management Engine, well okay, they don’t completely disable it, but it’s heavily neutered to a point where it can only do what it needs to. I consider Coreboot the more important part of the equation here than shooting the Intel Management Engine. It’s more of a priority to keep up with updates and firmware issues than a proprietary system typically only abused in targeted attacks.
Now for the bad news. While I enjoy the fact that the firmware is open-source and given a long life, I need to be brutal about how the firmware operates as of today. The System76 firmware has Secure Boot disabled by default, which is my mind is a massive L because Pop!_OS is an Ubuntu-based distribution, which should support Secure Boot out of the box. Furthermore, if you read their documentation about some of their other computers, they claim using Secure Boot is “not recommended.” System76 stop this. Ubuntu fully supports Secure Boot and we need to be pushing people to use Secure Boot because it’s part of what makes a secure system.
But the plot thickens. You can turn on Secure Boot after a quick reboot, but one of the things that really irked me was you can’t password protect the BIOS. Now someone did open an issue on their GitHub and in their defense when it comes to protecting user data, full-disk encryption will get the job done. But it’s shocking that for firmware that touted as open, maybe it’s a little too open. You don’t want the local house maid plugging/booting arbitrary USB devices!
Windows 11
Speaking of other weird subcategories, let’s talk about Windows 11. Hang on a second, wasn’t this a video about System76 and how they can run Linux? Well one of the unique things about the Darter Pro 9 and the other System76 machines in their generation is the ability to run Windows 11 with no major modifications. Of course, you do need to have Secure Boot enabled, then you can boot into Windows 11 just fine, well not without some problems.
For one, I noticed the touchpad would not function at all in the installer. I had to get an external mouse to click through buttons, because yes, Window requires a mouse to use their installer, unlike Linux. On top of that, the touchpad still didn’t work when I first booted into Windows. I ran Windows Update, then the touchpad starts working, but it would randomly stop working. Turns out it’s a Microsoft problem with Intel touchpad drivers. I don’t blame System76 or Intel for this, go blame Microsoft, for ruining fun in people’s lives!
If you use a laptop and need to dual boot Linux and Windows, I would strongly advise at this time avoiding System76. I believe with other major Windows OEMs like Lenovo, Dell, or MSI, you could get a better experience dual-booting at the cost of maybe a slightly worse Linux experience.
System76’s Power Management
The Darter Pro comes with Pop!_OS or Ubuntu, whichever you choose when you buy your computer. I didn’t care about these options here, because I think we can all make the assumption that System76 tests Pop!_OS on their hardware, but let’s test a real distribution. No offense to System76, but I want to use a rolling release distribution and something that actually supports Secure Boot, but what are our options?
There’s a support article that provides tutorials to hook up various Linux distributions that are officially supported by their developers:
- Arch Linux (AUR)
- Fedora (Copr)
- NixOS
Of the given distributions here, I believe that Fedora is the best option here, which is what my family member was using anyway, Fedora XFCE to be more specific. At the time I provided Fedora XFCE because it was a full desktop experience for a low performance environment.
But now that they now have a capable computer, I believe it’s time for something close to what they know, but adopt future trends and increased security. I selected Fedora KDE, because of its similarities to Windows and XFCE. But not only that, KDE supports Wayland, where XFCE still does not.
As a side note, System76 has a graphics switcher, but the Darter Pro doesn’t come with a graphics card, only integrated 13th gen Intel graphics. Under these circumstances too, they claim the graphics switching might not even work on other distros. On top of that, you need to build the GNOME extension from source if you want a graphical version (GNOME only) and not everyone would want to do this.
Experience
So what is using the Darter Pro like? First off, as an accessibility note, you can open the laptop with one hand, but it does require a little bit of force. It does feel better opening it with 2. The frame isn’t weak and feels generally solid, so opening the laptop isn’t too easy, but not difficult.
The touchpad feels pretty good. It’s not Apple levels of polish, but it certainly gets the job done and all gestures is something like KDE or GNOME are identified correctly. The one major downside about the frame isn’t just the frame, it’s the magnesium-aluminum chassis. This thing smudges really easily. In fact, after the first couple hours of use, fingerprints and smeared skin began to become more visible as time as gone on. This is probably the most negative thing I have to say about this laptop and it might be less noticeable if they want to keep using this material, but chose to make it more on the silver side, similar to what Dell or HP do with their computers.
The computer feels about 3 pounds. I didn’t weigh it, but I would say it’s around 3 lbs (1.3 kgs for my overseas neighbors). And this is with the heaviest build, because my family member requested the largest screen possible in a workstation computer. The Darter Pro has a 15.6 in (<40 cm), 60 Hz LCD display and this wide display was the largest one they offered.
The keyboard isn’t horribly loud and still shows flex, but it’s no different than most other laptops. It’s not flimsy and feels pretty solid. You do get the Super key, always a plus. I do want to comment that the function keys are in different locations than where most people expect them and they are no media keys.
The microphone out of the box, needs to be set really low. I set it to about 28% and felt it wasn’t blowing out my ears; it’s nothing to write home about. The webcam is also nothing special, but it’s 720p still, which is disappointing, but it will get the job done.
The speakers are okay, but don’t seem to handle bass particularly well. It’s able to convey the scene properly and gets you 80% there. The color settings on the display are also pretty good and nothing feels out of place. The screen also is anti-glare and did a great job at diffusing ambient light or bright areas.
I did stress test this thing a little bit. The battery life is approximately 9ish hours and I did deplete the battery to about 30% and did a estimation, so maybe not the most optimal test.
Now just to burden this thing as much as I possibly could, I wanted to pick a current generation game, but something that could still support the computer with integrated graphics. The Darter Pro comes with 13th-gen Intel and I ran the Witcher 3: Complete Edition (the DirectX 11 version) with the low settings. The framerates are similar to what you’d experience on a Nintendo Switch and at worst, the frame rate would dip to the 16-20 FPS area, namely in the city areas like Novigrad and the opening cutscene with the Wild Hunt. I’ll give the Darter Pro a pass here because clearly this wasn’t meant for gaming, but to be a workstation computer.
Final Thoughts
System76 is a new experience and I only had a few days to play with one and power through some of the things I wanted to see about experiencing one for myself. The firmware definitely needs some work and there are some defaults that need to be changed, but overall the Darter Pro provides a fantastic workstation experience. If you are a writer, a developer, or a general computer developer, you would enjoy using it. The software experience, provided you don’t use Windows and use one of their supported distros is a joy to use. I would recommend this computer is you are diehard dedicated to the open firmware experience and want to support a company that is pushing the experience. Just maybe invest that money into magnesium-aluminum that doesn’t smudge so bad.
Summary
(Updated November 3rd, 2025) 🚫 Not recommended, unless you intend to support System76 and Pop!_OS.
Pros
- Powerful performance
- Reasonably priced with configuration choices
- Great 16:9 matte display
- User serviceable and repairable
- Fully open-source firmware
Cons
- Very easy to smudge/collects fingerprints
- 30 day refund includes the days it took for your computer to ship to you
- Below average webcam, microphone is average
- Windows is less viable due to touchpad driver issues
- 1 USB-2 port (seriously, we should be past these by now)
- Open-source BIOS is missing a lot of features other BIOS have
- Secure Boot does not work out of the box and is actively discouraged by System76
- (Updated March 9th, 2024) Disabled Intel Management Engine
- (Updated November 3rd, 2025) Provided battery lasted less than 2 years
Other
- Pop!_OS, Fedora, NixOS, and Arch are community supported
- Lots of merchandise in addition to computer (t-shirt is limited edition)
- No USB-C charger
- Fn keys are not in the places they are traditionally on other computers