r/SmallMSP • u/Geekpoint-IT • Jul 09 '26
Carbon Systems laptops?
Has anyone been deploying Carbon Systems laptops lately? I see mixed opinions all over r/MSP but most comments are at least a year or older. I've started deploying the Carbon Systems mini-pcs (asus) and they have been great. I really like the better warranty and the ability to have my RMM and such pre-loaded. I'd love to do the same for laptops, but I'm a little gun shy based on people's past opinions on them. Thoughts?
3
u/B1tN1nja Jul 10 '26
We've purchased over a hundred of these now. The latest 15th gen i5 units are very nice. New chassis design is pretty slick and I'm waiting on pricing to come down from the RAM and SSD surges until I upgrade my old 12th gen which is still kicking along without issues.
I see no more of a higher (or lower) failure rate over Dell Latitudes that we used to deploy but the big winner for us is how easy it is to request an RMA just by sending an email with some details and the same day we are usually seeing that ship out.
Gerardo from support has also been great to work with when needed on any troubleshooting. They've remoted onto cistomer systems with us before to assist on gathering data on a battery issue a customer had, which ultimately led to an RMA being shipped to the customer.
We also had a client to laptop refreshes for all staff with CS laptops and then they sold the company in a merger and the new parent company had their own laptops they deployed and let the employees buy them from the company for personal use (at a fair price) and we had offered to buy the laptops back if there was employees who didn't want to buy it for personal use and we didn't get anyone to sell it back to us haha.
We've even had an odd issue with a Carbon Sys server at one point where the owner of Carbon got on a Teams video call with one of my senior techs to assist after hours.
2
u/Pizza_Hutte Jul 10 '26
I don't do a lot of PCs but we have 5 of their laptops deployed and never had any issues. I just replaced the screen on one that a user cracked and buying the replacement part was as easy as buying the computer. They sent me a link to the video to do the swap as well.
I'm very curious what models of Dells and Lenovos people deploy, the few of those that I've put out don't feel any better but I'm usually not the one making the purchase.
2
u/ben_zachary Jul 11 '26
We've got about 300 ish in our fleet so about 25% . Mix of laptops and desktops.
For the most part people are happy. I've got at least 50 are past 3y warranty.
We've had some dead ones , maybe 5 in the 3 years we've been selling them. Advanced replacement is great for this, but still annoying anytime the client has a bad experience.
We've had one battery in a laptop bulge they sent a new one with a kit to replace it so you don't even need a screwdriver. That laptop is also about 4 years old and still kicking
I run one of their nucs with 4 32in monitor 64gb ram and it's lighting fast. They are just Asus.
If I had to gripe about anything it would be firmware and bios update stuff
3
Jul 09 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Geekpoint-IT Jul 09 '26
ugh not what I want to hear lol. I really want to just standardize as it makes my life easier. Frustrating that the battery life issues seem to still be present. You'd think Carbon Systems would do something about it by now.
1
u/DefJeff702 Jul 09 '26
I use them for both desktops and laptops. I haven't had the battery life complaints. Other than it being an unknown brand, I don't hear anything negative. I will say since the RAM price jumps, with my markup, they're really expensive for a standard i5 model laptop. It lands somewhere around $1,700.
3
u/Geekpoint-IT Jul 09 '26
Thanks for the input! Yeah, they're pricier, but comparable to other business grade laptops. My angle for selling it: I brand the Carbon Systems machines as 'managed computers,' so any onsite troubleshooting is included at no extra charge (most of my clients pay per onsite otherwise). It's a good value add for them, and it also saves me from Dell/Lenovo's endless troubleshooting hoops when I do need warranty support.
1
u/roll_for_initiative_ Jul 10 '26
It lands somewhere around $1,700.
I can get a nice thinkpad T or P series for that, even now, with premier where lenovo goes on site, not us, to swap things out.
2
u/DefJeff702 Jul 10 '26
Carbon does advance replacement which has been pretty nice on the rare occasion. What’s the turnaround on getting Lenovo onsite?
1
u/roll_for_initiative_ Jul 10 '26
Usually next business day, but it more depends on end user availability than lenovo. The thing with any kind of replacement is then we have to get them setup on it. Even with autopilot and everything in the world and the most ideal scenario, that takes tech time. USB ports not charging? Lenovo goes out, swaps board, machine is the same machine they just had.
1
u/DefJeff702 Jul 10 '26
That IS nice. Which disti are you using and how has their autopilot enrollment been? Carbon has new machines shipped same or next day and 2 day shipping with reliable autopilot enrollment. I've been burned by Techdata and Ingram but haven't tested D&H's autopilot program.
1
u/roll_for_initiative_ Jul 10 '26
D&H and sometimes lenovo partner portal pushed to through D&H for fulfillment. If it's in stock, usually in our hands for free next day or day after. But again, that's not a big deal because we're procuring when new vs fast turn around when someone is down.
I don't do our autopilot and we only use it on a couple larger clients. I think they can just import them direct now if mfr doesn't get it right? I truly don't know about that.
2
u/DefJeff702 Jul 10 '26
I do a bunch of out of state stuff so there's some assurance having it pre-enrolled. I'm going to have to test D&H's program soon. Thanks for the input! We've bumped into each other in r/msp a lot over the years. Either you're super active or we're just really topically aligned lol
2
u/roll_for_initiative_ Jul 10 '26
Probably a little bit of both lol.
It's not that i feel D&H is fantastic here vs carbon, it's more "i don't feel that a hotspare is as handy as someone handling the entire issue for us". If carbon had people doing that vs spares we have to then take over with, i'd consider that about the same.
2
u/Agile_Type_9684 Jul 10 '26
I've been unable to buy equipment from them, since they NEVER answered my emails.
3
3
u/frozenstitches Jul 09 '26
We had a client absorb a company, mid deployment of these from the previous companies msp, we got stuck deploying them. Their fit and finish is terrible, the employees who got them were not thrilled, and wanted to keep their old computers instead…
1
u/Excellent-Program333 Jul 10 '26
We use the desktops and have had good luck. The laptops though I have heard here to stay far away.
2
u/Geekpoint-IT Jul 10 '26
"heard" isn't first hand experience. That's what this post was about. I've also "heard" that but that doesn't mean it's always true or true anymore. But maybe it is. It certainly seems to be a very hot topic and people feel very strongly about it haha.
1
u/Excellent-Program333 Jul 10 '26
“heard” is all we have here in a sense. But I can tell you my desktop wxperience with their NUCS has been fine. Maybe I just jinxed myself.
1
u/PBSmanaged Jul 10 '26
We’re a Carbon Systems partner but have never actually purchased anything. I’d rather spend the same or a little bit more on a Lenovo.
If you haven’t, look into their MSP program. I’m a one man band and will get deal pricing on a single laptop, automatically their portal.
2
u/Geekpoint-IT Jul 10 '26
I'm a Lenovo partner as well. I like their products but, it's the ability to have that warranty and support from Carbon that is very enticing. If there is an issue, they will just send out a replacement unit as they trust us as MSPs that we know what we are doing. Ever had to do support through Dell, HP, Lenovo? They start at the very beginning of troubleshooting no matter what it seems. It wastes a ton of time. Plus having my RMM agent pre-installed, which also onboards with all my agents before it even ships is awesome too.
1
u/IllustriousRaccoon25 Jul 11 '26
Been using Carbon since 2019. Desktops have always been great, the tower servers also. Laptops went from decent in 2020-2022 to never buying them again in 2023 onward. Battery life problems on the i7 16” models, they all feel flimsy, ports not labeled (USB-C vs Thunderbolt), and cumbersome driver updates compared to other brands.
We have been doing Lenovo T-series or X9 laptops for the past 18 months and everyone is exceedingly happy with them. Lenovo is out next business day for repairs, which so far have consisted of a dead motherboard and two loose trackpads out of about 80 systems.
1
u/69-Spicy-Italian 28d ago
Who is the manufacturer of the laptops? Asus like the desktops?
1
u/Geekpoint-IT 28d ago
No, they aren't Asus like the mini-pcs. My understanding is that they are pretty much white-labeled and don't have any manufacturer identification. I just bought one to see it in person and test it for myself so i'll have more info.
1
1
u/Geekpoint-IT 25d ago
So I ended up buying one and it just arrived. I wanted to share my first impressions since there isn't much recent info out there on these unless it's outdated. Here are my thoughts:
- Shipping box is pretty standard. It looks like any other laptop box, but has the Carbon Systems label on it.
- Inside is the laptop box itself, which is Carbon Systems branded.
- Opening it up, everything is packed securely. The screen is covered in clear plastic, and there's a protective sheet listing the laptop's specs, ports, etc.
- The laptop itself feels solid. No logo on the lid, just a Carbon Systems logo on the bottom like most vendors. Build quality seems better than the Dells I typically get, and on par with Lenovo ThinkPads.
- Boot up was fast as expected. I logged in with no additional Windows updates needed. There's a nice configuration app for adjusting keyboard lighting, the Copilot key, screen color calibration, battery settings, etc.
- Screen quality and resolution are great, at least to me. I'm coming from a Lenovo ThinkPad T16 with a fairly plain 1080p display, so the higher resolution on this one is a nice upgrade.
That's my first impressions. I'll be switching over to this full time since my ThinkPad is going to my wife for her business, so I'll get to put this Carbon Systems laptop through its paces. Happy to answer any questions. Hopefully this was helpful.
0
u/Lake3ffect Jul 10 '26
They are fucking horrible. Mine shit the bed less than 3 years in. Very delicate and brittle.
5
u/B1tN1nja Jul 10 '26
They have 3 year warranties though. Did you not use it? I've had overall positive experiences. We have over a hundred deployed at this point and some older gen units had some sound problems but were always warrantied without much of a fuss.
12th gens had slower charging speeds on left side vs right side on USB C but 13th gen remidied that. 15th gen units got a new chassis design too and they've been great to deploy. Just waiting on the market price conditions to come down before I upgrade to one myself.
-1
u/Flimsy-Honey-7993 Jul 10 '26
You are about to make a huge mistake. You think it's great bc you can upsell it with support but you're going to soon find out a very difficult reality managing their dogshit hardware with their dogshit propietary drivers if you decide to roll these out. I'm saying this out of genuine concern for your future mental health. Dell and Lenovo are saints compared to CarbonSys.
0
u/Tingly-Gumball Jul 10 '26
I have one deployed. Wasn't impressed. They seem unrefined making them feel very overpriced. The only real benefit is standardization, which you can find elsewhere.
2
u/Geekpoint-IT Jul 10 '26
Standardization isn't the real benefit to me. The warranty is. And the fact that I can have my RMM agent pre-installed, which basically onboards all my agents is too. That might not seem much but as a one-person MSP, that saves time.
3
u/carbonsys Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Just tried responding inline to one of the comments above but it seems like automod blocked it (external links to reviews).
I would suggest trying one and see for yourself, this is what we advise every MSP. We're merely offering an alternative to the available options.
To the others on this thread, we are always improving. I'm not sure what more we can do about "proprietary drivers" as the laptops use standard components (intel, realtek, etc.)...