No one answers the telephone at ZaReason. I have been calling for a couple of weeks and all I get (after ten or so rings) is an answering machine.

Plus both of their laptops (they currently offer only two laptops) are listed as "Out of Stock."

I have a ZaReason UltraLap 5330 (which I like very much - I have MX Linux [MX 17.1] installed) that has developed a problem: the DC Jack has gone bad. I bought this computer in March 2017 and I purchased the three-year warranty.

I tried contacting ZaReason via telephone with the results described above. I e-mailed them on their site and, after a couple of days, got a response which stated that I should contact the OEM (Sager) and send the computer to them and ZaReason would reimburse me for any repair charges.

I did not particularly care for this arrangement so I wrote back to them asking if they would reimburse me for any charges if I had the repair effected locally.

I have received no reply to that or any further attempts at communicating with them.

So yesterday I brought the computer to a local service which I have used previously and I am having them repair it. I'll have to "bite the bullet."

I wish to buy a similar laptop but obviously I cannot buy one from ZaReason and my experiences over the past couple of weeks lead me to believe that they are going out of business.

Does anyone here have any factual knowledge as to what is happening with ZaReason?

Thanks for any information.

Lawrence H. Bulk

I don't have any factual knowledge of what is happening, but I can confirm that they have been unresponsive. Usually they answer tech support email in a day or two. My latest query from about a month ago has gone unanswered.

This makes me very sad. I own a ZaReason Strata 7440 that is getting a bit long in the tooth and was hoping to purchase another laptop from them soon. Hopefully it's just a case of lack of help in a one man show company and that's why wait times are longer than expected.

Have you tried via Facebook, Twitter etc...? Any other method to contact them?

Perhaps, being a small company, they are out of town, however, one would think that the message machine would indicate that for customers, or an auto-response from email.

Might be time to look at alternatives, ThinkPenguin comes to mind.

---update----
Desktops show as available: https://zareason.com/Desktops/

they did a retweet on June 14th: https://twitter.com/zareason
last facebook post was Nov. 2017. https://www.facebook.com/zareason

I have two Zareasons and have been very happy with them and with Zareason's support.

I would be most distressed to learn that their business is in trouble.

Thanks to everyone who has responded though we still don't know what's going on with ZaReason. I too would hate to see them go - I've purchased five computers from them over the years and I have been satisfied for the most part (my MediaBox 5330 "died" recently and is probably unrepairable). I wanted to have my UltraLap 5330 repaired under warranty and, though I wrote to them and received the one unsatisfactory answer to which I referred above, my subsequent queries have gone unanswered.

I was (and still am) hoping that someone from ZaReason sees this thread and can respond here (hopefully in a positive way).

I do want to buy another computer, specifically a lightweight 14" one (though with an Intel i7 processor and 32 GB RAM); the ZaReason UltraLap 5440 would be perfect for me but it still shows as being Out of Stock.

Frankly, at this time, I would be afraid of buying another computer from them.

System76 is a choice and they have a computer which would also fit my needs - but at what a (high) price when configured the way I desire! PLUS - I do not care for Ubuntu (or any of its derivatives including Linux Mint). I much prefer a modern rolling release. I myself use Antergos but my wife prefers openSUSE Tumbleweed. If I were to use, as my "main" OS, a Debian-based fixed-release OS, it would be MX Linux (which is far and away the best GNU/Linux OS of ANY type I have ever tried - I'm using it on a couple of my computers - and its only "flaw," in my opinion, is that it's a fixed-type release).

I know that System76 "frowns" upon using any OS other than what they supply (Ubuntu and their proprietary derivative POP!_OS) and I also know that they supply proprietary drivers with their computers (and I do not know how well they play with other OSes).

All that "colors" my opinion of System76.

I did investigate Emperor Linux (prices are MUCH too high, even higher than those of System76).

I also investigated ThinkPenguin, which offers a computer which I can configure to my liking and which is sold at a much more reasonable price.

The problem here is that I have never seen any user comments about the company itself and the products it sells. Does anyone here actually own a ThinkPenguin computer and would that person tell us if he or she is satisfied with the company and the computer he or she owns?

I would be most grateful for any further answers about ZaReason as well as the questions I have raised in this comment.

Thank you!

Lawrence H. Bulk

They work closely with Trisquel GNU/Linux (https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/thinkpenguin), their CEO is active on the Trisquel forums (Chris).