Framework Laptops

[Knuckledragger]

For those of you playing the home game, my 2015 Macbook Pro went tits up a few months ago.  Since then I have been wrestling with the idea of a replacement.  Apple's current lineup is ...old and kind of crap.  Their recent "California Streaming" event was a massive disappointment (I will not be doing my radio show from a smart phone, KTHX.)  More broadly, I'm kinda done with Apple's anti-repair bullshit.  I'm not done with MacOS, but I think for the next period of time I'm going to be sticking with stationary Apple products (I still have an iPhone, which I dislike but view as an inescapable evil like taxes and leaf blowers.)  

I have never owned a PC laptop.  I don't particularly like Windows.  I mean, it's fine for video games and a few specific audio apps (Exact Audio Copy, Foobar 2000) but as a primary OS?  shudder  With all of this said, I'm seriously considering making my next laptop a Framework.  There have been a bunch of positive reviews of them from prominent tech toobers.  A certain Bob-the-Tomato-sounding Canadian who is prone to making heaps of cash and dropping things liked Framework so much he invested in the company.  

I don't have the operating capital of that high pitched hyperactive YouTube content machine, but as I said I do have a strong need for a new laptop.  Linus squeaks out some good points in this video and the other one he made.  iFixit did a far less, ahem, infotainment focused review, but they also really liked it:

So far I have one beef with Framework's design and it's not a small one.  The keyboard:

What. The. Fuck. Are. Those. Arrow. Keys.  It's 2021, not 1985.  This is a laptop, not a shitty wireless keyboard meant to be used with smart TVs.  That arrow key arrangement is utterly unacceptable. I'm so bothered by it I'm almost not willing to make a purchase.  Keyboards are an important matter for me.  I learned to type on an IBM Model M in the 1980s and the buckling spring permanently affected the way I interact with and view keyboards.  Also, I have freakishly large hands (Canon pro DSLR bodies feel too small for me) and tend type with entirely too much force.  I have broken ...3 laptop keyboards, including my current one.  Again, Apples "fuck you" attitude about repairs is sufficiently annoying that a model with a replaceable keyboard (even with horrid arrow keys) is basically a necessity to me at this point.

Framework's prices aren't too bad either, at least for someone who has been in the Tim Apple ecosystem for the last dozen+ years.  I have a few major fires to put out in the next week including property tax (see above), car insurance (ibid) and two Eat Static album re-issues (a man has to have priorities.)  When the dust from the above as settled and assuming our short-bus-on-bath-salts elected officials manage to raise the debt ceiling and not crater the world economy, I'm probably going to buy one.

[grawk]

by their lineup I'm assuming you mean their intel lineup.  Because the m1 laptops are brilliant.

[Grahame]

And by the time the / your dust has settled it may be time for the rumored M1X / M2 laptops ...

 

 

[Wmcmanus]

Kind of where I'm at too. Waiting for the MB Pro 16" with M1. Supposed to be coming soon.

[Dusty Chalk]

It has to be a laptop, right?  You sometimes (and hope to return to) DJing out, right?  So it can't be a Mac Mini or mini desktop (+ keyboard + mouse + mousepad + portable monitor), right?

Yeah, I don't know what to tell you, I tend to stick to the tried and true.  So I ended up pre-ordering an Asus.

I've been following the Framework laptops.  I wouldn't put a whole lot of credence into his investment, though -- that's more of a vote of confidence in their business model of perpetual upgradeability, than it is in the machine itself.

That said, I do kinda really dig that modular, perpetually upgradeable platform.  Tres cool.

And having used both Windows and MacOS, I would suspect you will be reminded of things with the Windows OS that will frustrate you inordinately, that you haven't thought of, yet. 

[TMoney]

Am also waiting on 16" M1/M2/M1X/whatever to replace 2016 MBP.

Soon™?

[n_maher]

Work is affording me the opportunity to try this:

Lot's to both like and maybe not like about it but given that it isn't my financial risk I figured why not?  It had to be a Win-based machine and for mobile presentations and marking up submittals/schedules/etc. it could be a game changer.

[Kerry]

^ I’m interested in that Surface as well. Let me know what you think after you’ve had a chance to play with it. 

[dsavitsk]

7 hours ago, Knuckledragger said:

So far I have one beef with Framework's design and it's not a small one.

Where's the nipple mouse?

7 hours ago, Knuckledragger said:

What. The. Fuck.

Indeed.

Edited October 8, 2021 by dsavitsk

[Beefy]

16 hours ago, n_maher said:

Work is affording me the opportunity to try this:

Lot's to both like and maybe not like about it but given that it isn't my financial risk I figured why not?  It had to be a Win-based machine and for mobile presentations and marking up submittals/schedules/etc. it could be a game changer.

Awesome! Like @Kerry I'd love to hear your thoughts. I have a ThinkPad X1 Yoga and work/home docking stations, and find it is just about perfect for mixed desktop/portable/tablet usage. The Studio's fold down screen seems like it would be even better than the fold-back Yoga.

[HiWire]

Framework announced their parts marketplace: https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/14/22725935/framework-laptop-modular-marketplace-launches-spare-parts-upgrades-expansions

I looked at the new Surface devices, but none of them work particularly well for my coworkers.

[n_maher]

I'll start a new thread for this at some point but the Surface Laptop Studio (henceforth SLS) is here and is a pretty impressive device. Not sure I'd be happy to pay retail for it but yay work for ponying up.  I've already played with the whiteboard app a bit and it's pretty neat. More follow but enough thread clogging for now.  

[swt61]

[HiWire]

Looks decent, but unimpressive battery life (maybe it would be better with a lower-res display):

https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/framework-laptop-diy-edition-review

[HiWire]

AMD and a 16-inch version of Framework laptops coming up:

AMD: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/03/framework-gives-its-modular-laptops-13th-gen-intel-cpus-and-finally-an-amd-option/

16-inch: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/03/frameworks-next-project-is-a-16-inch-modular-upgradeable-gaming-laptop/