Ability to purchase DIY Framework laptop without mainboard

[O_M]

Is it possible to purchase the Framework laptop without a mainboard? My problem is that I wish to purchase a laptop, however, my Visa card has a limit of approximately 640 USD so being able to buy the DIY edition laptop without the board would be nice. Buying the necessary parts individually to assemble a laptop is out of the question as that costs a lot more than just buying a complete unit…

[GhostLegion]

Not possible. You might find someone with a broken laptop that is willing to salvage some expense by selling you the shell. I actually did that a month ago. Or you can wait until 12th gen refurbs drop. The 11th gen models sold for around $600 for the i5, I can’t imagine FW not selling refurbs of the 12th gen eventually, especially since they sold out so quick.

Can I ask why you want a shell? It won’t do anything without the mainboard after all

[Blake_Weldon]

My guess, based on the mention of a card limit, is that OP wants to purchase the laptop in chunks to stay under said limit. Unfortunately, the cheapest you can go includes a motherboard if you’re purchasing directly from Framework.

Best bet is probably to keep an eye on eBay for someone selling a used 11th gen for a good price and upgrading that over time, unless 12th gen refurbs go up for sale.

[Edgar_Acosta1]

You can buy parts off of marketplace, keep the buys under your limit, but there is no way it will be cheaper than buying a bundle. Still could meet your limit requirements.

[Jieren_Zheng]

A janky idea I had was to purchase the Framework without the mainboard (and maybe without the webcam too), is to try to fit some RK3588 baseboard or something like a Steam deck mainboard and connect them all up using the input adapter/screen to HDMI.

A Franken-Framework laptop.

[GhostLegion]

Expanding the Framework refurbished program

[Blog Image_3592 × 2620] In October 2022, we launched the Framework refurbished program in the US and Canada as a sustainable and affordable way to join the Framework community. We received positive feedback from both the community and the media, excited by the opportunity to give a second life to excellent-quality refurbished products. Since then, we’ve been collecting and preparing units, and we are now ready to expand our refurbished program into the EU, as well as scale our product offeri…

@O_M Well wasn’t I prescient. Now is your chance OP, buy a refurb NOW before they sell out!

EDIT: Well, nevermind, the pricing is lower but not as low as the 11th gen was. It starts at $719.

[Alex_Vidal]

Well, this is unfortunate to read. I recently did the AMD upgrade on my 11th gen Framework 13. I was planning on picking up a separate case for the old mainboard, but before I could find a use for it my son ended up in a situation where he could really use a new laptop for school.

I was hoping I could pick up a DIY sans mainboard (and memory) for a reasonable price to get him started on one of these wonderful laptops.

Suppose it’s time to crawl ebay.

[Adrian_Joachim]

@Jieren_Zheng

A janky idea I had was to purchase the Framework without the mainboard (and maybe without the webcam too), is to try to fit some RK3588 baseboard or something like a Steam deck mainboard and connect them all up using the input adapter/screen to HDMI.

A Franken-Framework laptop.

So a pinebook pro with a bit better case XD

[Jieren_Zheng]

@Adrian_Joachim

So a pinebook pro with a bit better case XD

Yea that was my thoughts, plus the RK3588 is more powerful. Wished the RPi 5 had a better GPU but oh well.

[Adrian_Joachim]

@Jieren_Zheng

Yea that was my thoughts, plus the RK3588 is more powerful. Wished the RPi 5 had a better GPU but oh well.

I do have a orange pi 5 plus with that chip and hardware wise it is really something but the software support is what I would call not fun. Both with the mangled oem kernel and with mainline most thing only kinda work. Wanted to use it as my new media-pc cause of the propper hdmi 2.1 ports and the on paper baller hardware decoders. I just wasn’t able to have both function at the same time. I does actually do 4k 120hz, a thing most more expensive x86 chips still can’t without taking a detour over an active dp to hdmi converter. Ended up caving and just getting a fanless intel n100 pc and an active dp to hdmi adabter for that application instead.