So I want to give an update to my previous post. I’ve since contacted support, and they sent a replacement hinge. I also purchased a replacement touchpad.
Every time I go to pick up or move my laptop to show someone something, the screen droops.
And outside of the meetups, it continues to frustrate me on a daily basis. If I use it on my lap, it droops while I’m typing. If I walk it it, it falls after a few steps. If I pick it up or lay it down, it falls.
I contacted support, and they were very responsive. They requested some video evidence to show the severity of the problem, which is perfectly reasonable. I sent them a video showing that the screen falls under its own weight. They agreed the hinges were defective and sent new ones.
When I received the new hinges, they were fantastic. I responded to support stating that it had resolved the problem completely. Over time however, the new hinges have gotten worse. They’re not quite as bad as the old ones yet, but they gradually get looser over time.
The screen will fall under its own weight if opened to around 160 degrees. It’s worse when the laptop is running warm, such as when compiling code. But so far it’s not interfering with my usage like the old hinges were. I’m disappointed they wouldn’t replace the old hinge with the 4.0kg hinge.
The touchpad doesn’t click properly if you’re holding the laptop from one side, or the laptop isn’t level on your lap (because the frame flexes)
This issue also continued to get worse over time. By the time I received the replacement part, I could barely get clicks to register at all. Replacing the touchpad solved this issue completely. Which confirms it was a defective touchpad.
If you let the battery discharge fully, it sometimes will not turn on unless you discover and use the workaround of plugging in two chargers at once to get around a bios bug
I haven’t had this happen since updating the BIOS. So this issue appears to be resolved.
The microphone cutting out inconsistently based on how much the lid is opened, and randomly outputting loud static to the people in my calls.
Customer support suggested I remove and re-install the webcam module to ensure the connections were good. This resolved the problem completely. So it was just a loose connection from the factory it seems.
All in all, the Framework is a laptop that is almost exceptional. But it’s marred by a series of quality control issues. I’m glad I was able to so easily replace the faulty parts, but on a laptop in this price range, it’s pretty surprising just how many faults there are.
And even moreso to see that the new replacement hinges are degrading, and in a few months will probably become just as unusable as the old ones.
I want to see Framework succeed. I don’t regret my purchase. But I’m going to need to see some strong evidence that more focus is being put on quality control before I consider upgrading or buying another.