Hey All,
I am leaving to college (far out of state) in August, and I’m considering a Framework laptop. I agree with the ethos of the company and the idea of upgradability on everything. I will be studying computer engineering, so I need a Windows 10 laptop, and will be gaming on the side hopefully. Right now I have a desktop setup I’m happy with, probably around 1500, was wondering if anyone has any thoughts about if I should just sell my desktop setup, buy a fully kitted DIY framework, and take that and a monitor+k/m to my college? I will be pursuing a military career after, so chances are a desktop would not be ideal for that either. Any advice or suggestions would be helpful.
A Framework 16 for college should be fine for your computer engineering needs. On the other hand, I don’t really think it is suitable for a military career. The main reason is that the Framework 16 weights almost 2.5kgs with dGPU and it is pretty big in terms of size for a laptop.
You will probably be out on the move for a long time and carrying it will probably not be easy (Not sure about this because I don’t have any military experience). Framework’s laptops are also quite expensive for their performance so unless you have money to spare, I would recommend looking for another laptop. Also while the Framework 16 is very upgradeable, it can be less durable compared to other laptops.
Personally, I would consider some smaller sized laptops like the Framework 13, or ones from vendors like Lenovo, ASUS, Acer, or Dell. If you need a gpu, I recommend checking the Zephyrus G14 from ASUS or the ASUS ROG Flow X13. You can also check out the Gigabyte Aero 14, or Dell’s XPS series. Those should be lighter and still quite performant.
If you still want to purchase the Framework 16 here are some recommendations:
First, I would recommend is to not bother trying to fully kit out the Framework 16. It will probably cost a ton (even when buying memory and storage elsewhere) and you probably won’t need all of it’s performance.
Unless you really need it, go for the Ryzen 7 7840HS instead of the Ryzen 9 7940HS. The 7940HS is just a binned 7840HS with higher clocks and even though it has extra features (EXPO, Undervolting, etc), Framework doesn’t seem to have implemented any of them.
Don’t buy the dGPU unless you are doing cybersecurity or playing very performance intensive games. The 780m iGPU in both the 7840HS and 7940HS are quite powerful and should be able to handle most games just at a lower resolution. This will also reduce the weight by a lot.
Make sure to buy your memory and storage elsewhere. Framework does mark up the prices of the ssds and memory modules that they sell on their marketplace so it is cheaper to get the elsewhere.
Don’t buy an excessive amount of memory unless you need it. Just check how much you’re using now and probably add a bit more. Excess memory will never be used and will just be mark up your price.
Hope this advice helps with your decision!
Sorry it’s so long.
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Another note is that the Framework Laptop 16 only officially supports Windows 11, so if you need Windows 10 support, you’ll have to do extra work to get working drivers, and there may be certain devices that are not fully supported in Windows 10.
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