I posted some Teething troubles with my (batch 12) unit but on the whole very happy with it so far, although it’s early days yet (so I can’t comment on battery life, for example). From reading earlier reviews my main concern was fan noise but it has turned out to be no problem - and I’m notoriously sensitive to that as a musician who works late.
I love that I can do things I could previously only do on my desktop PC (because my previous laptop was so old) - such as view details in photographs, run virtual machines, edit video. There’s no facial recognition but the fingerprint sensor is great. Love love love that I can upgrade and repair it.
The only thing that stops me recommending it to everyone is the cost. Maybe that will come down if it gets really popular.
Mine looked pretty much like that. I contacted support and they sent me a new touchpad module. The fit is still not perfect but nowhere near as bad as the one they shipped with the laptop.
I guess I’m having issues with my touchpad too. Originally I thought it was because of my Logitech drivers. But nope. It’s definitely a connection issue with the module. Whenever I touch the module on the middle the keyboard and macro pad disconnect.
I’m contacting customer support right now to see if they can send me a new module
I just received my laptop yesterday. So far, I’m impressed with the build quality. The spacers on the sides are noticeably not attached, but otherwise are perfectly fine. The keyboard doesn’t have flex while in use. I’ve played some Helldivers 2 on it and that ran flawlessly. Yes, the fans got a bit loud, but that is to be expected with a gaming laptop.
The screen is gorgeous, and the only complaint is having issues connecting it into Microsoft Intune for my work (I blame Microsoft, not Framework).
Overall, this is a great device that works incredibly well.
Batch 14 here. Received my laptop next day from when shipped. That was sweet! (Others are still waiting.)
Specs: DIY, 7840HS, With GPU & Expansion bay shell, US RGB Keyboard w/ black spacers, black bezel, 180W charger, 1x16Gb memory module, 1x512GB SSD. Modules: 2 USB-C, 2 USB-A, 1 DP, 1 Audio, 1 RJ45
Putting it together took about 30 minutes (I didn’t have desktop space so it took some extra time)
Installing Windows 11 the first time failed with my computer didn’t meet the specs required. A fresh Windows 11 USB installed fixed this as the existing one was probably a year old =/ - I had downloaded the latest Firmware and Drivers for after it was installed and that went smoothly.
(My Slackware Live USB was too old and wouldn’t boot into the GUI, but the terminal worked fine.)
Screen flex: Seems normal with other laptops, but why would you open the screen from a corner?
Keyboard flex: I didn’t notice this at all. Keyboard feels like my other laptops.
Audio sounds nice and on par or slightly better than other laptops. Way better than the Framework Chromebook.
Charger: This is my favorite laptop charger! The block can be unplugged from the wall plug and the laptop plug which makes it nice to travel with. Each cable has a velcro strip that makes management nice for my OCD self!
Oddities:
Screen is too bright at night. I haven’t tested full sun yet. The Windows 11 night light mode (or even dark mode) doesn’t tone it down enough, but I’m still testing options. It’s not a deal breaker no matter what. I hope it works under full sun as I haven’t had that since my 2009 PowerBook from Apple and that would be worth being too bright at night!
Trackpad spacers seem uneven, or the trackpad upper right corner is slightly higher. The right spacer or the tray under neath it has some give. This can be pushed this down to make it flush with the edge. I would be interested in a single piece trackpad. A sturdier tray maybe needed as it has some give and could be the root cause maybe?
I am disappointed in the size of the RJ45 port as it’s protruding more that I imagined so I keep this out unless needed. I get it as I can see the circuit board using all of the space available and I’m glad I have the option at least!
Future interests:
I wished I had the option for a 17" Screen. The 16" is a bit small for my liking and I use 1280x800 resolution. (Native w/ DPI increased still doesn’t work with all apps and it makes it the same res anyhow.)
I also found I prefer the Volume & Brightness keys on the arrow keys vs the function keys. I wonder if that can be remapped?
Tested the screen in broad daylight on full brightness, was perfect!
Didn’t have direct sunlight on it but the sun was in the direction of the screen behind a building. So the sky was pretty bright.
Yeah the spacers are a bit uneven, I have the impression that a lot of people have this “issue”, it doesn’t really bother me though.
Last night I reversed the spacers - Left to Right and Right to Left - that made a much better fit. Now it’s just the Trackpad (front left corner) that is a bit raised. I was tempted to bend it, but figured I’d do more harm than good.
Batch 13 here, received yesterday (technically it was here Friday morning but I wasn’t home).
Specs : DIY, 7840HS, no dGPU, French keyboard, 2x16Gb Crucial DDR5, 1Tb Samsung Evo 980 SSD. Fedora 40, Gnome 46, Wayland.
No issues building it except the stripped SSD screw, I’ve put a bit of Kapton tape to hold it in place waiting for a more permanent solution. Transplanting the SSD from my old laptop was the most complex part of the build, that’s how easy it is
What I love:
Everything works out of the box with Fedora, despite the SSD being transferred from an Intel system.
Keyboard feels soft and comfortable, I had no trouble adjusting to it. The fact it’s QMK-compatible is awesome, I’m looking forward to configure it like my mechanical keyboard.
The trackpad feels great and is very precise.
SO MUCH POWER, seriously I tried watching videos in a Virtualbox and it barely broke a sweat.
The 165Hz display feels so smooth!
Minor gripes:
As a lot of people said here, trackpad spacers and trackpad module don’t align perfectly. I would love to see a massive trackpad in a full-width enclosure.
The WiFi card sometimes crashes after waking up from sleep. I think I’ve seen this issue mentioned somewhere, I might replace it with an Intel card someday.
Big issues:
The screen is way oversaturated, and it’s very taxing for the eyes. I’ve tried different ICC profiles found around here, but none tame the colors enough to feel comfortable. It’s weird as I’ve never had such color issues on any laptop before, and it’s not like I can physically adjust settings like on an external monitor.
All in all, I love my new laptop despite its shortcomings. I will need to take a look at power saving profiles as it idles at around 10-12W which feels quite a lot.
I tried as hard as I could to show the differences between my screens, but honestly it’s very hard to see on camera even if it’s obvious in person. Basically all the colors on the outside circle are too bright, especially the main colors. Red in particular is searing my eyes
For example, here on this website, the “reply” button is more like a mashed pumpkin orange but on the laptop screen it’s a high-visibility-vest orange
A work around for the colors being too bright could be to turn the “gamma” setting down.
“gamma” is a bit like a “brightness” setting, but tends to look better to the eyes.
OK I think I’ve found something. By increasing the gamma to 1.2, I managed to make the colors a bit more washed out. I need to play with it a bit because it’s not really accurate but it already feels much better.
First month follow-up. Noticed a bit of light leaking from under the top of the bezel in about three locations that I can’t seem to solve by trying to reset it. Luckily it’s only really noticable in darker rooms. My new biggest complaint is also something that I enjoy about my new laptop which makes it extra sour. When under heavy load even with the Framework charger for this laptop plugged in (to the correct ports), the laptop will start to loose battery and eventually die. Which essentially limits the amount of time I can do meaningful work, like long compiles, in an unattended state. Sucks given the main reason I upgrade my 13 inch was for the cpu upgrade (which absolutely slays) but now I essentially have to fall back to my previous machine that can at least power itself under all loads. Annoying I thought but surely then I can just use two chargers or the framework charger and a power brick but no it will only accept one source of charge at a time. How is one suppose to keep this thing on?
Yes, that’s quick napkin math, not sure how one is suppose to anticipate such things until after that fact but if you have any good ideas I’m open to trying them. Either way, I didn’t fork over the difference for a more powerful cpu only to neuter it TDP-wise, when plugged in no less.
CPU-only shouldn’t drain the battery. That may only happen if both CPU and eGPU are in heavy use. So unless you’ve got the GPU module and your compiler is using that in addition to the CPU, the 180W charger should be more than enough. If not, something is wrong. I’d try another cable and a USB metering device (or power meter on the AC side) to check actual power delivery. Also, check if the USB-C module gets warm (it shouldn’t).
