Link PM’d.
Wine shouldn’t be needed, just some tool that can extract from an exe. Many archive tools can do that, although the one that was built in on my Fedora KDE install can’t handle it.
Interesting. Mine is on the rear right port, so I guess this issue isn’t port-specific.
This has been an issue for me since the 13 inch. In my case originally I have it plugged in to an outlet that was controlled by a switch that shared the same location as the room light switch. It was common for anyone coming in or leaving to hit both switches. Even if you restore power (and it doesn’t happen every time) but occasionally the laptop wouldn’t resume charging. Moving the location of the charger fixed that but this also happened when power would go out and come back fairly quickly. What I was referring too in my previous post was not that. I do have the gpu module installed but I’m fairly certain I can replicate this without utilizing it. I will try to reproduce and post a video.
Has anyone else noticed higher than expected heat on the center of the laptop (underside) while using the dedicated GPU module? (I was playing Fallout Shelter from Steam.)
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I noticed that the center (underside) of the laptop was heating up.
I only notice it using the dedicated GPU. Perhaps the GPU fans aren’t running because the GPU isn’t hot so it won’t cool the CPU.
Fallout Shelter is minimal when it comes to gaming. I’ll need to test Starfield with it as that should use more GPU power.
Does anybody have a user review?
Hundreds of people have gotten their laptops in the past week and it’s been 9 days since we had a user review .
Lots of conversation about general support issues…
I’ve noticed it does get pretty hot in the center when playing a game, but HWMonitor doesn’t report any extreme temperatures. I’ve noticed that the fans can ramp up more, like if I block the intakes they’ll speed up. So it’s not over heating. I think the heat just doesn’t spread as much as some other laptops. I know my Razer Blade Pro would heat up quite a bit too but it was over a much larger area.
Definitely. I made the mistake of playing Helldivers 2 with it on my lap with shorts on. Got a second degree burn blister on my leg as a result. Lesson learned.
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It should not get got enough to burn your skin. That, in my opinion, is a defect which you should report to Framework.
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It means it is getting the heat away from the CPU/GPU so I’m fine with that. Just have to remember to cover my legs 
Glad I got a laptop cooling pad for mine! Hope you get better soon.
I’ve been using my Batch 1 machine for close to three months now and while I don’t have a “full” review, as I don’t really have much to add beyond what’s already been said, I do have one thing that I want to mention after getting my expansion bay module. After having it installed and using it for some time, swapping in and out the Radeon RX 7700S, I think people may be approaching this laptop wrong.
What I mean is, most reviews I’ve seen compare this to some sort of workstation laptop, like a ThinkPad P or W series or some gaming laptop. To me, this laptop doesn’t feel like a gaming or workstation laptop- it feels like a big screen laptop that just so happens is able to accommodate a GPU. Think the MacBook Air 15 or a Surface Laptop 15. I’m so convicted in my belief that the Framework Laptop 16 is more in line with those machines that I went ahead and compared the Framework Laptop 16 “Performance” Pre-Built without the RX 7700S to a similarly spec’d MacBook Air and Surface Laptop. To my surprise, they all ended up being in roughly the same price bracket of being around $1,800 - $2,000 USD.
When I look at this like a competitor to one of those machines, I’m very satisfied of the product. Yes, there are some tradeoffs to get the repairability/modularity that Framework targets in the fit and finish, weight, and overall size of the Laptop 16, but that makes it pretty easy to match up when you line up the specs:
- MacBook Air 15 - lightweight, good battery life, not very repairable, no upgrade paths, MacOS only (for now.)
- Surface Laptop 15" - Solid Windows laptop with all the Windows bells and whistles. Not really anything outstanding though and is only marginally more repairable than the MacBook Air.
- Framework Laptop 16 - All around good machine that sacrifices some build quality in the keyboard deck for excellent repairability and upgradability. Closest laptop to come with a “PCIe slot” out of any that have come before it.
I spec’d my Framework Laptop 16 out with the Radeon RX 7700S because I anticipated gaming with it. While it is competent at gaming, I found that the integrated graphics are more than capable enough to let me do some light gaming to the point where I had the opportunity to consider going without the dGPU- and I think the laptop is better without it. Compared to it’s other 15 inch peers in the same price/spec category, there is nothing about the Framework Laptop 16 that makes it stand out beyond repairability, but it is that repairability and modularity that makes me happy to take this laptop with me into the future over the MacBook and Surface.
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There is another thing: the modularity and open source nature of the Framework has inspired the maker community to develop their own expansion modules, and that means that some of the wishes we have for new expansion possibilities will actually come true (some already have). So instead of just hoping the OEM will improve their product, people are just improving it themselves. That’s pretty sweet.
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Sure. Batch 15, DIY 7840U, iGPU only, with my own Kingston Fury 2x32G CL40 5600MT/s, WD_BLACK SN770M, and Samsung 990 Pro. My experience is mostly in line with what others have said: so far so good overall, with some caveats.
I have seen none of the commonly reported issues with keyboard flex, screws, standoffs, monitor brightness or colour, or the flushness of touchpad spacers.
I do have issues with poor colour matching on the touchpad spacers, a slightly scratched keyboard spacer and mid-plate, premature touchpad wear, a sizzling noise from the mainboard when running certain workloads, firmware lag and USB-related bugs, screen flex (though I could just be really used to the non-repairable fused Apple panels), and the bezel causing backlight bleed around the webcam. Communication during the eight day Batch 15 customs hold should’ve been better than it was.
For the future, I would like to see a screen with higher PPI for 2x scaling, ECC RAM support, improved fan control curves (it’s too slow to ramp at 100°, too aggressive around 50–60°, and changes are not always smooth), better touchpad UX (I am forever ruined by Apple), a unibody input cover like FW13 or MBP (or, at least, some gasket on the keyboard to improve water resistance between the spacer gaps?), a better webcam, and a power LED that turns off when the screen backlight is on.
I have been delighted by the captive screws, very low volume of plastic waste, overall build quality, dual SSDs, the battery charge limiter, the screen quality, overall system performance, future repairability/extensibility, the open-source (so hopefully open-bug-fixable) EC, and the fact that this laptop fits in a 15-inch MacBook Pro bag so I do not have to buy a new one. Also, the enthusiastic and supportive community of people who are helping to improve the user experience for all Framework owners. Thanks!
My nonsense complaints are that the keyboard has an objectively wrong Fn keys layout 
, and the ‘breathing’ animation for the power LED in suspend is not calm at all and should be much slower!
I do genuinely regret buying the Ethernet Expansion Card. Some bug exists where “usb1-port1: Cannot enable. Maybe the USB cable is bad? usb1-port1: unable to enumerate USB device” happens on startup and it needs to be unplugged and replugged to start working. It is also more annoying than I thought to have to remove it when I want to put my computer in a bag. USB4/TB4 is so capable I should’ve just spent the money on a dock/hub.
I will probably contact support at some point about the wear on the touchpad since my 9-year-old MBP touchpad still looks brand new but the FW16 trackpad has a big shiny spot after just a week.
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Well I can say the laptop is nice, build quality is good and the performance is good.
Ultimately while I have had mine for a month; I am going to return it as it hasn’t been a use to me.
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It doesn’t work properly with anything but the 180W charger that framework sells. Any other power adapter will limit dGPU power (this likely isn’t any issue if you don’t have a dGPU).
Power for the GPU + CPU will be limited to 60W meaning the GPU will not pass 48W with any other charger but the 180W charger. -
There is no Fan control app and the stock fan curves are not only bad but sometimes they freak out and the fans just go to max.
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Battery life is all over the place…
I bought the FW16 to replace my Alienware M15R5 which has had overheating problems and has gone throguh a handful of coolers. Right now it is working fine, but eventually the cooler will warp again… so I figured I would get a laptop which can replace it.
I also promised myself that if a real repairable and upgradable laptop hit the market; that I would buy it and use it. My AW M15 is really too “new” to not really be fixable or upgradable… I have a 3070 in there but it uses too much wattage (can’t be adjusted either) and causes heat issue.
Unfortunately now that i have found out that there is likely never going to be an Nvidia GPU for the Framework and my Framework w/ 7700S (which btw is actually just a 7600XT?) doesn’t work with any other power adapters… It is regrettably going back.
I wanted to make it work and hoped that the firmware could be fixed… however the team isn’t planning on working on those issues and the lack of fan control mean that I would be paying quite alot of money for something I absolutely cannot use.
Overall this makes me quite sad as I wanted it to be my next laptop and hopefully the last large laptop I would ever have to purchase…
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Why didn’t you buy the only 180w power supply that is currently on the market if you were already getting the dGPU? Even with the official 180w power the laptop will drain battery when pushing the limits so it makes sense anything lower wouldn’t be enough. We really need a 200-240w supply which doesn’t even exist yet. Buying the Framework supply completely solves this “problem”. Why not just buy the proper power supply? I mean, I assume you have the proper ps for your Alienware, or does that laptop work correctly with your 140w USBc PSU?
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I have never experienced this. Probably OS problem. Research what is using your resources. In my experience, Ryzen seems to be really good at using low power when not doing much…but when you need the power, they ramp up and use a ton. Which means the fans will max out too.
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Battery life will of course completely depend on the power used. Use more power, battery go down faster. I have used mine away from plug-in plenty of times and had no issue after closing processes that use high power to have a stable, long, battery time.
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You couldn’t have put this better, I do get the feeling there is a certain amount of cutting off nose to spite face in refusing to get a power supply suitable for the job.
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- My Alienware is basically stationary at my desk in my bedroom, part of the reason I want to replace it is due to the fact that I don’t take it anywhere. The power brick is too heavy and clunky to take somewhere. The framework charger is also larger and clunky. I am not going to take that in my bag somewhere. My 140W brick is bigger than my 65W brick but still relaitvely small. So requiring the 180W brick is just a no-go for me.
I wasn’t worried about getting 100% full GPU power all the time, I didn’t expect to sit and game for tons of hours at max FPS. The problem I have is that the performance is complete trash with ANYTHING but the 180W brick. Since Framework literally checks to see “is brick 180W” otherwise it defaults the entire system to 60W max draw. So you can use 100W or 140W bricks or even a 240W brick (if it existed) and it would still limit the power because they only have 2 profiles. - This is not “an OS problem”; there is no fan control software. That is a software problem because the software doesn’t exist. Being stuck with the stock fan curve on a high performance laptop is literally atrocious. As soon as I run anything heavy; the laptop goes to 100C… then the fans are actually slow to ramp @ 100C. However the fans ramp hard @ 60C randomly so when I left the laptop running overnight in my room (as I have with my alienware for the last years); it woke me up from just ramping to full fan speeds for no reason. I woke up and checked the laptop and it was @ 62C just idling with my tabs running.
This becomes a bigger problem with the external screen I have plugged in; currently my desk has a 15.6" secondary USB-C monitor. Partially I wanted this laptop to be able to run both monitors from the iGPU (my AW forces the external to run on the Nvidia 3070, which generates un-necessary heat). Unfortunately the Framework runs the fans really hard with both monitors connected (most of the time) and ultimately is louder and more aggressive than the Alienware (and again no fan controls, so I can do literally nothing about this). - Yes; I was referring to battery life vs my other Ryzen laptops. It seems that the power usage of the laptop varies wildly so in doing the same tasks the battery life isn’t always repeatable (I ran test programs just to see the battery life).
I’ve taken it around and it’s really not that big, especially compared to other laptop chargers (dimensions according to FW’s blog post about it are 116.6 x 58.2 x 27mm, which checks out, meanwhile MS’s Surface charger is 90 x 50 x 25 mm, can’t find definite dimensions for other products though). It’s definitely significantly denser but I’ve taken it around and compared to the weight of the actual laptop, it’s not that bad.
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