Yeah, that’s Geohot! Hadn’t heard his name since back then, wow.
So… that was an interesting review. Some things I agree with, and some things I don’t. But, that’s the thing: everyone has different needs and wants.
He doesn’t care about the modularity? I do.
He cares about the screen flex? I don’t.
It isn’t to say his concerns (or anyone else’s) are invalid, just that we have different needs.
Like, I definitely agree with him on the touchpad spacers…. as MANY other FW16 owners have complained about. Hence why I got a 3D printed replacement that’s full width: Full-width palmrest - 3d printed files released - #53 by BPM
But, overall, I’m not too bothered by the build quality. I expected some flex due to it being modular. And I’m glad that it is, especially with the keyboard. I’m part of the 50% that wanted a numpad, and clearly he’s part of the 50% that doesn’t. It wouldn’t be possible to please everyone, or even a majority, with a single solution.
But even then, the modularity of the FW16 does open up the possibility of future solutions for this, like a single full-width keyboard module that either has a numpad or doesn’t.
I’m happy with my purchase, and there really isn’t an alternative for me, since it’s the only laptop that makes it easy to repair and upgrade. It’s far from perfect, sure, but I’m at least hopeful that Framework cares about improving.