Anyone know if you can buy only Expansion card skins?
I havenāt seen an option for that. You should mail them a request.
On another note, are there any alternatives for skins beside dbrand?
The only one I found is this one:
Sadly, they donāt offer any Framework-specific skinsā¦ 
This also shows how the new site is just worse. In the old configurator (I dunno, maybe 6-7 years ago?) you used to be able to exactly specify which skins you want (i.e. only expansion card) and also choose a different skin for every part of your device. So you could have marble on the outside and carbon fiber on palm rest/inside and a red trackpad, because you like that.
Obviously this system was more complicated on the logistics side, but at their scale they probably have a pretty sophisticated warehouse anyway and I canāt see why this isnāt possible anymore. Charge me 3$ more for the option to customize, Iād gladly pay that.
1 Like
Im really torn between x-ray and obsidian, anyone have suggestions?
Itās really personal style.
But I like the metallic shifting aspect plus organic swirling of obsidian.
The metallic ones also come with an extra Triple Black Damascus skin.
I just advise not to use any dark skins, if you plan to use your laptop outside frequently, because dark colors absorb the infrared rays of the sunlight, resulting in further heating your laptop up needlessly.
For the same reason, people in countries with high direct sun exposure, like the arabic states, wear white-colored clothes traditionally.
Based on what I saw when I ordered there were 12 expansion card skins included but now that I think about it, I ordered obsidian and it comes with a added skin (black) does that mean 6 for each or 12 for each?
To go full Boot or to not go full Boot, that is the question. Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of industrial design, or to take up arms against a sea of cringe.
Tbh, NWU Type 1 got way more flack than it deserved. It hid industrial stains well and was pretty comfy. Iām so tempted, but I also donāt want to go around with a hat on that says āVeteran stuck in his glory daysā.
I just received a shipping-notification for my x-ray skin. Letās see whether the FW16 makes it first 
As Iām in batch 2 it might be possible 
2 Likes
I was really hoping to see a leather skin available. My friend has one for his Steamdeck and it looks and feels so good. Iāve got a pile of stickers that Iām considering getting one of the matte skins to put them on but I havenāt been a sticker guy before so Iām having trouble deciding to go that way or just getting the Obsidian skin.
Got my shipment notification for Obsidian today. Iām also batch 2. I figure Iāll have the skin way before the laptop.
dbrand is way too inflexible. They just lost me as a customer.
I just wanted the top cover to have no cutouts at all. Currently thereās only an option to omit the logo cutout, but not the long line cut out at the bottom, that you can see in this photo:
Their answer:
We're sorry for the inconvenience, but we simply don't offer such customization options.
Whyās there even a cutout in the first place? The Framework Laptop 13 skins donāt have it either.
Whatever, Iām gonna find that skin somewhere else and gonna cut it myself. Might be a but bothersome, but at least will be a lot cheaper. Farewell, dbrand. 
They donāt seem interested in customization. They used to allow mixed selections if you are ordering top, middle, bottom skins, but the got rid of that.
It would be fine, if they didnāt charge so much.
The FW16 has its antennas in that spot. They say the metallic skins can attenuate signal some, so the cutout is probably to reduce that.
Of course, the white marble is not metallic, only 3 skins are. I guess they just donāt want the effort of different cutouts for metallic. Or they want consistently above all else. So that they donāt have to put a note to explain why itās different? And field questions from those that donāt read, I guess. Simplify everything, but still charge a ton.
Sadly, Slickwrapsā pricing is even worse.
Skinit has no Framework-specific offers, but their universal one is more reasonably priced.
Gekaskins does offer universal laptop skins, too, but sadly only up to 15" (389 x 247mm).
Any other alternatives?
Edit: more (possible) alternatives:
DecalGirl
The Wrappz customizer sadly says, that the required size for the FL16 isnāt available. 
Uniqfind doesnāt seem to offer Framework skins yet and has no custom option.
MightySkins
Hereās a list with dbrand competitors.
dbrand is kind of becoming the Apple in skins. Amazing quality, but only if you like what they offer. From what Iāve heard they do have amazing customer support if something goes wrong, contrary to Appleā¦
1 Like
Apparently they are currently swamped with orders, hence it took them almost 3 months to reply to my request, so itās time to redirect their potential customers elsewhere to get them off their high horse. Iāll present as many alternatives as I can in this thread in order to do so. From what Iāve read in this article, other companies offer good customer service, too, sometimes even better than dbrand.
Sadly it centers around phone covers/cases/skins.
Sorry, but did you read the page you linked? The thing is AI written. While there are some companies in the list that do sell skins, there are also many that do not.
Wrapping up
Anker wins the best dbrand alternative challenge. This website has a wide range of products to choose from, such as power banks, chargers, cables, docks, power stations, AC power, and more.
Anker doesnāt even sell skins.
Iām all for alternatives to dbrand, I just wouldnāt recommend an AI written site.
2 Likes
dbrand doesnāt solely sell skins either. The also sell cases, screen protectors and gadgets.
I did find the conclusion odd, too, but the article did include many good alternatives. Of course, you should never blindly accept information from questionable sources, but always do your own checks before ordering anything. I just presented it as a source for further investigation.
I just found a competitor list I added to my alternatives post. That one should be better. Iām checking the sites not yet mentioned from that list right now.
Itās the WiFi antenna. Covering it would be a bad idea. 
As MJ1 already stated, that only applies to metallic skins, not vinyl-based ones: