How will you use your Framework Laptop 16?

Framework Laptop 16
1

Originally posted on Reddit.

Those of you who have ordered or will order the Framework 16: How will you use it? What configuration did you decide on, and why?

I have a lot of medical appointments and can’t drive, so my main use case will be working while someone else drives me to and from appointments, The large, bright matte display will be perfect for productivity while traveling in a car on a sunny day.

I’m in DIY pre-order batch 3 with a Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU. I’ve purchased a 64 GB (2x32 GB) Crucial CT2K32G56C46S5 DDR5-5600 (5600 MT/s) RAM kit and 4 TB Samsung 990 Pro SSD to make sure I have plenty of memory and storage for the many VMs and containers for the various VMs and containers I run for hobby projects and advancing my understanding of information security. I’m not going to be using it for gaming, so I won’t add the dGPU.

For port configuration I’ll have USB-C on both sides of the two rear ports to maximize their functionality (i.e., USB4), USB-C the right side middle port, HDMI on the left side middle port to be ready for giving presentations, and USB-A on both sides of the front ports to plug in the mixers for my DJ hobby and support other USB-A devices without adaptors and dongles.

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I´ll use it in school and for Gaming and for Work.

i got the Ryzen 7(since they have same core count and only 100MHz Clock difference (and i needet the money to get the GPU…)) and 40 GB of Crucial 5600 MT/s RAM a 2230 ssd and the Radeon RX 7700S

Layout of the Ports is going to be:

Left side Back to Front:

LAN / HDMI
USB C for Charging (i don´t want to use the more funktional USB 4 Ports for Charging
USB A

Right side Back to Front:

USB C
USB A
SSD

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I’ve been starting to write scripts for videos, nothing to demanding, but I still need something thats good for rendering out videos.

Obviously Ill play some video games.

But its gonna be my main computer for browsing the web, watching content, writing scripts and exporting videos.

I got 3 usb c’s, 1 usb-a, a eithernet, and a storage modual.

I got 3 usb-c because most of my cabkes are C to C but a usb-a because there are times when a A is needed.

Storage for some of my project work to keep easy on hand if I dont want it on my main storage.

Eithernet for faster/more reliable internet when Im working in spotty wifi places, or just need something a bit quicker (my study has wifi but its only about 1 bar on the steamdeck, so I plug everything into the eithernet there)

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@PhoenixLandPirate

Link one of your Videos when you made them would love to check them out.

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Thank you, may do, itll be a while yet got to commission some art and get loads of footsge then edit together and when I get my framework 16 render it all out.

It may be past christmas by then, so I may forget but if I remember, Ill link ya to one once I get rolling!

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I would suggest making lower production videos first and foremost so you get into a basic general workflow even if it’s just recording and releasing unedited talking head videos at first. Genuinely helps.

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I’ve done small little music videos and “meme” videos before, so I have done some really basic stuff, and at University I edited together an animation, it’s just this will be the first time I’ll be doing something so long, and without a team thats main priority is this.

So it will be fun, but I have a semi decent workflow if I can grease the old wheels well enough! :slight_smile:

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I’m in DIY pre-order batch 1 with a Ryzen™ 9 7940HS. I’m waiting for it to ship before purchasing memory, and storage but will likely purchase a 64GB kit and use the SSD out of my System76 Serval WS for a bit.

I’ll be swapping port configuration depending on where I am, but standard I’ll have 2 USB-A and 2 USB-C (one of each on each side), DP Port on the left Side and an HDMI port on the right.

My framework 16 will mainly be used for open source development, although I’ll game on it occasionally (mostly just use my Steam Deck these days).

I maintain NuGetDefense and ~50 Chocolatey installers. I also contribute to other projects (minikube, gitExtensions, Bogus.Net, etc) as I run into issues.I’m only going to be running Linux on this machine (likely EndeavourOS). I do most of my work using JetBrains IDE’s (Rider, Webstorm, DataGrip, IntelliJIdea, RustRover) as they make wonderful cross-platform tooling (and I also use them at work).

I run games via Proton/Wine compatability layers and have rarely had issues. I like playing around and creating in Blender/Godot and until recently Unity (too much drama for a hobbyist).

The System76 this will be replacing has a declining battery and a keyboard/mousepad that is too expensive to replace or I’d still be using it. I’m hoping this laptop will provide the power I need while giving me a battery I can replace when it wears down and a keyboard I can swap out when I inevitably destroy it*.

* Apparently I type like I’m trying to break rocks with a sledge hammer. Membrane keyboards tend to last 6 months to a year for me and I’ve managed to wear out a couple switches on a mechanical keyboard once (non-cherry blue switches). Spooked me enough I got a keyboard that’s easier to repair (easier to disassemble and less soldering involved) so I can just replace the switch next time this happens.

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My main reason for a laptop in the first place, is to take it with me to darker places than my balcony at home and control my telescope mount via Stellarium (and maybe Ascom), as well as a camera, capturing photos of galaxies and nebulae. My old EOS350D uses Windows XP drivers, so I have to run a VM. The laptop should be powerful enough to do this.

Yes, it would’ve been cheaper just to buy a newer DSLR or even a specialized astro-camera, but I would need a laptop anyways. It would also be cheaper just to buy another laptop or the 13". But here the other reasons come to mind:

Second usage would be gaming like in the good old days: Taking it to a friends place and do a plain, oldschool LAN Party. I decided against the 7700S, though, as I hope there will be a 7800M in the future.

And the main reason, why I chose Framework and not MSI, Acer or whatever other, cheaper laptops, is that I love the idea of Framework, to make it repairable, sustainable and upgradeable. I want to support this idea. Though I have to think about a solution for the white keyboard light for astro usage. Maybe there will be an ISO RGB or even native german RGB keyboard before mine ships (batch 13, missed batch 12 by a day), I’ll let the support change the order, then. There are transparent foils I can put onto the screen for astro, so the display is no problem.

I configured the DIY with the 7840HS, as it should be powerful enough and to me, the extra features are not worth the additional 200 bucks for the 7940HS. I also think a 1TB SSD will suffice for now, so I already got a WD SN770 for it and put it into an external M.2 case, so it’s not sitting around useless. When the laptop arrives, the SSD will go into the laptop. As for the RAM, the Kingston Fury Impact 5600CL40 should work, I will order a 32GB kit. I already have an USB DAC, so I didn’t order the audio extension, but one DP and one HDMI beside three USB A and three USB C extensions. Ethernet won’t be necessary.

As Ascom is not available for Linux, I’ll stick with Windows 10 or 11, though I’ve thought about Zorin OS. Maybe in the future with a second 2230SSD and dualboot.

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I have the DIY pre-order, batch 13.

Configuration

  • System: Ryzen™ 9 7940HS
  • Memory: DDR5-5600 - 64GB (2 x 32GB)
  • HDD: WD_BLACK™ SN770 NVMe™- M.2 2280 - 1TB

Expansion Cards

  • 3 x USB-C
  • DisplayPort (2nd Gen)
  • HDMI (3rd Gen)
  • Audio
  • Storage – 250GB
  • 2 x USB-A
  • Ethernet Expansion Card
  • MicroSD Expansion Card

I’ll mainly use it for a mix of engineering projects. My main focus will be software development, with a bit of tinkering in embedded systems.

Also, I plan to use it for 3D designs using Fusion360 and security research/penetration testing using Kali.

I plan to have Kali running from the expansion card, Linux (possibly Fedora) as a main OS and Windows from a virtual box or, I’ll have a different second machine running Windows for Fusion360.

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I’m going to use my Framework 16 as eye candy. :grin: I have plenty of computers already (including a 12gen F13) but want to support Framework in their mission and get their newest product in my hands. I suspect it will become my main work and play machine further down the line when my current machines go out of date.
I’m in batch 4 so hopefully it lands before the new year.

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How much would it be?

They have repair guides ( Parts & Repairs - System76 Technical Documentation)
and I think if you reached out they give you the part numbers so you can get the parts from a reseller.

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I was told it would be over $200 for the keyboard. At the rate those fail for me, that’s not an attractive pricetag. It looks like framework keyboards are ~$40-$50 for replacements.

But they were ready to completely walk me through the replacement process And I do 100% recommend System76 to anyone that has a reason not to buy a Framework laptop. I sent them one email regarding upgrading the memory when I first bought it and they sent me a PDF with specs on the ram they use and detailed guides on how to access all 4 memory slots (2 are under the keyboard in mine).

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For myself, I expect to have two uses for it:

  1. A “final” laptop case, so I can avoid growing the stack of obsolete laptops I’ve been collecting for decades.
  2. A multi-boot system for debugging/testing OSS on different OSs. I plan to have all but my primary OS on expansion card storage. Too many times now issues have not been reproducible in VMs.

At $45 per OS, I hope be able to have a large assortment of pluggable OSs available. Initial set will be FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Windows, and possibly NixOS.

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I have the DIY pre-order, batch 1. Given my current laptops are running out of steam, I’m having trouble waiting much longer.

Configuration

  • System: Ryzen™ 9 7940HS
  • Storage: 2TB - Western Digital SN740 NVMe™ - M.2 2230
  • Storage: WD_BLACK™ SN850X NVMe™- M.2 2280 - 4TB
  • I personally would have taken 1 SSD slot with the ability to use any double-sided SSD (I do like my 8 TB SSDs).
  • Memory: DDR5-5600 - 64GB (2 x 32GB)

Expansion Bay System

  • Expansion Bay Module: Graphics Module (AMD Radeon™ RX 7700S)

Customization

  • Laptop Bezel: Framework Laptop 16 Bezel - Lavender
  • Numpad: Numpad Module
  • Keyboard: US RGB (if there was a Linux one with RGB, I would have chosen that one instead)
  • Power Adapter Region: US / CA

Expansion Cards

  • 3 x USB-A
  • Ethernet
  • DisplayPort (2nd Gen)
  • 2 x USB-C – USB-C Expansion Card
  • Storage – 1TB
  • MicroSD
  • HDMI (3rd Gen)
  • Audio
    (I know, mamma-mia, that’s a lot of expansion cards, but my needs change often, so it’s nice to have the option to quickly change ports as needed.)

Accessories

  • Framework Screwdriver

Included

  • Limited Edition pre-order gift: Poster, patch, and sticker sheet illustrated by Stephen Maurice Graham
  • Graphics Module pre-order gift: Starfield™ Premium Edition game code
  • 2 x Extra Spacer: Lavender
  • 2 x Extra Spacer: LED Matrix
  • Extra Medium Input Module: RGB Macropad Module

I’ll mainly use it for a mix of software engineering projects, probably to start helping out with Linux projects like KDE or smaller projects. My main focus will be software development, with a bit of gaming. I plan to use Linux (likely EndeavourOS KDE, which as of their next major release, will be the default for the live ISO and offline installs) exclusively, so seeing a fingerprint sensor work fully with fprintd is great to see.

The only issue for this laptop may be finding a good Wi-Fi 6E / Bluetooth 5.2 card, as MediaTek has been pretty bad from my experience and Intel Wi-Fi seems to need a custom iwl.conf file to work properly for more than 2 minutes without dying. But that’s a challenge I am willing to undertake, as is using Arch.

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I got the DIY batch 4. I have always used poor quality $300 laptops that I used to connect to my desktop instead. Now that I am out of college and have disposable income I wanted one that would last a while

Configuration
System: Ryzen™ 9 7940HS
Storage: WD_BLACK™ SN770 NVMe™- M.2 2280 - 2TB
Memory: DDR5-5600 - 32GB (2 x 16GB)

Expansion Bay System
Expansion Bay Module: Graphics Module (AMD Radeon™ RX 7700S)

Customization
Laptop Bezel: Framework Laptop 16 Bezel - Black
Keyboard: US English
Numpad: Numpad Module
Power Adapter Region: US / CA

Expansion Cards
3 x USB-A
2 x USB-C – USB-C Expansion Card
HDMI (3rd Gen)
1x Ethernet Expansion Card

Accessories
Framework Screwdriver
Included

As for OS, still deciding but most likely some ubuntu or ubuntu derivative.

I’m a software engineer and Vtuber, I want to use it as my all in one work station whenever I’m out of the house. And use it to do a few streams in my living room, mainly handcams of me painting figures or knitting!

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I find it quite strange (not necessarily bad, but strange) that many users don’t seem to be getting the 3.5 mm headphone jack expansion card. That being said, I may not even use that card that often, but we’ll see…

Also, welcome to the community!

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I’ve got a batch 11. I’ve been eyeing a framework for over a year now, but I wasn’t able to justify getting one since I use my laptop for some gaming. But now we have the 16, so I got that!

Configuration

System: Ryzen™ 7 7840HS
Expansion Bay Module: Graphics Module (AMD Radeon™ RX 7700S)

Customization

Laptop Bezel: Framework Laptop 16 Bezel - Lavender
Power Adapter Region: US / CA
Macropad: RGB Macropad Module
Keyboard: International English - Linux

Expansion Cards

3 x USB-A
2 x USB-C – USB-C Expansion Card
1 x DisplayPort (2nd Gen)
1 x HDMI (3rd Gen)
1 x Ethernet
1 x Audio
I know that this is quite a few, but I do have legitimate uses for all of them

2 x Extra Spacer: Lavender

I decided to bring my own ram and storage for the cheaper 3rd party prices, and I plan on a 1tb drive with 32gb ram. I decided on that because I’ve wanted to kinda have a higher end-ish computer for a while, and 32gb will definitely allow me to try video editing with a much smoother experience to my current setup.

As for OS, I’ve been running fedora on my current machine, and plan on installing either the sway or i3 spin of it on my FW16

Edit:
As for how I will use this, I plan on using it for both some gaming, programming, and some game creation (I use the godot engine.) And as previously mentioned, I definitely wanna try some video editing as well, as it just seems kinda fun to do.

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Depends on your use case I guess, but I haven’t been surprised. Ever since they phased them out on phones, the port has been rapidly dying.

You’d need a torch and a map to find a 3.5mm only device in my place these days and I can’t remember the last time I used an analogue audio port for anything.

So many Wireless headsets to choose from and heaps of digital options for audio in general has helped to seal the deal (Bluetooth, Optical, HDMI/DP, USB, etc.)

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My headset is USB. The speakers are plugged into the monitor, which gets audio via HDMI/DP.

I just don’t need it.

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