Interesting question, but my answer is this laptop isnāt upgradeable in any important way to me.
Can you swap out a dedicated GPU?
Can you swap out a 13" monitor for a 17"?
I mean, you canāt, and for many reasons other upgrades arenāt the useful. I find upgrading everything at once - gpu, memory, hard drive, motherboard, screen - puts me on a new platform where the components are often well matched.
Besides, you can upgrade memory and hard drive, but with the exception of a MacBook M1, I donāt find upgradaable memory and hard drive to be unusual at all.
I guess some are imagining expansion, like they could potentially hook up sensors kind of like the use case for a raspberry pi. Well the raspberry pi is also $35 so if you break it with home-brew hardware its no big deal.
Personally Iāll keep an eye, not for whatsā holding one back, but some unique reason to buy thisā¦ itās intriguing or I wouldnāt be here. Making it easier to remove the keyboard is better than making it harder. I think improvements to design are good - itās just not worth paying more for it.
My current laptop works, although the battery has died. I can only use it via plug socket, which is very annoying at times. Replaced the screen twice. Not bad for a 4 year old laptop. Will keep using it till it really does start to knock on deathās door. Other reasons :
no 16:9 aspect ratio. Though I can deal with 16:10.
not being available in the UK.
No AMD, but I can deal with Intel till we can upgrade.
would be nice to have a matte screen, but screen protectors can solve thisā¦
would be great to have an option to buy a 14" screen.
I mean, Iām hoping the points above will be available by the time my current laptop ādiesā.
I would say that is actually pretty bad for a 4 year old laptop. My HP ProBook just passed 7 years, with all original and added (extra RAM, SSD) components fully functional, battery keeps it on for 3-4 hours as well, although Iāve always been using it with the cable.
If a computer dies or needs multiple repairs in 4 years, in my playbook it would be in the āgarbageā category.
Really? Wow Iām so outdated haha. To be fair, it has had a couple drops on hard floor. It does run fine though. Itās s Lenovo Ideapad 320s 14IKB, i5 8th gen. So itās not the best . Iāve made a decision if it breaks again I will get a new laptop. Would be beneficial tbh due to starting University this month. Fair play to 7 years ! Thatās pretty dam good!
Parts availability! I want to be able to click a button and get a new keyboard/motherboard/expansion card/etc. shipped directly to my door. Personally, I believe that option shows a commitment, present and future, to parts availability. Any part discontinuations would be obvious, public, and the team could easily be held accountable for them.
(Less so) someone to answer my forum post about rhythm games (and general latency) . shameless plug
I currently have a pretty high end xps 9310, I would love to have one of these but i would end up with the same specs and probably be out a little bit of money after selling this one. Not worth the side grade, but Iām excited to upgrade once it becomes a viable purchase for me a few years down the line.
besides not having the money for it, I saved a dell precision from e-waste for 30$ and upgraded it and waiting to buy more upgrades for it. i am on the edge of selling it as a bear bones laptop and reusing the Wi-Fi card and ram on a new framework laptop
GPU. Having a google meet with several participants with video + 2 open visual studios is problematic without GPU. If there is a model with GPU available I am buying it.
I donāt know if this is possible but what about the console approach of sticking with the integrated graphics but adding VRAM? Seams to work well for PS5.
This is an interesting argument for a dGPU Iāve not heard before. I donāt share that same problem on my Late 2019 MacBook Pro 13ā that my work has provided for me. No dGPU but I donāt have any issues with video conferencing while running many other programs. I donāt use Google Meet though so maybe itās specifically a problem with that video conferencing software?
I am one of those people who likes to have a single all rounder computer where I can do all my computing and gaming task on. What is currently missing since it is in a very early stage are:
eGPU
Touch screen
Then, what would really lock the sale for me if it had the following as well:
AMD CPU
360 degree hinge so I can use it on tablet mode as well
Once it have at least GTX 1060 i am buying it right away (or atleast external GPU option for 1060 equivalent). For now i have my MSI GS63VR.
I had a problem with a ventilator which i needed to fix myself and a problem with battery that totaly died. After 3y. So i lubricated the vent and bought not original battery as the original was 50% mor expensive.But in total satisfiend with the notebook. But the disasembly is totaly horribleā¦
Iāve got a Skylake-generation XPS13 thatās on itās third swollen battery. This one is getting so bad that the keyboard is deforming, and the corner of the trackpad is popping out! Iām trying to hold out until Framework releases a 15ā laptop (or larger), because Iām pretty cramped in my 13ā. Will likely have to remove the battery entirely and run it attached to power until I can find what I want. Cāmon Framework - please give us a larger screen unit!!!
I just placed an order, but these are the biggest drawbacks with this laptop for me:
No trackpoint on the keyboard
Weak CPU choices (would have much rather had Ryzen as many others would)
Glossy display (LOVE the 3:2 aspect ratio though, which was a huge deciding factor because there are so few 3:2 options out there)
I decided that I just love this concept and business model so much that I needed to support Framework, even if working without the trackpoint will be a huge PITA and even though I would otherwise never consider a laptop with any of the CPUs available from Framework.
In itās current state, there arenāt any dealbreaker features that are missing for my own use cases, just a few nice-to-haves that I want, and Iām going to wait for a few months as my current lappy enjoys itās final days.
Iām really hoping for a touch screen option to become available. Itās one of those features that seems like a useless frill, until you have one, then you canāt imagine working without it.
An XQD/CFexpress reader expansion slot, so I can take this on the road with my camera and need zero dongles.
The Framework marketplace to open, so if I break anything during assembly, I donāt have to deal with customer support and can just buy a replacement part.
Thunderbolt certification, so I can attach this to an eGPU with confidence. (Also waiting on Thunderbolt 4 eGPUs to hit the market)
Things that appeal to me about the framework laptop:
Small size. Amazing I/O, Good screen with 3:2 ratio. Expansion port system to build exactly the system I need to reduce dongles. Nice aesthetics. Display Port option for my current monitors. Flexibility of ordering exactly what I want.
The chassis is not for me. Personally I dislike the MacBook aesthetic. I might get the current model if a trackpoint keyboard is available in the future (touchpads give me cramps), but for now Iām sticking with my T530.
It would be great if Framework made a business-grade laptop similar to the older ThinkPads. No thin and light fluff, just durability and utility. For me weight is not an issue and durability is much more important (especially the screen, which unfortunately Lenovo switched to flimsy ones without screen latches).
Also it could have a dGPU (perhaps a swappable module that could fit in a SATA/secondary battery bay) So people can have an extra battery, a disc burner (if you still need one), a SATA SSD, M2 SSD, etc.
I have more ideas so I may make a new thread for this.
. Iāve made a decision if it breaks again I will get a new laptop. Would be beneficial tbh due to starting University this month. Fair play to 7 years ! Thatās pretty dam good!
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