Know that the people at Framework are not stupid, and the process for entering a new country is more complex than “find new country → translate everything into their native language → profit”. I would hope that the team would try to be aware of situations like this and not waste time translating all their materials into a language that no one would end up using. While it may be a while before they can consider Iceland because of the size of the customer base, Framework’s goal is to make the consumer electronics market more repairable, so excluding Iceland forever would be a pretty bad move.
Because Framework won’t ship to Malaysia. Trust me when I say I’m ready to part with money for a new laptop to replace my Predator Helios 500 AMD Edition that Acer and Micro$oft just dropped support for in short order just like that. Except that apparently Malaysian money isn’t good enough for Framework given the many other Malaysians asking and getting the same response.
Look, I know, compared to Canadian Rubles, Malaysian money is Rupiahs, but this is not the way to treat potential customers, let alone people who actually need the product.
I’m sure Framework would love to be able to ship worldwide, without exceptions. But there are logistical, regulatory, and taxation considerations that make it more difficult than people might initially think. It also takes time and money to set up shipping and support in additional countries. Framework is still a small company with a lot on their plate right now.
I know it’s a bummer. Hopefully, Framework will eventually be able to ship and support their products everywhere. For now, it’s best just to set your region on the Framework site to show your interest. Patience isn’t my strong suit either but I’m sure it’s not a matter of Framework ignoring potential customers simply out of apathy.
For me it’s the lack of high resolution Toucscreen with 360° hinge and pen with 4096 pressure support (or things which can do the same like on the microsoft studio thing).
So the Hardware of the actual 16" plus with 3840x2400 16:10, 4096 pressure for pen, touchscreen (at same time with mouse and touchpad. Not like on the cheap devices, where only one works at same time).
Yeah and glossy, because high resolution does makes only sense with glossy. But because of pen and touch it would have glass anyway and then it would be glossy anyway so…
And for sure because it is not sold in Switzerland with (german) CH Keyboard layout.
120Hz is not so important for me. I take it, for sure, but i dont need it. But i need High-Res for drawing. I know people cant understand why you need 4k on a 15" device, but for drawing you could even need higher res than that.
For a while, it was comparing the price of a Framework vs a new MacBook Air. In the end, I wanted to try something new, and Framework hit the right notes. Stoked to try it out for a few months and see if it sticks. If not, I can always run right back to Apple =P.
It’s not likely the CPU will be your limiting factor. At least with Adobe, CPU requirements are very easy to meet. But it uses a lot of ram, 16gb or 32gb recommended, and the GPU might be another story. Depends on what you’re doing.
For rendering work, Nvidia cards are still reportedly getting it done faster in 2023. Pro Graphics cards from either brand (AMD Radeon Pro, Nvidia Quattro) are meant for this, getting it done faster still, and cost extra for the privilege.
Check the recommended specs for the app you intend to run. For example, Adobe Premiere Pro recommends a 4gb card (or a 6gb card for 4k) renders in 2023. Pro graphics cards get expensive fast as you climb the product stack, and you can hit a point of diminishing returns.
The Framework 16 offers that RX7700s. If that complies with the software vendor’s recommended specs, fine, $600 solution. But if you need something bigger then you may have a use case for either external graphics (eGPU) or just a different computer.
As to external graphics, you could buy a Razer Core X… or follow the thread below, where some community members are engineering something faster. They have a basic design at time of writing, and are looking at potential improvements.
port count (i’d have to use a dock for a lot of usage scenarios which is awkward if you’re not at a desk)
aspect ratio (3:2 is uncomfortably tall although i suppose i could adapt eventually)
the case is too shiny; i’d like a dark input cover at the least, although i know dbrand can help mitigate it, but it’s not ideal. are there some third party input cover manufacturers i’ve somehow missed?
framework 16:
way too much mass for me to be able to move reliably. looks amazing otherwise in basically every single respect (aside from not seeing a dark trackpad section option? but again decals can probably mitigate that), but i’m too feeble for 2.1kg. i struggle with the 1.4kg unit i have right now sometimes as it is.
anyway, i really think i want one of these, and it seems likely i’ll get one despite what i mentioned, but these concerns are what’s keeping me from having already slammed the order button.
additional: i’ll miss having a touchscreen or at least built-in stylus support. usi is really nice to have available, although that works best with 360 degree hinging (which is another thing i’ll miss), but this stuff isn’t a blocker. just stuff i’ll lose in the transition
wishlist: i desperately miss having an 18mm pitch keyboard (WITH function and navigation keys) but nobody’s been selling me one of those on a decent laptop for ages anyway, so it’s not specifically keeping me from getting a framework. i just feel painfully underserved on that point, and seeing customizable hardware made me miss it even harder, since i can’t find evidence of any substitutes that provide that
Reasons why I haven’t ordered yet (despite being extremely interested in Framework for around 2 years now):
FW13,FW16:
Because my current laptop still works fine. Almost 5 years old. Not gonna replace until it’s dead.
The sorry state of the FW13 intel12 bios updates: the complete lack of security updates and unanswered questions about how long Framework guarantees to provide security updates for its devices. I don’t know if this is a dealbreaker for me or not. But it’s the only notable thing that makes me hesitate about buying a framework.
(Not a dealbreaker) I really wish the FW13 had a second M.2 slot. That’s my only gripe about the device itself. My current device is a 13-inch with only one RAM slot but two M.2 2280 slots, which for me personally would be preferable.
FW16:
I dunno. I don’t play AAA games at max specs much, certainly not on-the-go. I think a FW13 would be enough. I’ll use an external monitor and external GPU like the GPD G1 if I want to get serious.
I’d ideally love it if there were Thunderbolt-5 capable devices (or whatever the USB equivalent will be) that support PCIE 4 for external GPUs by the time I buy, but we’ll see…
I haven’t ordered a framework because I’m not going to place an order for a device for in the future, if they’d ship immediately with current gen cpus I’d order one of these.
All Framework Laptop 13 Intel 13th gen orders ship immediately, and as production ramps up on the Laptop 13 AMD it will eventually reach this point as well. The Framework Laptop 16 is still in preorder, but once it also releases and they have produced all the preorder batches it will also be available to ship immediately.
the next ‘generation’ of amd cpus is out, and it’s such a minute incremental benefit that framework has stated directly they have no intention to ship a product based on it.
When Did Raspberry Pi become the villain?
There are manufacturers dedicated to power bricks, power banks and cords, which literally thrived after smartphone manufactures stars to remove charger from phones
Buy third parties, they are much cheaper and you only need to buy once as PD is standardized.
Back on topic. I bought an FW13, what holding me back from buying an FW16 is that
I don’t like pre-orders, too long waiting time.
The FW16 is still very new, the reliability may get better later.
The dGPU is not energy-efficient and I’m waiting for a newer eGPU.
The factory 180W power brick is not sufficient to charge the battery while gaming. In addition to that, according to my using the FW13 with 100W power brick that the laptop only pulls 2.72~2.94A instead of 3~5A even when gaming with a low battery, so I’m afraid of PD compatibility issues. Even if I managed to get a 48V5A240W power, the computer might only pull 48V2.8A or worse, 20V 2.8A. More data from others might be needed to find a compatible power brick
the fw16 factory power supply is 180 W, not 140 W, and if you’re wanting an egpu then you wouldn’t be coming close to saturating it anyway, because the fw16 is only somewhat drawing from the battery when you fully saturate the cpu and dgpu. without the dgpu, it’s way more than enough.
though sadly nobody else is producing power delivery spec supplies at this wattage… framework had to be the ones to do it first because everyone else just shrugs and goes “let’s just make it proprietary” instead
not really. there’s too much different when there is a protocol… and sometimes it’s just a raw barrel jack. and generally in both cases, the voltages aren’t what power delivery chips are expecting, so you end up with ANOTHER voltage conversion, which is more loss.
anyway, we can reasonably expect someone to get around to making a 240W PD compliant supply at some point. if somehow nobody else manages, i’m sure framework will throw up their hands and commission that eventually. it’s kinda absurd that they had to be the first in this space, though.
