12th gen’s compute capability is really quite something. It can handle a lot even with turbo boost disabled.
The iGPU kernel driver with Intel’s developers…that saga was quite a let down. But hoping that’s behind us now.
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Not so sure…actually latest kernel gives graphic glitch and freezes !!!
Oh man…We’re nearing the end of 2022. Really hoping to get a solid unit (both hardware and software) for the coming year.
You haven’t experienced any unexpected sleep / wake / POST issues, right? No strange USB device connection issues? Fingerprint reader is working well and consistently between multiple sleep / wake cycles?
Nothing happen to me in this departement. I have one USB A and one USB C plugged all the time. And plugin HDMI when I need it. As I read power dran issues with HDMI.
I had a power cherging issue with upgreen powerchrger, but it ended up the ugreen charger beeing dead after only 14 motnhes. I think my ugreen didn t like to have to give more power to this new laptop. Have bought a anker 1 week ago and no issues at all.
Like said in my review compared to previous Thinkpad E590 its a big upgrade in EVERY departement, camera trackpad, cpu power, battery is same but better since its new. Stability is about the same except for one single freez a week.
I don t regret buying this laptop compared to 4 years old laptop, I believe I ll be using it for at least 5years. I recomand to you and friends this laptop for sure.
90% of the users looking for a 13" incher for work will like it, it as all you d expect. Except battery on the lower side but still in acceptable range
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I figured an external USB-PD battery bank will have to do for now.
Having been accustomed to swap-able battery packs, I used to carry 2 extra packs when on the road. Only difference now is there’s a USB-PD cable I guess.
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I am still in the midst of switching over to the i5-1240P DIY Edition (Batch 4), but as of now, I am happy with my choice (with occasional fits of rage).
My use case is primarily software development (JVM ecosystem & a bit of golang/rust) and I am pleasantly surprised by the i5’s CPU. If I let it run wild (not setting PL1/2 limits, with turbo boost on), it far surpasses my Thinkpad P1 Gen 5 (i7 12800H) when it comes to compile times of some of my projects (Kotlin/Scala). Granted it sounds like a hurricane, but after playing with the power limits, I could get a near-silent machine that still manages to satisfy my needs (Found this helpful). I reckon for CPU-intensive workloads, the upgrade is definitely worth it.
I run 6.0.1 kernel on it (on Arch) and haven’t had any issues so far related to glitches some users have reported on the forum. I do experience battery drain(only unscientific test for 2 nights, but can report back as I continue using it) from the USB-A expansion card that’s reported by others.
Battery life for me is so-so as expected and about 2-3 hours for my workflow (2-3 IntelliJ IDEA sessions, occasional compiling, a few tabs on Firefox, Microsoft Teams + 2-3 video conf calls, Synology Drive client that syncs certain folders in the background) and I don’t expect it to drastically improve.
Coming from aThinkpad P1, I was unsure if the 13.5" screen would be too small, but I am happy with the additional vertical screen real estate that the 3:2 aspect ratio offers.
The fan noise was the only thing that gave me buyer’s remorse at the beginning, but with the RAPL limits it’s no longer headache-inducing for me. I hope to also try the fw-fanctrl over the weekend.
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I started with an i7-1185G7 and I upgraded to a i7-1280P.
I love the upgrade. When all cores are engaged you are basically getting
double the performance for only slightly more power draw.
While I was at it I also upgraded the top cover, hinges and a new bezel so it felt new.
I am running Manjaro with the 5.19.14-1 kernel and have 0 freezes day-to-day. The only exception is if I go into Gnome’s settings at which point the system freezes and is clearly a Gnome issue.
As far as peripherals I have:
- A CalDigit Elements thunderbolt dock connected to a System76 Launch keyboard and G502 mouse and various other USB things like thumb drives and security keys.
- I’m also using a Sabrent 5GB network adapter unless I’m on the go at which point I’ll use the Framework 2.5GB card.
- I also have a Razer Core X Chroma with a 3090 in it running an external monitor using the nvidia-open drivers.
- I also use various audio DACs such as a PreSonus Go Box, Scarlett 2i2, etc.
- And various USB midi devices.
I do a lot of technical work so playing with music lets me excercise the creative part of my brain.
As far as use cases go, I do a lot of virtualization and programming. I use LXC and Podman locally and Proxmox on an external server. I write in several languages and the extra cores are a major performance boost. I also do a lot of machine learning and training models and the difference training on CPU between my old CPU and the new one is night and day. I do a lot of gaming as well when I can and have no issues there either.
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I use mine for various purposes:
- Light gaming like Overcooked/Armello with relatives when I am over at their home
- Checking work related emails
- Do basic video encoding on the go.
- I initially wanted to use Davinci Resolve Free but the lack of AV1 and H264/H265 was an annoying barrier, so I just focused on encoding videos with Intel Quicksync
- Watching youtube videos online
- Some basic trading/monitoring of the financial markets
- Doing some Office productivity work on the go
- Web meetings
Running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
I initially wanted to go with an base iPad with a keyboard folio, but the repairability and versatility was a consideration as I normally keep my laptops for about 8-10 years (unless I need more CPU/GPU horsepower). For reference, my previous laptop was an Toshiba Z930 from about 12 years ago. I tried to upgrade the mainboard from an i5 to an i7, with a RAM upgrade, but it still was struggling and the battery kept dying, so I kinda gave up. It is now a desk bound laptop for family members to use for printing/backup system.
The weight was also a consideration but I guessed it was a trade off I had to choose. I would kinda prefer Magnesium Alloy for weight but I know it wouldn’t be so accepted because it feels like plastic.
Not much accessories with the Framework except using 100W GaN chargers and any desktop hand downs such as old gaming mice that isn’t getting so good (if it gets lost, I won’t be sad). I have a janky Neoprene sleeve which is covered in an bubble wrap mailer for light weight and some cushioning in my backpack.
I have a 12 core Ryzen CPU desktop at home for gaming/productivity/video encoding with 2 GPUs and a dual headphone AMP PCIe card, so getting insane performance from a laptop as a side system I use on the go isn’t necessary.
Hopefully Framework gets Intel Meteor Lake (14th Gen) mainboards with AV1 encoding on Intel Quicksync and maybe Intel Arc graphics onboard.
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That just depends on the finishing process. Sony VAIO has been using magnesium alloy for the chassis for years…since the 90s (e.g. z505, v505 lines). And they don’t feel plastic at all.
If you looked at Magnesium alloy properties, it requires it to be kinda coated. So it doesn’t give an as premium feel compared to like Framework and Macbooks with unibody aluminium.
I do agree on the finishing as the work laptop I use HP 840 G8 I use at work is aluminium but it feels more budget.
I personally don’t care about that feel but I was thinking that the material was not picked probably because of aesthetics and feel (Apple considered Magnesium Alloy but rejected on similar grounds too). Would be nice if I could get a Framework laptop in Magnesium Alloy to shave off the weight though.
Which specific properties are you referring to? (Because that does depend on the alloy composition)
Dynabook, Microsoft Surface (older ones), LG gram and HP Envy use magnesium alloy as well. “Feel plastic” is only a matter of the finishing choice.
I’m saying, what needs to be asked is “How to use a lighter material and yet have a premium feel?”…not just rule out the material choice altogether because of the finishing choices.
I don’t know how to put it. But at least from my experience with it some laptops including friends’, it doesn’t feel as good to the hand nor as firm/less flexing compared to aluminium.
I am just looking from a marketing and user experience view point in terms of the consumer.
I personally don’t really care so much for the issues mentioned above, the Z930 I had is magnesium alloy, I do prioritise the lightness over the “premium” feel and if Framework ever has an magnesium alloy body, I would get it even if it doesn’t feel or looks as good.
I had the same keyboard flex on my Toshiba Z930 too
Yeah, sad to see that some engineering decisions put form before function. The structural flexing on the keyboard deck is definitely not ideal.
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I went with the 1280p DIY and bought the SDD (2TB) and RAM (64GB) at a third party.
I’ve installed Windows 11 Pro 22H2.
It’s mainly used on the desk, plugged to the CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub where my 4K monitor, 2 dongles (Keyboard and Jabra speaker), a card reader (for PKI) and an external 1TB SSD are connected to. Mouse and a headset are connected via Bluetooth.
I’m usually running a bunch of MS Office applications (Outlook, OneNote, Teams, Word, Excel, Visio, Project, …), MS Edge with around 40-60 open tabs across several profiles, Visual Studio Code, Remote Desktop (at least 2 connections), Citrix (2 connections min.) and 2-4 virtual machines at the same time.
Works like a charm 
Of course, when I’m on the go and take it with me I reduce the number of open applications to only what I need (to safe battery).
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1 week in:
So far I have been mostly using internet on a HDMI Tv (27 inch 1920x1080). This is a great set up when hooked to a large TV screen. Movies are running fantastically on HDMI. No problems in Ubuntu 22.04 Gnome so far. Gnome automatically throws to the HDMI TV set and turns off the laptop, it is remembering my first usage and continues the set up each new connection … a nice touch.
I have this machine permanently set up on a 17" laptop cooler, as in the near future it’ll be reprocessing a couple of TBs of video. Running a couple of stress tests, 10 minute all 16 cores at 100 %, went well; I have no doubt so far that this machine will do the job nicely. Usually the first few cores remain a bit hotter (low to mid 90s) but most figures are in the mid to high 80’s Celcius at fully stressed.
Edit: I am on the i7 1260p with 32 GB RAM.
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I’ve had mine for a couple months (almost) now. i5 1240p, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD. Using Fedora Workstation 36.
I use mine most of the week as my work daily driver. Typically, I have it connected to my dual external displays (LGs), keyboard (Cooler Master), mouse (Logitech), and webcam (Logitech). I use a dongle for most of those. Since it is plugged in most of the time I set the battery charge limit to 80%. Occasionally I do work on the go (which doesn’t last very long).
My typical workload has multiple Edge windows open (all with multiple tabs), an instance of Firefox, Slack, Calendar, several windows of VS Code, docker, and sometimes Spotify. Works great for doing my web work and is miles faster than my old MBP.
I recently took it on vacation and had no issues hooking it up to a few TVs to stream Plex and play games. I’ve used it a few times to stream and play games via Moonlight and Steam respectively, and it works better than my 10th gen HP by far.
Overall, pretty happy with it. My one gripe that I’ve told people is the battery life is just not good. I think it’ll be a deal breaker for some, particularly when compared to Apple’s current offerings (most people I work with use Apple). My hope is Framework will keep iterating and we’ll be able to get better battery life with updates (hardware and software). Until then, plan on a power bank or bringing a charger.
Approaching 24hrs in with:
1260 DIY
32GB RAM (self supplied: Crucial Single 32GB stick - CT32G4SFD832A)
500GB SSD (self supplied - Western Digital WD 500GB SSD, WD Black SN850)
Win 11 Home
Hooks up to a USB dock and then my Samsung monitor.
Runs RStudio, Word, Endnote, Firefox simultaneously, and with the R scripts is running about 50% faster than the work station it’s replaced (already been put to work as I’m in the midst of PhD writing up)
Spent a good 3hrs last night sofa based surfing as I fixed up OneDrive folder syncs, and the battery only just dropped to 50% as it was sending things up and down.
Paraphrasing the words of Doug Marcaida “It will cut [it]”
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Works even better when switched to Performance instead of Balanced - was hitting the 4.4GHz mark quite a few times now as opposed to coasting along at 3.3GHz. Did get a bit warm after 5hrs of processing, but it was looking like running in under 15hrs instead of 52hrs+, so the improved processor and core/threads have made a difference.
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