Before I pass my judgement on a software OS that isn’t desirable for my needs, I want to ask the Frame.work team; Why a Chromebook?
I’ve read several articles, some offering praise and others jumping on the anti-ChromeOS bandwagon - but I’m more interested in why Frame.work went this route as opposed to others options that users have asked for… AMD mainboards or a second enclosure design with more robust upgrade paths.
If I’m missing a large market, like schools, colleges or other enterprise that may use Chromebooks at least I could understand and get behind the new hardware. At any rate, I’m glad that Frame.work is offering new hardware, but its not hardware that would earn my purchase… I think if we know how this machine is going to benefit Frame.work that it might help us to support this choice more.
Seems Like it was easy enough for them to turn the 12th gen laptop and modify it into a chromebook. Plus it’s allowing them to take optimizations they learned from working with Google on this and backporting them to the non-chromebook laptops. So far it seems like an overall win to me.
They needed a partnership to learn the skill. Both 11th and 12th gen have shown (indirectly) that their in-house efforts have not been sufficiently competitive.
You can think it as a Windows + WSL setup with a much simpler, more secure and more limited base system. I know there are tons of people only do development on Windows under WSL. I think a well-built Chromebook can be an alternative for them.
Thanks for the Nirav quote; I did a bit more research, too. I didn’t know two (maybe three) good bits of info; the Google Pixel Chromebook was recently discontinued and Google is supporting the Frame.work Chromebook w/ actual Chrome OS. (And third, Frame.work is adding the hardware chip that… [ignorance] allows ChromeOS to work as ‘stock’ or OEM…)
So; this product is not for me, but the Google Pixel Chromebook was also a high-cost Chromebook - this seems smart, as it will be the first right-to-repair Chromebook, and fully upgradable. Maybe theres a decent high-end Chromebook market, OR schools or other institutions will appreciate the higher-end power that the Frame.work Chromebook will offer.
This is cool, and I welcome it; not all Frame.work products need to be for me - I hope it ends up being a smart business decision and will follow the project in the coming months.
Has anyone tested the battery performance on ChromeOS? I’ve tried FydeOS (A forked version of ChromeOS), which only had around 5 hours of battery. I had to do many hacks to compile and run tlp to improve battery life.
A. Here is a link to some of the information I hope to see answered in the future Chromebook Edition FAQ. Just in case it is more visible/relevant here:
B. Also, below is a link to a different discussion that helps clear up some info related to specifically the new Chromebook Edition mainboard:
Thanks!
Overall, I was hoping for this product to be introduced and I think it is an exciting development. I think it will be a great option for a lot of people either as their primary computer or as a compliment to an existing laptop or desktop. A great travel device, as well.
Looking forward to the other great products to be announced within the next year!
I found the picture graphs of the financial reports in Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. Google’s primary revenue is from advertisements, and the revenue from the hardware is just a part of the others which is less than 1.2% of the total revenue. - https://twitter.com/EconomyApp/status/1586038399101587456
If we install a different NVMe drive will it still behave like an official Chromebook device (meaning Titan C will work and we can cold boot the device using a PIN instead having to enter our full password) or will it behave more like a Laptop + ChromeOS Flex? Any specs on the stock NVMe?
Curious. The Framework Chromebook doesn’t have a fingerprint reader? I wonder what the deal there was. Driver incompatibility with the titan chip? I’m sure there is a good reason, but it is a rather unexpected causality in making the Framework laptop a Chromebook.
The complaint about the screen not being a touchscreen is one I think us Frameworkers will see a possible upgrade for in the future. Finger crossed at least.
I could not agree more! I’m a bit worried now I chose Framework over Tuxedo because I want to support Free and Open Source as well as Repair and Modularity approaches. Should I have been warned by Captcha, Website Scripts and should not promote this product now? I’m not sure, but will watch out…
Looking at the specs put out by Google of what the Chromebook Plus should be, isn’t the Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition a Chromebook Plus device?
I believe it is and I would start promoting it as such (as I write this on my Framework Chromebook with 64GB of RAM and 256GB of storage)!
I know when I was looking for my next personal machine, I was looking for a Chromebook that could be configured with more memory after purchase and your device fit the bill.
In addition to being classified to “Chromebook Plus”, according to the Google Support website the Framework Chromebook edition will receive Chrome OS updates until Jun 2032.
See the links below.
My impression from looking at the Framework website is that the Chromebook edition is somewhat overlooked and viewed as a second class citizen. No mention is made of Chromebook Plus or the extension of support for Chrome OS; both of these are big issues in the chromebook world.
The biggest advantage, for me, that chromebooks provide is the best online security and simplicity in OS management. I’m not a gamer, & not a software developer. I use my chromebook for access to cloud storage, Google docs, Google sheets, online access to financial institutions, health care websites, online shopping, other online applications. I have even used a very low-powered chromebook to develop a couple videos using the online video service called We Video. Chromebooks are for the 99% of all activities that normal, everyday people need to do. I find the Framework Chromebook interesting simply because its flexibility - In particular, I can expand the memory, add an expansion storage card and replace the battery. With a large, well-made track-pad, I can live without a touch screen, but a touch screen would have been a nice addition.
