I think it’s mostly the low travel - I realise there’s not much they can do about that, but my previous laptop did feel a little better. I am a rubbish typist though so I struggle with all laptop keyboards.
I desperately miss a numlock indicator and seems like exactly the sort of quality-of-life option they’d want to offer to customers.
I like typing on the keyboard. The key travel is very comfortable for me and there’s no flex. My FW16 came with the extra pads to stabilize the keyboard and they work very well.
What batch were you? I was batch 6 and didn’t get extra pads. There is definitely some flex, but I don’t use the keyboard enough to be bothered by it.
I was in bath 18 and I only got a pad for ssd but not around the expansion bay where it bends the most.
Batch 20 here. Been using the laptop for about a week now. The fit and finish are all almost perfect for me. The only issue is that the touchpad is slightly raised compared to the spacers. It is such a slight difference in my case that I don’t even feel like it’s worth my time asking for a replacement for it. As for the numlock indicator, I have the macropad set to numpad settings for now and it doesn’t bother me at all that there isn’t an indicator. I mean 99% of the time, I leave numlock on and the 1% I change it, I’m aware I did it and if I’m not aware, it’s just a matter of clicking a button and noticing it’s not doing what I expected it to before clicking numlock again.
These issues are really not a big deal, but yeah, I can understand wanting these fixed because they’re not hard fixes to make (well maybe the bending in production being an issue might be a little more expensive to deal with).
Just put my batch 21 together and one of the spacers is really loose compared to the other one (The looseness follows the spacer between positions). The whole thing is kinda annoying and the one major drawback of this machine so far, I would buy a full width trackpad module in a heartbeat.
1 Like
Finally got mine put together last night, and the corners of the touchpad are raised so high, if you slid a piece of paper across the keyboard, it would go under the corner. I flexed the corners a bit and reinstalled and it’s better. This kinda thing doesn’t bother me, but I like framework and I hate that this will give them a bad rep with some people. I wish they would address it for their own future success.
I printed two new spacers with the assumption the included ones would be bad, but they are perfect. No movement, all edges are aligned perfectly. It’s just the touchpad that was bad.
Batch 19 here - I read this thread before ordering, and was mildly concerned about this issue.
When I got the machine and put it together, the edge of the touchpad stuck up slightly in the top-left corner, and the touchpad spacers didn’t fit as tightly as I would like.
I went back and slightly tightened the two screws under the spacers slightly (literally a fraction of a turn) and the spacers fit more snugly. Based on the number of people responding in this thread, tightening two screws is definitely not a universal fix, but in my specific case (n=1) I definitely had a screw loose 
A few people mention a scratch in the bezel from the touchpad spacers. Based on my past experience with Macbooks, a Dell machine, and a System 76 machine – where the keyboard etched small rectangles into the screen after using these machines while traveling – I now put a thin microfiber cloth on top of the keyboard/between the keyboard and the screen when I put the laptop in a bag. Because I had this issue with multiple different types of computers over years, this feels more like a “I abuse laptops” issue as opposed to anything else. I have yet to see this with the Framework, but I’ve only had the machine for a week and change at this point.
6 Likes
Again, how many laptops have you seen that have a trackpad offset left of the keyboard or the trackpad right of center where the keyboard is left aligned. You claim they exist, but fail to provide instances. Sure, I can think of examples where the trackpad is directly to the right of the keyboard, but only because they are stacked horizontally rather than stacked vertically.
You can complain all you want, but it’s not a flaw of the modules directly. You could argue that it’s a flaw of the fact that they decided to provide a tool-less mechanism for swapping them, because that’s ultimately what ends up causing the issues. The “restrictions” aren’t weird or unreasonable unless your being pedantic about “modular input means any configuration should be possible regardless of whether or not such a configuration is even reasonable or practical for every day use”.
I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be a better product if those restrictions didn’t exist, but I don’t think that the “restrictions” aren’t because framework simply didn’t want to allow you to do it, but rather because they couldn’t allow you to do it while keeping the tool-less design that’s capable of satisfying 99% of reasonable consumers (accessibility concerns aside)
Hey Igby, can you share pictures of your spacers, unless you have already replaced them?
Currently I have both spacers on the right; here’s what that looks like:
And this is the left edge of the touchpad module:
If I move the touchpad to the middle, this is what the left spacer looks like:
1 Like
If the spacers are locked in properly with their slots, I’d guess the midplate is not screwed down correctly. This doesn’t look like the spacers are bent. If you unlock the spacers and pull them back approx. 6mm (1/4""), the magnet will try to pull them back in. In my case, I’ve got to push it another mm and then the lock can be engaged.
Is the bottom left edge of your keyboard recessed (->ok) or is it flush with the frame (-> too high)?
The cracks between the spacers reach out and grab my arm hairs. Ouch! I have both spacers on the right side, and there is maybe 0.3 mm of play on both left outer corners, no play on the right outer corners, and considerable flex (maybe up to a millimeter) on the inner corners (where the spacers overlap the numpad). It does seem as though the spacers are warped a little, as their uneven lie on the chassis is obvious when looking straight on at the front edge of the Laptop 16.
I can tolerate the rough edges and hair yanking, but I will admit that this is my least favorite design element of the Laptop 16. The crack between the alphanumeric keyboard module and the numeric keypad module is totally acceptable, given the modular flexibility of the system, but the cracks between the spacers, where my right arm rests while typing, are uncomfortable and give the machine a “hacked together” look (though maybe some folks enjoy that aesthetic).
3 Likes
I put a piece of electrical tape on the midplate under the seam between the keyboard and keypad and it disappeared. Highly recommended easy mod for anyone concerned with aesthetics.
2 Likes
Everything is locked in properly and I’ve checked and rechecked all the midplate screws.
That about describes my experience too.
Recessed all around.
The photos probably make it look worse than it is. The amount that the spacers/touchpad module sit proud of the top of the laptop is only about the thickness of the aluminium sheet. I only posted these photos because Destroya asked me to, I’m not trying to say I have an exceptionally bad case here. I don’t have the arm hair pulling issue so really it’s just aesthetics (and the way that affects the perception of quality). But aesthetics are important for some people, especially when we pay a lot for a product.
Thanks for sharing the pictures @Igby ! I asked for the pictures because I’m trying to understand of the spacers/edge of the touchpad caused the mark on the bezel, we haven’t seen anything like this before.
please check if the mid plate is seated correctly and the 16 screws are tightened evenly and fully, this should solve the issue. Since you see this “bump” on one side only and both with the spacer module and the touchpad, I’m assuming the issue is with the mid plate / seating instead of the modules. Please let me know if the issue is solved after reseating the mid plate.
I’m sorry for the late reply. Batch 8.
I got my spacers replaced by Framework support and it looks much better now but it’s still far from perfect, and the uneven surface is noticeable when moving your hand across it.
I understand that a modular approach comes with this kind of issue.
IMO, having flat pieces of metal next to eachother like that is a bad design choice because they will never align properly.
Speaker screw posts are stripped
I had already checked the midplate screws, but I did go ahead and completely unscrew and reseat the midplate again. In the process I did discover one interesting (and disappointing) fact, which is that most of the speaker screws rotate with almost no resistance, i.e. threaded posts in the bottom enclosure that receive these screws are stripped, and came to me this way. The reason I checked this was to see if the speakers were seated correctly. If the speakers aren’t fully seated, my theory was they would be pushing up on the midplate which in turn is pushing up on the corner of the touchpad module.
I was able to push down on the left speaker and get it to sit lower, but to be honest this was inconclusive and it’s not clear whether it stayed down or popped back up, nor is it clear whether it pushes up the midplate.
What I can say is that I can push down on the midplate in this area and it moves down significantly when I do so (and then springs back).
This is the area I’m talking about. There are no midplate screws near enough to my finger to hold this zone down:
I believe if there was a screw holding down the midplate here, then the corner of the touchpad module (or spacer) would be able to sit flush with the enclosure.
As a result of reseating the midplate, I believe I got a faction of a millimetre of improvement, but it’s not significant.
Before:
After:
(I have the lid propped open in those shots)
Now that I’ve looked closer at this, I believe the scuffing on the bezel only happens when the laptop is in my bag and the lid is squeezed tightly closed. When the laptop is just sitting on my desk, that part of the bezel doesn’t seem to contact the lower enclosure. I’m not overly bothered by this in any case.
4 Likes
I’m also a little disappointed by the tolerances of the spacers (gaps, uneven edges). Don’t get me wrong, I still love the laptop, but this could be improved.
I also prefer my touchpad offset to the left, and would like a double-wide spacer to minimize the number of gaps. Unfortunately I don’t have a 3D printer or the know-how to just make what I need.
(Full disclosure, my perfect solution would be a full-width, one-piece part with touch pad offset to the left, and soft buttons. I realize there’s not much market for a production run of exactly what I want!)
2 Likes