I’m going to sound like a fanboi here, but I think the Framework team deserves it anyways.
Received my i7 DIY today. Went through the initial setup.
- Opened up the chassis
- Installed the SSD, memory, and WiFi module
- Reassembled it
- Installed my expansion cards (USB-C, USB-A, MicroSD)
- Booted up the Win10 installer
- Hit a minor snag when I discovered WiFi didn’t work
- Quick search of the community forum revealed the need for additional drivers
- Downloaded the drivers, dropped them on MicroSD, inserted them into the laptop
- Installed the drivers, rebooted, and played around for a bit
After a short while, I discovered my tab key acting flaky. Disassembled the chassis again. Went through the arduous task of removing the keyboard. Fixed the keyboard and reassembled it again.
During the course of these steps today, I quickly came to appreciate just how successful the Framework team has been in delivering a consumer-friendly product. I’m shocked at how well they executed on the mechanical design of this machine. They’ve delivered an approachable experience for the average user to fix and maintain their system. Beyond approachable, I feel empowered to work on this hardware.
Even now, that feels like an impossible thing.
Beyond even that, I’m grateful and impressed at the accuracy and thoroughness of their support docs and resources. And I know I’m not telling folks here anything they don’t already know, but the little touches… providing QR codes to these resources inside the laptop on their respective components… :chefs_kiss:
I’m going to close this out with a list of the little details / things that “just work” that have impressed me over the course of my initial experiences today. Many of these will sound familiar, but they deserve to be called out again.
- highly portable / light weight / extremely competitive form factor
- excellent keyboard (personally would like inverted-T arrow keys, but it’s still quite good)
- excellent trackpad
- dedicated mic and video kill switches
- magnetic bezel
- magnetic deck
- captive screws
- included screwdriver / spudger that covers all repair uses
- labeled screw locations
- labels on everything
- excellent display / very good color accuracy
- ribbon cables that don’t fall apart when you breathe on them
- recyclable packaging
I will update this post if / when I discover new touches to highlight. Until then, I just want to thank everyone involved at Framework for having not just the vision to build this product, but the focus and effort to execute on your design so successfully.
for the captive screws, I didn’t even know they were doing that until I opened everything up for installation. Very nice touch.