Welcome to the community!
I would say there are definitely a lot of good and bad things about the Framework 12. I have one as my daily use machine.
Starting with the good. It works great with Windows and Linux, including the touch screen, tablet mode (on Linux, it works better or worse with various distros), and drawing with either an MPP 2.0 or USI 2.0 stylus. I really like the form factor. It holds up to some abuse (which is ironic, considering one of the negatives I’ll get to shortly). It is amazingly easy to work on and repair. It looks “cute.” Like all Framework laptops, the swapable ports are quite handy. And in my general use sceanrios, the fan is usually inaudible. I know it doesn’t have quite the same pixel density as Macbooks or other machines with high-res panels, but I think it’s good enough and strikes a good balance. I love that I can put whatever operating system I want on it, and even the pre-built comes with zero bloat or special Framework software that requires license agreements, adware, or other intrusive nonsense that so many manufacturers try to force on you with their machines. When I purchase a machine from Framework, I own it, no question. I am very happy with it overall.
As for negatives, there are a fair few. The display is not color accurate. For general use, it’s fine, it gets relatively bright, and contrast is pretty good. But even casual users often notice that reds look a bit orange. I noticed it pretty much immediately. I’ve gotten used to it, and it’s not a huge deal. But it’s just not a color accurate display. It doesn’t have the best battery life. I get 6-8 hours, which isn’t horrible, but it’s far from impressive these days. The bottom of the case gets fairly warm when doing anything other than very light tasks. It hasn’t really bothered me, even when using it on my lap, but I do notice it at times. Others have found the temp bothersome. Some of the displays have a bit of backlight bleed in spots, some more than others. Framework is currently trying to track down a firmware bug where if you have the power profile set to max battery life in the BIOS, you will get a fan not detected warning at boot-up. You can bypass it and the fan does work, but you get that erroneous warning on boot when the BIOS is set to max battery. It also doesn’t have a backlit keyboard. This actually isn’t a negative for me, but I know it is for some.
And finally, the cracking. Oh boy, the cracking. I actually have two Framework 12 laptops. I am completely happy with both. I use them for different things, both work great, and both fulfill there intended purposes beautifully. Both experienced small cracks in the bottom plastic cover, resulting in both machines being fully replaced. Since then, the Sage colored unit has cracked twice more and in both cases, Framework replaced the plastic case. At least in my case, at no point did the cracking affect my use of the machine or become more than a visual issue (and a minor one, at that). Framework re-designed the plastic case and has been working to get the re-designed case out to affected customers. But there have been some hiccups along the way, resulting in some folks (like myself) replacing parts multiple times on some machines. When I said it was ironic earlier, I said that because I actually did some pretty harsh testing with my first Framework 12, drop testing it on pavement. It came through with only some minor scuffs and a couple gouges in the soft plastic bumpers. But the cracking seems to happen from stress points in the case rather than from abuse or hard knocks. At least in most cases.
For me, the cracking issue is annoying and frustrating, but it also wouldn’t stop me from buying one. It may stop me from recommending one to certain people. But at no point did it affect my ability to use the laptop exactly as I wanted to, and I don’t mind messing around a little bit to get parts swapped out and such, if needed. And now that the re-designed parts should be filtering into the new machines, hopefully this issue is on its way to becoming a thing of the past.
As for value, that is going to come down to what’s important to you. There are options on the market with a bit better performance and features per dollar. However, I am more than willing to pay a bit more for a machine that I own and can do whatever I want with. I can upgrade or repair it, I can put whatever OS on it I want, etc. And while I technically can do the same with other machines, most brands actively work to fill machines with tracking software and adware, they try to force you into license agreements and signing up for accounts, etc. Framework is certainly giving up a revenue stream by avoiding subscriptions, software up-sells, putting third-party “offers” on the machines, and just generally not filling the machines with data mining software so they can sell my data. I understand that it essentially costs Framework something to not do those things, and I’m willing to pay for it. I’m willing to pay for it by literally paying a bit more for the machine, in terms of raw performance per dollar, and in terms of accepting some occasional quirks. That stuff is important to me, and I therefore see Framework laptops as offering something of value that very few other brands offer. But that stuff isn’t going to be as important to everyone.
I haven’t played a ton of games on my Framework 12, but I did test some games on the i3 version running just 8GB of RAM, and it ran lots of simple 2D games perfectly, and some older 3D games just fine as well. As long as I was willing to turn down some settings or maybe run a bit lower resolution, I was even able to play Skyrim.
There are tons of simple games that will run fine. As I said, I don’t play a ton of games on it, but I’m sure others can chime in with what they play and their experience doing so.
Hopefully, that was helpful. If you have any questions, fire away and I’ll answer if I can.
, I can replace the battery in my FW12, not so easy with an iPad).