Watched a couple videos, read a couple articles, and my verdict is…ship 'em!
I think the numbers reflect an objectively excellent job at making a very competitive product, the subjective qualities sound very encouraging to my tastes, and the reported issues are easy to write off. I’m so ready for this. I want a big lipstick kiss on mine for Valentine’s day!
Another one
Looked at a few reviews (verge, phoronix, LTT, Ifixit and Tom’s Hardware) and for the most part it looks great, as expected. My only main issues look like the flexibility of the panel and the possible fan noise with the dGPU, though the flexibility doesn’t seem like to much of an issue for me, and the fan noise stuff can probably be at least somewhat fixed with software and fixing the vapor chamber issues. My only real question is if anyone saw anything about VR perfomance? It isn’t a deal breaker or anything, but it would be good to know if anyone tested it since i’m hoping to use my 16 for some Alyx, BoneLab and the like.
Dunno, but look up some reviews for 3060 GTX mobile parts, as per NotebookCheck, it seems like it’s still a bit below the older 3060 in terms of performance. Obviously can’t know until we actually get some real benchmarks, but should give you a ballpark.
Hmm…I actually wonder if the specs allow backfeeding power from a larger dGPU module with a bigger PSU and allow it to also power the rest of the laptop, instead of having to plug in the graphics module plus the laptop. Dunno if it’ll ever get to that point.
As expected performance is middle of the road if not a bit better than that. It sounds like a complaint but it isn’t for what Framework 16 is. Having everything integrated results in better optimization with lack of repairs and upgrades. Modularity is the main feature of this system.
The complaint I have is the expectations by these reviews as some powerhouse for gaming. It’s an AMD GPU and a mobile one at that. There is only so much you can do on such a device. All in all though outside of one review missing the fact that this system DOES have 2 M.2 slots, most reviews seem to be treating the system fairly.
Yes but… that but being it’s a 2230 m.2 NVMe. But yeah, was disappointed that that wasn’t mentioned. It should have been.
M.2 is still and M.2 and can mean 2x2TB drives are doable Its just a smaller form factor is all.
Hm, the LTT video is showing much more reasonable temps than The Verge review. Sounds like they might have gotten a good validation sample heatpipes, or maybe a fixed validation sample.
I’m 100% okay with this. As someone who is running a Gen 6 i5 with a GTX 1050ti for my gaming PC, no matter what this will be a huge boost for me. Not all of us can afford to get the best gaming gear, so a middle of the road device with upgradability built in is 100% fine with me.
I get a lot of these reviews are geared towards people who look for the highest specs and such, but for those of us who are casuals, I’ll take the performance boost no matter what…
I’m in a similar situation. My main PC has an i7-3770 and an RX 6400. I’m pretty sure basically anything will be an upgrade over that. And the issues with keyboard flex and the overall looks seem largely subjective, and I’ve never personally found that much of a difference in any laptop keyboard I’ve tried, so it doesn’t matter as much to me.
LTT Complained that they didn’t get the 7940, did the verge?
According to their benchmarks the Verge got a 7940HS
I don’t know if I’d call it quite complain, but it was definitely some disappointment and calling out that they didn’t.
Extremely curious about how fan control and curves may change with production units. Too bad it doesn’t seem more core laptop reviewers like Jarrod’s Tech have gotten units to review yet.
The thing that bothers me right now is the high fan-noise at max performance reported so far (~50db). If using something like Ryzen Controller to tune down max CPU wattage for my generally tamer usecase fixes that, this looks good for my uses.
I have a feeling that if fan curves aren’t fixed for the first batch or two, they’ll be updated fairly quickly. I could be completely off by that though…
Let’s be realistic. I admire what the framework team has done but it’s disappointing.
More than 50 decibels of sound in a larger laptop.
We are not talking about a laptop with a commercial future.
They should have waited, but put something like this on the market and with these reviews…
50 dB on a latop that is bigger and heavier than the rest of the 16 latops. I think it’s crazy.
What commercial future can a laptop have with these reviews?
They are disastrous.
You also have to remember that the target audience for these laptops, especially the very first mass production batches, is not the same as the wider commercial world. They’ve proved they definitely have a commercial success with the 13", and although it remains to be seen longer term with the 16", I suspect there is a similar niche. Might need to be some additional hardware fixes, yes, but most of us early purchasers are OK with the risk of needing/wanting to buy tweaked parts later on to improve our experience.
Perhaps wait 3-6 months for some additional reviews of actual production systems? Remember, none of the current reviewers have mass production systems. They’re all various levels of validation systems.
And also…50dB fully loaded. Radeon RX 7700S performance debut: Framework Laptop 16 review - NotebookCheck.net Reviews saw ~28.5 against a 23.8 background for general web browsing, watching a video. And ~52 under full gaming load, and about the same as Inspiron 16 Plus or gaming focused Razer Blade 16.
So under full load, I don’t see that as an issue. If it was 50 dB lightly loaded, definitely an issue. But it doesn’t appear to be.
@Lupin “no commercial future” is a pretty strong expression for something you haven’t held in your hands, especially knowing that they have newer fans with less whine in the production versions, and will likely further tune the fan curves to be less aggressive for a lower total volume
Mmmmm not so much. The reality is somewhere in between that and it’s not an issue.