Right to Repair

Dell gets onboard with Right to Repair. They announced Project Luna today, a laptop with replaceable parts. Framework is mentioned in the article; looks like we are having some influence on the industry. Details on Ars Technica.

3 Likes

I am really happy to hear that!

I love that Framework (at least in part) is having a positive impact on the rest of the industry, but above all else, I love that it’s a fantastic machine in addition to all of the design and engineering work that went into making it repairable, upgradeable, sustainable, etc.

2 Likes

I’m not impressed by the Dell concept yet — a lot of stuff looks soldered onto the motherboard, and it doesn’t seem to have any ports other than two type-C’s. Let alone that it’s only a concept from such a huge company, while Framework has a thin and light laptop with a good (and customizable!) port selection that uses a lot more off-the-shelf standard components which it is already building and selling.

It is good news that the bigger movement that Framework is part of is at least reaching the company boardrooms. Dell wouldn’t show this idea off if they didn’t think there was a market for more repairable and sustainable notebooks. It’s a start.

1 Like

My first impression after watching the Dell video is that it’s a nice concept but that it will result in a laptop with too many concessions for most people. I think the Framework does it better because it shows you don’t need to make many concessions while still having a more repairable and sustainable machine.

But then again: it’s only a concept, and probably it has some different focus points. For example, it looks like they brought the amount of materials and resources down further than what Framework does.

In the end I’m happy with every step in the right direction!

1 Like

@Karl_Andrews Oh I just posted this thread Dell announced a laptop concept about repairability

I couldn’t find this thread in advance when searching the existing threads. Perhaps better to change this thread’s title by adding the word “Dell”?

2 Likes

…and this is different from Dell’s current laptop lines…how? The XPS and Latitudes all have repair manuals, RAM slots, MiniPCIe or NVMe slots, and if you bought the machine with Prosupport they will dispatch parts to your home or office and a tech to fix it for you.

If anything this looks more like Dell trying to cheapen out their designs by using less fasteners and then putting in a highly integrated, soldered logic board to make it less future proof. They have been doing that with some of their 2-in-ones…it’s just that sometimes it’s glued together instead of magnetic fasteners or plastic clips. I also don’t see anything that looks like replaceable port modules.

I like the idea of the logic board behind the monitor. Maybe Framework will consider similar in a few years when combination of thinner non-backlit monitor technology such as e-ink, OLED or micro-LED with more energy efficient ARM or RISC-V processors that don’t require fan cooling become available.

I think that the expansion modules will remain a Framework-exclusive thing, at least for a long while. I don’t see the mainstream companies going that route, but I wouldn’t mind being surprised.
I’m glad that the laptop sector is moving in this direction as a whole, but I’ll be a Framework fanboy from here on out. I think that Framework has a good enough product to stand up to the bigger names, we just need to keep spreading the good word.

Samsung puts its hand in on Right to Repair:

1 Like

I hope they are serious about right to repair.
If I’m beeing honest Samsung phones aren’t very hard to get parts for … But if to repair A phone I have to use A heat gun to loosen the Glue still after this is not much of A win in my book