You have until the end of the original warranty or 90 days after the replacement is delivered, whichever is longer.
The defect involves premature mechanical wear. Even a defective hinge takes time to show this issue. What I’m understanding from this is that Framework has no confidence that its replacement parts will last for longer than 90 days.
Can we please not forget the assortment of other defects this laptop had? I’m appalled that this is a level of quality Framework considers acceptable, and that a $2200 laptop should have to have the hinges, touchpad, and bottom housing assembly replaced, as well as the webcam module reinstalled, only to STILL be unusuable as a laptop after just 15 months.
I think that is the case if the hinges are bought as a separate item, which these were not as they were replacements.
~ hence the 90 days is only an extra on top of the warranty, so that a warranty repair with extend the warranty by 90 days if the warranty claim coincides with the final valid warranty date.
Neither of the above are quite the same as being sent hinges to do a DIY ???
This post is not about debating what Framework’s policies are. Frankly I don’t care. This post is about the wide range of issues with the laptop I received, the lack of quality control indicated by two independent sets of defective hinges, a defective touchpad, an improperly installed webcam module, a module release button falling off, and Framework clearly not standing behind their product.
@Daniel_Power - while I understand that you are upset, and I agree that you ran into more issues than one would hope or expect, I do not agree with your assertion that Framework does not stand behind their product. It’s unfortunate that you had a bad experience, and hopefully Framework can look at what happened and work to improve. No person, product, or company is perfect. Hopefully your next experience is a better one.
I was pointing out that Framework’s policy in these cases seem to gain nothing but negativity from the users who are dealing with a defective product Framework have shipped to them.
Phrased differently I don’t understand what is gained by sticking to this policy. The use case of users who have had issues with weak hinges probably exposes the defect more than others and it just seems logical to offer that choice. I mean even if you buy the 4kg hinges with the 1kg variance you are not even guaranteed to get stiffer hinges than the originals, lets not forget with the cost of shipping they cost more than 2x the listed price. Personally I feel with the design of the hinge it is inevitable they will get loose with use.
Here it is basically stated if you want a laptop hinge that behaves like a portable devices hinge should we have this option. OK great so replace my defective hinges with these please. No you have to buy them. Why? Because policy.
Learning about the 90 day/rest of your existing warranty on replacement parts is disappointingly standard for a company aspiring to change the electronics industry. I think it’s hard to argue that if a product fails after the 90 days and within a few years it was fit to begin with and should not have been issued as replacement.
I too have had a number of issues with my Framework and this has just reminded me of all of that including the deceptive marketing on 60W CPU performance which incredibly still exists! I’m talking about claims of 60W boost which in reality CS confirmed:
The 60W PL2 post that you refer to above is specific to our 12th Generation Intel Core processors, we do not promise or expect a 60W boost to be possible on the 11th Generation Intel Core processors, these can vary typically from 45-55W
In what way did they stand behind their product? They replaced one defective set of hinges with another defective set of hinges, which lasted just barely long enough to get me out of the warranty period.
There will not be a next experience. I was an avid fan of Framework from the moment I heard of them. But I just spent over $2000 on the worst laptop I’ve ever owned, and after just a year, despite several part replacements, it’s not usable as a laptop.
If I had bought a Thinkpad, it would be less repairable. But at least I can expect it to function for several years. Is a repairable laptop really more environmentally friendly if you need to ship parts twice a year just to keep it running?
Hi @Daniel_Power - I don’t dispute that you ran into a lot of issues, more than anyone would want to. It’s understandable to be frustrated and disappointed. I do think that is affecting how you are viewing things. After all, it’s just a tool, not worth getting too high or too low over.
I do disagree with your assertion that the company does not stand behind its product. In your case they did do so across multiple issues, although ultimately things wound up not to your satisfaction. As the 3.3kg hinges are shipped by default, there are a lot of them out there, and time will tell if the failure rate increases with age.
Unless I am missing something, the primary issue that you’re currently experiencing is hinges that once again are loose. Due to this you are choosing to write off the machine, which no one can blame you for given your ordeals. However, you do have another choice available to you: to purchase the 4kg hinges which might be more to your liking. Yes, that would be paying for a part that you believe ought to be covered under warranty, but the cost relative to the cost of the machine is small. You are free to choose not to do so, but that seems like a waste of a machine that, although not without faults, in my opinion is far from the worst machine that I have ever owned.
Please understand that I am not trying to tell you that you are wrong for feeling as you do. I do hope that your next experience, with whatever company, is a good one.
I’ve though about this part in particular. I have had 4 mainboards sent out, an input cover, replacement hinges and possibly a new battery soon (88% capacity with a reported 110 cycles!) and I know you and I are not alone…
This is not an issue of preference. I would ask that you watch the video recordings in my original post, where I demonstrate that the hinges are not just looser than my preference. Both sets of hinges I received could not physically hold the screen in place, while completely stationary on a table.
That’s why it’s so absurd to me that customer support suggest that I buy the 4kg hinge as the solution to my problem. Because it’s essentially an admission from them that the 3.3kg hinge does not meet the basic requirement of holding the screen in place.
I really don’t understand why the the 3.3Kg hinges continue to be offered. They should be EOL immediately and 4.0Kg shipped as standard from now on. On top of that, FW should support customers beyond the warranty period if customers aren’t obviously abusing the machine and parts fail before the expected lifetime, irrespective of warranty period. I understand hinges are a wear item and so have different expectations regarding lifetime of a screen or motherboard (or touchpad) but 1 year is awfully short, especially when other laptop brands are clearly doing better. I’m still in my honeymoon period (may it never end) but I hope these issues do not crop up for me.
@Daniel_Power Not sure if you want them or not but I purchased the 4.0kg hinges along with the laptop because of these threads. So I have an essentially unused pair of 3.3kg hinges. If you are willing to cover the cost of postage, they’re yours (or anyone else who wants them tbh).
I replaced my hinges immediately upon arrival. I was unwilling to deal with a loose hinge from the get go. They really need a redesign. I have little faith that I won’t be replacing these at least every three years…pretty bad when I have ten year old ThinkPads with their original hinges
Making the 4.0kg standard essentially acknowledges the 3.3kg were not suitable and would make them liable to everyone asking for the replacement at FW’s cost.
The 3.3kg hinges when in the top end of spec. (closer to 3.8kg) are suitable, makes sense to me given the 4.0kg are 3.5-4.5kg and there have not been complaints about those.
The stronger hinges put additional stress on the lid and might be considered a potential risk of lid damage.
I feel the “best fix” would be to tighten the accepted spec range for the hinges and/or redesign the hinges. A closed knuckle or open knuckle which is fastened to the main body of the hinge giving user adjustment as a side benefit, even a small jubilee style clip could help.
@GhostLegion Long may your honeymoon continue, mine lasted a few days
I still have a 20 year old Dell, and a 16 year old Toshiba etc. I’ve never had hinges fails, although one of those on the Dell is stiffer. I haven’t dropped a laptop in that time.
The issue with the hinges is the desire to have a one hand opening, hence the 3.3Kg hinges. If Framework dropped that feature thern they could dispense with the 3.3Kg and make the 4K standard.
However given the relatively cheap design a hinge with adjustable torque would cover both cases.
Yes given the 4Kg scope of 3.5Kg to 4.5 they may well have as the one hand opening should work at the top end of the 3.3Kg which is 3.8Kg.
I’d hate the lower end of 2.8Kg and can’t imagine what less that that would be. I’m now imagining picking it up and the screen just flopping open like a window on a less than windy day.
While I think that refunding or replacing every board with 12th gen that fell prey to the RTC bug absurd, the cost of some hinges really shouldn’t break FW, especially if it is done over the course of years. Bad PR can break companies at this scale and while this forum isn’t swamped with stories of shoddy craftmanship/QC, some of the stories are really quite bad. Which just shows that there are factory QC escapes. Besides, FW changing their stance would not be any kind of legal admission. It wouldn’t legally put them on the hook for anything. They’d reap the good PR with minimal cost. This is a (relatively) minor pain point that already has an available solution, this “problem” shouldn’t exist.
Perhaps a poor choice of words, I meant liable in the non legal sense, meaning it would make customers more likely/encouraged to ask for replacements.
Agreed the financial cost to FW should be minimal especially as you say done over time as problems arise, the cost of negative PR is likely greater. I stopped even talking about the FW laptop to friends and family let alone recommending it and as I’m sure like many here I am “tech support” for my circle.
Yeah my original hinges had the screen fall over each time I picked up the laptop unless I did it a certain way and the screen was open no greater than 90°, replacements are heading that way…
I wonder was nrp referring to the 2.8kg or the 3.8kg end of the spectrum, far too wide a tolerance range… One hand opening has been done without a floppy screen so this is a terrible compromise IMO.
