I see a lot of grumbles on this forum. I started with a FW13 11th gen batch 5 in Framework’s first year, and I’m still pretty darned happy.
Like all adventures, the journey hasn’t been without its glitches. I’m hard on my laptops and I’ve broken stuff. My original mainboard is now a CoolerMaster running in my chocolate shop. I use it for online teaching, meetings, and everyday stuff. My on-the-ground laptop has been upgraded to AMD–the only original parts are the chassis, battery, and speakers. I’ve replaced pretty much everything else. (hinges, display, input cover, camera).
I’ve spent my share of time with Framework support, and the experiences have been pretty good. My “periodic random spurious keystroke” problem took months to debug, and they were all over it.
The inherent challenge with Framework’s model is that you fix stuff yourself, and that’s not always trivial. If you need a laptop that’s going to work no matter what, buy a Thinkpad with a five-year serivce plan (I’ve done that, and it’s a good option). If you want a laptop that you can improve, upgrade, and hack around on, there’s really no substitute for a Framework.
Specs:
FW13 11th gen (now AMD bios 3.5) running Manjaro with kernel 6.10.13-3
FW13 11th gen CoolerMaster, same OS and kernel
A good option? It may well be, but when the support period expires, things are - or at least In my case were - decidedly otherwise. In that post-warranty period, Lenovo pointed me towards non-existent repair shops, sold me multiple defective motherboards, bounced my emails, sent asinine replies to emails that were received, and promised me compensation that was never paid. That is why I switched to Framework.
That’s part of the game, right? The support’s great when you’re under warranty, but you’re on your own afterward. I found Framework support to be helpful, event once my warranty had expired.
No: incompetence of an extreme kind, evasion, and lies ought not to be ‘part of the game’. (To be clear: it is Lenovo that was like that, not Framework.)
And you know, my laptop still gets a solid 4 hours off the battery on linux, and I can stretch it to 5 when I’m traveling. Sure, I’m not gaming, but I could really care less about gaming. No disrespect to folks who like that sort of thing, but my laptop’s for work.
I recently gave my FW13 (from the initial batches) to my mom, I only changed the speakers and touchpad, I was very happy with it and she’s very happy with it. I even got her to switch to Linux!
Have my original FW 11 gen, in a cooler master, with another 12 in a cooler master, and am running gen 13 i-7 in my 11 gen chassis, with a bigger battery and the upgraded screen. Running Windows and have reduced the battery drain to negligible with a usb-a, micro sd reader, re flashed hdmi and 3d printed magnetic module. Have had the computer in bag on 90% charge for 8 days with no battery discharge. Replacing original charging cord with an Anker has made all the negs for me go away. Have and AMD 7840 ready to go but really am happy with the intel. I am going to build a Coolermaster and combine with older display (I put a non gloss film on it) and a circular display I bought for fun. Going with a steampunk build. I love to build things and this machine allows me the excuse to build away. Waiting on upgraded camera for my original chassis. Never changed the hinges or the top cover as do not have the need. Running 64k or ram and this thing flies for my applications. Would love to get a clear bezel but does not seem high on FW priorities.