I would like to suggest a stronger aluminum frame. I come to this conclusion because, while obliviously not paying attention, I set my laptop on the floor, opening it so it would not topple over, but this time I placed it in the path of my recliner chair and its foot piece bent the screen, but, thankfully, the damage is only cosmetic. I have carelessly done this to other laptops and they did not bend. Of course the obvious solution is for me to wake up and note my surroundings, but your current frame is a tender one and could easily not survive such a trivial consumer mistake.
Not that trivial and there is a āstrongerā screen for the 12 gen, have you not seen the write up ??
Still getting it caught under the leg of a chair ???
I donāt think ābeing placed under a chairā is considered normal behavior.
The chassis ridigity is quite good (not the absolute best but is more than good enough), and the upgraded panel should provide a little bit more structural strength.
4 Likes
I can also attest to unexpected bending of the screen assembly, so I agree about there being room for improvement. Weāve yet to see how much better the new frame is, so letās give it some time.
4 Likes
Yes the screen/lid is bendy, but I havenāt used in in such a way as to put a bend in it.
I carry it in a backpack and inserted a 3mm piece of plywood in a compartment of bag that held the laptop, more to protect flexing and screen damage.
What have you done to bend your screen?
Modern laptops are all varying degrees of fragile and placing a focused load on them is definitely not the intended use.
As someone with ADHD prone to accidentally āthrowingā (dropping but then grabbing and missing, propelling it downward) things in my hand at the floor and smashing glassware against surfaces when I forget Iām holding them, I canāt expect companies to build devices for the 1% of chronically accident prone people when the material costs and added weight for making a thicker / more resilient chassis likely exceed any reasonable replacement schedule for most users. As stated at least the top cover has a new design, though Iāll wait until I break it before I replace it.
2 Likes
As a IT support guy I see so many modern laptops in pieces. A lot I just refuse to fix as it becomes a money pit then. How much is it worth to throw at any laptop costing less than Ā£600?
Another way they get you to but another one.
āOh you want it to last more then 12 months???ā
That depends on whatās expected from a design requirement perspective.
Some degree of handleability / chuckability / ruggedness always constitute some part of the product requirement.
While specifically ābeing placed under a chairā may not be part of a requirement (Depends how you interpret that: just under the chair, or, becomes part of a load bearing support for the chair?), thereās likely a rigidity requirement. e.g. Able to withstand xN, and flex no more than ymm in the centreā¦etc.
Just like phonesā¦dropsā¦some are more durable than others. Laptops are no different; some are more rugged than others.
Some randomly related [ancient] marketing fluff from Dell Ballistic Armor:
1 Like
Introducing you to this:
General consumer-ready, urban ruggedā¦ Itās heftierā¦but not to the extreme.
On the other end of the scaleā¦thereās this (somewhat the more affordable option in this space):
Say, from here, for example. For that kind of specs, on paper, itās a bargain really.
1 Like
Iām hoping someone will review the v2 lid (CNC) soon.
2 Likes
Definitely interested in this, had my laptop in my backpack and must have pushed against it a bit with my feet while putting it under the airplane seat, managed to bend the whole frame of the laptop a decent bit, although the lid was fine.
Given how little force was required to bend it back, a stiffer base would definitely be nice. while it canāt be indestructible, Iām guessing a bit more stiffness would have saved it in this case.
Also on both my and a friendās framework, if you hold it from one corner the frame can flex enough to randomly click / stop you from clicking the trackpad, which is quite annoying.
That being said, while itās definitely less ridged than other laptops, thatās for good reason. The expansion card slots and the only 5 screws holding on the interface cover are big features for repair / customizability and a core part of the framework, but they are also terrible for the frame strength. If the Framework team finds a way to make the frame stiffer I would jump to replace my frame, but they would definitely have their work cut out for them!
Iāve joked with friends that if I could buy a titanium frame for more money that would be a super cool upgrade (I wouldnāt mind the extra few grams)
3 Likes
Other than cost, I wonder why Framework didnāt go with magnesium alloy for the chassis. Environmental concern?
Iād guess itās almost certainly more expensive, and itās weaker by volume, so the frame would actually need to be thicker to have an equivalent rigidity, that likely doesnāt outweigh the slight reduction in weight, as is you donāt buy a framework to buy the lightest possible laptop.
Think that depends on the composition and treatment of the alloys. (magnesium-lithium / rare earth mix)
ā¦e.g. For a given force, do you prefer it to bend or to crackā¦
Wow, I must have touched a nerve, I never expected anyone to even notice a klutz like me.
Thank you all for your responses which were interesting and informative.
2 Likes
You created a whole new topic and didnāt think youād be noticed
Not really sure how I did it, but I managed to slightly bend it in such a way that, when closed, one of the corners of the lid did not touch the input cover. Fortunately, I was able to reverse this by carefully flexing it in the opposite directionā¦
Good point. In my case, perhaps the metalās softness was a blessing in disguise.
1 Like
I donāt think a magnesium alloy would crack except under fairly extreme distress, itās used for a few laptops 