Hi!
This topic is a continuation of my topic about Suggestions for a gaming laptop.
There are a few things which FrameWork can likely do now, to make two whole new lines of products which it sells, which would allow Framework to compete in 2 new fields, with (arguably) minimal changes. I will list them below.
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Tablet screen the size of the 13" Cooler Master Mainboard Case, namely 297mm x 133mm including the bevels and cut corners, so more likely 224mm x 126mm which leaves lots of space to add a dongle with physical buttons or to hold the tablet, or 288mm x 162 which might require a hollow plastic addon to a side of the case. The manufacturers should make them so they naturally work in either landscape mode or portrait mode, with the flick of a switch or connecting the ribbon cable to a different port on the display, even if the change only takes effect after restarting the device (similar to how GPUs can have multiple BIOSes, or similar to changing to a different screen).
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Tablet keyboard which can fold onto the screen above, similar to that of the iPad and many Android tablets. Bonus points if, aside from the touchpad on the side, you also include a slider-caliper flat joystick (more about it below).
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Joystick halves, which to either mount directly into the case using longer screws than the ones provided with the case, which to connect with eachother using wires which can be routed through the case or around it or to a side, and which to only use one USB connection, ideally also leaving space for dongles to not become useless, or make it easy and quick to take the joystick halves off to mess with the ports and put them on again. Each half should have: a joystick (which can be a flat-profile one, working like 2 sliders at 90 degrees from eachother, or working like calipers but with the output of a joystick), 4-buttons, a touch pad, 1-2 analog triggers (which can be flat if using sliders), a scroll/volume wheel which can be used to navigate menus or change speeds in racing games, and 3 other buttons on each controller half (one for the Windows key, one for the win-tab menu, one for the overlay app which to control the tablet/handheld-PC settings (like TPD/TGP, screen dimming, volume, etc., with the app working on both Windows and Linux), one for right click, and one for toggling between using on one side the joysticks and scroll wheels and triggers normally, or the other options from the control software, which would be joysticks as mouse or scrolling, scroll wheels as page-up/page-down and mouse-button-4/mouse-button-5, the scroll middle-button as scroll-middle-button or enter, or even allowing all the scroll wheel direction and middle scroll wheel buttons, as well as the 4-buttons on each side, to be fully programmable to other keys or combinations of keys (like the win-tab shortcut for one of the controller’s “function”/special keys).
These 3 products would allow Framework to join both the Windows/Linux/ChromeOS tablet category, and the handheld PC category.
Additionally, I have other addition to each of those options, which to make them even better!
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Similarly, different screen sizes should be provided for other laptops, like the 16" screen, for which the extra space could have the included hollow plastic panel be replaced with a removable GPU module or storage module or a generic PCIe module which to have a PCIe connection so other companies can build producs like a stylus holder, extra battery, or an external battery enclosure so people can use AAA batteries which can be bought from convenience stores for cheap, maybe multiple things at the same time (i.e. PCIe port on the end, stylus close to the end, place for AAA batteries in the rest of the space and room for an USB-C cable to use those batteries to power the device).
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Having 24 function buttons (F1 to F24) would be ideal for gamers, as well as having both the Windows key and the menu key (which simulates right-click and is on the right of the right windows key), even if all the function buttons have to be smaller, even if you have to use a physical or digital toggle button to switch the F1-F12 buttons to be F13-F24 instead.
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Even better users can re-zero them (joysticks and sliders and analog triggers) and set their dead zone from software, for example to account for using different springs (i.e. newer of the right size with older which are slightly longer), and to account for both springs being slightly loose leading to a larger dead zone in which you don’t want the movement to be registered as moving.
Edit: What do you think? Did I miss something?