I wonder if OS level equalizer settings can use to fix frequency response? Else, I guess there goes my upgrade.
@nrp I see many “solid” ideas here. Here are the two that interest me the most:
A portable side monitor that is light weight and rugged enough. I have bought several over the years and they have a short lifespan. One day they just quit working (usually after a few months.)
A larger size screen / casing option - but please don’t force me into a key pad and an off center trackpad. I have owned such devices and never was able to adjust to the keyboard being off center from the screen. (I have no use for a keypad and want this to be an option.)
Also, +1 for both ARM and AMD processor options.
And finally, a middle ground on practical eGPU solutions. I am aware that power and heat are big issues, so we probably cannot get to a stand alone module, but a small enclosure eGPU designed for portability and price would be great. This may be too niche for a “marketplace” because my use case is more to boost machine learning than for gaming.
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One of the reasons I love the framework laptop is that I get all 4 thunderboltish ports, all equal and all fully capable and on both sides. This change would have made the laptop far less appealing to me.
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I’m all in for the USB-C/TB docking station idea. So we have a product we 100% know will work with the Framework laptop. Also it can be modular so everyone can have just the ports they need. Maybe it can even use the current laptop’s expansion cards so we can reuse the ones we have bought for the laptop and freely swap them around.
Also it wouldn’t be too far off of the current product. Now going into the printer (or something else) business would be a huge step and I’d think, that focusing on the laptop and gadgets around it would be better.
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Requests in order of preference:
- AMD mainboard/graphics better power to performance ratio with lower idle usage and cheaper!
- Touch screen option
- 2 in 1 shell with all the same interchangeable parts would be amazing! adapt the hinges for '360 fold.
If all these features could be implemented I would be sold in a heart beat. Sign me up for an early deposit/ kickstarter.
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I want a dock, plain and simple. I’ve been looking at the dock megathread and I am left with more questions than answers on which dock I can buy so that I don’t waste my money.
Having a Framework dock will be absolutely incredible. I imagine that it would also be modular like the laptop, capable of using the same expansion cards. Please, Framework Gods, I pray: Let there be Docks.
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I love the Framework Laptop. The choices you made suit me well.
I will answer in two ways.
First answer : what I think you should do (by order of priority) :
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focus on improving the 13.5" Framework Laptop (add a touch screen option, improve software).
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add variations to your laptop line (15" version, “thick base” version to allow for a larger battery and/or more ports, 360° hinges,…) if it makes sense moneywise (don’t count me in : the thin 13.5" Laptop is all I need).
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make accessories that use/reuse parts of the Framework Laptop :
- a modular bugfree and evolving Thunderbolt 4 dock
- an aluminum desktop case for the Framework motherboard
- a “large” base where you would mount a Framework keyboard + a numeric keypad + a touchpad in the order you want ; a “medium” base where the user would eliminate the numeric keypad or the touchpad ; a “small” base where the user would install either the Framework keyboard or the {numeric keypad + touchpad} combo ; and maybe an “extra small” base for only the numeric keypad or the touchpad.
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Then expand to other items (smartphones, printers, 3D printers, robots, etc.).
Second answer : what I personnaly would like to buy from you (even if it is a financial disaster to address these markets) :
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a modular bugfree and evolving Thunderbolt 4 dock
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a touch screen for the existing Framework Laptop
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a 4" to 4.3" small de-googled android phone (think Iodé OS, /e/, etc.), with a borderless “short” screen (screen ratio of 1.5 to 1.78). This simply does not exist. The rare small phones (e.g. Cubot Kingkong Mini 2) all have big borders.
And repairable, of course !
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Add my vote for a Framephone that works with US carriers, Verizon has the most coverage geographically. I don’t like Verizon, but their coverage can’t be beat in the US… unless using their towers I suppose.
Do not diversify.
Keep updating your core product - it is awesome, but the potential is not yet fully explored.
Primarily the mainboard options - AMD/ARM options should not break the main concept and it can significantly expand the user base.
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Might have already been said but here it goes…
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A Monitor Shell
One that you can “drop” a Framework laptop screen in and use as a second display (would help with end of life and you wouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel). Just make it Thunderbolt powered, aluminum, and with a little stand/ vesa mounting -
Laptop Case(s)
Some specifically designed (and logo-ed) for Framework laptops. -
A Raspberry Pi CM4 Carrier Mainboard
A Mainboard but with no processor or RAM. Just a spot to plug in a CM4 for a true Raspberry Pi laptop.
2 Likes
I was thinking maybe Solidrun and the HoneyComb LX2 but the A72 might be older than even the RK3588. That’s the only socketed ARM chip I know outside of Graviton and Ampere Ultra though.
Not sure if working with Pine64 to build a carrier board would be better, but might be slower because of being socketed vs built-in.
A truly modular “NUC”.
My usecase is a bit niche, since I’m mainly looking for something to use as a Proxmox box (to centralise all my Raspberry Pi stuff into one unit). What would be really amazing for me would be something that is modular in chassis, not only the system itself. So for example:
Just want a NUC to sit on the desk or mount on the back of a monitor? You get what’s essentially a Framework laptop but in a NUC-style chassis with Vesa mount. Super small and nice.
Need more of something? Add a section to the chassis, connecting to a backplane or whatnot, making it taller but giving you space for one or two SATA drives. Need more storage? Just add another section on checkout.
Sort of like the modular IO we love in the laptop, but for ultra small form factor desktop machine. (Or, in my case, ultra small for factor server to hide in a closet. 
It’s so frustrating to see so many NUCs that are almost but not quite what I want. I am thinking about getting a 12th gen Framework board and then getting an enclosure printed/built to turn my old 11th gen board into that kind of NUC, but it would still get a bit awkward to figure out how to connect a good storage array to that.)
5 Likes
I think gigabyte had something like that at one point
Can I go crazy? Ok, let’s go!
- Printers with ADF (Automatic Document Feed)
- that doesn’t require electronical components to check the expiration dates and validity of ink
- optional wlan/lan support (for those who want an usb/lan only version)
- optional display component
- Dumb TV that can be expanded using “expansion ports” (the same as the laptop has)
- A Tablet which can be plugged into the “Dumb TV” (see above) to display their content on the TV (this is actually the brain of the TV)
- A dock that is actually just a bigger version of the laptop expansion system with 6 (8?) ports.
- Modular & smart bluetooth keyboard, attach numblock/touchpad/fingerprint sensors and program it the way you need it
(more to come)
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I’m with @Marek here. The laptop market isn’t fully explored, and it lets you continue to build on your core competencies.
I’d love to see an option built on an AMD or ARM platform. The limit to Intel is one of the two reasons I’m on the fence about buying a Framework laptop.
The other reason is form factor. I’m a middle-aged geek with old-person eyesight and bad knees. Small screens and small batteries are my bane. I’d instantly buy a larger version of the Framework so I can have the things I need to operate off my dock for days at a time instead of a couple of hours here and there.
With the existing form factor, eye fatigue is going to hit me fast. The screen on my 14.1" Thinkpad is on the small side of usable…I can use it for about 6 hours/day without my eyes giving up on me. Before you say it’s quality not size, my 14" Macbook Pro is just the same. I’d also like room for a bigger battery, or an additional one. I’d much rather have a heavier, bulkier laptop than have to wonder when I’ll have to sit in a corner where I can find an outlet at some event, and possibly not get up off the floor again without help.
A 15" or 16" Framework laptop with room to build in ~16 hours of battery life would sell me fast…along with many of my colleagues.
6 Likes
A double-screen laptop like the upcoming Yoga Book: This Double Screen Laptop is INCREDIBLE - YouTube
Looks like the ultimate all-in-one: clamshell laptop, tablet, pen device, and large (2x13.3") screen desktop machine, in less than 1.5kg.
This is kinda random and I guess probably might not be worth it.
But a modular case like what InWin has done is really cool. Maybe an idea for a next product but the certifications and the manufacturing volume might make it very expensive for Framework though.
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I have another idea though this is kinda niche again.
If you look at Intel NUC Compute Elements, they can be plugged in into the PCIe slot and act as a secondary PC for video capture/stream processing.
Maybe we can reuse mainboards to work like that too with a 3D printed PCIe adaptor and maybe a PCIe 8-pin power connector (to the battery or as a special expansion card) to power it up. When the main PC boots into Windows, it will be recognized as an additional card that can be selected for encoding etc.
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Something like a Mini STX motherboard that needs an external power supply and can be equipped with a massive heat sink and a Noctua fan to make it super silent even under load.
I missed a chance to buy one of these and they don’t make them anymore 
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