Agree with @Nils , if you can’t source the part, any part, the laptop isn’t truly repairable or serviceable.
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You can currently get them through support I think, but not through the marketplace. Hope they open up the marketplace soon!
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I’ve been thinking about starting a thread about a specific next product here and am happy to see others are proposing this too: Please do a TB dock, correctly.
By that i mean not only reparable and/or modular (using the existing expansion port format would of course be wonderful).
A lot of the existing TB docks have all sorts of bugs, seemingly always in their firmware, that their makers seem to never really fix - or at least not on any serious timeframe. A repairable/“sustainable” TB dock, IMO, would have to be something that would have its firmware bugs addressed, and even new functionality added where practical, for a considerable amount of time. Something like the Samsung/Apple firmware upgrade and support lifetime for their phones, of 4-5 years, would be my benchmark. The opposite of the throwawayware that most manufacturersbrands put out now.
I think the amount of messages that can be found on this forum about “this TB dock does that weird thing with the FW laptop unless I turn things off/on, plug/unplug” etc underscores just how crappy the overall quality picture is with existing TB docks.
Perhaps even more controversially, but partly to underline how strongly I feel about the importance of a quality TB dock, I would even argue that a “gen 2” of the FW laptop design should do away with the modular ports and just go with “as many as possible TB ports”. Let the product focus be more discrete: The laptop is a great laptop, and the dock is a great dock (part of whose job is to be the “port format junction”).
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What if it was a service ? And not a product.
One of my friend asked me “why is the framework built to fail?” … Why do you want to make ME change anything in my laptop ?
Lots of persons around me don t want a repairable laptop…but a maintainable laptop !
So why not build some kind of ecosystem with the repairshops still in existance.
Make them a discount for selling the framework. And they could offer the service of repairing/ upgrading framework laptop.
THere are shops that repair phones and “apple” products, they could do framework repairs if they could see a financial advantage.
The then answer to my relative would be “Hey this is a laptop that you can repaire in any shop. Like Apple , but for cheap …”
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This is actually a good idea, like a partner program I guess. But it depends heavily on the uptake of the laptop. But it is gonna be an chicken and egg thing, users waiting for more shops to get into the program before buying while shops wait for more Framework laptop users to make it worth it.
That being said, with the Framework guides, I think the repair shop can get it fixed or upgraded with the part you want, just the issue about the part availability.
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I am impressed of that many und good ideas!
Thank you for it and Frame.Work, to encourrage the community to take part.
I think, Frame.work should first stable the business to worldwide shipping and support inclusive B2B.
The laptop itself can still be improved: more processors (AMD!), more form factors, more screens, cameras, fair production and raw materials, etc.
To expand the product portfolio, I would find it good to stay in the closer environment of the laptop. So a docking station, mouse and keyboard.
It would be best to have a survey on what the community wants.
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I’ll reiterate two ideas mentioned previously that interest me. A printer with pdf support built-in, sensible modern connection protocols, and open firmware would be amazing. I love the thunderbolt dock idea with expansion port support built-in.
My contribution to this list that I haven’t seen mentioned by anyone (though I could have just missed it) is a portable external screen, preferably OLED with 16:10 aspect ratio. Lastly, I realize this is CPU bound but support for ECC memory would be fantastic.
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I would love ECC RAM. Are there any laptop processors that support it?
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12950HX.
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@Philippe I’m with you. I think there is a lot of room to work with within the current space of laptops. I really would love to see AMD CPUs/APUs and USB4 support with high bandwidths and PCIE support to make it easy to hook up eGPUs. Maybe a second m.2 slot in a larger form factor or the possibility to use the USB4 PCIE lanes to attach high bandwidth SSDs as an expansion card instead of using an USB interface. The latter would bring the possibility to install windows on that “expansion card” even if windows to go is dead.
As for a docking station it would be really nice if there was one that supports the framework expansion cards. A fully modular dock where you can take with you what you need and slot it back in at home. The “Niche expansion cards” thread is full of useful and creative ideas so there will be no shortage for expandability on the dock.
Peripherals should be less of a concern. There are many highly repairable and customizable mechanical keyboards out there. As for mice it’s a little different. A short time ago I was on a hunt for a replacement for my 10a old Logitech M180 and because I have roccat peripherals on my main desk I will go with an upcoming product of them. I will not say there is a shortage of good mice, but I hate using the ones with integrated batteries (the new roccat kone air has changable ones). A repairable alternative would be awesome.
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Literally, a Framework Smartphone would be a dream!
Since none of the other repairable phone companies (i.e. Fairphone) sells products in Canada, this would be something I’d buy.
It would need to be a high-spec phone, though. I’m not a fan of the low-end specs and hardware offered on Fairphones, which I understand, but I believe that higher-spec hardware = longer product life.
Also… an Xbox controller with easy to replace bumpers and thumbsticks would be an instant buy for me. I’m not a heavy gamer, but have gone through far too many controllers, including Microsoft’s top-tier Elite 2 controllers, simply because a button fails and replacements are either poor quality or not easy to install.
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Honestly, keep iterating and adding on to the current laptop. People all over the forums and this thread have already said it, but it can be repeated:
- Screen options: Resolution, touch, matte, “secure view” (low viewing angles for business security)
- Trackpoint and keyboard options
- More module options
- Chassis options (perhaps a thicker one for more battery?)
- Processor options (AMD, ARM)
I feel like there is a lot the Framework team should be doing that could improve the current product that is available versus making something else / in addition to it. If it were to be something else:
- More laptop sizes (people have been begging for a 15 inch or bigger), possibly with a dedicated GPU
- Phone (for those of us who can’t get our hands on a Fairphone. It would be a rough market to break into though, so wouldn’t be my first choice)
- Tablet (since a community project is already starting this, seems like it may be a logical jumping off point)
- Computer accessories / peripherals (probably the most logical space to grow into, IMO, since it starts becoming more of an “ecosystem”)
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Sometimes, I feel threads like this are just like government polls…“We want your opinion…but won’t listen to anything you have to say, and even if we listen, we won’t do anything about it”…to drive community engagement and steer perception.
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Maybe you have a better government…
Afterall, consider the sample pool and size of this forum and twitterverse… we don’t know what weighting measure to apply to the responses… (e.g. what we say here could just a blip against investors on a 1:∞ scale)
Yes…but let’s not ignore the rest of the accompanying factors (all the other straws, or, time & chaos).
So really, there’s no visibility / pre-established structure to know how this will go. So, “I” feel that’s what it currently ‘is’. I’ll likely feel differently if there’s additional data points to suggest actions.
We see the direction when we see it…and that’s whenever Framework decides to announce new products. That’s just how they operate. Curbing my enthusiasm.
Yes, still playing the game…and responded early in the thread.
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I would love to see a framework phone, however, I believe that is an impossible market to be new in (even though nothing.tech seems on the surface to be succeeding as a newcomer). Personally, I would love to see some sort of wall mount case with touch screen that you can install a standard framework board into, can be used for like smart home monitors or a kitchen display or maybe even a powerful in car entertainment system? I don’t know… just trying to think of something that will help to further re-using existing products.
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I would love to see a motherboard option containing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 (same as is used in the Lenovo X13s and the Windows on Arm devkit) for the specific reason that this ARM processor is of significant interest to the Linux community, but there currently no way to buy it without getting a copy of windows bundled in.
Given that you guys have the DIY edition of the framework laptop, it should be easy to both make a version that will give Windows users great battery life and also offer up the device without windows installed for people who have no interest in running it.
Modular car dash. Car stereo DINs seem to be very proprietary and maybe you guys could partner with Ford or some other car company and establish a universal car stereo/dash slot for customizeable car tech!
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Also, this doesn’t really deviate from laptops, but a 2 in 1 version or upgrade kit for the Framework Laptop would be amazing! As a college student I would love to be able to annotate notes on my laptop as well without sacrificing framework modularity.
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