@Christopher_Brown Some of the stuff you mention either cannot be done without sacrificing elsewhere or had a good reason to be done as is.
non-anodized was chosen as it was more environmentally friendly, not to emulate mac
Because nobody wanted them, there were surveys done by the community before the launch (not-official) and as I recall, P-series was generally preferred.
fixed if you are willing to buy the stronger hinge
and cut bandwidth available for the storage? only so many pcie lanes to go around and all are allocated
Use a dock when at a desk charging, problem solved. How many of those ports do you use at any one time?
Your entire post comes across to me as one giant rant about how poor of a product the laptop is. If you really find it so limiting and substandard, why are you here? It obviously doesn’t suit your needs, and no judgement for that, go find a laptop that does.
I just wanted to point out some things I feel are worth noting:
Nirav indicated the resonance of the lid is not resolved by the 4.0 kg hinge. link
PCI 4.0 2x is equal to PCI 3.0 4x. For many users 3.0 4x drives are plenty fast enough so PCI 4.0 at 2x would be fine. You are correct it would impact performance but I think the bigger issue would be finding a good space for the additional drive (unless you go half height) rather than bandwidth but perhaps the lanes could be dynamically assigned so only split when you add a second drive so no penalty unless you add a second drive?
It is not just about how many ports are used simultaneously but also the limitation of only having 3 port choices without needing to bring dongles.
I hear somebody venting frustration at the shortcomings they see of the design decisions made. They are here likely for the same reason a lot of us are, they bought a Framework laptop (or want to/have interest in it) because they want to see/support changing the landscape of the electronics industry.
I feel their criticism might be induced by the title of this topic which could be seen poorly in light of the issues and shortcomings they described of the current design. They are providing constructive feedback at least even if it isn’t perhaps the correct place for it.
I agree that it was not really the right place for it.
Taking a looking back up the thread I see mostly good C.E. ideas but I can see how the detractive comments and complaints could have stood out for you.
If it makes you feel bad you maybe right to ignore the thread.
Understood that this thread isn’t for feedback on the current frame.work offering (which I like!), but I think if the company want to expand they should focus on different form factors for the computer – in particular, it seems like people want a bigger laptop chassis for the same motherboard.
I’m glad frame.work exists and I’m glad I ordered one, but the notebook’s slim design trades off e.g. against battery life and hardware customisation. If I could switch my current mainboard and expansion cards into a thicker, more functional housing I would.
A bigger laptop chassis could address a lot of limitations on customisation:
Room for a bigger battery
Space for replaceable ‘low-profile’ mechanical keyswitches / trackpoint ‘nub’
Bigger screen, possibly with a different aspect ratio
Most of the people I see buying frame.work laptops are right-to-repair/open source/linux types, and I don’t think there’s a lot of overlap there with people who really care about having the slimmest, sleekest laptop in the room. I was attracted to the frame.work because I want a better ThinkPad, not a better MacBook.
Again, glad frame.work exists and glad I ordered one. Most companies would never take suggestions from their customers like this.
It has become pretty ugly as people ignore what was asked for and use it as a dumping ground, just about to block this topic
Understood, but the sediment of many customers is to finish what was started and make a better laptop before using up company resources building other electronic products.
I understand that people feel that way, but I also don’t think that Framework is looking for new projects now.
The “(eventually)” sounds like they want to do this after they are well established in the Laptop market, and they wanted to make a nice community engagement thread in the General Topics category as a fun brainstorm session for other tech products their customers want to see made reapairable in the future. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like Framework is listening to feedback, and will make the best decisions to keep the company moving towards their goals.
I was looking at Corsair and NZXT cases, why not a modular Tower PC case. Certification might be a pain in the ass though. Many desktop front IO ports fails and there’s usually no way to fix them
Stay in the computer space. First, build a better laptop. Larger screen, more ports, better keyboard, etc.
Then expand into non-portable machines, either straight desktop or a TrueNAS implementation. Actually done right one box might be able to serve both purposes.
Skip the peripherals, I think also avoid printers, at least for now.
Own the space you are creating: modular upgradable computers. Don’t water down the brand. Do one thing really well and the rest will follow.
I think this would be low hanging fruit, but a true UMPC laptop in the same vain as a 1 Netbook Onemix 3, but with the FW mainboard as the basis. Thicker would not be a problem, so long as repairable and upgradable stays an option. I would buy at least 3 of these. I am currently working to make my own using the mainboard. I’m sure you all could come up with something truly compelling!
@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.
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.
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.
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.
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) :
focus on improving the 13.5" Framework Laptop (add a touch screen option, improve software).
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).
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.
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) :
a modular bugfree and evolving Thunderbolt 4 dock
a touch screen for the existing Framework Laptop
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 !
