Framework is almost perfect. The only problem I have with it is immediate global availability. Otherwise, I'm very pleasantly surprised. Also by the price - it's not very cheap, but also not overpriced like Apple's equivalents.
Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
31–40 of 731 posts
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#32AMD CPU & Repair-ability. Framework looks promising, but I'm not eager to buy an Intel processor.
Afaiu, they're planning on offering CPU upgrades/changes by having the whole system board replaced.
I guess in this age of soldered CPUs (and other stuff), it's as good as it gets, but I wonder about the price.
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#33What about the screen? High resolution, better aspect ratio than 16:9, oled, refresh rate,...etc.
You interact with the screen, the keyboard and the pointing device all the time and they cannot be changed, so all these have to be good. Things like good wifi or bluetooth are nice, but there are dongles.
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#341. S3 Standby/suspend support. If your laptop supports that, you can close the lid and it will power ~everything except the RAM down (sometimes a USB port still charges). In 'new' laptops, including almost everything Tiger lake and Intel, S3 is being phased out for Microsoft's "Modern Standby", known as S0ix (or sometimes InstantGo). This is much more like a mobile phone, where it stays on but attempts to use as litt…
> In the future, perhaps this mode will work as well as S3 used to for battery life, but finding your laptop fans on while it's closed inside your bag and getting really hot is not fun. This applies to lots of laptops currently.
Modern standby was designed for ARM-based Windows 10 Mobile initially, but I do feel that Intel had plead to Microsoft to allow them to implement it too. Regardless, even the best Intel cores (except for their clean-room Atom designs, not all Atom-branded CPUs have these) runs hot that it's a disgrace that Microsoft haven't insisted on requiring S3 sleep.
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#35For me, it has to have a matte screen. So I can work outside.
Even in an office setting, I find matte displays way more comfortable.
You say:
Stylus or touch-screen that doesn't glare
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#36XPS 13 currently, and probably next as well. I look for:
- track record of linux compatibility. If it's Windows or out, I'm out.
- good keyboard.
- good screen, > 1920x1080 although 4K is overkill, preferably 16:10.
Macbooks look tempting, but I just don't trust Apple to not break any workflow that isn't editing videos about how great Apple products are. The current keys are good but - sorry, the (pre-butterfly!) keyboard on my OH's MBP is awful, easily the worst keyboard I've ever used on a >$1000 laptop.
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Number two in my list. Hard to open? Hard to reach some parts? memory/ssd soldered on the mainboard? Go away. Number one is immediate global availability so I won't have to deal with the customs or pre-order. Sadly the the Framework fails both. Excellent hardware compatibility (full Linux support) is "number zero". I can only possibly forgive the finerprint scanner for being unusable on Linux (because these are not r…
> Number two in my list. Hard to open? Hard to reach some parts? memory/ssd soldered on the mainboard? Go away. Number one is immediate global availability so I won't have to deal with the customs or pre-order. Sadly the the Framework fails both. I fail to follow your logic. Do you mean that Framework has memory/ssd soldered on the mainboard?
No, it's awesome in this aspect. I want one. But it's both US-only (AFAIK, I may be wrong) and pre-order. So I would have to both deal with the customs (extra time, money and papers overhead) and wait long.
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#38High up my list is repairability, which is why I am a big fan of the Framework laptop.
i've seen all the hype but i have to ask: what is replaceable on these that you can't replace on a thinkpad t/pxx? (or p1)
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#392 or 3 Nvme slots
2 user-friendly ram slots
minimum 4 usb ports, 6 would be better
Sd card slot
2 hdmi ports or 2 mini display ports
gigabit lan port
minimum 1080p@120fps or 2k@60fps or 720p@240fps camera
oled panel
white keyboard backlight (like macbook airs)
headphone jack
100% linux compatibility for all components out of the box.
Re: Ask HN: What does one look for in a laptop these days?
#40M1 MacBook pro no competition
Considering OP lists touch or pen as a requirement (4.) the macbook is not an option.
Not to mention that a macbook pro with 16GB ram and more than base storage starts at $1700. Sure, it might be good but at that prices it better be.
Out of interest how bad is the compatibility of the M1 macbooks with other OSs? That might be a dealbreaker as well.