Neat - I wonder how it’ll turn out. It’s weird how little there is in the laptop space that’s actually good. Macs, Thinkpads, maybe Dell XPS? Everything else sucks. It’d be cool to have another high quality option.
The Framework Laptop
121–130 of 1001 posts
Re: The Framework Laptop
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
They're just USB-C dongles that snap into the chassis.. You can see better shots here: https://frame.work This is an unpopular opinion, but I think this proves that Apple was right to dump legacy ports. This solution is sort of clever but it sacrifices a ton of internal space that could have been spent on a bigger battery. USB-C, and the correct cables, are all anyone needs. (the Nespresso analogy is ridiculous, a la…
Apple burns almost all of their space savings on making the machine thinner, to the point of absurdity. Apple is content to push everything into dongles (which you have to carry around anyway) to get it thinner. The point at which I can't have a wired RJ45 ethernet port is already ridiculous - that is not a thick connector. Same with fullsize USB ports. Battery life there are hard limits as well: nobody is making a l…
……………
Re: The Framework Laptop
#123Well, HN will love this. Moddable laptop with a good webcam? Nice. But: - I really dislike the arrow keys not having the air gap above left and right. You’d think they’d learn that from the MacBook butterfly keyboard era. - it’s a little disingenuous to say “no adapters” when in fact their little expansion cards are merely adapters that insert into the chassis of the laptop. Only four I/O ports is a little tight (des…
Re: The Framework Laptop
#124I don't see any information on the licensing of the adapter card / inter-module interfaces. Can others build a Framework laptop without approval? Can others build cards without approval? Will it be a platform? Tell me how this isn't a Nespresso machine for silicon pods. :-) Edit: To be clear, even a "we have a generic base laptop and you can pick your I/O" concept is potentially a nice value prop, but it'd be good if…
They're just USB-C dongles that snap into the chassis.. You can see better shots here: https://frame.work This is an unpopular opinion, but I think this proves that Apple was right to dump legacy ports. This solution is sort of clever but it sacrifices a ton of internal space that could have been spent on a bigger battery. USB-C, and the correct cables, are all anyone needs. (the Nespresso analogy is ridiculous, a la…
Assuming that's correct, I think it's kinda clever... it's basically a dongle system that allows the modules to sit flush instead of jutting out of the side of the laptop.
Re: The Framework Laptop
#125Re: The Framework Laptop
#126Re: The Framework Laptop
#127Neat - I wonder how it’ll turn out. It’s weird how little there is in the laptop space that’s actually good. Macs, Thinkpads, maybe Dell XPS? Everything else sucks. It’d be cool to have another high quality option.
The LG gram was fine, if light and portable was what you're looking for. The HP Envy line has been pretty decent recently. Back in school I've had an Asus Zenbook I've quite liked as well. I've heard good things about some System76 systems too, and they're basically Clevo rebrands.
There definitely is good stuff on the laptop market.
Re: The Framework Laptop
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple burns almost all of their space savings on making the machine thinner, to the point of absurdity. Apple is content to push everything into dongles (which you have to carry around anyway) to get it thinner. The point at which I can't have a wired RJ45 ethernet port is already ridiculous - that is not a thick connector. Same with fullsize USB ports. Battery life there are hard limits as well: nobody is making a l…
> a wired RJ45 ethernet port is not a thick connector. ……………
Only Fujitsu use them AFAIK.
[1]https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/12/8/16750574/p...
Re: The Framework Laptop
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the Nespresso analogy is ridiculous Well, sort of :-) Nespresso is a famous implementation of a "your basic machine stays static, you swap out a different element of the system based on temporary/current needs, but you can only buy those elements from one vendor" pattern. Printer ink cartridges are another. Yeah, add-on cards to a computer aren't consumables per se - but the entire premise is that as time goes on y…
I don't understand this criticism. On every other laptop on the market today, if you want different ports you either buy dongles or buy a whole new laptop. Every laptop I've ever owned has at least one port I never use, and after a couple years it's missing some other port I'd rather have. This one seems to solve that problem, extending the life of the machine and/or avoiding dongle hell.
But if you can only buy the dongle from one vendor, it's going to be more expensive than if there's a market where multiple vendors compete. It's that "you can only buy the adapter from Apple, and it's really expensive" thing, just moved into the chassis.
Hence the question which one of those we're looking at here, and it was kindly answered by a rep above.
Re: The Framework Laptop
#130One of the repair challenges is access to old parts. The drain hose on our three year-old washer sprung a leak. When I called a repair man, he at first said that Samsung doesn't make that part anymore. Fortunately, he was mistaken, but if that's something that happens for a simple hose, imagine trying to replace the "high-end headphone amp" expansion card on this laptop five years from now. Even if I'm not too excite…
It is definitely on us to prove that we'll provide long term support for the modules that we're developing, but we're also opening up documentation and reference designs for things like our Expansion Card system. If something ever happens to us, other companies and the community can continue to use and extend the ecosystem. We designed the Expansion Cards in a way that it's possible to 3D print the housings for them…