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The Framework Laptop

frame.work

471–480 of 1001 posts

Re: The Framework Laptop

#471
post #75

Great initiative, but the proprietary expansion cards are entirely counter-productive to maintainability. The expansion cards will only be available for as long as your company provides them. Using the most-commonly used, mass-manufactured standard interfaces for components would provide more long-term repairability and upgradeability. The trade-off would be in design resulting in more bulk and in the economics of yo…

We will open up the expansion card spec and share reference designs to enable partners and the community to build their own! I want it to be open as much as you do.

Is there a catching/locking mechanism for the expansion module that holds it in place? It would be a shame if the whole module came out when trying to remove a particularly firm USB connector.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#472
post #90

Earlier 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…

I'm sorry who is using RJ45 ports on a laptop these days? Seems like that question was asked and answered years ago, and wifi has won.

Come on, that's ridiculous - wired LAN is more secure and faster than Wifi - anywhere I go, I prefer wired to Wifi.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#474

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope this business of yours works out because a laptop that isn't a piece of junk with too much stuff I don't need inflating the price is something I've been wanting for a long time.

I've still never seen a PC with a sane touchpad. That's the first issue in a long tail of grievances with the PC laptop ecosystem. EDIT: This isn't a generic "pro-Mac" dig, I want a nice PC laptop because I like dabbling with Linux; however, even the high end trackpads are clunky, even with the pre-installed Windows (never mind the eternal sadness that is Linux trackpad configuration).

For whatever reason, I've never used a laptop that wasn't a MacBook that has had a trackpad anywhere as amazing as what Apple has done. I don't know if the problem is hardware, software, or both, but as a consumer I don't care. I'll never buy a non-Apple laptop until I can find one that has a trackpad as good or better. That's my personal requirement. On a personal laptop I always use the trackpad so I want it to be the best.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#475

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For general working, trackpad is better. You can type and move the mouse without moving your hands.

Did you mean a trackpoint? How can you type and move the mouse without moving your hands with a trackpad?

Not sure what you're confused about - your hand can hover over the keyboard and trackpad at the same time - they're right next to each other. I don't need to move my hands to go from one to another?

Re: The Framework Laptop

#477

The port design is intriguing. My concern is your main competition, at least from me, is against Lenovo. Their thinkpads don't offer the modularity of IO ports, but instead simply offer "one of everything", with user-replacable SSD, HDD, and RAM modules, which is enough for most users. Swappable screens might be enough of a selling point, but, I'm holding out for the actual final specs. It doesn't look like it can fi…

Do any of the modern Thinkpads offer user-replaceable parts? Any time I see Thinkpads recommend on HN, it's for older, 2nd hand laptops.

Also, do any of such Thinkpads approach the lightness, thinness and aesthetic of this laptop? Last time I looked at new Thinkpads, I seem to recall they were pretty chunky, with only the Ideapads being thin, light and nice to look at (it was a while ago, so I might have that wrong tho)

Re: The Framework Laptop

#478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've still never seen a PC with a sane touchpad. That's the first issue in a long tail of grievances with the PC laptop ecosystem. EDIT: This isn't a generic "pro-Mac" dig, I want a nice PC laptop because I like dabbling with Linux; however, even the high end trackpads are clunky, even with the pre-installed Windows (never mind the eternal sadness that is Linux trackpad configuration).

I’ve never understood why people⁰ care so much about trackpads. For working with text (including code) keyboards are better, and for gaming mice are better. Where I'm less sure is graphics and video, but it seems to me like specialized mice, graphics tablets, and other tools (eg. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/key... and https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/pan... ) are b…

> I’ve never understood why people care so much about trackpads.

Because most people don't use vim and mice aren't usable unless you're sitting at a flat surface with the room to hold one. If I'm using my laptop on the couch, a trackpad is probably the best solution. (Trackpoint gave my index finger RSI, when I was was being careful.)

Re: The Framework Laptop

#479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve never understood why people⁰ care so much about trackpads. For working with text (including code) keyboards are better, and for gaming mice are better. Where I'm less sure is graphics and video, but it seems to me like specialized mice, graphics tablets, and other tools (eg. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/key... and https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/pan... ) are b…

Let me introduce you to the developers whose primary machine is a laptop without a mouse. Or a second screen.

We used to have a far better solution for that, the pointer stick on Dell and IBM laptops. Direct control over the cursor without abrading your sweaty dirty finger skin over a frictive surface.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#480
post #443
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"thin as an XPS 13, repairable as a custom-built gaming PC" was not actually a direct quote from us, but it's nice that the folks at Ars think of our design that way!

Any chance of one that doesn't look like a Macbook clone? I, personally, am tired of the brushed aluminum with black bezels and keyboard look. The materials can remain the same, but some colored options would be wonderful - like the HP Spectre x360's with blue and black options, etc. Everything else looks wonderful, particularly the mobo upgrades for newer CPU/GPU combinations... and even better - getting to choose t…

Thanks to Apple, there's probably a solid "aluminium case" manufacturing pipeline that Framework might be able to leverage. That's a wild guess though, I can imagine Apple keeping that tightly under their thumbs.

Extra colors add cost. You have to plan for which colors might be popular, and which won't, in which case you'd have to sell at a discount to get rid of inventory. I'd be surprised if Framework offered that out of the gate.

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