Live data from Hacker News

The Framework Laptop is now shipping

frame.work

581–590 of 785 posts

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#581
Really happy to see this news. I hope these folks succeed. I'd order one right now if I hadn't just bought a new System76 machine a month or so ago.

Still, if I can find some free disposable cash anytime soon, I might order one anyway, just to support the concept and to have a spare machine. I'm sure I could use an extra machine for something-or-other.

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#582
post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, I am not aware of any document like that. There are some papers comparing everything efficiency of different types of RAM, and there is of course indirect evidence of premium notebooks having significantly improved the battery life after moving to LPDDR.

LPDDR does many, many things to reduce power consumption (the current version even does DVFS, which I think is a first for main memory; graphics cards have been doing interface DFS for a long time, but a high end graphics card will burn around 30-70 W in the memory chips, and uses extremely high speed PHYs running at around 20 GBit/s per pin in the current generation). The only thing that really changes between DIMM…

> That accounts only for a very small increase in power.

What are you basing this statement on?

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#583

The screen resolution, sadly, is only 2256x1504. This is not retina. I don't get how new laptops can be sold today with non-retina screens. The most common resolution these days is 1920x1080. My current laptop is Samsung ATIV Book 9, which is more than 5 years old. The 13" screen is 3200x1800. The best screen ever made. Possibly the best laptop ever made. The industrial design, the backlit keyboard, touchpad, everyth…

The 13 inch macbook pro is only 2560x1600. The PPI of this device is 200, according to my calculations, so it's not totally unacceptable.

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#584
post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Framework's ports are all on user-selectable, replaceable expansion modules. If one of the USB-C ports dies, you just unplug it and install a new one.

The expansion modules themselves are USB C dongles designed to fit flush in the case If the internal USB C ports get damaged, presumably the device can be opened and repaired.

It would be extremely difficult to damage the internal USB-C ports on the mainboard itself. The USB-C Expansion Cards are what cables would be plugged into and cycled repeatedly, and our Expansion Card bays also have mechanical retention features that mean the insertion of the card itself is always aligned to avoid wear or damage.

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#586
post #356
post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically 99% of the corporate and consumer laptops I have been party to are built to order with the right amount of RAM in and never upgraded. Those of us who actually upgrade are an insignificant minority at this point or pulling them out of the ex corp recycling lifecycle. Another point is stuff that is soldered in is a lot more reliable as a whole. Amazing how many old machines can be resurrected by reseating…

Maybe it's because I'm often looking at business-oriented laptops as a consumer, but I usually find the RAM and storage to be on the low side compared to the CPU specs. I don't need a top-of-the-line i7 CPU (the improvement when going from e.g. an i5 usually isn't enough to really matter), and the premium you pay isn't negligible. On the other hand, the lower-end models that don't splurge on an i7 and come with a mid…

This was definitely a driver for us. We want to let consumers buy exactly the machine they need in the near term (CPU, memory, and storage), and be able to upgrade just the parts that they need to later.

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#587
post #228
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Major thumbs-up for AMD chip. With a replaceable main board, this will be a dream. I ordered a framework laptop at its highest CPU+RAM spec and can't wait to replace my 6 years old ThinkPad x250 with it. EDIT: would also add that the open source design USB-C based side modules are amazing - looking forward to designing my own modules.

Thanks! We're looking forward to seeing the modules everyone develops, and we're excited to get new mainboards out in the future.

Any chance for an ortholinear keyboard?

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#588
post #492

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the thing, who is everyone? Such technology would only be relevant to premium-level ultraportable notebooks. Desktops, gaming laptops as well as budget laptops would stick with the cheaper and more ubiquitous DDR. Smartphones and tables will continue to solder RAM on due to space constraints. Apple (who is the driving force in this market segment) won't be interested since they are going fully custom and I dou…

If LPDDR is faster won’t desktops and gaming laptops also want it? One possible other compromise could be soldered LPDDR RAM, but with a DIMM expansion slot for DDR as well. I wonder whether the DDR could be switched off and the baseline power draw eliminated if the RAM usage was below needing it.

So I will preface this with that I'm not an expert. But as I understand it, multicore systems are already frequently NUMA, but to a degree that most stuff (I am eliding categories of code here, but you get the idea) don't have to really care. From my understanding of how all this works, the difference of speed and bandwidth for LPDDR versus DDR seems like risking significant complexity for an expandability that few people would use and in turn cause an everything-or-nothing problem, where either high-performance code is written assuming anybody might have this, or nobody assumes it and you get a pile of stalls.

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#589

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which you could also do by simply making the device a little thicker and have a battery run the entire width of the device. Point is past a certain point, thinness becomes more of a drawback than a benefit, especially given the trade-offs involved.

You might want that trade off, but consumers in general have been leaning towards thinner and lighter for years. Just look around at complaints about the thickness of early android watches being too big and chunky. Or the huge popularity when the first MacBook Air came out. Given the option between thicker w/ a bit more battery life or thinner and lighter, consumers are choosing thinner and lighter.

Of course engineering is always a trade off, and it is possible to go too far in one direction. But it's not all or nothing, Apple is the one feeding us that false dichotomy.

Re: The Framework Laptop is now shipping

#590
post #538

This device is seriously the answer to all my laptop problems. I really like the form factor of the XPS 13, but now I'm stuck with the complete inability to upgrade RAM. In what universe is that normal? Then I accidentally nuked the USB-C ports on the left side when it got wet, and now I'm left with a single port for everything, including charging. What!? Why? I tore the entire thing apart and there's just no way to…

XPS13 here also, I love everything about it except my fingers have totally chewed through the keyboard and the keys are all popping off all the time now. you can't get replacement keys, I've tried ordering from those scammy places and what they send you is not exactly the right fit. broken keyboards / trackpads is why i keep having to throw out laptops and get new ones. so I am very interested in this laptop if they…

Yes! We've designed the keyboard, the touchpad, and the full input cover to be replaceable modules. We've published guides for these: https://guides.frame.work/c/Framework_Laptop

We'll be making the replacement modules themselves available later this summer.

Post reply on HN