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The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

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Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#411
post #25

It feels like for years we were constantly told by these corporations "it's impossible to have slim, tiny laptops and make them customizable", and I guess at some level I believed that, and just accepted that laptops with upgradable components were a thing of the past. After seeing the framework, I'm more than a little annoyed that I fell for this. They proved you can have a slim, clean laptop that's somewhat modular…

I'm impressed that they have managed to take this product to market, and I'm glad that people who value modularity will finally have a viable option. at the same time, I personally don't see what all the fuss is about. you can upgrade both DIMMs, which is cool, but not exactly unheard of these days (I guess it's getting there in an ultraportable?). you're still stuck with DDR4, which is almost EOL, and the max capaci…

> SSD and the battery

I have a MacBook Pro w/ Retina Display from Mid-2012. It cannot be fixed for a reasonable price, despite it being still mostly perfect for my daughter's school computing.

This computer definitely interests me (as someone who moved back to Ubuntu / Regolith this year)

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#413
I think this is cool. But at some point in my career/life in the tech space, I stopped caring as much about my tools as long as it works to a reasonable degree. I am fine with whatever Dell/Apple/Asus/etc laptop that's out there. Will my productivity increase if I switch to Framework? Maybe? I am not sure how to convince people like me. Obviously, I am not the target audience for this. I wonder what is their addressable market?

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> MacOS is nice, probably my favorite consumer operating system currently available, but Apple's walled garden approach is beyond annoying What’s the walled garden on macOS? You can run anything you want on the Mac.

M1 macs no longer run unsigned code. Apps now check stapled OCSP. There's now a permissions dance to do much of anything.

> There's now a permissions dance to do much of anything.

This is why we don't have secure computing in 2021. Users don't like the usability problems that come with security.

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#415
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you growing unhappy? (I have a X1 Extreme Gen 1, and Legion 7, and Legion 5 Pro, so I'm curious)

A few things. The newer TrackPoint caps are not good. I actually had to order some 3D printed one from some Japanese guy. Also my Thinkpad T14 is throttling to the extent that I had to install tools [1] (?) that fix this problem. Battery seems to be bad as well. Intel by the way, I wanted to have Thunderbolt for an eGPU. [1]: https://github.com/erpalma/throttled

> I actually had to order some 3D printed one from some Japanese guy

Thank you for mentioning this alternative! Just found him on Etsy. I have always preferred the old-style concave nibs for TrackPoints over the new convex ones. This will be a serious improvement for my Thinkpad.

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another quote from Linus that's relevant: "Imagine being an engineer at a company at Apple, and it being your job to design the mechanism that makes it so that machine cannot start up unless the chassis is fully sealed. Apple spent actual fucking money making sure that product would not work unless it is in the exact chassis they shipped it in." That goes beyond not caring.

For what it's worth I don't think Apple has actually ever done this, and whatever made him believe they do was probably some other oversight during their disassembly/reassembly of the laptop

An oversight is not the case. This is an annoying problem for actual repair technicians, not just a mistake by a beginner.

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because MacBooks can't be easily fixed by end-users or upgradeable.

How often does that actually need to happen these days? It feels like a solution looking for a problem.

If everything works then it feels like a luxury, but if something breaks it feels like a necessity.

Being able to upgrade components also lets you buy at a cheaper price initially and then grow it to suit your needs later. Also the laptop will be probably end up being usable for a decade or more.

I recently upgraded my 2015 MBP's SSD from 256GB to 1TB (it's the last upgradeable macbook). It's great to get a significant speed boost on read/write times and more disk space. And it only cost me about $100-150 to make it happen.

The 2015 MBP is still fast and snappy for my purposes, it's hard to justify getting a new laptop yet.

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I need some convincing here. How is the "modular port" concept any different than a universal port with dongles (i.e., how Macs have been since 2016). To me the fact that the port attachments are recessed is little more than a gimmick. Especially as all of my devices have transitioned to USB-C anyway, dongles/"modular ports" feel more like a stopgap measure than one requiring a permanent form factor change.

I find it hilarious that we spend multiple thousands of dollars on sleek, elegant hardware and then hook up chunky plastic dongles to overcome their bad hardware interfaces. So I love the idea of these ports (agreed, they're basically "recessed dongles"). I couldn't lose them / forget them. They wouldn't take up space in my bag while I'm traveling. I could "set and forget" them to perfectly match whatever desktop / d…

I don't understand the logic. When the original usb-c MBP came out I spent $30 on Monoprice for usb-c to whatever cables and never looked back. I even still have many of those cables 3 laptops later.

People would actually comment about dongle gate in Meetups and I'd show them my usb-c to micro-usb cable... ...oh the look of shock in their eyes... "You mean... you never bought a dongle?". The concept of a cable with usb-c at one end and anything else at the other was completely foreign.

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#419
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linus has now invested in Framework, which constrains how he is allowed to review laptops on his channel because of the possibility of a conflict of interest. He says it's worth it to support what he believes is a great company with an awesome product vision.

Linus has shown his flagrant disregard for impartiality or any form of integrity over and over again. Look through the LTT back catalogue and you’ll see that Intel is big sponsor of theirs. The fact that he gives “honest” reviews of Intel products doesn’t magically make it okay. You’d never see Dr. Ian Cutress of AnandTech or Steve from GamersNexus pulling this shit. Of course he makes much more money than both of th…

> AnandTech

AnandTech quit doing SSD endurance testing as soon as vendors started selling trash TLC and QLC. Is that a coincidence? Can you really trust them?

There's a point where you need to put some trust in reviewers because the industry is set up to make them dependent on the manufacturers. However, there's a huge difference between traditional reviewers where employees are doing reviews and new age reviewers where influencers are doing the reviews.

People like Linus and Steve have way more incentive to put their own integrity over short term interests like pleasing a manufacturer, so it's very unlikely you'll ever see them shilling for anyone. Getting caught doing that once would ruin their brand (and credibility) because they are their brand.

In other words, there are no scape goats in the influencer space so they have way more incentive to be completely honest and transparent.

I remember when Tom's Hardware was new and I think the current generation of influencers / reviewers are going to obliterate the traditional media companies that have turned into affiliate marketing shills.

Re: The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

#420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another quote from Linus that's relevant: "Imagine being an engineer at a company at Apple, and it being your job to design the mechanism that makes it so that machine cannot start up unless the chassis is fully sealed. Apple spent actual fucking money making sure that product would not work unless it is in the exact chassis they shipped it in." That goes beyond not caring.

Where is that quote from? I wasn't able to find it via Google. Anyway, a computer that refuses to turn on after been tampered with does have its uses, particularly if your threat model is government secret services.

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