> Upgrading is cheaper than a whole new system. This saves consumers money. Modern laptops increasingly solder parts down, making upgrades nigh-impossible (I've tried multiple times). A MacBook Air can easily last 5 years+. I've had mine for 10 years. Will the average Framework laptop last as long as the average MacBook? > Countering planned obsolence and expensive repair costs associated with modern products. Macboo…
> You can't convince me that the average Framework laptop is more environmentally friendly than a Macbook Air over its lifetime. How do I put more RAM in my 8GB Macbook Air?
I really like this as a way to repurpose old hardware; I have known many laptops that end up sitting around in cupboards after their 'useful' life is over, that could probably still comfortably be serving as lightweight desktops even today.
Yes, or servers. I've been searching for ways to convert an older Dell laptop mainboard into a simple server. It has great power consumption on account of being a laptop logic board, and enough power to run serious server workloads. Unfortunately, I do not think a universal product for reusing laptop logic boards exists. Although it might be easy enough to make. All ports on the logic board could be wired up to a bac…
You don’t need to re-case them. I had three old thinkpads as servers a few years ago. Took the batteries out and connected them to Ethernet switch. Built in KVM. Job done!
There are three problems it solves: 1. Upgrading is cheaper than a whole new system. This saves consumers money. Modern laptops increasingly solder parts down, making upgrades nigh-impossible (I've tried multiple times). Most tech companies have trade-in programs, but with dismal exhange rates. This gives the user more options and control over their hardware. 2. Countering planned obsolence and expensive repair costs…
I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't think that's a real consumer problem (particularly for the space they're in, which is portable laptops). Being reusable is a solution, and in this case it doesn't seem to be solving a real world problem. Usually people want their desktop computers to be more powerful than their laptops, and have dedicated graphics. This gives people a desktop computer which is older and less…
The desktop computer you get can either become your own desktop computer, your partner's or your child's new desktop computer, it can become your parent's new computer if the one they have is aging. It can become a homeserver or a low-spec game console (SteamOS, or emulation stuff).
If you don't do any sort of 3D-heavy stuff, then the powerful CPU and iGPU you get is PLENTY of power.
It's a laptop, you can run it with any USB-C power supply that has enough power.
"all you need for a powered up computer is the Cooler Master Mainboard Case, memory, storage, WiFi or an Ethernet Expansion Card, USB-C Power Adapter and a display."
I love what framework is doing but the fundamental choice of laptop for me is always battery life. If I can't pull the laptop off the dock in the morning and ride into the office without packing a charger, I'm not a buyer. MacBooks are the only laptops doing this reliably.
This was true in the age before USB-C. Every single computer had a different proprietary connector or weirdly wonky barrel charger with nonstandard voltages.
Now you can borrow an USB-C charger from anyone - I've used my Steam Deck charger to charge my laptop (it didn't really charge it as it just slowed down the battery drain, but still it got me through the day). Even a phone charger is better than anything, the extra 10-20W will give you a slight boost in runtime.
I really like this as a way to repurpose old hardware; I have known many laptops that end up sitting around in cupboards after their 'useful' life is over, that could probably still comfortably be serving as lightweight desktops even today.
I have a few old laptops as servers at home. It’s great because they have a (limited) built-in battery backup, and a keyboard and screen are there if you need a local terminal.
My biggest issue with those is that sometimes their cooling solution is ridiculously bad. They have a next-to-nonexistent heat sink, so the fan needs to spin like crazy to cool it down. Bonus points for the fan stopping from time to time, so it has to spin even faster than it would need to if it were running all the time.
Had this is an older HP laptop. My newer one lets me configure it so that the fan spins all the time, so it's very quiet as long as it doesn't do anything.
I really like this as a way to repurpose old hardware; I have known many laptops that end up sitting around in cupboards after their 'useful' life is over, that could probably still comfortably be serving as lightweight desktops even today.
Yes, or servers. I've been searching for ways to convert an older Dell laptop mainboard into a simple server. It has great power consumption on account of being a laptop logic board, and enough power to run serious server workloads. Unfortunately, I do not think a universal product for reusing laptop logic boards exists. Although it might be easy enough to make. All ports on the logic board could be wired up to a bac…
Media server!
It has a built in UPS if the battery works at all. Video transcoding will likely be good, low power draw, will fit on a shelf or 1U rack shelf.
No need to remote into it when you can just open it.
> It's not perfect because we have to get up to change the movie or skip an ad, but it works. If you're running on a computer rather than a locked-down device, why do you see ads at all? Also, you've probably already considered this, but a wireless keyboard/mouse would nicely complete a living-room computer.
I bet if you look in the app store there is something in there that will let you use your phone as a media remote.