Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Framework Laptop 16 Review

phoronix.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

291–300 of 404 posts

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#291

Post by m463 »

ijhuygft776 wrote: post #120
RomanPushkin wrote: post #7

I wish they deliver good keyboard as well, like Thinkpads X201 or similar have. I am happy owner of modded X201 with updated screen, motherboard, and so on. It's not on a cheap side, but I'm happy to pay that price _only_ for the keyboard option. It's so cool. Folks back then knew what was important.

I never used a laptop keyboard that I liked (I currently have a thinkpad)... probably because I'm used to these old style IBM keyboards with numeric keypad https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71UJ8OXnZjL._AC_SL1500_....

they used to be so much better. I typed on a friend's ancient powerbook and the keyboard made a lasting impression on me. I found the sculpted keys to be smooth and comfortable. This was when flat keys were first coming out.

I think this one: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Wallstre...

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#292

Post by starkparker »

Rebelgecko wrote: post #281
jakamau wrote: post #190

I have the DIY FW13 Intel 11th Gen with Fedora. I've had an overall positive experience and have enjoyed tinkering with it. My only negative with it has been the issue specific to 11th gens where the CMOS drains and eventually dies if the laptop is left unplugged for days-to-weeks at a time. On the whole Framework handled the issue well, there was no permanent fix without soldering or replacing the board. The company…

I have mixed feelings. I bought mine hoping Framework would improve the SW (especially firmware and drivers) over time but that hasn't been the case. My 12th gen has issues with abysmal battery life while sleeping (not just the regular Intel 12th gen sleep complaints, but batt life varies greatly depending on which expansion cards you have on the laptop while sleeping eg USB-A vs -C). Framework has been beta testing…

> Even though Fedora is (afaict?) the best supposed Linux distro

As someone who had a 12th-gen mainboard and upgraded to an AMD board, and assuming you meant "supported" here, the rest of the points here are fine but this one rather explicitly is off. Ubuntu is the primary supported distro across the board: https://frame.work/linux

Fedora was recommended for AMD mainboards when Framework started shipping them, because Fedora ships newer kernels sooner, which got upstream AMD compatibility fixes out faster, which meant Fedora users could install Framework's firmware, driver, and BIOS updates sooner with fewer workarounds.

When Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS shipped a 6.2 kernel in August, it went back in front across mainboards.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#293

Post by adastra22 »

nathancahill wrote: post #246
TkTech wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Battery is what prevents me from taking my 13 framework with me when traveling. I spend most of my time in pycharm, rebuild docker containers constantly, and have celery + postgres + redis running full tilt. The fan is running constantly, it's always burning hot, and the battery lasts under 2 hours (if I'm really lucky). Previous generation Macbook running the same workload last for 6+ hours. That said, for someone w…

Mildly curious what kind of task requires that usage profile on a laptop (in general but especially while traveling?)

You don’t dev on a laptop?

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#294

Post by selectodude »

KomoD wrote: post #269
folmar wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shipping is quite easy, especially for small and expensive things like laptops, where adding cost of DHL/DPD shipping is not a major deal. Tangentially, as they are doing it already, selling _to consumers_ is quite hard. Each country has different regulation placing a lot of obligations on the seller.

> Each country has different regulation placing a lot of obligations on the seller. Such as? Just curious

Warranty terms, language support, needing a legal representative in every country, to start.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#295

Post by zbrozek »

My AMD Framework 13 occasionally hangs and requires hard reset to come back to life. No errors are generated. As far as I can tell it instantly and unpredictably stops executing any instructions at all.

There hasn't been a driver or firmware update in three months.

The keyboard and trackpad are mediocre.

The fan vents are on the bottom of the computer where they're almost permanently blocked.

It's not a terrible computer, and it does have what was most important to me when I was buying (a matte 3:2 screen). But I can't recommend it to anybody.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#296

Post by nrp »

ncallaway wrote: post #273
jakamau wrote: post #190

I have the DIY FW13 Intel 11th Gen with Fedora. I've had an overall positive experience and have enjoyed tinkering with it. My only negative with it has been the issue specific to 11th gens where the CMOS drains and eventually dies if the laptop is left unplugged for days-to-weeks at a time. On the whole Framework handled the issue well, there was no permanent fix without soldering or replacing the board. The company…

> I really want to see the docking station that can double as an eGPU using the FW16 discrete GPU module Yes! As another owner of the FW13, if they released some kind of external adapter for the FW16 GPU I'd definitely purchase the GPU and the adapter the day its open for sale.

We showed a proof of concept of exactly this actually at our initial launch event for Framework Laptop 16 last year. It's still something we see as an interesting use case to support, but we don't have a timeline around productization of it.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#297

Post by theossuary »

oDot wrote: post #288
nrp wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For reference, here is Notebookcheck's review stating 9 hours of real world battery life in web browsing (though on Windows): https://www.notebookcheck.net/Radeon-RX-7700S-performance-de... For Linux, when following our installation guides for power optimization, power consumption with integrated graphics should be similar. Edit: Tom's Hardware similarly reports 9 hours on Windows (with Graphics Module installed): ht…

Can you elaborate more about the tradeoffs here? I'm in the same boat, looking for as light as possible with a much battery as possible, was banking on the 16 yet we get 9 hours instead of (an assumed) ~10-11, and 2.1/2.4kg. Somehow the Thinkpad Extreme X1 and the new Zephyrus G16 have similar CPUs, dGPUs, a >90Whr battery and they weigh less than 2kg. Where's most the weight going? Will I be able to buy a FW 16 and…

Frankly that weight is from the modularity of the system. To build something repairable/modular requires scaffolding this isn't necessary if you solder and glue everything together; that's why companies like Apple do it. You are giving up some things in order to get the promised repairability of a framework.

If you want the lightest laptop with the longest battery life, you'd get a Mac. If you want the best bang for your buck go with a basic Ultrabook. If your willing to have a bit more weight, size and a bit less battery in exchange for repairability/customization, that's the niche framework fits well.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#298

Post by ParetoOptimal »

nrp wrote: post #49
esskay wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there any plans to offer larger batteries and/or improve battery efficiency? From what I've read battery life is still an issue many seem to be having. With the greatest respect it's 2024, a laptop should be capable of 8 hours at the very minimum for a mid range model but I'm seeing a lot of people getting sub 2 hours. The 16 ticks all the boxes for me but I've held off for now as having the possibility of worse…

For reference, here is Notebookcheck's review stating 9 hours of real world battery life in web browsing (though on Windows): https://www.notebookcheck.net/Radeon-RX-7700S-performance-de... For Linux, when following our installation guides for power optimization, power consumption with integrated graphics should be similar. Edit: Tom's Hardware similarly reports 9 hours on Windows (with Graphics Module installed): ht…

One huge caveat that makes me most unhappy with my framework 13 purchase is power draw on HDMI BIOS bug gives me 1-2 hours battery life.

As a result, its beginning to resemble a paperweight.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#299

Post by nrp »

Solvency wrote: post #188

I'm still bummer Framework teased having translucent laptop shells and then reneged on it. Even Apple no longer indulges in this style. I miss it.

We had a translucent version of the Bezel for Framework Laptop 13, which we shipped to the people who ordered it in the first few batches of 13th Gen and Ryzen 7040 preorders last year. The manufacturing yields ended up too low to continue production of it with the tooling we re-use across a number of different Bezel colors, so we removed the option from new orders.

Re: Framework Laptop 16 Review

#300

Post by throwaway2037 »

noirbot wrote: post #275
jwells89 wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Long battery life isn’t so much about contiguous use as it is about not needing to think about charging as often and being able to not carry a laptop charger brick on excursions. It also lets you still have “normal” laptop life left over after periods of high-intensity usage. Also generally speaking more efficient laptops are cooler which is generally a quality welcome in a device sometimes used in a person’s lap.

Yea, the Framework's battery issue for me is mostly that there is almost literally no point I could ever trust not having a power outlet nearby with the cable. I've had times where the computer, while fully shut down, loses 30% of the battery life in a few hours. Sure, it's the bulk of a Macbook Air, but I often leave that open, with the screen on, running VMs for work all day without it being plugged in. I expect th…

> I've had times where the computer, while fully shut down, loses 30% of the battery life in a few hours.

Did you report this issue to Framework? Do other users have similar issues?

Post reply on HN