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Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

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Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#51

Post by Gigachad »

throwaway519 wrote: post #13

Instead of contributing to more electronic waste and as an economic purchase, I... use used ThinkPads. Advantages: Zero new electronic waste created. Several 'new' machines are cheaper than a Framework. Small upgrades plentiful and cheap. A major upgrade of a'new' machine still cheaper and more environmentally friendly than a Framework. Better battery life, keyboard, ergonomic design, ports, hinges LOL, etc. Try one…

Similarly I bought a MacBook. It’s not as repairable. But it also hasn’t broken within 3 years usage and I didn’t have to upgrade the hinges and speaker right out of the box.

My 2012 MacBook Air also still works perfectly fine other than being extremely outdated.

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#52

Post by ibotty »

I bought a 1st generation framework in a pretty early batch. In between I upgraded to a ryzen mainboard and use the old mainboard as a desktop computer in the dedicated case.

The old battery is not as good as it were (even though I only charge it until 75%, which the bios lets me configure) and the display hinges are a little too weak. The hinges got fixed for newer models, even in the factory second 1st gen Intel I bought for a friend they are fixed.

There was a time when they could not keep up with bios updates, but that has apparently been sorted out. And it's not worse than other vendors...

I have no regrets.

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#53

Post by sandreas »

Some of my friends own Framework Notebooks and are pretty happy with it. I also did some testing and was convinced.

If my lenovo T480s had any unfixable problems, I would have bought one myself, but this thing just refuses to die ;)

If I could change anything, there are a few things, I would improve...

  - The speakers: i mainly use headphones, but these are pretty Bad. I'd love to See a partnership with ELAC[1] a german speaker specialist, with a more expensive paid opt in upgrade
  
  - Battery life: improved a lot in the latest models but repairable components eat battery, maybe lpcamm2 RAM would improve this

  - open source bootloader: like libreboot or oreboot
  
  - ECC RAM support: this is probably hard to do but would be really appreciated

  - support for audio jack headset remotes: some usb-c to audio Jack already support volume control via headset buttons on fedora
  
  - single handed lid opening: the weight and balance should allow to open the LiD single handed, this worked most of the time but sometimes it won't
Anyways, I'd still buy one (the AMD 14" model with better display) as soon as my thinkpad dies or is too slow for my purpose.

1: https://www.elac.com/

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#54

Post by ktallett »

dgan wrote: post #12

I bought mine in September. Overall, a big disappointment, the battery is less than mediocre (under linux). Unfortunately I missed the refund window. I bought it after using a mac m1, so i was somehow under impression that i am buying a laptop to be used during a train ride, or watching a movie in a bed. It's none of that, i bought another "movable desktop pc". Everything else is OK.

What battery life are you getting? It's not up to Macbook Air standards but I'd say with Fedora and actually using it, it's similar to what I was getting on the MacBook Pro. 6-7 hours or so. This is helped by the fact I can have the brightness down on the screen more than the MacBook for equivalent brightness.

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#55

Post by commandersaki »

tomcam wrote: post #48
commandersaki wrote: post #4

Bought a Framework 13" in 2022 (Intel 13th gen). It's equipped with 32GB ram and a 1TB drive. It has good intentions but falls short. I would say overall it is a mediocre laptop in terms of quality. Will it last longer than any other laptop? I would think so, it has a strong story of available parts and upgrades. Similarly I believe it would last longer than any other laptop, since you can essentially do a Ship of Th…

First off, thanks for the fair-minded review. It answered pretty much every significant question I had about the Frame. Second, I would like you to rethink a decision. You didn’t ask for my advice, and I’m sorry to be so rude as to give it to you. But I’m hoping it will save you a bunch of pain. When I read this, I really felt for you: a new hinge kit costs $39 AUD plus $30 AUD in shipping If you are a programmer or…

Yeah, the laptop is in reserve mode, as in it's a spare that I can use if I need it. What will likely happen though is I'll find someone to donate the laptop to, and when that times comes I'll buy the hinge kit because I wouldn't wish this annoyance upon anyone.

The hinge issue is egregiously bad, and I don't know how Framework could even ship these laptops in the first place without first addressing it.

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#56

Post by commandersaki »

IlPeach wrote: post #49

I pre-ordered my 13" with an i7 in late 2021. As a long-time Linux user, the experience has been very plug-and-play with the installation, and everything has been working as expected. During these years, I ended up opening the laptop multiple times: - upgraded the monitor hinges: this was a major annoyance when travelling. - went through support to get the mobo repaired/swapped as one of the ports broke for whatever…

Yeah I totally forgot, the screen was unbearably glossy. I got a photodon anti-glare display protector and that solved the issue. Huge quality of life improvement. The glossiness of the screen is criminal.

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#57

Post by mongol »

ic_fly2 wrote: post #42
mongol wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ThinkPads often come up in these discussions but does not the same apply for example for business versions of Dell laptops? Such as Latitude and Precision. I kept one alive for almost ten years, occasionally replacing parts with secondhand parts. It still works perfectly but I have it as a spare now.

Have used dell business laptops for many years now (Vostro 13 and friends) Used to be amazing, first one lasted a very long time (8years), my third one is currently giving up the ghost. And while Linux used to work great on them the uefi bios is so locked down that I couldn’t run it on the one i currently own. On a related note, I’m out shopping for a new laptop and am considering a framework…

What model is so locked down that Linux would not work?

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#58

Post by dabedee »

Absolutely love mine (Framework 13") and have been running either Arch or Ubuntu for the last 3 years. As mentioned elsewhere, I also had an issue with the charging cable but that is the only problem in three years of constant use. Otherwise works as expected and I was able to run everything on the hardware.

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#59

Post by MrDresden »

I have been using the 13" DIY Edition (AMD Ryzen™ 7040 Series) for 2+ years now and there haven't been any hardware issues nor breakages.

Software wise it's just worked out of the box with any Linux distro that I've tried. However Framework has been criticised for their slow availability of firmware updates (to which they responded and have gotten better at).

As has been mentioned in the thread already, the battery is not great. Expect about 3-4 hours of use depending on your workload (I do a lot of code compilation on mine).

Overall its a competent worker, but nothing amazing. Which I knew going in.

Re: Ask HN: Does the Framework laptop stand the test of time?

#60

Post by commandersaki »

grecy wrote: post #24
throwaway519 wrote: post #13

Instead of contributing to more electronic waste and as an economic purchase, I... use used ThinkPads. Advantages: Zero new electronic waste created. Several 'new' machines are cheaper than a Framework. Small upgrades plentiful and cheap. A major upgrade of a'new' machine still cheaper and more environmentally friendly than a Framework. Better battery life, keyboard, ergonomic design, ports, hinges LOL, etc. Try one…

I do exactly the same with Apple laptops. Just replaced a 2015 MBP (that I bought used in 2019) with a 2021 MBA. Before that I had a 2011 MBA. New one is 16GB/2TB and was $700. It’s the fastest computer i have ever used by a wide margin - editing tens of thousands of raw files in Lightroom, editing 4K footage (which previous machines could not even do). I sold the old MBP for $200, so I’m spending around $500 every 4…

Nice, you did the same as me, which is skip the whole butterfly era of Apple laptops. Those were dark days for the company.
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