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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?

#71

Post by piva00 »

frankie_t wrote: post #62

I bought a used one, the battery life is quite sorry. It can live for maybe 2h using their linux with powertop improvements. Maybe linux is part of the problem and windows would perform better (heard an argument that linux driver writers are not privy to the hw details and so cannot write energy-efficient drivers). I hate to say it as a linux fan, but if battery life was any important I would buy a mac. I have mac pr…

> I have mac pro 2017 which is probably of the same age, if not older, and the battery life is just so much better.

Jumping to the M-series would blow your mind, at least it did for me. After 8h of heavy usage my MBP still has enough left to just browse or watch something for at least another 1-2h, traveling by train and using it for lighter tasks had the battery last 14+h.

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

#72

Post by txomon »

I had mine for almost a year now. The laptop is nice, although I had problems with the motherboard twice.

Pros: * super modular, I have 2 usbc and 2 usba usually and the hdmi and ethernet on the backpack for when needed * it's pretty fast in comparison to my carbon x1 from 2021

Cons: * the motherboard died twice and they still don't know why. I suspect the charger as it stops charging after a while, something tells me they haven't fully figured out the motherboard completely yet. * BIOS software is also somewhat lacking still, but this is a well known problem they are hoping to fix with time * Battery life is not really the best, but again I blame it on the BIOS * fingerprint reader just works in Linux, and webcam too which is a difference with Carbon x1

I'm looking forward to future improvements and maybe seeing them enter the mobile phone market.

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

#73

Post by smilliken »

I got one of the first batches of the framework 16 with AMD. Easily the best laptop I've come across.

I had some issues with wifi and i2c drivers in linux presumably because the hardware was new and hadn't settled yet. Upgrading the kernel to get new drivers fixed it.

The machine looks and feels great. Good keyboard, good trackpad, good screen. I got 4TB NVMe and 96GB of RAM for cheap because I could install my own. I love that if something fails I can repair it easily myself so I don't have to wait on someone else. I love that I can swap out the ports, I didn't expect that'd be much of a benefit but I use it a lot more than I was expected. I have a handful of different expansion ports in the backpack that I swap out as needed. 8 hours of battery life with active usage.

It feels too good to be true, like if I dreamed up my ideal laptop manufacturer, but then quickly dismissed the idea as too optimistic.

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

#74

Post by justinweiss »

I have an AMD 13" running Linux that I've used for a little over a year. I love it, would absolutely buy it again. The 7840U is a great processor, and one I'm happy to sit on for a little while -- works fine for what I need it to do, fairly efficient, and even plays some modern games pretty well. A few random thoughts:

- All the hardware works out-of-the-box in Linux, at least as far as I can tell.

- Swappable ports seems like a gimmick, but it's nice. A few months ago I realized I'd rather have a built-in Micro SD port than an extra USB-C, and that change was trivial.

- If I had bought a traditional laptop, I would have been very annoyed to have an upgrade with a much nicer screen and webcam released 6 months or so after buying the laptop. Instead, I just bought the new screen and webcam module and swapped them in in less than 15 minutes.

- Speaking of the screen, I've missed matte screens ever since Apple went glossy. It's really nice to go back. The 3:2 aspect ratio is a huge bonus, the extra vertical space is useful.

- On Linux, I get around 5-6 hours of battery life under my normal use, 8 or so under light load. That's more than enough for me. Finding a way to charge has never really been a problem since laptops switched to USB-C charging.

- The speakers are not great, and they're downward firing which makes them worse. The easyeffects presets here help quite a bit: https://github.com/ceiphr/ee-framework-presets

- The trackpad is fine. It's better than most non-Apple laptops I've used, but it's still nowhere close to a MacBook's.

- Most of the early issues with the processor have been solved with newer kernel versions. There's still a crashing issue that prevents running large accelerated LLM / image models: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/amd/-/issues/3482. This isn't a problem with the Framework specifically, but I wish they provided a BIOS option to reserve more VRAM.

- I'm very much looking forward to upgrading the RAM later without buying a new machine. I'll probably do this when the above bug is fixed.

- I wish there was just a little more focus on the details. For example, the swappable port modules don't sit exactly flush with the case on the right side (they're just barely recessed too deep) and it annoys me a bit every time I see it.

Overall though, it's my favorite laptop I've owned since the 12" MacBook. It makes me happy every time I use it.

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

#75

Post by commandersaki »

magic_smoke_ee wrote: post #66
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 use a T480 (bought new a lot time ago) moderately-capable gaming PC (lol): - 3 extended, swappable batteries + third-party external battery charger (also has an internal battery T490 lacks) - 32 GiB RAM - i7-8650U - 2 TiB SSD - Retrofit/modded magnesium top case - I pre-acquired replacement parts like fans, hinges, backlit keyboards, and case screws - Works with Windows 11 + Razer Core X TB3 with an RTX 3070 Ti eGP…

It's usually the display resolution that kills it for me.

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

#77

Post by chaosharmonic »

I've got a piece sitting somewhere in my blog's drafts folder that I need to dig up photos for, literally titled "I fucking love Framework."

So full disclosure, even being immensely interested in their mission, I would have waited for the AMD version if my previous machine hadn't gotten wrecked in a car crash. Since insurance paid for it, it was essentially free. But. I've been daily driving a FW13 since early into their launch (Batch 4) and it absolutely holds up.

I'm still on a lot of the original hardware, and some of it is showing its age -- I'm particularly hard on keyboards -- but I'm aware that this is replaceable on its own. I also know I can just get the upgraded battery when my current one gives out, or eventually swap in a new display kit and also deal w the hinges in one go.

One thing that was exactly as magical as promised was upgrading the board. I opted for more RAM over a better CPU the first time but also had weird graphics driver issues under Arch when I tried running games on the 11th gen Intel board generally. Being able to clear up hardware-level issues by just installing better hardware, and then suddenly seeing a huge capability boost in what your machine is able to run, cannot be overstated. (I can also run smaller LLMs on it without pushing the limits of my CPU now.)

Some other gripes/musings:

- The DIY config should just bake the basic components into the up-front price. It's one thing to upsell on more expensive components (different expansion cards for instance), but as a customer it's irritating to see individual upcharges for things like bezels that I need as part of the build.

- Aside from wishing there were a good first-party way of recycling the monitor, I would be really interested in seeing a board that's just a USB hub, enabling the use of the body as an I/O device.

- I realize this isn't a Framework issue, but I wish there were an AMD board with more than 2 USB4 ports.

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

#78

Post by jtcours »

We have a pair of Intel 13s at the company as a pilot test, running Ubuntu.

One of them had a battery failure: the battery swelled inside the laptop. Framework determined it was out of warranty, since it was more than a year from purchase, so we paid for the new battery. (Along with some extra excitement because the 45W supply isn't provisioned to handle peak demand without a battery, so we ended up with an Amazon-delivered 100W supply to keep it running until the battery arrived.)

The other machine occasionally hangs. We're still trying to run it down, but it looks like it might be the SSD powering down and failing to power back up.

My overall take is that I really, really want to love this product, but a work machine has to be reliable, and these laptops are falling short on that front.

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

#80

Post by zeagle »

zeagle wrote: post #7

I have one with an 1135g7. I bought it to replace a surface laptop and to support the idea of unsoldered ram and easy replacement parts. I upgraded the display, replaced the lid hinges, and dropped it right on the power button corner so had to replace the keyboard/lid/base the other year. For the money could have given a different machine with better specs but nice to repair. It works well with good build quality but…

One other consideration is I usually give old tablets, phones, laptops to my extended family. In this case I won't as not enough parts. I think when I do replace the motherboard it I'll the old mobo/ram/ssd as a blueiris machine instead of running it on a VM.
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