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The Framework Laptop

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Re: The Framework Laptop

#141

Post by ryandrake »

kieranl wrote: post #75
gillesjacobs wrote: post #58

Great initiative, but the proprietary expansion cards are entirely counter-productive to maintainability. The expansion cards will only be available for as long as your company provides them. Using the most-commonly used, mass-manufactured standard interfaces for components would provide more long-term repairability and upgradeability. The trade-off would be in design resulting in more bulk and in the economics of yo…

We will open up the expansion card spec and share reference designs to enable partners and the community to build their own! I want it to be open as much as you do.

This is a great first step. Ideally the expansion story converges on some kind of industry-wide standard, like PCMCIA was. Would be cool to have other peripheral manufacturers out there agreeing on the spec and committed to building expansion hardware!

Re: The Framework Laptop

#142

Post by foobarian »

burlesona wrote: post #55

Well, HN will love this. Moddable laptop with a good webcam? Nice. But: - I really dislike the arrow keys not having the air gap above left and right. You’d think they’d learn that from the MacBook butterfly keyboard era. - it’s a little disingenuous to say “no adapters” when in fact their little expansion cards are merely adapters that insert into the chassis of the laptop. Only four I/O ports is a little tight (des…

> - that laptop looks pretty thick and heavy by today’s standards.

I am not a fan of today's standards. As I write (on an external A1243 keyboard) I look at the closed touchbar MBP in front of me and cringe at the gap between the cover and the body go from zero on the left to 1/4" on the right. This laptop is too thin for its own good, for no good reason, and I look forward to how sturdy this design would be with the extra thickness (not to mention all the other goodies they list).

Re: The Framework Laptop

#143

Post by kieranl »

markyc wrote: post #132

the only thing I'd ask for is a no fan version

We have no no fan/low fan support on our firmware backlog - basically reducing the SOC TDP to the point where the laptop becomes a passively cooled and does not require the fan. So you can have performance when you want it, and silence when you want.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#144

Post by auraham »

This seems to be a really great product. I understand many of its features may change in the future. However, I would like to see a spec sheet in the website. Also, I wonder what is the difference between the standard model and the DIY version.

On the other hand, the interior and exterior of the laptop look gorgeous.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#145

Post by mattowen_uk »

burlesona wrote: post #55

Well, HN will love this. Moddable laptop with a good webcam? Nice. But: - I really dislike the arrow keys not having the air gap above left and right. You’d think they’d learn that from the MacBook butterfly keyboard era. - it’s a little disingenuous to say “no adapters” when in fact their little expansion cards are merely adapters that insert into the chassis of the laptop. Only four I/O ports is a little tight (des…

For me, the huge trackpad in the middle front is the problem. Centred trackpads, weren't a problem when they were about 1/2 the size, but they've steadily been getting bigger and bigger. Now almost all laptop trackpads are at a size where the base my thumb and the edge of my wrist brush against them, causing endless false touches. If I'm typing for any length of time on a laptop, I now always disable the touchpad and plug in a mouse. Give me a laptop with an offset smaller trackpad please. I suppose people who only use a laptop, learn to type with floating hands with claw-like fingers, but I use a desktop most of the time, so my resting-wrists-on-the-desk style of typing doesn't work.

I can't be the only person with this problem?

Edit: While I'm ranting, I am 100% sure that the touch-logic in trackpads favour right handed people (same with mobile phone screens) and as a leftie it seems harder for me to perform complex multi-touch actions than it does for right handed people.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#146

Post by Gracana »

Do physical units exist yet? Where is the manufacturing done? It looks expensive to manufacture in small quantities. I do like the idea, but I'm afraid that this will become e-waste if Framework doesn't exist, grow, and succeed for years to come.

The MNT Reform also does the "sustainable laptop" thing, via an open source approach. It's a lot simpler to manufacture and easier for end users to modify, and its longevity doesn't necessarily rely on MNT Research continuing to exist. I feel that's the safer approach.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#147

Post by varispeed »

This would be perfect think to spin off your own machines. Imagine downloading a Kicad files for motherboard, adding your own stuff, sending off to JLCPCB or similar for assembly and then stuffing into the laptop shell.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#148

Post by nrp »

auraham wrote: post #144

This seems to be a really great product. I understand many of its features may change in the future. However, I would like to see a spec sheet in the website. Also, I wonder what is the difference between the standard model and the DIY version. On the other hand, the interior and exterior of the laptop look gorgeous.

At launch, the standard pre-built model and DIY have the same CPU options available. DIY allows a broader range of memory and storage options, including bringing your own. The pre-built offers Windows 10 Home or Pro, while DIY offers those plus the option to ship without an OS installed. Both versions allow Expansion Card selection at order time.

Edit: And we will be sharing full spec sheets before we open pre-orders.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#149

Post by blhack »

acomjean wrote: post #50
SloopJon wrote: post #33

One of the repair challenges is access to old parts. The drain hose on our three year-old washer sprung a leak. When I called a repair man, he at first said that Samsung doesn't make that part anymore. Fortunately, he was mistaken, but if that's something that happens for a simple hose, imagine trying to replace the "high-end headphone amp" expansion card on this laptop five years from now. Even if I'm not too excite…

There used to be a pretty standard adapter card for laptops. I had an "ethernet modem card" from ibm in that form factor that worked well. And a scsi adapter for a zip drive I think. Its been a while... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_Card

It would be really cool if they had just made a laptop that accepted PCMCIA cards, and then made a bunch of new PCMCIA cards.

Re: The Framework Laptop

#150

Post by arcturus17 »

samizdis wrote: post #103

Ars Technica has a sceptical but optimistic/hopeful take on it: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/framework-startup-de... Edit to add quote from Ars article: Framework is promising an awful lot in its very first product—"thin as an XPS 13, repairable as a custom-built gaming PC" is a pretty tall order to live up to. We very much want to believe, but it's going to take a full Ars Technica teardown before we're c…

They've got the street cred but producing and marketing hardware is so damn hard.

Ouya and the Essential phone are two cases that immediately spring to mind where the founding teams were credible, but the products ended up being massive flops.

Good luck to them anyway. The idea is cool and I think if I were on the lookout for a Linux laptop and they delivered on their quality promise, I'd consider them.

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