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The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

phoronix.com

161–170 of 208 posts

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#161
post #60
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My current laptop is a Thinkpad X200t from 10+ years ago. The MNT has a modern GPU and a nice keyboard. I think it's going to work quite well.

Maybe, at least that era of Core 2 Duo thinkpads supported 8G of RAM... I was in a similar boat until last year when I switched from a modded x61s to an x220 i7 then x230 i7 w/16GB which I'm still using and cost under $300 on ebay. The HD4000 iGPU is at least Vulkan capable. It's really unfortunate the imx8 SoC didn't have even an 8GB variant. The fact that you can get a raspberry pi with more memory than the Reform…

So, I checked and I'm currently only using 4gb in my laptop. I think this laptop and I are going to get along just fine!

Also, I will be able to upgrade that part as it comes available. Plenty of room!

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#162
post #103

I'm typing this on my Framework now and I have to say it really is a special device. The prevailing culture of treating technology as disposable is something I personally don't vibe with - I always keep all of my tech and have collected machines over the years that most people would probably consider obsolete and uninteresting (there's an Amiga 1000 and iMac G3 currently in my field of view). Having a fully open mach…

I'll be trying the pi-top touch display when my Framework arrives. It might take a little effort, but I'm optimistic.

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is out and kids upstairs so I'm reading HN alone in the living room and actually laughed out loud (after first thinking you had replied to the wrong comment).

Sorry, I still don't get the joke! Can you enlighten me, please?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_key

easily confused with the conversation's "Windows key" aka "software license".

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife is out and kids upstairs so I'm reading HN alone in the living room and actually laughed out loud (after first thinking you had replied to the wrong comment).

Sorry, I still don't get the joke! Can you enlighten me, please?

'Windows key'

'Key' being alternately the licence key, or found on the keyboard.

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#165
post #103

I'm typing this on my Framework now and I have to say it really is a special device. The prevailing culture of treating technology as disposable is something I personally don't vibe with - I always keep all of my tech and have collected machines over the years that most people would probably consider obsolete and uninteresting (there's an Amiga 1000 and iMac G3 currently in my field of view). Having a fully open mach…

> 4. The 3:2 display is awesome for programming and content creation, and I don't know why more devices don't adopt it. The display on the FrameWork laptop needs to be scaled fractionally (about ~1.6x) which is a deal breaker for me. It would've been far better if it had resolution of 3000x2000 or 3200x1800, which would've given it a PPI of ~270 and integer scaling at 2x. Linux support for fractional scaling with mul…

To be honest, I can’t say that this has been an issue for me on the Framework with Wayland and GNOME. Or at least I haven’t noticed it. My external monitor is 3840x2160, not HiDPI so maybe the issue is with multiple HiDPI displays of varying pixel density? I’m also using 1x scaling on both displays which perhaps simplifies things.

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you tell us what are they based on? My ones are on security and control.

One example for me is Linux support in the GPU wars. Nvidia has been very hostile to Linux compared to AMD, so philosophically (for now), I’ll prefer AMD for my platform despite Nvidia offering a better GPU. Not as big a deal with Intel, but I like encouraging what I see as good behavior. AMD market share isn’t anywhere near Intel either, so I also like putting my money on the “underdog” to keep the competition going…

But Intel has better driver support than either for its integrated graphics.

A lot of people hate on Intel but they are actually friendly to open source in some important ways too. As with many companies their size it's definitely a mixed bag.

They also are the only American fab left. I am glad AMD/TSMC is competitive but there's something to be said for supporting Intel to prevent a TSMC monopoly.

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#168
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I‘ve been thinking about it more from a "what I wish one of the 20 OEMs building crazy windows convertibles should build" than a " what can I DIY“ angle. Here‘s what I would want: Computer is maybe the size of new 16" MBP (large but reasonable). All the components in the base, the screen is thin and light. Instead of a flimsy ribbon cable the screen is connected with a removable flat cable that has an auto roll-up me…

On the same boat with macOs, my dream would be an 13" iPad running macOs, with MBA bottom shell as battery + keyboard + trackpad + speakers + etc. But currently an external monitor (or ipad + sidecar) is the best choice. I'm also trying to work on a stand design for the second monitor, but it's not easy.

I'll do you one better for what I would want - iPhone that could slot into an iPad chassis a la Asus Padfone of old, which in tern docks onto bottom shell that contains keyboard/trackpad. The hardware is more than capable, heat output would be one concern for sure. I wouldn't mind a Mac that is even 70% as fast as the M1

Tried this with a galaxy s10e with magnetic dock attached to the back of a 10.6" 16:10 2560x1600 touchscreen display, and it went well, however software support for a desktop mode (DeX) was still lacking.

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#169
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 4. The 3:2 display is awesome for programming and content creation, and I don't know why more devices don't adopt it. The display on the FrameWork laptop needs to be scaled fractionally (about ~1.6x) which is a deal breaker for me. It would've been far better if it had resolution of 3000x2000 or 3200x1800, which would've given it a PPI of ~270 and integer scaling at 2x. Linux support for fractional scaling with mul…

To be honest, I can’t say that this has been an issue for me on the Framework with Wayland and GNOME. Or at least I haven’t noticed it. My external monitor is 3840x2160, not HiDPI so maybe the issue is with multiple HiDPI displays of varying pixel density? I’m also using 1x scaling on both displays which perhaps simplifies things.

> I’m also using 1x scaling on both displays which perhaps simplifies things.

I'm sorry if I sound snarky but this right here is the problem. Using a display at 1x scaling which needs at least ~1.5x scaling for text and images to be legible isn't really feasible so I expect you've scaled just the font size instead?

If yes, you've basically chosen to compromise because all GUI apps will look out of place and odd with buttons and icons still at 1x. If you've neither scaled your display nor your font size, your eyes are exceptionally good to be able to read tiny fonts but most people don't have such eyes.

I've been told by people that they don't use GUI apps and just use the terminal but if that's the case, they should point out this caveat about their workflow being unique when singing praises about Framework laptop so that others don't get misleaded into a buying a laptop with a display that's basically broken.

Re: The Framework Laptop Is Great for a Linux-Friendly, Upgradeable/Modular Laptop

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 4. The 3:2 display is awesome for programming and content creation, and I don't know why more devices don't adopt it. The display on the FrameWork laptop needs to be scaled fractionally (about ~1.6x) which is a deal breaker for me. It would've been far better if it had resolution of 3000x2000 or 3200x1800, which would've given it a PPI of ~270 and integer scaling at 2x. Linux support for fractional scaling with mul…

Totally agree. All these reviews are conveniently ignoring this. Some of them I’ve seen even just left it at 2x scaling and did the whole video with a giant cartoonish UI that had no actual usable space. For Linux users this display needs to be either 1500x1000 or 3000x2000.

> Some of them I’ve seen even just left it at 2x scaling and did the whole video with a giant cartoonish UI that had no actual usable space.

Either that or they keep it at 1x scaling and just scale the fonts instead which is a pretty degraded and compromising experience if you use GUI apps and not just the terminal.

But this is conveniently omitted when singing praises about Framework. The laptop has a broken display that'll give you nothing but headache if you enable fractional scaling and if you disable it, you're compromising after spending potentially thousands of dollars.

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