My thoughts on framework after daily driving it for 2 years

Yep this settles it, my next laptop purchase will be a framework. The only thing that I really want is a rotatable hinge like on my (current) old ass HP TM2, just not a design that anyone seems to want anymore, but I really like it.

As cathartic it is to see Louis vent his frustrations over malicious corporations, it's just as enjoyable to watch him be a satisfied customer. Maybe even more.

These sorts of videos are gold for prospective buyers. Like Louis, I'd be buying a Framework not for having the luxuries other, more established brands provide, but to support a company that's doing the right thing, and signalling to said luxury brands that this is what the customer wants.

A few of things to note: 1) It's highly possible in the future someone (or Framework) will make a keyboard that you like, which you can switch out fairly easily 2) The Framework 16 now offers six card slots instead of four. 3) The Framework 16 also allows for a discrete GPU, if you so desire and don't mind some extra thickness. It is also modular and easily upgradeable.

Also important to note that Framework could potentially make a new keyboard layout that you can just buy and swap, their modularity allows them ti do those kinda of stuff, only limited by RnD and budget

Beyond the swappable ports, I wish we were seeing more of a ecosystem around Framework's other easily-swappable components. Imagine if, say, Keychron announced they were making a swap-in replacement ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard for Framework.

I'm watching this video on a 2 year old framework. Edit: Now that I've seen the video, I kinda agree with the 'more ports over swappable ports' thing, but on the other hand, getting to decide exactly what ports are installed means I rarely find myself needing an extra port. Little things like being able to decide which side to use to charge is super convenient. The battery bug is annoying. I knew I was buying a gen 1 product going into it and I expected a number of revisions to be needed for the next model. There have been fewer changes than I expected.

I purchased a 12th gen framework about a year ago now. It’s the first “flagship” laptop I’ve ever owned, and I LOVE it. I love being able to change my ports whenever I want, and I think that bringing these modules around is way better (cleaner and more organized) than a bunch of dongles. The company is also a fantastic role model. I had an issue with the main board that they shipped where a memory slot was malfunctioning. They didn’t treat me like I was stupid, and they sent me a replacement one right away. They also sent some more stickers 😊 The best part is I will never have to buy another laptop i can just upgrade the main board when it gets sluggish. Thunderbolt certification means that once I have the disposable income and my current gaming laptop kicks the bucket, I can get an egpu. Overall, I think this is the closest thing to “the last computer you’ll ever need” you can get, and they’ll keep making money on boards and modules.

Hi Louis, the molded plastic that holds the threaded metal inserts is technically called a 'boss'. Cheap stuff often just has a self-tapping screw screwed straight into the boss, but in laptops we always see metal inserts because they'll survive a lot more cycles of screwing and unscrewing, among other reasons. Bosses are primarily for structural integrity, they might not necessarily even have screws- they could have molded clips instead, for instance. I did lots of research on this for our internal wiki, to help people identify the most likely points of failure in laptops when we're repairing them. Hope you enjoy this small bit of mostly useless information :)

I think the main reason for the swappable ports is to make it easier to design upgradable motherboards without having to worry about specific ports having to always be located at the same locations on future motherboards

You are the voice that we need as consumers, and the type of person that makes us technicians look trustworthy. Thank you.

In my opinion there is no "too picky" when it comes to such a subjective part as a keyboard. People like different things and if you found one that is so natural for you thats really good for you and the designers deserve the praise for their work.

You’re right to call out Apple on this sort of thing, all the more so because they weren’t always like this. I remember shortly after I got my cheesegrater tower (15-16 years ago?) there was an acknowledged issue with the fan noise (a lot of recording studios complained). Apple sent free a whole new fan system with instructions as to how to swap it out. They used to really care.

The biggest thing about Framework is not only did they deliver a pretty dam good product but they are showing everyone else that being RTR oriented isn't some evil villain that all the other companies make it out to be. Big companies like Apple Samsung Dell always argue "oh if we let people repair their own devices they'll get assaulted in a parking lot. Now they have 0 excuses, ZERO. We can now look at framework with not only the take my money meme (cause the laptop is pretty good) but as a statement saying this is what's possible when you're not trying to screw people over.

One more benefit of the TrackPoint: I never liked click-and-dragging on a touchpad, while with the TrackPoint I feel super natural using my left hand to hold the left button down while I drag things with the right. It really changed my laptop use from: "I can't use it without a mouse" to "I am a bit slower without the mouse, but the computer is usable".

This was actually the best "review" of Framework 13 I've ever seen. Linux is my primary use case, and I'll be coming from ThinkPads, so you've hit a lot of points that are relevant to me. Thanks so much Louis! I wonder if you'll have a better experience with one of the newer mainboards or the upcoming Framework 16.

Louis, it’s Tuesday

Hi Louiss, I'm working on researching personal relations with Mobile devices and right to repair as my topic for Pre-thesis college project. Alot of it is inspired by yours and many other tech tubers. I wanted to thank you for a great topics you have covered and was wondering if you have any interesting leads you could points me to? Lol still, Thank you for all the coverage you have done so far

I LOVE the modularity and repairability of it. I will be getting a Framework next time I get a laptop - even more so since they have Linux support, too. I have fedora on a 12 year old MacBook and it has good palm rejection... and even better, in KDE Plasma there's a hotkey command to turn on/off the trackpad ENTIRELY so you don't even have to worry about it.

Just for info, you don't have to re-partition to add swap in Linux: you can allocate disk space into a swapfile with the mkswap utility, then add the file to fstab and have it auto-mounted as a swap partition. It's a simple 5-minute process which you might be able to fit into your schedule