| I bought an Intel i7 like 2 years ago. My takeaways: - I would rather buy a MacBook now, the whole ecosystem is nicer. This is not Framework’s fault, Apple’s ecosystem just works and at some point you just want stuff that works. I absolutely love the AirPods and there’s always some minor annoyances when pairing with the laptop. - The removable port adapters are nice but not that useful in reality. I occasionally change the charging port to the other side to make charging easier in different spaces. The HDMI adapter sometimes needs to be removed and reinserted which sucks. - The build quality is good enough. I wouldn’t expect any less from any laptop at that price point. - I believe the main selling point was that you could switch parts easily. However, I don’t see myself performing any major upgrade like changing the mobo/cpu. Those upgrades are fairly expensive. Also, I don’t see myself building stuff with a spare mobo/cpu. - Given the previous point, I wouldn’t say this laptop is going to last me longer than any other high quality laptop. I have a Sony VAIO that is still working after more than a decade. I expect the same of this laptop and I expect the same of any high end laptop. - speakers suck. Overall I think the concept is really nice and I am glad that I supported the company. However, I think that making conventional laptops more repairable is good enough. Full modularity is a cool concept but it does seem to have a lot of drawbacks. Give me the ability to easily change the hard drive, the RAM, the battery, the keyboard/trackpad and that is sufficient for me. Maybe the screen. If you are really environmentally conscious I would say you can achieve something similar by buying a high end device, using it 5-8 years, and then sell it/gift it when you need to upgrade. There’s also the argument that a perfectly good laptop can end in a trash bin because of a faulty port or something minor. But honestly, I have never had that happen. Either I’m just lucky or electronics at this price point are generally well built. Given that you did a bit of research before buying. |
I doubt that changing the mobo / cpu is something done very frequently, so I could accept it to be a bit more involved (as in require multiple screws instead of just pulling it out or similar).
For that, something like an HP EliteBook would be good enough. The laptops are fairly OK if you don't insist on good quality screens. They're easily serviceable for the most common parts (the battery is held in place with screws, the ssd and ram are removable, the screen hinges are screwed in, but are metal and quite robust).
I don't know how easy it is to find spare parts for these actual laptops, but my point is that this could maybe be a better compromise than the full-modular framework. Of course, HP has to change the models every year to look new, but a dedicated manufacturer wouldn't have to.