No interest in this exactly, but I am interested in the idea that third parties are now targeting the Framework form factor explicitly to sell upgrades/replacements outside of the Framework marketplace.
Yeah, there’s a lot of critiques of the product/packaging/etc, but this feels like huge validation of the Framework model - this is an unrelated 3rd party looking to get a chip in consumer hands who decided to use the FW chassis. That’s Exactly what we all were hoping for when Framework first launched.
Yeah I genuinely don't understand why they didn't consider fast tracking rk3588S boards for a retrofit. Drivers weren't good for a while, but they weren't hopeless either.
Its about time, I hope System76 comes up with their own version of the Framework laptop, because I would love to buy a laptop where I can swap out all internals, motherboard etc. but I really also want to work with System76 because I love what they are doing with POP_OS! (though I prefer arch these days, I can still use their Desktop environment etc) and love that they make Linux hardware specifically.
We have needed a "Jeep of Laptops" for a while, maybe someone needs to spec out a fully open source design that any manufacturer can target.
Honestly a Framework+System76 merger would make a lot of sense. System76 cares about the software but uses whitelabeled hardware. Framework has done excellent hardware engineering but doesn't care much about the software.
I don't know that it's fair to say Framework don't care much about the software. Their oldest devices are still getting firmware updates. At any rate, Pop!_OS runs very well on Framework Laptops (though I use Arch + Hyprland, w/ Windows on their storage expansion card).
That's a bit of a hot take considering all the donations they've been making to OSS projects. Sure, maybe they're not making Yet Another Distro but they're donating to and upstreamimg patches to things that everyone (including PopOS) uses.
To me, that's far from not caring about the software. Especially when you compare to other vendors like Pine.
To be clear, this wasn't an attempt at a diss on Framework. They're what my recommended laptop has been for the past ~3 years (and would be what I got if I hadn't gotten my most recent laptop before frameworks were widely available).
What I probably should have said is that System76 takes open software ridiculously seriously in the same way that Framework takes open hardware ridiculously seriously. On the scale of Linux laptops, Framework is on par with Dell and Lenovo (the best of the big OEMs) in terms of upstreaming patches etc.
System76 OTOH is completely crazy. They've put Coreboot on their laptops, built their own DE because they got tired of Ubuntu not shipping proper nvidia drivers, etc.
"Like the Pi 4, I think this system is the first RISC-V desktop environment that isn't painful to use, just inconvenient. Actions still have delays, but the delays are more reasonable, and don't make me constantly question if the computer's frozen."
also some really odd choices by Eswin for the eic7702x, which is essentially 2 p550 chips glued together.
It should be possible to make a dumb version of such a keyboard wired the same as the stock one, just with the keys moved around. It would need some OS configuration to be truly useful, though.
Similar to a sibling comment, and perhaps not really applicable (since this isn't a company making something people can buy...), but the MNT Reform is amenable to fitting a custom/ergonomic keyboard also (I hadn't seen the Framework in the sibling comment, it looks very cool!).
I don't know how to link to it directly, but midway down this article there's a picture and some more links of an MNT Reform (apparently completely home-built) with a very cool, "thumb-centric", column staggered ergo keyboard:
I actually like short travel very light linear switches, mechanical or not.
I don’t like row stagger and non-split keyboards, for ergonomic reasons. That’s definitely a niche preference, but if anyone would cater to it you’d expect it to be Framework or similar.
You're right that Framework is exactly where I would expect flexibility on this: I mean, just looking at their landing page - you see a laptop without the keyboard and ports. Framework offers 176 (!) kinds of "keyboards":
(Answer: it's basically just keyboard covers, and the many options are due to variations of colors and languages. But I would take a hot pink / toxic green keyboard with ancient tibetan labels if the keys were non-chicklet, with decent travel, sizes, and feedback. 7 rows if possible.)
Overhead of small volume manufacturing. If they make all those variations and intend to continue existing as a company that makes money selling things, it would have to be at a price where no one's going to buy one. But if I start an Etsy store selling one-offs at $399 each, people can grumble about my price, but it's not on Framework.
Exactly. This is exactly we get in return for compromising on quality and price with framework. Other tech is cheaper because of planned obsolescence or lock in. Im glad to pay more money to have this freedom
The Legion Go is basically that with some joycons and a screen. I keep mine in my entertainment center when I'm not using it handheld, and play plastic instrument games on the big screen.
Looks like this would be an easy entry point to a DIY Steam Machine that takes up ~no space under your TV.
It's not standard mini-itx. Since the physical form factors for their laptop boards are published publicly and are somewhat stable, are "desktop" cases for them.