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Framework laptop users: what's your build?
The Framework laptop is a completely modular, upgradeable laptop that comes pretty close to higher end laptops in terms of performance and "feel". For those of you who have/want a Framework laptop, what does your build look like?
I've got:
- 11th Gen Framework with Intel i5 (not the most powerful, but I wanted to get something quickly and relatively inexpensively)
- Dual booting Ubuntu and Fedora right now since they appear to have the best Linux compatibility and Framework community support
- Expansion ports: USB-C on the left and right so I can plug the charger in from a multitude of angles and directions! And I've got a grab bag of MicroSD, standard USB, etc. that can be switched out.
- I'll upgrade the system at some point -- unsure of whether I should stick with Intel or move to the new AMD board. I guess I'm not really sure of the benefits of doing so...
What OS are you using? What's your laptop build, and what plans do you have in the future? Have you had any major issues thus far?
My build is:
Don't really have much in terms of plans for the Framework, other than to keep using it for as long as possible. I wouldn't mind picking up the new larger battery, but I currently get battery life that is more than good enough for my needs. I might pick up one of the new colours of bezels they're releasing once they're available, depending on how they look.
My experience with it has been pretty great so far, I've only really had two main issues, neither of which are really Framework-specific I don't think
I am not on a Framework but I too have such issues. For various reasons I can't move away from Ubuntu / X, but maybe I could try the switch to KDE... my "solution" so far has been to use Grome and suffer. I gave i3 a shot but struggled to get it to cooperate with the rest of Ubuntu and can't really justify the effort to make that work. I remember having a bad time with keyboard layout management in particular.
I bought an i5-1240P and put in 32GB of RAM, a WD SN770 500GB disk, and 2x USB-A and 2x USB-C ports. I went with Gentoo Linux because, well, after almost 20 years, it's by far the Linux distro that I know the best, so why not. These Intel 12th gen CPUs have a bunch of extra cores now to throw at compiling so it wasn't too bad setting everything up. I also went with KDE, after trying both XFCE and Cinnamon on the Framework. I'm traditionally an XFCE user, but I was just so impressed with KDE's out-of-the-box fractional scaling support that I switched over. XFCE was a close runner-up for me (only if you do it via adjusting the font DPI setting, that is).
It's been smooth sailing. I really like this laptop. The 3:2 aspect ratio display is just amazing to me. I love it so much. I find the keyboard and touchpad to be surprisingly good. Much better than I was initially expecting.
The recent upgrades released have me feeling a bit jealous, I'm not going to lie. In particular, I'd love to get a matte display at some point in the future. But not anytime soon. I also like that AMD options are available. But again, I'll not be upgrading anytime soon.
Honestly, I am fully expecting that I'll be keeping my Framework laptop build as-is for at least the next few years. It's a very speedy laptop that works great for everything I need it for currently.
The only pain-point I'd love for them to finally address is the excessive power draw from non USB-C ports (yes, even USB-A ports have this issue! to a certain extent anyway) when the system is suspended. But for now I just use a suspend-then-hibernate configuration via systemd to limit the issue as much as I reasonably can.
Not sure about the USB-A ports, but at least the DisplayPort and HDMI cards have a replacement out that should make a big difference in the power usage.
Like you I just set up a suspend-then-hibernate config and in my case I usually don't need the HDMI card enough to leave it in all the time anyway, so I'm not in a huge rush to replace my cards, but at least the situation is improving.
Yeah, I've been hoping they release some fix soon for the USB-A ports as well. I actually didn't need to buy any DisplayPort or HDMI ports as I already had the necessary USB-C to DisplayPort/HDMI cables on-hand, so I thankfully wasn't affected by the even bigger power draw issues that those had initially.
And you're right, the situation is improving. They're a small company still so I'm willing to cut them a lot of slack.
12th gen Intel; whichever one was the cheapest. I'm using EndeavourOS with KDE. For expansion ports, I've got x2 USB-A, x1 USB-C, and an HDMI. I have a second USB-C and an SD card reader which I don't carry around with me.
Honestly I've been kindof dissatisfied with my Framework laptop. Battery life is just terrible, even by linux standards. I cannot get hardware video acceleration to work in most applications. The screen resolution is too high, and per-monitor scaling isn't available on a lot of distros (I often plug in an external monitor), so I'm just having to use a lower resolution and deal with black bars on the top and bottom. Proton half-works. I also am getting the issue where the trackpad sends 2000+ interrupts per second whenever I touch the trackpad.
I have tried and tried to solve these problems, with dozens of posts to the framework forum, at least two linux distro forums, even my web browser forum. I simply can't fix them. It's getting to the point where I'm starting to think it's a hardware problem; I may ask for a warranty claim, or change this computer out for like a System76 computer.
Previous discussion...
https://tildes.net/~tech/yjc/framework_laptop_review
Why are you dual booting different Linux distros?
Just messing around with them for now to see which one (if either) I like for a daily driver. I don't feel as if I get the full experience by just using a Live CD.
Ah, I see. Let me recommend checking out the Mint distro with the Cinnamon desktop. Good luck!
I am waiting for framework to release a base that is just a knock-off Microsoft Surface. Even if it's chunkier, if it's got a removable folio keyboard and nice touch screen+pen, sold. I'm using an old Surface Pro 3 now, but the amount of jank you have to deal with to get other OSes working on it makes me wish for something better.
I'd also love this, but not if it's too chunky. And I could see that happening, since I assume they'd want to continue with the concept of replaceable parts.
At least I have been able to run Ubuntu-based distros on my Surface Pro 7 without issues. As of the moment I'm writing this everything works: the pen, touchpad with gestures, rotation, camera, etc.
In case anyone is interested, check out the linux-surface project. If you're using PopOS you might have to prepare the kernel for EFI boot.
I totally support what Framework is doing! That sad, I don't have any. There are two reasons: 1) I don't have the need for laptop as I have powerful enough desktop and Steam Deck (=portable PC); 2) price is too high for me, I can't afford that.
Number 2 reason wouldn't be a problem if I absolutely needed to buy laptop. I would save for Framework instead of buying some cheap plastic one that would break two months after warranty period.
Their picing is too steep for normal users that sometimesthing even 500 is too much for a laptop. But for people who can afford them and know what Framework is about, it's almost automatic choice.
I would love to have one, but as I said - spending at least a grand on a thing that I actually don't need... I'm not rich enough for that :-) And I'm jealous, in a good way, for all the people that bought one! Enjoy your great laptop and may it last forever (or at the very least 10 years).
Not a user yet, but I'm hoping Framework 16 will be available before college starts for my son. I'm aiming to get one for him as his college laptop. The repairability and modularity of it should serve him well, and it'll be nice not to have to worry about it breaking and having to ship the laptop off to a repair center after doing the backup/salvage school work dance. His college is only 2 hours away, so whether I ship the part directly to him or me, I should be able to get him back up and running quickly and have peace of mind that the repair is done right and with minimal data loss. The upgradeability is a significant plus.
It it works for him, I'll be the next laptop purchase for myself as well once my Thinkpad T580 decides to kick the bucket.
I’ve been interested in these. How is the construction of the laptop itself? Im looking for a more rigid metal as the laptop shell. Think MacBook kind of aluminum body. Is that something framework has or could possibly make?
Still on the 11th gen Intel 1135g7, although I currently have the AMD Ryzen 5 board on preorder. Upgraded the speakers to the new 80db speakers, upgraded the hinges to the new 4.0g hinges, and I might upgrade to the matte screen and get the CNC top cover soon, as mine has a dent in the top from something.
I'm running the Framework Chromebook Edition (12-gen i5), upgraded to 32GB RAM and 1TB NVMe. For expansion ports, my daily driver is 2x USB-c, 1x USB-A, and 1x Micro-SD, and I keep 1x Ethernet and 1x HDMI in my bag.
Having a Chromebook that's easy to upgrade and easy to repair is pretty slick, and being able to mix-and-match the expansion cards to meet my needs is very handy.
I do a lot of work (and play) in the CrOS Linux Development Environment ("crostini"), and this device has handled everything I throw at it with no issues whatsoever. That includes running (older) Steam games, loads of Docker containers, a couple of complex Vagrant lab environments, and even a Windows 11 VM for shits and giggles.
I'm a big, big fan.
Are the expansion ports hot-swappable? I couldn't find the answer after a quick skim through their website.
Yes. The I/O expansion cards are just dongles under the hood, so you can add or remove them at any time.