I just placed a preorder for one of the upcoming AMD laptops because the timing is good relative to my needs and I like their corporate ethos.
While I won't need to execute this rework, it doesn't deserve the "very difficult" rating. The biggest hurdle for most people will be the equipment. A microscope makes all the difference in the world for stuff like this, but few folks have them or know where to go to borrow time on one.
By contrast, I just replaced the screen and battery on a Surface Pro. That was definitely very difficult. Mostly because of glue.
No, but I also can't imagine Apple shipping something that needed a bodge wire soldered in to make it work well. They do a lot more power consumption engineering than most PC companies and they operate on such a large scale that they'd have found out about a battery drain like this much sooner and could fix it in the production process.
I'm using this to yet again make my semi-annual plea for someone to please make a framework-compatible keyboard with a Thinkpad-style trackpoint. That's the only thing keeping me on Lenovo at this point, decades of ingrained muscle memory. The patent is expired (from 1997 and 1998) and it'd be huge!
It's funny, I actually have a Thinkpad (my work machine), and never use that thing. Just never got into it. I like the positioning in theory I suppose, just haven't accustomed to its location or acceleration, and the trackpad isn't so far away as to make me.
But what do you do at regular desktops/with a docked laptop? Mice bother me more, I've been looking into getting an Apple trackpad (to use with Linux) so it's a pad not a mouse but also so that I can put it in laptop-esque positioning, which seems more ergonomic to me, from primarily using the keyboard. (Not as much as a ThinkPad nipple of course, but as above I've never grown used to it, and I don't think any such keyboards exist anyway.)
I have one, never had the muscle memory for it. And never really used it. until I was using the machine in a moving vehicle on a rough road. and under those circumstances it was amazing how much better the point was than the pad. I was converted.
This is why I dislike touchscrens in cars, for the most part touchscreen are fine(ish) you loose most feedback, but you gain a lot of flexibility in display. fine for most day to day use. Until you try to use one on a rough road, then it is just hell.
Somewhat related, a few years ago when the first spacex manned capsule was launched, I gave an audible gasp when I saw they used touch screens, what idiot certified that, rocket launch is a very vibrating environment. I bet the touch screens were unusable during liftoff. However those spacex touchscreens did have one redeeming feature I would like to see on car touch screens. A bar to steady your hand while using it.
However, given the sad state of modern thinkpads (soldered ram, nothing’s upgradeable etc etc) i think you (we?) should really reconsider if the trackpoint is worth the hassle.
I’m certainly reconsidering… I’m waiting for amd and 16” version reviews.
I'm in the same boat. I was considering just buying a standalone Lenovo Thinkpad keyboard and using it with the Framework laptop, but kind of defeats the purpose of a laptop.
Sadly, I estimate we're in such a tiny minority it simply makes no market sense for anyone to cater to us.
A small but passionate minority - given framework's modularity, it's not inconceivable that someone else will manufacture and sell a small batch of compatible keyboards and touchpads with buttons.
It might be possible to use an OG Thinkpad keyboard. Assuming it physically fits in the machine, the electronics are quite straightforward. People have already adapted old Thinkpad keyboards to work over USB. I am pretty sure they'll be too thick, but I will take some measurements anyway.
It is even conceivable someone is still manufacturing these keyboards. I see several companies listing Thinkpad keyboards on AliBaba, but I don't know AliBaba well enough to tell if they are manufacturing new keyboards or just selling old ones.
I loved the old keyboards with concave keys. The new era of flat keyboards is disheartening. Short throw is ok, but the flat keys don't have the wonderful feel of keys that match the curvature of your finger pads. The curvature also helps your fingers self-center on the keys for precision.
Framework is killing it and I absolutely love it. I have no need for a laptop right now, but if I ever buy another one, they'll definitely be at the top of my list. The only concern I have is with screen resolution. I'm using a MacBook and the screen resolution is an absolute blessing.
The framework does 2256 x 1504, the 13,3 inch macbook pro does 2560 x 1600. Doesn't seem like that large of a difference, especially at that screen size.
Neat! An upgradable laptop made with high quality materials!
I know nobody asked for my opinion, but I saw the [Ethernet card](https://frame.work/ca/en/products/ethernet-expansion-card) and was a bit sad. How about something like 3Com XJACK to keep it small and without protrusions when travelling?
I've personally never had one of those hinged ethernet jacks reliably work. Or, they do, but the link is incredibly unstable. I just settled on having a thick enough laptop to support a 'native' full-size jack in my last purchase cycle, but I could see the Framework style being very nice for how little I find myself using it: that way when you _need_ a full size jack, you have one that's stable.
I suspect most people these days have hardwired networking to a laptop dock, and then thunderbolt from there to the laptop anyway.
"Due to 27 different regulations in the EU alone (and more in other non-EU-countries), the administrative burden for international e-commerce is huge. Other than packaging regulations in many countries, WEEE regulations do typically not have any minimum thresholds or exceptions for SMEs. Therefore, WEEE registration and recycling fees are required in every country (separately – even within the EU) when shipping internationally. This also goes for startups and small stores which have just started selling electronics in Europe. (The laws even apply before the first sale is made.)"
When GDPR went into effect, our company had ~5 clients in the EU (out of thousands). It was cheaper to drop those 5 clients than attempt to even read and comply with the regulation. We weren’t even doing anything nefarious, it just wasn’t worth our time to spend any brainpower thinking about it.
I was waiting over one year for shipping to Czech Republic. Finally I solved it by buying over Germany with service that created virtual address there and reshipped to Czech Republic.
Edit: I understand that for business especially non-european EU rules must be complicated. But seems to me that for the EU customer it works great.
I love what the company is doing and I really want to support their business, but I just can't get away from macOS.
Hackintoshes aren't super viable anymore, so I have a pie-in-the-sky hope that there will be a viable general arm64 chip for laptops that one day Framework could adopt for Windows-on-ARM and Linux, and that someone will get macOS working on it.
Some crazy person modified their Framework to use the Acer Spin 713 OLED display[0], but I really hope down the road there's an OLED option to purchase directly from their Marketplace. I'm betting the Framework 16 will have it, but there still hasn't been too much revealed about it.
The speakers are also disappointing; you'll definitely want to experiment with different sound equalizers. On Fedora, I'm using this Advanced Auto Gain preset[1] with PipeWire/EasyEffects.
Readit News
Fully out of my range of talents, but does show they genuinely care about what they preach.
While I won't need to execute this rework, it doesn't deserve the "very difficult" rating. The biggest hurdle for most people will be the equipment. A microscope makes all the difference in the world for stuff like this, but few folks have them or know where to go to borrow time on one.
By contrast, I just replaced the screen and battery on a Surface Pro. That was definitely very difficult. Mostly because of glue.
And it they would release a new and fixed version they would announced as if they had created a new form of life.
But what do you do at regular desktops/with a docked laptop? Mice bother me more, I've been looking into getting an Apple trackpad (to use with Linux) so it's a pad not a mouse but also so that I can put it in laptop-esque positioning, which seems more ergonomic to me, from primarily using the keyboard. (Not as much as a ThinkPad nipple of course, but as above I've never grown used to it, and I don't think any such keyboards exist anyway.)
This is why I dislike touchscrens in cars, for the most part touchscreen are fine(ish) you loose most feedback, but you gain a lot of flexibility in display. fine for most day to day use. Until you try to use one on a rough road, then it is just hell.
Somewhat related, a few years ago when the first spacex manned capsule was launched, I gave an audible gasp when I saw they used touch screens, what idiot certified that, rocket launch is a very vibrating environment. I bet the touch screens were unusable during liftoff. However those spacex touchscreens did have one redeeming feature I would like to see on car touch screens. A bar to steady your hand while using it.
However, given the sad state of modern thinkpads (soldered ram, nothing’s upgradeable etc etc) i think you (we?) should really reconsider if the trackpoint is worth the hassle.
I’m certainly reconsidering… I’m waiting for amd and 16” version reviews.
Sadly, I estimate we're in such a tiny minority it simply makes no market sense for anyone to cater to us.
It is even conceivable someone is still manufacturing these keyboards. I see several companies listing Thinkpad keyboards on AliBaba, but I don't know AliBaba well enough to tell if they are manufacturing new keyboards or just selling old ones.
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Genuine-New-Laptop-Ke...
Framework 13": 200dpi
MacBook Pro 13": 227dpi
MacBook Pro 14": 254dpi
I know nobody asked for my opinion, but I saw the [Ethernet card](https://frame.work/ca/en/products/ethernet-expansion-card) and was a bit sad. How about something like 3Com XJACK to keep it small and without protrusions when travelling?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/XJACK
Or the spring-loaded swivel down port from Lenovo?
https://www.reviewgeek.com/p/uploads/2021/05/c9c310c4.jpg
That said, I’m not their target audience…
I suspect most people these days have hardwired networking to a laptop dock, and then thunderbolt from there to the laptop anyway.
"Due to 27 different regulations in the EU alone (and more in other non-EU-countries), the administrative burden for international e-commerce is huge. Other than packaging regulations in many countries, WEEE regulations do typically not have any minimum thresholds or exceptions for SMEs. Therefore, WEEE registration and recycling fees are required in every country (separately – even within the EU) when shipping internationally. This also goes for startups and small stores which have just started selling electronics in Europe. (The laws even apply before the first sale is made.)"
https://www.ecosistant.eu/en/weee-directive/
You mean the regulatory burden that the EU single market was made to fix but yet still exists?
Edit: I understand that for business especially non-european EU rules must be complicated. But seems to me that for the EU customer it works great.
Hackintoshes aren't super viable anymore, so I have a pie-in-the-sky hope that there will be a viable general arm64 chip for laptops that one day Framework could adopt for Windows-on-ARM and Linux, and that someone will get macOS working on it.
The speakers are also disappointing; you'll definitely want to experiment with different sound equalizers. On Fedora, I'm using this Advanced Auto Gain preset[1] with PipeWire/EasyEffects.
[0] https://community.frame.work/t/framework-laptop-alternative-...
[1] https://github.com/JackHack96/EasyEffects-Presets