The article is clanker slop. It’s mostly reiterative, a clear sign of clanker slop. Clankers are reiterative in their slop. A lot of clanker slop is reiterative.
That’s an excellent point, and you’re right to push back on this. Let me make an honest evaluation of the situation.
I haven’t needed to buy a laptop since the company existed. If I did they’d be a strong contender
TLDR: Fuck “AI”
I was in the market for a 14’’ work laptop and I so DESPERATELY wanted to buy a Framework but I couldn’t thanks to a combination of all the AI bullshit driving up memory prices, Framework still being on the Series 1 Intel Ultra chips, and their global availability not quite being there (this bit is understandable for a relatively new company). I ended up buying a base 14’’ MacBook Pro M5 even though I wanted to stay on Linux simply because it was the only thing with good perf, crazy good battery, and good build quality that was priced semi-reasonably even though it’s on the opposite end of the repairability spectrum.
Even now a comparable Framework (Intel Ultra X7 358H, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD) costs ~$150 more than what I paid for my Mac, assuming I can even get it shipped to where I am, and the regional pricing/taxes doesn’t push the price higher. Kinda crazy because it’s on the more reasonable side of things if memory serves. Dell XPS costs even more.
I hope this memory crisis gets sorted because I never thought I’d see the day that Apple became the budget option. Maybe I’ll sell my Mac and get a Framework then because as much as I love using the Mac, I still hate being at Apple’s mercy if anything breaks or if I need an upgrade.
I hope this memory crisis gets sorted
https://dam.stanford.edu/memory-prices.html
Looks like pretty normal market fluctuation. Not a crisis.
Not readily available in Australia, I associate it with Linus (not torvalds), they’re expensive, and god knows if Trump does weird export import stuff the moment it ships, and if it needs repair, nobody would be unsurprised if Trump made us pay to ship it back
Framework have been available in Australia for years. A few years back I ordered one and it shipped from Taiwan to regional South Australia in about a week. I was pissed off because they almost beat an order from PCcasegear. They are manufactured in and ship from Taiwan, not trumpistan.
It’s available. But, still ships from overseas last I checked.
US company though apparently, but didn’t realise they ship from Taiwan.
One thing that is interesting, is you can get a riscv board and an arm board. Would be good if they have an elite Broadcom board though
Framework is great, but it’s just so insanely expensive.
I was buying a new laptop about 2 years ago. A framework one cost more than twice the price of a regular ultrabook with comparable (but better) specs.
Sure, you pay more for a Framework, and you can upgrade it later instead of buying a new laptop. Makes sense, but even then - a Framework one is more expensive than 2 laptops with similar specs. It only gets cheaper on the third upgrade. Which for me may be 10 years away.
Personally I’m not thrilled about investing in a laptop that will pay off in a decade. Who knows what laptops will be like by that time. Hell, it’s not unconceivable that devices like Framework will be outlawed. Or that Framework goes out of business.
It might make sense for people who upgrade often, but I don’t. Or for people who don’t, but are wealthy enough to pay the premium anyway. If anything, I feel like having a Framework would make me want to upgrade more often, which would be a waste of money.
Or that Framework goes out of business.
Even if they do, they use mostly off-the-shelf components, and the designs for the stuff that isn’t are open-sourced. You can still repair them even if Framework doesn’t exist.
Mediocre hardware for premium prices. It probably doesn’t help that they have been in some controversial drama either.
Let’s not forget that Linus Sebastian from Linus Tech Tips is an investor as well. I don’t want my money to go to that greedy turd who screwed over his own audience for money in pure greed, and when he became a rich turd he instantly became the very greedy person he used to hate on the WAN Show.
Framework’s whole thing is upgradable laptops. The increased cost is what you pay for the upgradable platform instead of buying a new laptop.
Repairability has already been proven multiple times by several OEMs like Lenovo.
Even if the repair process itself becomes tedious, the mark of a quality OEM is offering parts and schematics that allow repair shops to disgnose and fix broken machines.
Unlike Apple, which actively prohibits their vendors from selling any parts to anyone except Apple.
I can’t afford that kind of money on a laptop!
I’m a Linux nerd FFS… I’ve never owned a new laptop in my life!
Honestly if the average person can’t buy it at Best Buy or Target, they won’t. Most people don’t know about this stuff.
Wherever a random coworker or family member asks me which of two laptops to buy, it’s always between a couple of prebuilt machine at a big box retailer.
I love the idea of Framework myself, but I can’t afford to buy one.
Too niche for the average buyer, too expensive for the rest of us.
I haven’t owned a laptop since smartphones and tablets took off. It’s become a redundant form factor. Framework would be my go to choice if I ever did need one though.
How do you write anything long-form on a tablet? You seem to live a different life than me, if you find laptops redundant.
I haven’t written anything long form since I left school about 15 years ago.
You can plug in a keyboard
I’ve tried that. For me, it’s also about the app ecosystem and the way multitasking is implemented. But also, perching a Bluetooth keyboard on my lap while the tablet was up on top of something else just separated things in a way I couldn’t reconcile in my mind.
My Thinkpad X1 Carbon 6th Gen is quite repairable thank you very much, and it was like 400 bucks, and it comes with an i7, 16gb of ram, and a 256gb ssd. It’s only marketing that has people convinced they will fall behind unless they have the latest and greatest.
The Lenovo spare parts program is great. OEM replacement screen saved my X1C6th, as all aftermarket panels were bad quality TN
How much? With what money?
Come now, these products that cost 3x what they should don’t get to claim it did not work out due to lack of demand. No one has pissing away money anymore and products made for some odd not rich but well off tech people is just not going to happen.
That’s because they’re really expensive and actually quite mediocre. I really wanted to love my framework, but the build quality is way worse than the price tag would suggest.
I’ve had mine for years, repaired and upgraded it, and I love it!
To be clear, I’m not saying their laptops are bad. I’m saying they’re mediocre and overpriced. They’ve got some really neat features, like how easy they are to repair and upgrade, but if the price of buying one laptop from them, then upgrading it once is the same as buying three comparable traditional laptops, then I really don’t see the point.
The price isn’t that much more. You can easily compare that.
They are expensive up front. I have one of the first 11th generation Intel ones. I bought a new CPU fan last year instead of getting a new laptop. One of my kids dropped it, and I’ll need a new screen for it here soon.
Instead of buying 3 laptops, I bought 1 and repaired it. Super worth it.
s/willing/can afford/
