Asklemmy

To be honest you probably won't save money as you'll be more likely to upgrade regularly. I bought my Framework 13-inch last year and already bought a gorgeous new matte screen for it, and I'd been eyeing upgrading the mainboard with the new AMD one now. In the past with laptops I'd hold onto them for years until they couldn't perform, and now I'm considering upgrading my device a second time within only a year?

I really do love my Framework, but the easier upgradability makes upgrading more likely, which means more expenses - unless you can restrain from upgrading more often than you would on a laptop. Since budget seems to be a concern for you this may be worth keeping in mind. On the other hand though, I'd be concerned about how long a $500 laptop will last you anyway (the ones I used for years were more like $1200).

One final thing - some parts can't necessarily be carried over when upgrading to a new generation. For example, to upgrade to the AMD mainboard I'll also have to buy new RAM as the generation upgraded to a newer variant. If I want to use my old mainboard as a home server, I'll also have to purchase replacement parts for what it loses in the upgrade (new hard drive, new expansion ports, cheap case). It's great if you had an existing need for a home server, not so much if you didn't. Since I hate throwing out electronics I'll end up buying more to keep it operational, even though in practice I won't use it very much.

TL;dr - Framework makes upgrading and reuse cheaper and easier, which if you're like me makes you spend more money and upgrade more frequently.

Warning: This comment contains small sample sizes.

In my adult life, I have owned two laptops. Both were bought brand new, both were relatively high end machines that cost more than $1000 each, plus accessories and the maximum extended warranties they offered. Both lasted 8+ years in service. The second one (a 2014 Dell Inspiron) is still in service, though I need to upgrade the OS on it.

Both machines required warranty service fairly early in their lives(the Dell egregiously so; very long story very short, they sold me a lemon and after replacing practically everything in it at least once they eventually replaced the machine outright) and received repairs/upgrades around the 4 year mark. The Gateway got its fan cleaned and the RAM replaced/upgraded from 1 to 2 GB. It also required frequent adjustment to its display hinge. It was running okay if slow by the end of it; a Centrino Duo running Vista was kind of sluggish in 2014. The monitor died in a way I couldn't fix, and replacements were unobtainable, so that's what finally did it in. The Dell got a fan replaced, the battery replaced, and the HDD replaced/upgraded to a SATA SSD. It is still running its originally installed 16GB of DDR3 RAM. It's slightly sluggish running Windows, but feels very responsive running Linux. I intend to keep it in service until Linux Mint doesn't support it or something breaks that I can't fix.

On both machines, the I/O didn't age particularly gracefully. The Gateway only had a VGA connector well into the era of HDMI and DisplayPort, the Dell has USB 3.0 and no USB-C connectors, no Ethernet and a proprietary barrel jack charger.

Both machines showed scuffs and scratches by year 8 but the chassis held up and were/are still serviceable.

Given my history with laptops, I see a Framework as pretty much the same "investment" that my Gateway and Dell were. I would not anticipate upgrading the mainboard; I don't think they'll keep making mainboards compatible with the current issue chassis a decade from now, and the chassis will probably be ready for a replacement by then anyway. But, I anticipate replacing the battery, SSD and probably a fan or two at the 4 or 5 year mark, likely out of warranty, and it looks like Framework would be above average for that.

My next laptop is likely to be a Framework simply because they're one of the few companies that A. still exists and B. hasn't pissed me off yet.

Hi. If you want to look for a new laptop, you can also try out Tuxedo laptops: https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en/Linux-Hardware/Linux-Notebooks/Alle.tuxedo

Their laptops are a bit cheaper and also repairable, starting from 850 EUR (8GB RAM, no Win license, etc.) They assemble laptops, you specify components to your needs.

I'm a happy owner of Tuxedo InfinityBook 15. The most important is that they use normal generic power supply (not some proprietary one that is hard to replace) with an ability to charge from 65+W USB-C connector. Battery preservation bypass mode is also possible in BIOS settings. Their keyboards are also high-quality, replaceable and can have a custom layout. The screen is also high-quality. Initial setup is easy af. They maintain their own distro, which is quite good on its own, but the hardware is also Win-compatible. They also provide 5% discount for students.

(note: not sponsored)

Hi, Framework laptop owner here!

I love my laptop. I got it back in June (13th gen Intel) and have used it near-daily ever since. It's got a nice build quality, I like the way it looks, and the modular slots are a nice concept (though I haven't seen a need to swap out mine- I elected for 2 x USB-C and 2 x USB-A. You also need to pay attention to which ports go where because not all the slots support USB charging). I bought the barebones laptop, and added my own RAM and SSD to it which was significantly cheaper than getting it from Framework. I currently dual boot Linux Mint and occasionally Windows 11 and have had no significant issues with either, but there are a couple of little annoyances with Mint- the light-sensor to automatically adjust the brightness and the brightness keys conflict, so one or the other or both may not work correctly.

To your real question, is it worth it? Honestly, if performance is your sole metric, then no- there are cheaper alternatives out there for comparable performance. The premium you pay for a Framework is an investment in repairability and customizability- investments that may not pay off if the company doesn't exist in the long term. All the promises and commitments in the world to letting users have the right to fix or modify their own hardware mean nothing if there's no one to supply parts. I was aware of this before buying mine, so I was fine accepting that risk- after all, at one point in time Tesla was risky too but now it seems they're poised to be the charging standard for EVs- and there are a couple of higher-ups at AMD who like the concept and are invested in Framework, which means it may be around for a while. But that's still something you should keep in mind.

That said, you said you were looking for a $500-ish laptop, and are now asking about one that will cost you over double that? It's not for me to tell you how to spend your money, but it sounds like you saw a cool idea and want to jump on the bandwagon. You should be extra sure that what you're looking for fits your needs within your budget and you're not just trying to "keep up with the Joneses."

TL;DR: If you have the money, and are okay with the risk of a small company existing long-term, and it has the performance you need, then yes, I think they're good buys.

I'm interested in a framework laptop for the environmental perspective, but I also think a pre-owned high end device would be faster and with smaller impact.

For me the deal breaker is to wait for so long before getting it. They have to step up the production. I'm fine with waiting for one month and can understand. But, the actual waiting time is ridiculous.

I've had mine (first generation 13" model) for over a year now. I'm very happy with it, and I intend to make it last me through university (3 years) and then some. I would consider it a good investment for me.

Hi. Let's set the table here. Context: What future advantage or benefit do you expect to get by investing?

• Your budget was initially $500.

• The absolute cheapest you can have a brand-new complete Frame Work 16 is $1,621 and 5 to 8 months (Ships Q2) assuming you get the cheapest of everything and don't purchase secondary storage. You will have a low-end laptop with the ability to trivially upgrade it later.

For an additional $1,100 what do you expect to gain? In reality you can get an equivalent performance for $200, so the question then becomes $1,300 for what?

For $2,187 you can have an equivalent to this $1,100 ThinkPad that will likely last you 7-10 years unless it breaks first. What are you investing in for $1,087?

For $2,734 and ~8 months, I can have a high-end laptop, not the most expensive options, but my personal preference to tide me over for 10 years. Is whatever I'm looking for worth $2,200? Possibly.

• For hardware I can have schematics to, after signing an NDA.
• For hackability.
• For a laptop I won't void the warranty for fixing.
• For never having to remove 17 screw, 5 stickers, 5 more screws, an excessive amount of plastic tabs, and possibly adhesive.
• For almost indefinite access to parts. Parts that won't disappear from the market in 1-3 years, unless the company goes under. (Yay Cali for the 7 years of parts... we'll see how toothy it is and how long it can withstand legal and technical sabotage. Like Apple's software locks.)
• For a laptop with parts I like. (AMD open-sourcing like mad-lads, but not quite FLOSSing.)
• For a company that I can trust for a decade before they see the dollar dollar bills. Like Google, Facebook, Reddit, etc.
• For sustainably sourced parts.
• To support a company that won't put me through a hoop circus just to tell me I have to buy a new product because they screwed up?

If I could get it in 30 days, maybe. If I have to wait a financial quarter, or 2, and a half... maybe I'll wait until they ramp up production, and see what innovations they have in a year. (Related: The week I decided to buy, was legitimately the day they opened for Framework 16 orders, which I would've sworn was Framework 15. Must be losing my mind. In any case, maybe I'll still get the 13 and save $500.)

Is it worth it for you? Depends on your financial situation and what you value.

i was planning on getting a new laptop cheaply for about 500ish

You should plan for what you need, not for what you're willing to pay. If you need a mobile workstation then this 16 inch laptop would be too large and heavy. If you aim for a desktop replacement, then a 13 inch laptop might be too small (docking stations exist, but still ...).

The Framework laptop is a nice idea, though. But to be honest: how often did you change the components of your laptops before? One usually changes the SSD and maybe the RAM or the battery or - if you're really adventurous - the heatpipe and/or the fan. All of this is already possible with most common laptops. If you're unsure, get a ThinkPad.