this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2024
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Best laptop I've had so far, but they're quite expensive for their performance tier. The expectation is that you'd never replace it, so theoretically the cost pays itself off over time, but that would assume that you are able and willing to do that sort of long term maintenance.
Basically, I would only recommend it if you were a tinkerer.
I disagree on the comment about cost disparity. Spec'd equivalently, even the Framework 16 (without GPU) is no more expensive than the smaller ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The more comparative Framework 13 even less so.
The modular ports (and GPU on the 16) are a nice bonus, but I agree that the largest attraction is for the tinkerer.
I think the fact that it is easily upgradable makes it a clear winner on the merits alone.
I did a price comparison three years ago when I was exploring laptops and the price for a Framework was really high. Like it was "cheaper to buy a used laptop every three years for a decade before I break even on a Framework" high.
I'm not knocking it at all and I think it's a great idea. It just the cost is so high, and they don't have the means to produce where the price is at a consumer level.
Agreed. If you buy the minimum spec bare bones version and get RAM and NVME from a third party, the price is somewhat comparative to other MRSPs. If you go for a higher spec or compare to sales prices instead of MSRP you pay up to 50% premium according to my research.
If you however factor in downtime of a broken and non-repairable device, plus the time spend on setting up a replacement, the framework can easily compete if your setup is complex.