My biggest disapointment on the Framework 16 is that I imagined the bay to be hot-swappable, or at least cold-swappable, like you keep the GPU unit in the laptop while it's on your desk docked to your monitor, and when yo head out, you swap the GPU module for a battery module and off you go.<p>At least that's what I hoped for, but no, that's not how it works, you need some screwing and unscrewing to swap them out, it not something that can be quickly done before you leave the house. Sad. Maybe the next model.
This thing is quite neat and I have a 13... but really was simply looking for a bigger workstation version of it with higher resolution screen and ECC memory.<p>Also I'd like some ports <i>on the back.</i> Why does every manufacturer expect you to like monitor cables running sideways across your desk? Structurally it looks like the 16 could, but they didn't think of it.<p>As it stands, its a bit impractical and there isn't anything about it that would cause me to buy it over a 16" Precision with a 5k screen or something.
I appreciate seeing a hint at the history of the design changes, but now I'm left wanting more. Seeing a cross-section view (CT scan or CAD) that shows how the connectors are mating or secured would probably help me visualize how these are being used.
I remember when I used to do laptop repairs in college (we were a certified Apple repair center), Apple had a great training on all the different types of internal connectors, how you should handle them, etc. Some of them are really, really fragile.
Really hoping the community-designed Oculink port works out as it doesn't look like they'll make one officially.<p>I'm not interested in a laptop with an integrated GPU since I'm unlikely to need it much outside of home, but an unconstrained desktop eGPU would allow me to just have one computer instead of two.
I’m surprised there’s still no reviews if the framework 16 on YouTube (except some branded content here and there).<p>Did anybody actually get this laptop, so far?<p>I just need to understand if i should hold my breath or (again) go for an used thinkpad.<p>Last time framework didn’t ship to my country (yet), this time… will see.
> attempts from other brands at making a modular graphics system in a notebook<p>i.e. Dell.<p>> the off-the-shelf FXBeam connector from Neoconix<p>So <i>that's</i> the company that makes the Dell Graphics Form Factor (DGFF) connectors[1], and that's why they're called <i>beam connectors</i> in the service manual[2] (search for it on that page; notice how similar the connectors are to Framework's). These have been used in Dell Precision workstations since the Precision 7530 and 7730 (released in 2018).<p>I ought to have realised that surely Dell didn't develop this themselves.<p>> We quickly found that these connectors (on the left in the image) could only reliably be installed once. On removing, handling, and reinstalling, it was easy to bend or break off the small pins.<p>After working with these connectors, they require some finesse, but they're not as fragile as the post makes them out to be. They're essentially tiny LGA sockets. Dell's implementation put the pins on the connectors and the contacts on the board, so the cheaper (and more disposable) component could break more easily. I'm not sure why Framework decided to forgo the connector and try to join both graphics card and motherboard directly together; this isn't addressed in the blog post.<p>That being said, 'beam connectors' still aren't cheap, though; when I asked Dell's service centre for spares, I was quoted something like SGD20/connector. They're roughly the same price on eBay[3].<p>[1]: <a href="https://i.imgur.com/aMal40L.jpeg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://i.imgur.com/aMal40L.jpeg</a><p>[2]: <a href="https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-uk/precision-15-7560-laptop/precision_7560_sm/removing-the-system-board?guid=guid-4a968c20-fdba-4944-b1ab-7dbca12490a0&lang=en-us#:~:text=Remove%20the%20FPC%20beam%20connectors%20from%20the%20computer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-uk/precision-15-7560...</a>.<p>[3]: <a href="https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=NGRJG&_sacat=0" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313...</a>
Does anyone know if they plan to release a 'desktop/workstation' form factor?
Zero interest in the FF'S they've been consumed with, thus far.