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I don't have a Framework laptop simply because I don't need a new laptop right now. However, if I had to purchase a brand new laptop today, I would probably choose this one. Most of these thoughts are based on the videos I've seen and accounts from people I know who have one.
Here's a good review from someone with similar priorities in laptops to myself:
https://jcs.org/2021/08/06/framework
Some positives:
Some negatives:
TL;DR: What I'm saying is that, while the modular port idea is kind of cool, the level of I/O available for the Framework is not any better than most contemporary laptops and they don't live up to the purpose they're marketed for (eliminating dongles). In a lot of relatively common usecases, it doesn't eliminate the need for a typical dongle or docking station with even more ports. I'd much rather have way more, denser I/O on a replaceable circuit board (which would also enable repairability and upgradability) in the Framework than these expansion ports, or have a combination of the two solutions. We can keep one or two of these expansion slots and at the same time have a collection of two or three USB-A ports, two USB-C ports, and a display connector just built into the laptop like how laptops used to be in the era of PCMCIA cards. That's a level of I/O sure to garner a lot of praise while keeping the aspects that are good about the expansion slots.
While at first the idea of modular ports seems really cool and compelling, I would liken it more to a gimmick than a useful feature compared to the alternative. The big issue with these ports is that you're not only paying a sizeable amount of extra money for what are essentially recessed, single-purpose USB-C dongles ($12 a piece for USB-A and C, $25 for display connectors or SD card, $51 for ethernet (prices in CAD)), you're also quite limited in terms of the number of slots available.
There are only 4 available expansion slots on the Framework. One of them must be USB-C if you wish to charge so that leaves 3 choices. Many will then choose one HDMI or DisplayPort to be able to hook the laptop up to an external monitor or projector and the final 2 might be another USB-C to be able to charge on the other side of the laptop and a USB-A to be able to plug in some peripheral, USB stick, or external drive. So, that's likely 2 USB-C, 1 USB-A, and one HDMI/DisplayPort. Not a lot of I/O for $61 CAD (roughly $46 USD) worth of single-use dongles.
That's not even counting that you can buy 250GB or 1TB storage cards, which is a really cool idea since it's basically like an integrated USB thumb drive or spare hard disk that you can plug and unplug from your laptop like it's an old Thinkpad UltraBay, but you lose a whole port of I/O when they're plugged in. Also, if you use them like regular USB thumb drives, well, a regular USB thumb drive is going to be way more convenient since you won't have to fiddle with a latch on the bottom of the laptop just to disconnect the drive.
Then there's the argument that these ports allow for upgrades of existing ports or changing to a new port standard. If you can upgrade an older SD card slot to one that supports faster speeds, that's way better than having an old and now less useful SD card slot built into the computer. This is definitely an advantage of the modular ports and why I don't want to see them disappear but, at the same time, an increase in speed also needs to come with a motherboard that supports it. If the Framework has 4 recessed USB-C ports that are all USB4 20Gbps, you're limited to that no matter the speed supported by a new port. For example, HDMI 2.0 has a maximum bandwidth of 18Gbps, but HDMI 2.1 has a maximum bandwidth of 48Gbps so it doesn't matter if your HDMI expansion card theoretically supports a resolution of 8K 120Hz if the laptop simply cannot do that.
Now, this is still nice because you can just upgrade your expansion cards and motherboard and keep the rest of the laptop (battery, screen, keyboard, etc.) which is undoubtedly good, but there's also no reason that we can't also have built-in, denser I/O. Even 5Gbps USB speeds and older HDMI/DisplayPort standards are fast enough for most people's uses today and have been for the past decade (many people get by just fine with resolutions at 4K 60Hz or lower which has been supported since HDMI 2.0 (2013) and DisplayPort 1.2 (2010)). Most commonly available USB thumb drives and external SSDs aren't that limited by USB 3.0 5Gbps speeds either, if at all. These ports don't need to be upgraded every couple of years or even every decade; those speeds are fast enough for the majority of uses these days and for the foreseeable future.
These modular ports also just end up being much more inconvenient compared to an all-in-one dongle which might have 2 USB-A 5Gbps ports, 2 USB-C ports, HDMI, and a card reader in one, combined, less expensive package that's not much larger than two of the Framework expansion cards put together ([Here's an example on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Upgraded-Delivery-Pixelbook-A83460A2/dp/B07ZVKTP53/ref=sr_1_4)). If you want to switch up your ports instead of just picking a loadout and sticking with it, you end up with a lot of these expansion cards that you have to carry with you or throw in a drawer at your desk (one for Ethernet, another USB-A, maybe a different display connector, etc.). It's way less convenient to carry around a box of the Framework expansion cards to be able to reconfigure your ports on the fly when you can just carry around a single dongle that has all the extra ports you might need, even if you don't use some of the ports on that dongle. Not to mention the cost of all the extra Framework expansion cards compared to the cost of that one dongle.
Yes, you're not going to have a dongle hanging off your laptop with the built-in, swappable ports but that doesn't matter if the I/O in the laptop is too limited anyways because there simply aren't enough ports for what you need. If you want to "dock" your Framework to a workstation with two monitors, a keyboard, and a mouse, you're still going to need a dongle because there won't be any ports left to charge your laptop. If you want to hook up a thumb drive, keyboard, and mouse while charging, you'll still need a dongle because you won't have enough ports left for any external displays. If we had enough ports on our laptops in the first place, we wouldn't need dongles at all. Framework didn't solve this, they just said they did.
"The Cult of the Thinkpad" is a very accurate way to describe the collection of people who worship this sub-par hardware. Thinkpads are creaky, plasticy, loud, hot, and have terrible screens and battery life. If you have a newer Thinkpad which is not necessarily as loud or hot and might have a better screen or better battery life, they're worse than comparable models from companies like Dell because at least those don't have soldered-on RAM or WiFi cards.
My experience with the T440s and T420s that I have owned was that they were great machines at first, but quickly started to fall apart in various ways. My T440s had its internal battery die, and then its trackpad became flakey, and then its external battery died, all within one year of ownership. My T420s, aside from being just generally hot and loud with a terribly undersized cooling solution, has had a genuine replacement battery fail within one year and the screen, in comparison to my MacBook Pro from 2009, is absolutely awful to look at.
Both were plasticy and creaky, especially compared to laptops like the Dell XPS and my MacBook Pro. I want to stress that a MacBook Pro from 5 years before the T440s and 2-3 years before the T420s has a better look and feel than these Thinkpads.
One thing they do have going for them is their repairability. Sure you can swap parts relatively easily, but, if we're being honest, they're far from the only laptops that allow that. Dell Precision and Latitude notebooks have allowed that for a long time, as has HP's professional line of laptops, and especially today with the likes of the MNT Reform and Framework, what's the point of putting up with the awful user experience that old Thinkpads offer.
If you like your Thinkpad, and have spent hundreds of dollars on adding an IPS display, upgrading the battery, adding an extra drive in the ultrabay, repairing your hinges, and so on, then I'm glad that you have something that you enjoy. I simply do not think those machines are worth that much time and effort.
Despite using a MacBook Pro and an iPhone (both of which I got for free), I really dislike Apple.
They have some of the best UI/UX, best feeling hardware, and the best ecosystem out of any tech company that currently exists. However, that comes at a great human cost. Not only does Apple treat their customers like they are impotent morons, they are known to have known about yet continued to use slave labour through the factories they contract to produce their products.
They have consistently fought against right to repair under the guise of improving user privacy and security, but in reality it's because such things would hurt their bottom line.
They have driven industry-wide trends (because most other manufacturers are incapable of being original and just copy what Apple does) that have seen the removal of removable batteries, headphone jacks, and ports from computers under the guise of things like waterproofness or design, but in reality it's so they can sell more devices or complementary products.
They have strategically blocked third-party ads under the guise of improving privacy for their users only to announce that they're aiming to increase their own ad revenue by six billion dollars by serving more first-party ads to their users.
They are an unethical, anti-consumer company devoid of morals and with a holier-than-thou attitude, driving us straight into the tech dystopia right along with Google, Microsoft, Meta and others like them. As much as I can admire their design skill and attention to detail, I will never give them my money.
Consistently high quality PSUs that are designed and perform well. Worth every penny they cost to not have to worry about the reliability of one of the most important components in a desktop system.
Consistently high quality and reliable products with one of the best mounting systems in the industry. They're a company that respects both their customers and employees, and they make products worth every penny.
I have owned a G420 and an MX Ergo, and both have been fantastic with no issues. They are solid and reliable input devices that have never caused me frustration. The MX Ergo is the best mouse I have purchased and has made using a computer a lot more comfortable.
I have used a few kits of G.Skill RAM (both DDR4 and DDR3) over the years and they have been solid and reliable. They use high-quality memory dies and controllers so I am confident that, when I buy RAM modules from them, they will be able to reach their advertised speeds and be reliable for a long time.
In recent years, Dell has become notorious for attempting to scam customers into various support contracts. They also design very bad systems with proprietary components that end up as e-waste after a few years. Avoid if at all possible. Check out Gamer's Nexus on YouTube for their coverage of Dell prebuilt gaming PCs.