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DIY triple-screen laptop based on the framework
- xbmcuser 4y agoI like how he uses framework parts to build this. His builds at the end always look better than you expect
- Steltek 4y agoActually, that frightens me. I know of another powerful, tested, and DIY friendly compact computer: the Raspberry Pi. The Pi got integrated into so many full fledged commercial products that it's lost its availability for hackers. If the Framework mainboard becomes a Super-Pi, will Framework owners be able to get the spare parts that they were counting on?
- aliqot 4y agoPi became unavailable because of their business model, not because it got popular and bought out.
- actionfromafar 4y agoExplain more, please. I'm sure this is obvious to many, but I can only guess. Too much dependency on a single vendor? (Broadcom?)
- shagie 4y agoThere were a number of challenges that they had. A recent update from Dec 12, 2022: https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/supply-chain-update-its-good-news/ https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/supply-chain-update-its-goo... > Although we are sitting on substantial order backlogs from commercial customers, we expect to gradually increase the fraction of our output which we dedicate to single-unit sales next year until we’re back in our pre-pandemic situation. The chip allocations we’ve received for next year mean that by the end of the third quarter, the channel will have recovered to its equilibrium stocking level, with hundreds of thousands of units available at any given time. At that point, we will have spent a little over two years in a low-stock position: a measure of the severity and persistence of the shortages.
- esskay 4y agoThey've not been too truthful with the community over their supply chain issues. At the peak they were still making north of 100k units a month. It's just that over 95% of those were being sold in bulk to direct B2B customers whilst they made record profits. It's been a rough few months to be a pi community member. The 'its totally a supply problem, out of our control' attitude of the company, and then the uncivil outburst of the co-founders wife on the official Pi social accounts didn't do them any favours. That one was made worse by well known and respected former employees chiming in and mentioning that it was how the company was internally probably didn't help.
- NoGravitas 4y agoWas the uncivil outburst in question the attacks on people concerned about them hiring a surveillance cop as their "maker in residence", or was there another uncivil outburst I should know about?
- wkat4242 4y agoYeah they've burned up a lot of goodwill by prioritizing integrators so heavily. Not just work there community but in Broadcom apparently, according to other comments. On the other hand expressif is eating their low end, the pico was too expensive too late. Perhaps they will make a bigger board too. They're much better at integrating with the community than Broadcom, they hired community members like sprite_tm.
- chriswait 4y agoI was curious what you were referring to here, and found this case study which was interesting: https://eiara.nz/posts/2022/Dec/09/a-case-study-on-raspberry-pis-incident-on-the-fediverse/ https://eiara.nz/posts/2022/Dec/09/a-case-study-on-raspberry...
- mbreese 4y agoIf it helps to validate the system, then it can only make the company and Framework ecosystem stronger. Supply chain issues are they types of problems that Framework would love to have. You can solve those... lack of demand is another issue entirely.
- nrp 4y agoWe don’t foresee any issues continuing to make parts and modules available, even with increased demand from module re-use projects and products. In fact, we explicitly encourage this kind of re-use, because it benefits everyone. It’s a great way to absorb a Mainboard that is being upgraded out of a Framework Laptop for example, increasing its value for re-sale and avoiding it turning into e-waste.
- felixg3 4y agoThis is wonderful. Thank you for creating Framework and making it accessible outside of the United States so early on!
- bradwood 4y agoHere here! I have 2 Frameworks in my UK household as we speak. And when the wife's old Macbook Air gives up the ghost, there will be 3.
- M5x7wI3CmbEem10 4y agowhat will you do with the old macbook?
- monocasa 4y agoThe rumor is that the pi is having issues because Broadcom (who actually owns the IP in their chips) is pissed that they built a for profit company on top of IP Broadcom donated intending to be going to a nonprofit. Rumor is that's also why there's no progress on an RPi5, as that would require coordination with Broadcom. That would also explain why the Pico had no problems being stocked, as it contains no Broadcom IP blocks. I think Framework is probably fine for the foreseeable future.
- walterbell 4y agoIf RPi5 has challenges with Broadcom IP licensing, isn't that an opportunity to create a new SBC product line without Broadcom IP, as many FooPi clones have done?
- monocasa 4y agoSo much about the full RPi is the Broadcom hardware blocks though. If software didn't really care about those, the FooPi clones would have taken off. Turns out a lot of software targeting RPi actually twiddles those hardware blocks directly.
- walterbell 4y agoIn that case, Broadcom should be happy that their loss-leading IP has created a gigantic market with unfulfilled demand. They can negotiate a volume agreement with two tiers of product: one for hobbyists, one for commercial integrators. Review existing RPi commercial use cases to identify features for product segmentation enhancement. Price RPi commercial IP the same as other commercial users of Broadcom IP.
- nicoburns 4y agoThey should be. Unfortunately that doesn't mean they will be! Broadcom aren't exactly known for an open minded approach to IP.
- killingtime74 4y agoYou've stacked quite a few what-ifs on top of each other
- xtracto 4y agoReminds me a lot of Ben Heck portable projects. I loved reading his site back in the day when he made a portable Xbox and portable Playstation.
- cupofjoakim 4y agoThis has basically refueled my idea of making a modern version of the IBM PS/2 Model P70. Instead of desktop components I can use parts of a framework pc to skip out on a lot of the horrors of planning custom builds like this.
- vineyardmike 4y agothat sounds pretty cool. It looks a lot like a "cyber decks" that people build today, except less cyber-punk. You may be able to get build inspiration from that community. eg: https://cyberdeck.cafe/mix/m3tal https://cyberdeck.cafe/mix/m3tal
- SiempreViernes 4y agoThis looks like a cool desktop computer; not sure why he labels a computer explicitly designed to not be usable in your lap a "laptop".
- atdrummond 4y agoHe does address this exact concern in the video. He explains that laptops make ergonomic trade offs he isn’t amenable to it, so the whole point was to build a NON laptop.
- unwind 4y agoWell. sure, but obviously still keeping the name "laptop" in the video title is, as always on the good old 'Tube, clickbait. It's not, uh, intellectually honest to say "here's how to build a triple-screen laptop!" and then follow that up with "oh, btw, don't use laptops, desktop computers are better for you, see?". All that said, I did enjoy the build and it's really cool to see both Framework parts being used as well as of course 3d printing. Nice.
- whazor 4y agoThe current YT title “Triple-Screen Laptop DONE RIGHT” is still defendable, as it means doing the whole concept of 'Triple-Screen Laptop' in a way it is useful. I think the biggest issue is the current title on Hacker News: “DIY triple-screen laptop based on the framework”, as it is clearly not a laptop.
- SiempreViernes 4y agoWell, even then I think the title is stretching it: to me the more sensible way to make a triple-screen-laptop-sitting-on-a-desktop is to just connect a normal triple screen setup via a docking station.
- jasonlotito 4y agoI would argue that the name laptop is the idea of a portable computer setup. If the suggestion is that a laptop is something that is designed to work in your lap, I would argue that laptops aren't designed to work in your lap. If the argument is the form factor (folding, keyboard, screen, mouse), then sure, fine. You can call iPads laptops.
- MrGilbert 4y agoIf you don't know Matt's channel - give it a go. All the projects he does have a really, really high level of quality.
- scotty79 4y agoAlso they are nearly always very original.
- kllrnohj 4y agoBy far my favorite thing about his builds is they are also very actually DIY. Like, basic hand tools are all that's required most of the time and actually affordable parts. So many youtuber "DIY's" are like "today I chucked this into my $10,000 CNC and printed off this part in my $5,000 3D printer, then used this whole-room positional tracking system I had laying around to blah blah blah" or "making this awesome unique table/whatever with just some old wood found in the forrest! And $20,000 in woodworking gear and another $2,000 in resin from today's sponsor. But DIY! Just find an old dead tree!" No machine shop or specialized training or anything to replicate the Matt's builds.
- mft_ 4y agoI assume your first example refers to Stuff Made Here; to be fair, be never presents himself as a DIYer, and on several of his projects explicitly says “you shouldn’t do this at home”!
- VectorLock 4y agoFramework should sell a fully integrated portable like this. I bet this would be popular with Framework's target market.
- mixedCase 4y agoThey can't even afford to have mass production for 15/16 inch laptops, I don't believe such a niche target is within their realm of possibility.
- VectorLock 4y agoTheir product is barely differentiated from other laptops on the market. Having a niche but unique product would be good for them.
- mixedCase 4y agoI'm sorry but if you believe the Framework is barely differentiated from other offerings, you are missing information or you are okay with laptops being wholly disposable and barely repairable. There is no modern laptop like it where you can keep a chassis and update the thing piecemeal, easily buy parts for it, designed from scratch to be easily repairable and comes by default with a sensible system for choosing your own ports without external dongles hanging from delicate ports. The market for a three screen laptop is much, much smaller than that and it would probably work better as a third-party accessory to the base Framework. Of course, it wouldn't make much sense because their only chassis has a tiny screen, but if you believe a three laptop production line is economically viable, surely you also can see how a MBP-like 16-inch screen production line is even more viable.
- VectorLock 4y ago>you are okay with laptops being wholly disposable and barely repairable. As I said, barely differentiable. Baring that, its as standard as a plastic laptop comes. I'd personally be more interested in a portable than another laptop. Most laptop's I've owned have not needed repair for their lifetimes, and very seldom have I ever even thought about needing to upgrade my laptops "piecemeal" rather than just upgrading the whole thing together. If I wanted a 16" MBP I'd buy a 16" MBP. Plus it can run MacOS. What nobody makes is a portable workstation rather than a laptop. Laptops are great if you want situations where you want to use it on your lap - airplanes, airports, coffee shops, your couch, etc. No that people are moving to a hybrid in-office/at-home work environment, and companies are going to "hot desk" models I want something maybe a bit heavier than a laptop, that I can easily transport from one desk to another another, and not have to spend a bunch of time hooking it up when I get there. That is something really nobody makes.
- esskay 4y agoNot sure its a laptop at this point. All attempts to a multi-screened laptop seem to fail spectacularly and end up far too heavy for the brackets, causing it to flop down.
- jasonlotito 4y agoThis is directly addressed multiple times in the video. At the start and at the end. I find it amazing you watched the video and then decided to post this odd comment.
- esskay 4y agoI'm aware, it was a general observation based on the misleading title.
- AnEro 4y agoThat's the coolest impractical laptop I've seen.
- neilv 4y agoThe ThinkPad W700ds also went with portrait orientation for the side display (15 years ago). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6glQCMpqH7M&t=3m40s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6glQCMpqH7M&t=3m40s It's sorta my dream laptop for asserting dominance in coworking cafes.
- snozolli 4y agoThis guy also showed how to make an "artificial sun" that's proven very helpful to me in Oregon winters: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6bqBsHSwPgw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6bqBsHSwPgw
- photonbucket 4y agoThis would be great for an office commuter, bring it with you between home/work, but don't actually use it as a laptop
- amelius 4y agoWhy not buy two computers? Your boss will probably pay for both.
- nicoburns 4y agoIt's quite a pain to keep two computers in sync. You don't want to end up blocked on a task because you forgot to push your changes. I'm also pretty sure that no company I have worked for would have paid for me to have two company computers.
- photonbucket 4y agoI've had two company computers a few times, it usually involves your direct manager telling IT that "its required"
- effferrt 4y agomaybe using a laptop with a docking setup on each workplace would be ideal. Just set up a nice ergonomic workstation, connecting all the peripherals to a dock, and when you come to work there, just plug in the laptop to the dock and start working.
- funcDropShadow 4y agoI've been using Unison [1] to sync two and more computers for years. I can't recommend it enough. [1]: https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison
- okasaki 4y agoHow about a framework tablet?
- bastardoperator 4y agoSuper cool, I just ended up buying three monitors.
- MayeulC 4y agoTo my understanding (I've never dug deep into the spec), Display Port is packet-based, and every DP interface should support tunnelling data for other outputs (DP MST for Multi Stream Transport). Does eDP support this? I think a "splitter" could be made to connect two more displays using the same 30-pin eDP connector, but I'd like someone more knowledgeable to confirm this. Some high-resolution panels used to stitch together multiple MST panels, so this sounds likely. Additionally, a diagram in [1] seems to confirm this. Of course, the video gets away with very little soldering and using only off-the-shelf hardware, which is impressive in itself. I couldn't find any such "eDP splitters" or MST hubs, and you'd still need the iPad screen controllers. [1]: https://www.embedded.com/edp-a-better-embedded-display-ecosystem/ https://www.embedded.com/edp-a-better-embedded-display-ecosy...
- petodo 4y agoThat's not a laptop, but portable (desktop) all-in-one computer. Laptops should have keyboard and everything in one portable package, this is unusable without external keyboard and doesn't have built-in keyboard, thus it's NOT laptop. And I don't care what he says in video, title is clickbait.
- samaybhavsar 4y agoI feel this technique could be really useful. As a developer, I am okay to carry a box instead of a laptop as this would enhance the productivity. I was actually thinking of buying the 14" screen from lenovo. This concept reminds me of Kavad which is a box with multiple fold used for story telling.
- effferrt 4y agoMy only complaint / concern is how "wasted" the I/O potential of the FW board is. It has an incredible total of 4 USB4™ ports, each of those can do 40 Gbit/s bi-directional of USB/DP/PCIe. Lots of potential: eGPU, fast external storage, fast networking, docking solutions, ... Here, two of these ports are used for the side displays, one for a 4-port USB-A hub, and one is apparently exposed to the outside via some right-angle adapter, intended as power input. Even tho the "power input" could probably be used for a dock or similar, just one USB-C and 4 USB-A is a bit lame for I/O. Maybe they could've tried to power both side displays from one port by using a dual-DP hub to have one more exposable USB-C port; and/or replace the 4xUSB-A hub with a dock with more features - ethernet, video out and an SD card reader would be useful