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I've got a gen 1 framework and use it everyday. It's fine, but looking back I would be happier with an XPS. I'd take a higher resolution OLED display over 16:1

by duped 3y ago

I've got a gen 1 framework and use it everyday. It's fine, but looking back I would be happier with an XPS. I'd take a higher resolution OLED display over 16:10 IPS every day of the week. The track pad rocks, not as in is good but as in a seesaw because one of the mounting springs/hardware came off and now it rattles on one corner. The mainboard completely died on me and I had to replace it. Granted, I could do this myself and they shipped me a free one, but I've never had a device straight up kick the bucket on me like that. Although after board replacement, the laptop can no longer detect when it's closed so I have to use the power button to suspend it manually. The charging cable is pretty bad. I have to plug the cable into the charging brick multiple times a day because it always falls out, I have debated super gluing it in there. The overall build quality feels extremely flimsy. There is a ton of board flex. Battery life kinda sucks but I'm not going to fault Framework for that, I am running Linux and have done nothing to improve the situation on my end. Now I'm happy I bought one and that Framework exists, but I feel like a crazy person when I read nothing but stellar reviews. It's a very mid laptop. I want to add that this is not buyers remorse, just a reflection on the early adapter tax. It's my understanding many of the issues I have are fixed in recent editions. It's still a daily driver after about two years and will probably last a few more, which is better than many laptops.

selcuka 3y ago
> looking back I would be happier with an XPS. I don't know, I had nothing but problems with my (8th gen? Don't remember) XPS. Mostly small things that have workarounds, such as fan being always on when running Linux, but still annoying. My current MacBook pro feels much better in terms of build quality.
- dronodeath 3y ago
  Sure but in terms of build quality does any laptop compare with a MacBook? Real question: Do you truly think the XPS is comparable to the Framework? I’ve no experience with the Framework so genuinely curious. OP seems less than impressed?
  - duped 3y ago
    They're in the same price tier and both target software devs. With the XPS you're paying about the same price for a far better display and trackpad. With the framework, you might save some money on memory and storage and get decent repairability. And yes, I'd say an XPS compares in build quality to a MacBook Air, and has so many benefits over a Mac that it's not worth listing.
    - dronodeath 3y ago
      Thanks for the comparison.
    - selcuka 3y ago
      > XPS compares in build quality to a MacBook Air I don't know about the Air but I've used both and it is certainly not a match for MacBook Pro. > has so many benefits over a Mac Curious, such as what? I'm not invested in the Apple ecosystem at all, but I think MacBook (Pro) is the best developer laptop available.
  - theogravity 3y ago
    The Razor laptops are really sturdy and the touchpad is very close to how a mac one feels.
    - vladvasiliu 3y ago
      I was curious about those. What's the Linux situation on them?
      - Tsiklon 3y ago
        There’s a special version released in conjunction with Lambda labs that comes with Ubuntu - called the Tensorbook. High prices though
- throw1234651234 3y ago
  I have had two XPS because price/performance. All for years and used daily. The charger failed in all of them. Heats up, stops charging. Battery swelled, made keyboard unusable (only some keys work). Screen failed for a while but then started working again. Network card failed on both, had to be swapped. Swapped RAM on one. Both sit on a cooling pad or overheat badly. The XPS is a hell of a lot of performance for price, but if I had to be constantly on the go and work from a laptop, I would probably get something else to avoid the embarrassment of peripherals working intermittently.
alphablended 3y ago
> Battery life kinda sucks but I'm not going to fault Framework for that, I am running Linux and have done nothing to improve the situation on my end. Just in case you haven't yet looked into it: It really depends on the distro you are using. I assume that some willship with great support (read: automated) out of the box, but others might require a bit of manual setup. The "powertop"[1] tool from Intel is a CLI app which let you see where energy is going and tune the system to reduce consumption. From my own experience, the automatic tuning mode does fair job, but the mouse setting was a bit too aggressive for my taste (I think that the tool only saw it as a lambda USB peripheral), so I had to override that setting. I also wrote a simple configuration file for a systemd service to have it executed at boot time, but I lost that lately because of a drive crash, so I cannot help you more than just telling you it's doable, if you're willing to dig through the man pages. 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerTOP https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerTOP
4gotunameagain 3y ago
> I have to plug the cable into the charging brick multiple times a day because it always falls out Consider giving the male plug a soft whack with a hammer. Mild deformation can lead to better retainment
- ThePowerOfFuet 3y ago
  Better yet, just replace it; any e-marked USB Type-C cable should do the job (and if the charger is 60W or less then the e-marker isn't even needed).
MichaelZuo 3y ago
> The overall build quality feels extremely flimsy. There is a ton of board flex. Definitely a bit worrying, since this is practically the first real test that someone can perform and feel when picking up a prototype. Whereas the old MacBook 15s feel like they were carved out of a solid block.
spiffytech 3y ago
It's easy to miss, but Framework offers guides for optimizing battery life on Linux: https://knowledgebase.frame.work/en_us/optimizing-fedora-battery-life-r1baXZh https://knowledgebase.frame.work/en_us/optimizing-fedora-bat...

by duped 3y ago

selcuka 3y ago

> looking back I would be happier with an XPS. I don't know, I had nothing but problems with my (8th gen? Don't remember) XPS. Mostly small things that have workarounds, such as fan being always on when running Linux, but still annoying. My current MacBook pro feels much better in terms of build quality.

dronodeath 3y ago
Sure but in terms of build quality does any laptop compare with a MacBook? Real question: Do you truly think the XPS is comparable to the Framework? I’ve no experience with the Framework so genuinely curious. OP seems less than impressed?
- duped 3y ago
  They're in the same price tier and both target software devs. With the XPS you're paying about the same price for a far better display and trackpad. With the framework, you might save some money on memory and storage and get decent repairability. And yes, I'd say an XPS compares in build quality to a MacBook Air, and has so many benefits over a Mac that it's not worth listing.
  - dronodeath 3y ago
    Thanks for the comparison.
  - selcuka 3y ago
    > XPS compares in build quality to a MacBook Air I don't know about the Air but I've used both and it is certainly not a match for MacBook Pro. > has so many benefits over a Mac Curious, such as what? I'm not invested in the Apple ecosystem at all, but I think MacBook (Pro) is the best developer laptop available.
- theogravity 3y ago
  The Razor laptops are really sturdy and the touchpad is very close to how a mac one feels.
  - vladvasiliu 3y ago
    I was curious about those. What's the Linux situation on them?
    - Tsiklon 3y ago
      There’s a special version released in conjunction with Lambda labs that comes with Ubuntu - called the Tensorbook. High prices though
throw1234651234 3y ago
I have had two XPS because price/performance. All for years and used daily. The charger failed in all of them. Heats up, stops charging. Battery swelled, made keyboard unusable (only some keys work). Screen failed for a while but then started working again. Network card failed on both, had to be swapped. Swapped RAM on one. Both sit on a cooling pad or overheat badly. The XPS is a hell of a lot of performance for price, but if I had to be constantly on the go and work from a laptop, I would probably get something else to avoid the embarrassment of peripherals working intermittently.

alphablended 3y ago

> Battery life kinda sucks but I'm not going to fault Framework for that, I am running Linux and have done nothing to improve the situation on my end. Just in case you haven't yet looked into it: It really depends on the distro you are using. I assume that some willship with great support (read: automated) out of the box, but others might require a bit of manual setup. The "powertop"[1] tool from Intel is a CLI app which let you see where energy is going and tune the system to reduce consumption. From my own experience, the automatic tuning mode does fair job, but the mouse setting was a bit too aggressive for my taste (I think that the tool only saw it as a lambda USB peripheral), so I had to override that setting. I also wrote a simple configuration file for a systemd service to have it executed at boot time, but I lost that lately because of a drive crash, so I cannot help you more than just telling you it's doable, if you're willing to dig through the man pages. 1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerTOP https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerTOP

4gotunameagain 3y ago

> I have to plug the cable into the charging brick multiple times a day because it always falls out Consider giving the male plug a soft whack with a hammer. Mild deformation can lead to better retainment

ThePowerOfFuet 3y ago
Better yet, just replace it; any e-marked USB Type-C cable should do the job (and if the charger is 60W or less then the e-marker isn't even needed).

MichaelZuo 3y ago

> The overall build quality feels extremely flimsy. There is a ton of board flex. Definitely a bit worrying, since this is practically the first real test that someone can perform and feel when picking up a prototype. Whereas the old MacBook 15s feel like they were carved out of a solid block.

spiffytech 3y ago

It's easy to miss, but Framework offers guides for optimizing battery life on Linux: https://knowledgebase.frame.work/en_us/optimizing-fedora-battery-life-r1baXZh https://knowledgebase.frame.work/en_us/optimizing-fedora-bat...