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I have a first-gen Framework with i5-1135G7. Using it right now. Pros - Keyboard and trackpad are nice IMO. - The display is 3:2 and overall decent, but s
by sagarm 2y ago
I have a first-gen Framework with i5-1135G7. Using it right now.
Pros
- Keyboard and trackpad are nice IMO.
- The display is 3:2 and overall decent, but see below.
- Fully supported on Ubuntu, including the fingerprint reader.
- I have a USB-A and USB-C on each side, which is exactly what I want.
- Upgrades are available (but see below)
- Resale value is surprisingly high[1]
Cons
- Fans are annoyingly loud when they spin up, which they do when e.g. playing Factorio.
- The 2.2K display requires non-integer scaling; 3k @ 2x scaling is much crisper.
- Plastic cases are common on ~$700 budget laptops not >$1k ones, cheapening the laptop.
- Sleep tends to drain the battery, but I re-configured my laptop to use hibernate anyway.
The first two points have been addressed: I hear the newer Frameworks are much quieter, and there's a 2.8K display option now.
Overall, when I just want to surf the web, I prefer my old laptop, a Huawei Matebook with 8th Intel, mostly because it has a nicer screen (3k 3:2) but partially because the sleeker metal chassis is nicer. When I need portable performance, I pull out the Framework, but the fans get noisy when it's going full blast.
I'd like to upgrade it to an AMD 7000 motherboard + 3k screen, but it comes out to $735:
$420 7640U Mainboard
$ 45 2x8GB DDR5-5600 SODIMM
$270 2.8K Display
For ~$1058, I could buy an entire new 7640U w/ 2.8K display + RAM. Comparable laptops are often significantly less than $1k on sale. With 11th gen Frameworks selling on EBay for >$500(!), from a pure cost-optimization point-of-view upgrading is questionable. The fact that the laptop retains its value undermines one of the main reasons I got the Framework!
[1] https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=framework+laptop+i5-1135g7&_sacat=0&rt=nc&_odkw=framework+laptop+1135g7&_osacat=0&LH_Complete=1&LH_Sold=1 https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m...