Dave2d who’s been supportive of Framework preordered the Laptop 16.
He’s a bit concerned about the pricing and questions the upgradability of the Laptop 16 specifically.
Personally I understand his point, but I think the upgradability alone is probably not a good reason to buy the Laptop 16. It’s always been a package, which includes:
- repairability
- modularity
- support of the movement/mission
- the versatility of reusing parts for other use cases (e.g. the motherboard as thin-client)
- a laptop that actually does not have Linux as an afterthought
- the openness with the expansion card and (hopefully expansion bay) ecosystem
- and maybe even more?
It’s true that the laptop is expensive when you compare specs for specs but that was not the reason to buy it either. Do I wish it was cheaper? You bet. But like with all new startups, if it works out, if it scales, prices could come down. Long live Framework!
I mean personally I am on the verge of getting one, but the Price is really making me reconsider… Also I think it’s on Q1 of 2024 right now, which is kind of a long wait for a laptop. I think Dave is right though if the Framework would be a bit less pricey it would be a consideration for way more people. I just hope Framework continues to grow so the Laptops get a bit cheaper :)
Imo part of the reason why the cost is high is that the device starts with the 8 core option by default. They didnt start the device with a base proce using the 7640HS (similar to how the Framework 13 starts with a 7460U)
On the 13, the first upgrade is a 320$ upgrade. I wouldnt be suprised if there would have been a lot of users who wouldn’t mind the r5 option to save at least 300$.
Yeah I think you summoned it up perfectly. Especially since for a lot of Games CPU isn’t that important. And people that do video editing might not need a GPU in a Laptop.
It is cheaper if you diy some components which he did not do.
Meh, still more affordable than apple