So I bought a Framework laptop

Joy
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It’s about as repairable as a mac mini too: memory failure? replace the entire system board. No ports for an external GPU, and the CPU/GPU are on the same die so neither can be upgraded without having to also replace the other. (oh wait, the CPU’s non-swappable, so that’s also a system board replacement.)

But you can 3d print custom tiles and put them on the front! /sarcasm

Not much in the way of ‘easy to repair’ unless you count chucking a dead system board in the eWaste pile and putting a new one on, unless they provide repair houses with schematics to make board/level repairs…

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And there’s a version of the mini PC that is for AI use/development, which i think is some kind of red flag :thinking: I do believe in Framework’s vision for the laptops but i don’t know what to make of the mini PC

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I really feel like the design of the mainboard is constrained by the AMD AI 3xx chipset, but nothing stops them from creating a different mainboard later based on a chipset that allows normal CPU and memory upgrades. I think its primary value in the current configuration is as an inexpensive Windows or Linux AI workstation. I think the gaming angle is largely an afterthought, and was driven more by AMD marketing than anything else. If all that makes me sound like a Framework apologist, so be it, but I’m seeing a lot of takes online that basically boil down to “It’s not built for my use case, so I don’t understand why it exists.” This is not a product for me, even if I think it has some neat features. I’m not the kind of person that would generally purchase a $300+ case, and I tend to find ITX to be too small for my needs. For other people, it may be exactly what they’re looking for. For AI use cases, I think it makes even more sense to set these up in a rack of some sort, which they showed a prototype of during the event. I’m not an AI developer either, so I can’t say for certain whether this adequately meets those needs for the price.

Just imagine if Framework had announced an entirely bog-standard ATX desktop? I can’t imagine they’d have an easier time justifying its existence.

Not mentioned in the video above is that they also announced The Framework 12, a 2-in-1 tablet/laptop hybrid. That does interest me, as a possible replacement for my daughter’s Pixelbook. If the price is right, it could be viable alternative to iPads and Chromebooks in schools as well.

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Yeah, that 12" has piqued my interest; when I started freelancing, I bought a 15" Lenovo Thinkbook, which in all fairness, has done sterling service.
But when I’m going into machine rooms, I could often do with a smaller form factor, and the flip-over tablet idea has always struck me as being advantageous in those scenarios.
I’m inevitably cradling my Thinkbook on one arm while trying to read the screen in cramped spaces, so something smaller that can also act as a tablet, therefore taking up half as much space again, seems like a no-brainer.

Edit: Ack, sorry, this was actually in response to this post of yours.

I also wanted to respond about the Fairphone bits; I have both the Fairphone 5 and the Fairbuds XL, and am really pleased with both. I’ve not had to replace anything in the phone yet, but it’s got a nice tear-off back like the ancient Galaxy S2, which makes everything immediately accessible, and is a nifty way to quickly show interested people how repairable it is.

The Fairbuds actually had a manufacturing flaw in the plastic used for the arms, and both have snapped on me, but been replaced without charge by the good people at Fairphone.
Replacing them was easy, with videos showing how to do it being accessible directly in the Fairphone app.
One really nifty touch that I love about the headphones is that the cable connecting the left and right speakers is USB C.

When the second arm snapped, I went back to using my Sony WH-1000XM4 while waiting for the spare part to arrive, widely regarded as being one of the best noise-cancelling bluetooth headsets available, and I actually now prefer the sound of the Fairbuds, despite their frequency range not being quite as good as the Sonys.

As an aside, I went to town last week to meet up with my step-mum and step-sister (who’s over from Australia), and gave them a guided tour of Soho. Realising that my Fairbuds are a little bulky for that, and not wanting to lug around a backpack, I broke out my old Pixel Buds Pro (first edition).
I was pleasantly surprised at how well they performed!
I’m not a fan of in-ear headphones usually, which is ultimately why I stopped using them originally. But they served their purpose perfectly, and were easily popped into my pocket when not in use.
And to be honest, the sound quality wasn’t a massively noticeable step down from the Fairbuds; they didn’t fair as well when crossing the windy park on the way to the station, but they worked just as well once I was on the Elizabeth line.

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I’d like to get a pair of these for my daughter. Unfortunately, I can’t find anywhere that will ship them to the US, plus even if I could there’s the problem of getting parts later. Hopefully they’ll expand their market, but I’m not holding my breath on it happening anytime soon. She’s on her second or third pair of Logitech wireless headphones at this point. I suspect they are failing simply due to the battery degrading, but they are not intended to be serviceable, and I haven’t found the time or energy to try and get around that.

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I don’t know about in the States, but Sennheiser have pretty good spares availability over here. They’re always pretty damn good; I’m using a pair of their wired headphones on my PC right now, and I’ve bought spare earcups and headband cushions for them.
I’ve tried other manufacturers, from Astro to Audeze, but I always end up coming back to Sennheiser for the desktop.

In case you’re interested, the Audeze headphones were overpriced and under-engineered, with a non-cushioned, metal headband, making them really uncomfortable, as well as having under-sized ear cushions.
Not what you expect from supposedly “audiophile” quality gear for almost a grand.
The sound quality also wasn’t noticeably any better than my Sennheisers, and the boom-mic was frankly embarrassingly bad.
I ended up returning them in disgust before I’d even had them a week.

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She uses headphones primarily to listen to music, watch videos, and play games on her phone. As such, I can’t imagine getting her to consider a wired option.

Still wired, but an intriguing option is these headphones from Ploopy. Open source hardware and software, plus 3D printed parts would maximize sustainability. Worth keeping an eye on if they ever make a wireless set. I stumbled upon them when I was looking for a trackpad to go with the mechanical keyboard I bought my wife. We’ll see how that goes… They also have a mouse and several styles of trackball, all Open source and relatively inexpensive.

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