I have been looking at them a lot recently and they have a premium price is it worth it?
What does it look like when you want to upgrade? Like can you just swap out all parts over time and essentially it’s like having a custom desktop, but in small form factor.
Can you buy a base model and upgrade components over time?
Would it suit my use cases for it? Which are to run Linux, I have to use Windows as a Software Dev and so can’t do it on my main. Can I run Minecraft on Linux? I know, but I like that game it makes me happy to unwind.
I want to get more into cyber security related tasks and most likely increase my Darknet activities using Tails.
I have one (FW 16 AMD), I don’t have any complaints so far. It comes mostly assembled but you put your RAM, SSD, screen bezel, keyboard, touchpad and all the port modules yourself. The machine is well built and genuinely very easy to work with. You can swap the keyboard and touchpad without touching a screw.
For the most part it seems like they’re holding up to their promise, you can buy a new motherboard for a CPU upgrade, remove the old one, put the new one in, and you’re good to go with the rest of your existing stuff (as long as it’s compatible, if the new board needs DDR5 instead of DDR4 then you need new RAM too but that’s expected). So far everything I’ve disassembled as part of the firs assembly has been a breeze. It’s a very nice laptop to work on and swap parts that’s for sure. You get the assurance that you can swap the battery, input modules, IO modules for the foreseeable future.
Where I’ve been disappointed is the third-party ecosystem for it is not what I was hoping it would be, there’s not a lot of third-party modules for it. But the designs are all open-sourced so you can 3D print parts for it. Maybe in the future we’ll have more modules. Overall though, it’s not like you could even think about that on any other laptop brands, you get the laptop and it’s what it’ll be for the rest of its life.
Runs great on Linux, most of the company actually uses Linux so support for Linux is very good. All of the models will run Minecraft very well, Minecraft in particular has been known to run significantly better on Linux to begin with, especially on Intel graphics where the OpenGL drivers on Windows are terrible.
One neat thing about swapping the motherboard is that you can easily just 3d print a case for it and use it as a server! I saw a post on the homelab community where FW was selling older model MBs for cheap, and people snapped them up for that. Someone sells a slim case for it, but they also have a printable model for it online
Yep and there’s even a BIOS option for that use case! I really like they they go “oh, people use the parts for that, we’ll add a feature for it!”
That’s awesome. I don’t have one of their products but generally feel a good vibe about the company
I’ll answer what I know:
Yes, you can run Minecraft on Linux. There are both official and unofficial, paid and free versions.
For Java Edition, there’s an official launcher.
For Bedrock, there’s an unofficial bedrock launcher that uses a Google Play account with a Minecraft License.
For Java for free, there are cracked launchers that download as jar files and work great.
For Bedrock for free, I just wouldn’t bother. I’m big into piracy, and even I just gave up and bought a license from Google Play Store. If you want to give it a shot, you can find a launcher that takes x86 apks, but it’s near impossible to find x86 apks that work, and the only ones I found were from super old versions, like pre-1.16.
Thanks. I already own Java Edition and someone else said you can get a third party launcher too which is cool.
Prism Launcher is easily the best third-party launcher, hands down. It’s really useful and intuitive, with instances (basically it lets you make seperate game installs for different modpacks or versions or whatever) and lets you easily install any mod, modloader, modpack, resourcepack, or shaderpack from all the major platforms (CurseForge, Modrinth, FTB, Technic, etc.)
I prefer MultiMC as it does the same while being extremely lightweight. Or does prism have any special features that multimc doesn’t have?
Well, Prism is forked from PolyMC, which is forked from MultiMC. Prism lets you download directly from Curse and FTB, while MultiMC doesn’t.
Ty
Yes, multimc only has a repository of finished modpacks you can download.
I did just order one to replace my MacBook, so I’m interested in hearing from others as well. The upgradability was a big plus for me beyond being able to have a mobile Linux machine for dev work.
We got plenty of replies.
Framework 13. Had to RMA the first one I had for a battery issue. The one I currently have has a bad memory controller, so one of the ram slots periodically fails. I decided it wasn’t worth it to RMA the second one. So I’m living with a single stick of RAM.
Overall I’m impressed. It’s a good system. You can upgrade RAM, hard disk, and the motherboard/cpu combo if you want.
It’s a sturdy device, I’ve had no issues with the battery life, Wi-Fi is good. It’s a good laptop. Great compatibility with Linux and qubes
Thanks for the reply. I think the consensus here is overwhelmingly positive which is nice to see. I’ve not had one comment say anything particularly bad about them.
I have a framework 13. Bought it with 12th gen intel mainboard, upgraded it to AMD when that came out. Also upgraded the battery, RAM, and soon the screen when the 120hz one ships. It’s super easy to get into, just five screws and then pop the trackpad/keyboard cable off. I honestly love it.
Framework has fantastic support for windows and Linux. There used to be some minor fixes needed on certain models but they’ve since resolved them and my experience on Fedora and Arch have been plug and play. On windows they have a driver install script that installs everything in one go, that’s nice too. And yes Minecraft does run on Linux, at least the Java version does. Idk about bedrock though
Thanks for the reply. It will be my next purchase.
Is it better to go AMD in my use case then?
You’ll have just as good of an experience on either Intel or AMD. Framework is releasing a new generation of intel models in August so if you want the most cutting edge model and can wait those are a good bet. But personally I’m very happy with my current gen AMD model’s performance and efficiency so I’ll be waiting a while before another upgrade. There really aren’t any major downsides for any of the current options though, just personal preference.
I have been running one for 2 years and next generation am going to do the thing they were designed to do and upgrade my laptop without throwing away the whole laptop. So for less than $1000 I will be upgrading to something that is faster than my desktop, and it’s portable.
The price tag is premium, at first, then it actually saves money.
Thanks for the reply.
That makes sense on it being premium at first but then the options are there to upgrade and repurpose old parts.
Totally, I’m not buying a new monitor, keyboard, speakers, webcam, or chassis. Just a new CPU and in this case RAM, as we made the switch from DDR4 to DDR5.
Imagine having to buy a new keyboard, mouse, monitor, and speakers, every time you wanted to upgrade your desktop. It’s the same thing.
What will you do with the old internals?
Sell them
Probably turn it into a dedicated mini pc for the 3D printer. It’s still decently powerful I just don’t need it anymore. I might gift it to someone as a mini pc, depends on if I see someone who needs a computer but doesn’t have one.
Typing this from an 11th gen intel framework right now –
I’ve upgraded a few things (namely the CNC shell, the hinges, and the speaker) and it’s pretty painless. I have some experience repairing electronics though – but not a ton – and it’s been generally pleasant. I had some issues with my batch that required more work than I think it probably should have, including an RMA at one point, but that was a few years ago and it seems most of the problems have been ironed out. You can swap out any parts you want and the compatability has been really good, both for hardware and software. You can upgrade any model with any of their components, it’s a whole ecosystem, so buy a config that’s accessible to you and upgrade it then. Everything you asked about being able to do you should be able to do no problem, there’s nothing unique to the framework computers that would stop that from being the case. If gaming is your usecase though, get an AMD machine (or get one of the new 16 inch notebooks, I have a 13 inch one which doesn’t have the space for a dedicated graphics card, so gaming performance has taken a hit accordingly). Hopefully that helps!
Thanks for the reply.
To clarify you’re saying an AMD 13 would be good for gaming or any 16?
I got an Intel 12th Gen laptop but wanted an AMD 7040 gen CPU. I was going to live overseas for a while so shipping laptops via air is questionable.
So I bought the 12th gen and then a year later upgraded the main board. No issues other than VeraCrypt being annoyed.
Thanks.
Really loving all the comments on how it is very upgradable.
You can upgrade literally everything on it.
They just released a new high refresh rate screen for the 13 inch. I’m seeing if it’s worth buying.
Wonder if the old display can be used as a portable monitor? I would assume so.
I could be mistaken, but I’ve used old screens from laptops before. You just need to buy an LCD (or whatever display type) controller board.
I may have missed it, but as of now, framework doesn’t offer the controller board by itself just yet.
Knowing them, it’s probably not too far away.
So you can just find these on eBay or something. I would say Amazon but fuck those guys.
You just need to check the model number for the display, then search for a board that is compatible with that.
I’m very very lazy. Id rather have the OEM supply their own model than to get a 3rd party.
Then again I’m one of those heathens who pay for OEM camera batteries rather than wasabi power (which are amazing in their own right)
To each their own.
I like the tinkering and learning how to do things outside of OEM, even if they are amazing.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
This YouTube video should help you udnerstand
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
You can indeed run Minecraft on Linux. In my opinion, it’s even easier than running it on Windows, since you can use your package manager to install openjdk instead of fishing around Oracle’s website to get the Java 17 graphical installer. I use Prism, which is a 3rd party launcher, and I’m loving the experience.
This is stuff for people that don’t know what to do with the money . Guys we are no longer in the 90s 00s , just use the first cheap crap used you can get
Can you expand on this as it’s a pretty wild take to me.
There are millions of of laptops and hardware in the used market . Instead of create new waste, even if it’s an anti waste project, you are generating waste. And nowadays for common task you can use almost any kind of laptop for common tasks. What I’m trying to say is that given the amount of already hardware in the market , buying a new thing won’t help. Just don’t buy new. We need a circular global market. And wipe the already trash that was already built, but by using the already built tings until they are unusable .
can I run Minecraft on Linux?
You’re a software developer you answer that.
As for everything else, yes it’s worth it. Upgrading isn’t as easy as a desktop, but it’s much easier than other laptops.
Just because you’re a software developer doesn’t mean you know how everything in software is.
I was more asking for the performance on Linux.
Yes, I imagine it more fiddly than upgrading a desktop. I’ve never really been in to buying laptops as they don’t have good upgrade options. I did have an M1 MacBook Pro and that was amazing, but they hold their value so well and I got it almost have price on discount it was a no brainier to sell it after a year for about the same I got it for.
The performance depends on how powerful the laptop is. Get an AMD model.
Is the Intel + Nvidia performance on Linux worse than on windows?
Maybe. For most things Nvidia works fine I think. Its just proprietary, and they come with arbitrary restrictions. Nouveau is an open source solution probably bad with games. I use AMD + Lutris (Linux game organizer) and its great. The only games that don’t work well are almost all AAA games.
Which kind of restrictions?
Switching to AMD isn’t an option, I don’t want to spend money to switch to Linux.
You’re a software developer you answer that.
lol. What a shit take.
We hang out at [email protected]
Awesome. Thanks.
I’ve had my fw 13 since early Feb 2022. So far, I’ve replaced the hinges and upgraded to a new mainboard. (11th gen i5 to 12 gen i7 when it became my main PC).
I’ve redone the thermal paste on the 12th gen 2 times already to clean the fan out and have not had any problems opening things up. I open it up so often to tinker that the pull loop on the keyboard cable finally broke on me a few weeks ago.
My old mainboard is currently running my entire homlab. Opnsense, pihole, Plex, Kavita, audiobookshelf, foundry vtt, *arrs, unifi controller. I threw it into a 3d printed case and its been running fine without any issues.
I thought about upgrading to the fw16, but it’s too expensive for me to justify it. If I want to game I just plug into my eGPU. I don’t need my gaming system to be ultra portable.
I’ll probably upgrade again when they release a new ryzen mainboard that has USB 4 2.0 support so I can take advantage of the additional pcie bandwidth for my GPU.
I would reccomend the fw13 to anyone who is into customizing PCs or is passionate about repairability in the electronics they own.
It’s made for user reparability/upgradability and has great linux support.
Thanks.
Just got my Framework in the mail today. I’ll report back soon and let you know how it is!
I am excited for you. Hope you have a great day with your new toy.
