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 have to push back on his “13-inch is a productivity device & 16-inch is a performance device.” IMO, the difference in CPU sku’s between the two models looks pretty negligible, I don’t think you’re gonna see a big difference aside from benchmarks. Also, you’re not required to purchase a discreet GPU with the 16"; I didn’t, I don’t need one for my use-case. When I purchase a laptop, the size I buy isn’t directly determined by its intended use, that’s a different decision tree.
He also neglected to include certain market factors when talking about price. Sure, when doing a simple specs -> price comparison against the manufacturers he mentioned, the Framework appears over-priced. However, Framework can’t operate at the same scale. Using sellers like System76, Tux Computers, and Entroware (who operate at a more similar scale), the price difference is lessened. You’re also paying for the engineering to design & implement a wholly different laptop assembly.