Like the author, I’m not sure what I’d do with a (underpowered) desktop. I can understand other people using it for a home server, a NAS, or something selfhosted, but that isn’t for me.

A better use (for me) might be donating it somewhere .

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Or maybe, like me, they find that system’s middling battery life and tricky-to-tame sleep draining (since improved, but not entirely fixed) make for a laptop that doesn’t feel all that portable.

Or, like me, you could buy a custom-printed Cooler Master case (or 3D-print your own), transfer your laptop’s mainboard, memory, and storage over, and create a desktop that easily fits on top of your actual desk.

I can’t recommend it enough as a small weekend project, as a way to get more value out of your purchase, and as a thought experiment in what kind of job you can give to a thin little slab of Framework.

It was easy to miss the announcement earlier this year that Framework would collaborate with Cooler Master to design and sell a $40 mainboard case.

It has smoked translucent plastic on the front and inoffensive light gray/beige on the back, and it has all the slots necessary for fan intake and exhaust, the Framework’s USB-C expansion modules, and VESA mounts or a tiny rubberized stand.

There’s room in the case to bring over your audio board (i.e., headphone jack) and a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card, though you’ll have to buy your own SMA antenna cable setup.

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