Background:
My previous laptop was a Dell XPS 13: i7-6500U, 8GB RAM, 256GB Storage, 4k-ish touchscreen, Windows 10. I'm a software engineer, though completely new to Linux and the like. I've built computers in the past. The goal was to get a much needed upgrade while making the jump to Linux for daily use.
Configuration:
AMD DIY - Batch 3: 7840U with way too many expansion cards. So far, I'm using 2 USB-C, USB-A, and HDMI (3rd Gen). With the money I would've saved from the other 5 expansion cards I ordered, I could've just bought a USB-C hub or something else if I actually needed it. Framework accidentally sent me an additional DisplayPort card to add insult to injury (/s), but at least the little holder box is full now. Lesson learned, I suppose.
I bought separately a SK Hynix Gold P31 2TB SSD and a Ripjaws 2x32GB CL40 RAM kit. Both seemingly work without issues. I already had a couple generic brand USB-PD chargers (60w and 100W), so I didn't purchase a charger.
Shipping Time:
I live in the United States Midwest. My tracking number came on a Friday morning and arrived at my door on Monday. Very quick for free shipping from the other side of the world!
Unpacking:
Really liked how all the packaging is completely recyclable, with most of it being paper-based. Kudos. Everything was well-packaged, and I appreciated that the outside of the box was nondescript.
Assembly:
Uneventful, in a good way. Followed the setup guide without any major issues. Only hiccup was that when moving the lid to/from the "open flat" position before the keyboard was installed, something would temporarily catch on the loose captive screws towards the hinge. Thought I did something wrong for a second, but I continued with the assembly and everything was fine.
Setup:
For the Linux distro, I had the choice between Ubuntu and Fedora for being "officially" supported by Framework. I decided to go with Fedora because some post somewhere vaguely said Fedora was "better" for software development. Since I'm completely new to Linux, I didn't put much more thought into it and decided to chalk up any growing pains as a learning experience. As expected, the first boot did take a while because of having so much RAM. I followed the Framework Fedora setup guide pretty closely, using the Fedora Media Writer to create an install image onto an old flash drive. The OS seemed a bit unstable at first, but after running updates and restarting pretty much everything is ironed out. GNOME still randomly "crashes" trying to do something innocuous on rare occasions though. After I installed software and logged into all my accounts, I remembered that I didn't encrypt my hard drive, either through my Fedora installation or through the BIOS (if it's even possible, I'm not sure). I haven't decided if I'm going to retry the install yet.
Using It:
Still getting used to all the differences between the two laptops, but it seems promising! Definitely not fluent with GNOME yet, and I occasionally look like an iPad baby not having a touchscreen anymore. I don't miss the 4k screen as much as I thought I would, and I already appreciate the extra height of the Framework screen. Every keyboard is a bit different, but this one feels great and it shouldn't be long before I'm used to it. Just writing this out has me typing fairly comfortably, though my WPM has never been great to begin with. For charging, I noticed I can't seem to pull more than ~52w from either of my chargers ("rated" 60w or 100w), based on one of those USB multimeters on Amazon. Maybe I'm missing a driver or its the wrong charging protocol? I was under the impression you could go higher than that. I haven't used it enough on the go to comment on actual battery life, though it seems reasonable for now and it sounds like there'll be further efficiency improvements as time goes on. I'm not a huge gamer, but the prospect of being able to game on modest settings is exciting as well! It should go without saying that the performance in terms of CPU and RAM has been wonderful compared to my previous laptop.
Worth It:
Though my point of reference is a near decade old laptop, I really like the Framework so far! Build is solid and weight is very reasonable. It looks and performs great so far, and any hiccups I've encountered have been easily addressable (to me, at least). I watched a ton of reviews before finally getting mine, and I can't help but feel like either Framework has made enormous strides and/or reviewers are a bit too critical (though that's their job). I get the same impression from car reviewers too. Driving an early 2000's beater car, a reviewer wishing a new car had 4-way instead of 2-way lumber support makes me roll my eyes a bit. In that regard I'm impressed, even if it wouldn't take much to impress me. Almost any new laptop would've been a significant upgrade for me, but the mission is cool, the product is refined, and I like it! This probably isn't the laptop for absolute value or absolute performance, but it's own interesting niche in repairability and modularity. Ultimately it'll be up to you if it's worth it. So far, I think it is. I'd return my extra expansion cards if I could, though.
Other Thoughts:
When I've bought/built new computers in the past, I usually like to run benchmarking programs to make sure the hardware is performing as expected. It isn't immediately clear to me how to do this in Linux yet. It would be nice if there was a brief section in the setup guides that talked about that. "Is your system acting strange? Run this program to rule out faulty RAM you might've bought." Etc. This could be another "new-to-linux" obvious thing I missed, and ultimately it isn't Frameworks job to teach me Linux. In that regard, I appreciate how approachable Framework has made Linux feel to me with their setup guides and support pages.
Hopefully this was helpful in some way. Feel free to ask any questions.