I'll have you try another experiment. Add 64gb of ram and a 4tb HDD. Then compare it with Apple or Lenovo or Sony with that storage, a similar processor, the same screen size, and a metal chassis.
Everyone else will charge you huge markups in the SSD and RAM. The markup from framework isn't nearly as large, and you can it to buy on your own (with no markup).
The base config is the worse case scenario.
And again, it's not about the money anyway. If apple sold a $700 m2 MacBook pro and I would pay them the extra $500 to make it repairable and upgradable, I would - but I can't.
Dave with the thinner Lenovo's, etc.
How much RAM and SSD do you need for CAD? The more you need, the more you are going to be ripped off by anyone who supports then to the board.
If you want to upgrade with an all soldered machine, it brands throwing everything away and starting fresh.
Even if there exists some magical and super cheap Dell with 1/10 the the price of the framework that can outperform it (really? How about a link with the process and performance numbers) - can you upgrade the motherboard when a btw I've comes out? And reuse the older one as a PC?