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If you're a PC hardware geek who's been dreaming of a laptop that you can upgrade far beyond the life cycle of a typical machine, Framework's modular notebooks must seem like a miracle. The American company has a straightforward pitch: What if your laptop could be nearly as customizable as a desktop, with the ability to swap components out for repairs and upgrades? What if we could put an end to disposable hardware? We were intrigued by Framework's original 13-inch notebook and its Chromebook variant, despite some rough edges and a basic design. Now, with the Framework Laptop 16, the company is targeting the most demanding and (arguably) hardest group of PC users to please: Gamers.
Framework has already proved it can build compelling modular laptops, but can the Laptop 16 cram in powerful graphics, a fast display and other components to keep up with the likes of Alienware, Razer and ASUS? Sort of, it turns out — and there are plenty of other tradeoffs for living the modular laptop dream. Hardware quirks abound, battery life is mediocre and it still looks like a totally generic machine. But how many other notebooks could let you completely upgrade your CPU or GPU in a few years? Who else offers a customizable keyboard setup? In those respects, the Framework 16 stands alone.
[...] I was genuinely bummed to discover that it was a fairly mediocre gaming machine, at least for its high price.
What do you think? Is having a laptop that you can upgrade more important than having the fastest laptop on the block? What price would you pay for being able to upgrade your hardware?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by gznork26 on Tuesday March 19 2024, @08:48PM (1 child)
I'm a retired programmer who started on a machine with bat switches and paper tape, but it seems to me that component sockets have been the limiting factor all along, haven't they? More advanced component architectures have different requirements, and that's reflected in changes to newer motherboards. So what's the alternative? In order to make a truly upgradable computer, wouldn't the physical connects have to be limited to just the connection to a power supply? Everything else changes. Could components be designed such that each contains the means to wirelessly connect to other components once they are introduced to one another and complete a handshake of some sort? (If not wirelessly, then perhaps optically.)
If that's a feasible way to go, where would it lead?
Khipu were Turing complete.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 20 2024, @12:16AM
> where would it lead?
The optics would lead to less leads...