My Framework is the first machine I've owned that seems to appreciate in personal value over time rather than leaving me longing for something shinier and newer. It's like an inverse of buyer's remorse.
The ability to upgrade hardware incrementally is a big part of it for me.
Also just seeing updates like this one, where Framework is intentionally trying their best to future-proof devices.
Basically any other vendor would have said "Upgrade to the Framework 3.0 with the new Thunderbolt chipset!" forcing you to buy a whole new machine for thousands of USD, and then soldered in a single thunderbolt port so only the other 3 were modular going forward.
I've been using my Framework all year for intensive engineering work and love it. Will likely be a customer for a very long time.
- The USB-C modules are a bit of a gimmick right now, but being able to swap things around is really nice, and it seems like there's a good possibility of there being a healthy module ecosystem in the coming years.
- The sheer number of Type-C ports is itself really handy as more and more devices use Type-C. I don't need a hub to run my Type-C microphone and Type-C webcam at the same time while charging over Type-C.
- The repairability is unmatched, and I'm increasingly confident that I can keep upgrading the internals for a long while to come (in fact, I might very well do that in the near future and swap out my current 11th Gen motherboard for a 12th Gen or maybe even whatever comes after that).
- Framework has been relatively open when it comes to things like firmware and hardware design files, making it easier to use Framework parts beyond the intended laptop use case (related to the above-mentioned planned upgrade, I can see myself 3D-printing an enclosure to turn the old motherboard into a SFF desktop or home server).
- Linux works great, and with recent releases OpenBSD works great.
- The 3:2 screen ratio is a godsend, and I'm quite frankly amazed that so few laptops offer it. I had previously bought a Pixelbook just for that alone.