Comment by jgrahamc | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jgrahamc | Hacker News Reader

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I don't claim to be in the same league as OP but I can tell you from my experience. I have a demanding job (CTO of Cloudflare) and I have a partner with whom I like to spend time.

One of the projects I am currently working on is restoring an IBM ThinkPad 701CS (https://blog.jgc.org/2023/03/repairing-tiny-ribbon-cable-ins...) which has required a total teardown and rebuild. I started this project in early January and currently have a working machine that's in parts. I work on this when I have time. Which might be for two or three hours a week maximum. Basically, I decided to get satisfaction from small improvements. So, one time when working on this I just cleaned up the battery contacts, another time I replaced the CMOS battery and saw that it was retaining RAM size, another time I repaired the keyboard, another time I just sat down and figured out which parts of the case I needed to 3D print to replace, etc. etc.

I usually have two to three projects ongoing and just pick them up when I have time and inclination.

This is great advice. I also try to make incremental gains in projects as it is the one way I’ve experienced consistent progress. This includes things like learning handstands as a project. A little bit of forward progress is better than no progress. I’ve heard it said it’s like putting pennies (or similar currency) into a savings account. It never seems like much but over time it adds up. The hardest thing for me was recognizing the value in those pennies. Ego, insecurity, etc want the big cathartic jump in progress.

I read that article when it was published, very cool. I was wondering, if the grafting failed could you replace the ribbon with something standard e.g. from mouser/digikey?

> I have a demanding job (CTO of Cloudflare)

Please use your influence to bring sturdy, repairable laptops with great keyboards back! I'd buy a cloudflare branded thinkpad clone.

Buy a Framework laptop?

Doesn't ship to Greece. (yet). Also the keyboard is less than ideal.

I quite like the keyboard, but then again I'm not very picky with keyboards. I got mine reshipped from Germany, so that's a route you can go.

If you want a repairable laptop with a good keyboard, getting a Framework now gets you much closer than hoping someone makes one. Also, you enable and encourage the company that already makes a repairable laptop to eventually sell a great keyboard, which giving your money to Apple or Dell doesn't do.

I will wait a bit more in case they expand their shipping.

What do you think of the monitor by the way? Does it compare to e.g. a Macbook even a little bit?

I really like the laptop in general, but, again, I'm not very picky. I have an old MacBook Air and the Framework's monitor is just as good (though much higher res). My only issue is that it's a little dim in sunlight.

Also, obviously Intel can't compare to an M1, but I hope the new AMD processors will improve on that somehow.

I work on my projects the same way. Enjoy the little wins when I get them; put it down in favor of another project for a while if I get bored.

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