Hacker News Reader

Comment by stavros | Hacker News Reader

I'm far more likely to buy a RAM stick off the shelf and install it in a Framework than I am to desolder the RAM from a Macbook.

Similarly, if I spill orange juice on a Framework, I can just buy a new keyboard and install it in a minute. If it were a Macbook, I'd probably throw away the whole thing, since I'd have to disassemble all of it to get to the keyboard, and it would take me hours, if I even managed to not break something.

So, "Macbooks are more repairable than Frameworks" is quite the take.

View on HN

But are you really going to repair it?

Or, upon spilling the juice, realize you can get a Surface Go on sale at Walmart (which this seems to be a clone of) for a bit more than a replacement keyboard and your time (which is way more than a minute) and toss it in the trash anyway.

The kind of people who buy Framework laptops would repair them, yes.

Yep, I definitely 100% would, immediately.

It really doesn't seem like you're trying to engage constructively here.

Framework sells keyboards for the Framework 13 for ~$30. I can find a Surface Go on sale for as low as $500.

No, I don't think anyone's going to throw out a $500-$1000 device because it needs a $30 part and maybe 15 minutes of work (steps here: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Framework+Laptop+12+Input+Cover...) and they could instead replace their laptop with a tablet for a mere $470 more.

> It really doesn't seem like you're trying to engage constructively here.

So I'm not allowed to disagree? For the record: I think the Framework laptop, while a noble cause, is a foolish endeavor as executed and they will be out of business in 5 years.

I'm assuming you've stocked spare parts because by the time you need a new keyboard, there is a chance they will be out of production (or out of business) and those parts, now rare, will be fetching $100s on eBay.

> So I'm not allowed to disagree? For the record: I think the Framework laptop, while a noble cause, is a foolish endeavor as executed and they will be out of business in 5 years.

:shrug: people said the same thing when I first bought my laptop 4 years ago. Parts are readily available today, and I expect them to be so in a year.

If nine years after I bought the laptop I can't get a replacement keyboard, I'll be a bit disappointed that the project failed, but the laptop will easily be net-positive from a cost benefit perspective long before that

I'll take the other side of that bet!

You're allowed to disagree with many aspects of repairability.

When you suggest that a surface go on sale is "a bit more" than a replacement keyboard, you're just wrong. That's not an opinion.

Also with the framework 16 replacing the keyboard actually is a minute. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Framework+Laptop+16-Inch+Keyboa...

> But are you really going to repair it?

Yes

> But are you really going to repair it?

Yes.

I've upgraded and repaired my framework laptop several times over the years. I've very familiar with opening it up and disassembling it.

Replacing the keyboard if I damaged it would absolutely be something I would do.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com