No interest in this exactly, but I am interested in the idea that third parties are now targeting the Framework form factor explicitly to sell upgrades/replacements outside of the Framework marketplace.
The chassis of my PBP is great (brittle plastic notwithstanding)! That's the last thing I want to replace in the device.
We have needed a "Jeep of Laptops" for a while, maybe someone needs to spec out a fully open source design that any manufacturer can target.
I'm not sure if this counts in your book, but releasing all this stuff is closer than anyone else is to that dream.
That is the MNT Reform.
To me, that's far from not caring about the software. Especially when you compare to other vendors like Pine.
What I probably should have said is that System76 takes open software ridiculously seriously in the same way that Framework takes open hardware ridiculously seriously. On the scale of Linux laptops, Framework is on par with Dell and Lenovo (the best of the big OEMs) in terms of upstreaming patches etc.
System76 OTOH is completely crazy. They've put Coreboot on their laptops, built their own DE because they got tired of Ubuntu not shipping proper nvidia drivers, etc.
I could transplant the desktop model I got into my original framework, but I haven’t attempted it.
https://store.deepcomputing.io/products/dc-roma-ai-pc-risc-v...
https://github.com/geerlingguy/sbc-reviews/issues/82
"Like the Pi 4, I think this system is the first RISC-V desktop environment that isn't painful to use, just inconvenient. Actions still have delays, but the delays are more reasonable, and don't make me constantly question if the computer's frozen."
also some really odd choices by Eswin for the eic7702x, which is essentially 2 p550 chips glued together.
Framework: "Let us show you how it is done!"
Also, a very different approach to GPU.
I wish someone made a keyboard that doesn’t suck, ideally split as well.
Although to be pedantic, that's not an "ortholinear" keyboard (as in a square grid) rather a keyboard with column stagger (which you should use).
I wonder if you could make it for a FW13 too? I know QMK doesn't work for 13.
Edit: I see now that it uses a separate microcontroller, so yes if you could make it fit then it should work.
I don't know how to link to it directly, but midway down this article there's a picture and some more links of an MNT Reform (apparently completely home-built) with a very cool, "thumb-centric", column staggered ergo keyboard:
https://mntre.com/media/reform_md/2022-07-01-july-update.htm...
(search for "More great mods from the community..." heading if interested)
I would very much like to have a keyboard like either of those on my laptop. The stares you'd get when in public!!
A big part of the core functionality of a laptop, as opposed to a PC, is is that of a typewriter:
* Notes in class
* Minutes in a meeting
* Entries in a journal or travelogue
* Writing the next great novel
etc.
Why have manufacturers simply taken that away from us, in favor of a terrible excuse with ridiculous tactile feedback?
I don’t like row stagger and non-split keyboards, for ergonomic reasons. That’s definitely a niche preference, but if anyone would cater to it you’d expect it to be Framework or similar.
https://frame.work/marketplace/keyboards
but not one decent keyboard. Why?
(Answer: it's basically just keyboard covers, and the many options are due to variations of colors and languages. But I would take a hot pink / toxic green keyboard with ancient tibetan labels if the keys were non-chicklet, with decent travel, sizes, and feedback. 7 rows if possible.)
⇒ their market likely isn’t enormous, but it is larger than that of Framework Laptop owners.
https://frame.work/products/cooler-master-mainboard-case https://frame.work/products/framework-laptop-13-mainboard-ho... https://github.com/FrameworkComputer/Framework-Laptop-13
etc., lots of designs available.
Looks like this would be an easy entry point to a DIY Steam Machine that takes up ~no space under your TV.