I don’t really need a gaming laptop so was considering the framework 13. If anyone has any experience with it please share! Bonus points for any details of using Linux on it and/or the AMD version.
I’ve had mine (12th gen Intel) for several months now and have exclusively used Linux (Fedora and Arch) on it the whole time (I never had to buy a windows key!). It’s generally been great, with only a few issues with the screen due to its unusual resolution. I have to scale stuff to around 1.25 for it to be usable, which has led to a few problems due to HiDPI support still being a bit lacking right now on Linux. Except for that one issue (which is slowly going away), it has generally worked extremely smoothly and I would highly reccomend it. The screen in particular, aside from the HiDPI issues, has been amazing, with its 3:2 aspect ratio being perfect for productivity.
We’ve had a 13 as my wife’s primary PC for a year and a half and love it. Still just as quick and snappy as brand new, and it’s been more than powerful enough to handle what she needs it for (light productivity, web browsing, streaming).
@steal_your_face I’ve been running Linux on the #Framework 11th gen Intel version for a few years and it’s been great so far. The aluminum chassis feels quite solid and the battery life is enough to get me through the day most of the time. I’m just waiting for the Batch 1 #Ryzen mainboards to ship so I can tack my Intel board to the basement wall as a media server.
I just realized that no one has the ryzen boards until q4 of this year 🤦♂️
How do you like the laptop overall? Is it pretty portable? Which distro are you using?
@steal_your_face yeah it’s exceedingly portable and surprisingly light, but I think my favorite thing about the hardware is the 3:2 aspect ratio, especially for writing.
I’ve mostly been on #EndeavourOS for the past few years.
I’m in the exact same boat as @zrb@astrodon.social except I’ve been running pop!_OS and I’m Ryzen batch 4. I love everything about the framework, and looking forward to expected better battery with Ryzen. I’m glad they switched to the matte displays, that was a negative but I put a film on and that’s been great.
How’re you liking pop os on it?
I like Pop on it quite a bit. There are some easy guides to get the fingerprint sensor working but everything else works out of the box. Linux in general needs a few tweaks (via tlp) to get better sleep states. I am looking forward to Ryzen though, I have pretty high hopes for it!
I’ve been running NixOS on my gen11 for a few years. The battery life isn’t great, but otherwise I really enjoy it as a laptop. I enjoy the chassis and the screen. I’ve got a replacement set of AMD internals on order along with a case for my old motherboard to use as a tiny server.
Same boat as you, except running Pop!_OS, can’t wait for the Ryzen board (batch 4). I think I’ll pick up the new battery at some point. Between the increase in capacity, my current battery being down to 85% capacity, and Ryzen I’m dreaming of a 9 hour laptop.
Ive had mine for about 1.5 years. I swapped out the 11th gen i5 for the 12th gen i7 about 6 months ago. Besides that I upgraded the hinges to the 4kg variant.
I really enjoy it. Super light and portable. I ran fedora on it for a year, ended up moving back to windows due to a software bug that was no fault of the framework itself.
I do game on it with an eGPU and a 144hz monitor. You definitely lose some performance running your GPU over thunderbolt but it’s good enough me. I’m usually over 60fps on most AAA games on high quality.
This is my only computer currently and I miss some of the horsepower from having a beefier CPU, so I plan to eventually upgrade to the 16in model once thunderbolt/usb 5 comes to it.
Did you upgrade the cpu primarily for gaming?
Gaming and general performance since this laptop is now my main pc. It wasn’t when I first purchased the i5 version
Bonus question: do you wish you waited for the 16?
The 16 is very cool but I use my laptop on the go and the 16 is too big for that. I don’t need it to be a desktop replacement but if I did, I would definitely get the 16!
Yeah that’s kind of what I’m thinking. The 16 has some cool bells and whistles but I prefer the size of the 13. Hope they bring the Linux keyboard to the 13, though.
I don’t have a 13 but I ordered the 16 because I like having a numpad. Otherwise, 13 would be nice.
@TheButtonJustSpins @steal_your_face @framework Aren’t you (or anyone else) worried about the clearance between the keyboard and the spacers that’s clearly visible even in Framework’s own product shots?
I mean, if it’s an actual problem, it’ll get solved eventually. That’s the thing about this ecosystem, right? Everything can be replaced piecemeal.
No issues, work very well for me!
