hi,

pretty much the subject… I am trying to choose my next laptop and I am tempted to buy a framework 13 AMD. I saw this post from one year ago : https://www.phoronix.com/review/framework-13-amd

and while the review is impressive, comments are not. how things have evolved since then? any experience?

EDIT: you convinced me, I just ordered mine. Thanks for the incredible answers !
NEW EDIT: I use arch (btw), and Gnome. For the answers, I do not think this will pose a problem but… what do you think?
(and yes, I ordered mine before reading last comment of paequ2 who doesn’t like it… for reasonable reasons, maybe. I hope I will have more luck ;) )

  • paequ2@lemmy.todayEnglish
    0·
    5 days ago

    I currently own a Framework 13… and… after daily driving it for a year, I decided I don’t like it.

    The deal beaker for me is the high dpi display. Linux just isn’t 100% compatible with hpi displays. I’m tired of my apps either having blurry fonts or tiny text. Ironic because hi dpi displays are supposed to look better.

    With Framework, you’ll be pushed into using Fedora (it doesn’t solve all the scaling issues) or pushed to stop using apps you like because they’re using older GTK (some times there are no alternatives). You’ll also have to dive into debugging scaling issues.

    I just switched back to my Dell XPS 13 9310 FHD and it was a breath of fresh air having everything just work. Any distro, any apps, no scaling debugging, text is readable and crisp, app UI elements look properly sized.

    I only ever switched out the modular ports once, but honestly it would have been better to buy a dongle instead because that would work on any computer.

    Oh, and I tried the higher resolution screen. It didn’t fix the scaling issues.

    Oh, and, I actually had a display fail on me! After like 8 months, half the display went black. Thankfully, they were nice enough to send me a free replacement, but it definitely left me feeling like the Framework isn’t that sturdy or durable.

    The shell also dents easily. I dropped a small music player from desk height onto the top lid and it left a small dent. (I have like 3 dents on the lid.)

    Repairability is the one feature that the Framework beats everyone else on, but to me the cons outweigh the pros.

    • BananaTrifleViolin@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      4 days ago

      I have a linux desktop with dual 4K screens and I don’t have problems with high DPI? The only problems I’ve come across is with Wine which is easly fixed within the winecfg.

      I’m on OpenSuSE, using KDE in X11. I DID have scaling problems with Wayland which I avoid until it is fit for daily use.

      Of course 4k is 4 times 1080p (or twice in X and Y dimensions) so maybe it’s much easier to scale to? 2K on the Framework is an odd resolution so maybe scaling would be more troublesome? 1080p to 1440p would be 1.3x scaling.

      • paequ2@lemmy.todayEnglish
        0·
        4 days ago

        I don’t have problems with high DPI … only problems I’ve come across is … I DID have scaling problems with Wayland

        This is exactly my point. You did have problems with high DPI. You had to fix some random config and avoid Wayland.

        I don’t want to deal with this. I want to be able to use whatever software I want and have it work with minimal or no extra “fixing”. I value this over slightly neater pixels.

        • DacoTaco@lemmy.world
          0·
          4 days ago

          Then you shouldnt have picked wayland, period. There is a reason its still experimental. And in general, hearing you talk, im not sure linux is your thing in general. Even in linux mint i have to poke in cli once in a while…

          EDIT: as i mentioned below,i just gave it another go as i recently upgraded linux mint. Keyboard layout was stuck to us so altgr didnt work. Teams window could also not be double clicked to maximize and remote desktop via remmina was acting odd, like my mouse had shifted to the right. Desktop wallpaper was also shifted. Like i said, experimental on some systems ( in this case linux mint ) :)

          • PureTryOut@lemmy.kde.social
            1·
            4 days ago

            Wayland hasn’t been experimental for a while. Both KDE Plasma and GNOME have defaulted to Wayland for a while now indicating it’s ready to be used. And in fact, scaling works better on Wayland than on X11 but I suppose ymmv.

  • xylogx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    5 days ago

    I have a Framework 13 AMD running Linux Mint. It works great and I love it. Modular IO ports are super nifty.

    Here are the downsides as I see them:

    1. Price
    2. No touch screen
    3. No wifi 7

    I expect 2&3 will come in the future and I can upgrade! The fact that I can upgrade rather than throw it away in the future offsets 1.

  • haleywm@startrek.website
    01·
    5 days ago

    I’ve had one for a few months now and it works really well. The only issue that I’ve had was that I expected Linux to run well on it, but it seems like AMDs Linux support has been overstated, and gnome would crash entirely when browsing certain websites like Tumblr, I assume because of some poorly supported video format. Everything runs fine on windows and it’s been a solid laptop so far. Obviously it’s not going to be the best for gaming, but the integrated graphics will handle lighter workloads fine and I’m hoping that it’ll save me money in the long run from the much cheaper cost of repairing vs having to buy a new laptop after 5 years.