That would be a huge market if they came out with a $300 repairable chassis. Put an lower powered motherboard in and so so display for the education market but let the enthusiast deck it out with a fancy display and latest APU.
I'm happy to finally see someone I actually trust reviewing this. While I don't know if I will ever move to ChromeOS, I am much more likely to switch over if they get more features.
It looks really nice. I wonder if it has the same security protections as a normal Chromebook with the write protection. The only complaint I can see is no biometrics in 2023 on $1000 laptop is a huge miss. if they could fix that issue, I would consider purchasing it.
On my 5th Chromebook. Mostly inexpensive versions except 2 mid level ASUS. ( both which have failed). At that price point I would expect a touch screen with stylus support. It would be interesting to see how the new HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook compares to the Framework.
Also note that Chromebooks come equipped with limited lifespan out of the box. It will stop updating once its shelf life expires. Not too much of an issue when the cost is a few hundred dollars but 1000+ dollars?
That’s because you’re thinking a Chromebook is a cheaper or lesser alternative to a Windows laptop. That was the case years ago, but now people want chrome OS on their laptop they don’t want Windows because of how much of a nightmare it can be. They still want a laptop with quality components so thus the $1000 price tag.
@@calvinwalker4654 until they find themselves needed to run an Adobe Suite app or a simple scanner app, a game, or a developer tool. Sure you can get the "browser" version of some of these apps or run an Android version, but that only gets you so far. There's not much you can do on. Chromebook that you can't do in Linux or Windows. There's plenty that you can't do on a Chromebook that you can do on other OSs.
@@57Hodman I'm guessing with the framework computer they'll come out with another motherboard that has a better processor and whatnot and probably will continue to get updates so you just keep upgrading that. Which makes this computer better than a typical Chromebook.
@@portow That is a retarded argument. Clearly you don't buy a chromebook if you need an OS specific application or software tool. developer tools? Depends on which tools. Many have cloud based solutions and you can run linux on your Chromebook so less you are, again, picking tools that are specific to windows or mac, not a problem. "There's not much you can do on. Chromebook that you can't do in Linux or Windows" Except that Chromebooks also run linux with a simple setup which means many windows programs are then available as well. Things like Wine, etc.
Upgrade ability are limited on other Chromebooks, keep that in mind. The main board will only go as far as it can the day is was maid. The fact you can replace the main board and still use many other components, battery, IO, display and such is the thing I think many people just don't understand about the way framework thinks. And why it appeals so much to many users. Not to mention the modules, and the 3rd party support. Maybe you use some old camera card like a CF card. say someone comes up with a module for said card but with a modern laptop. Oh heck even something for PS2/GC memory cards. The infinite possibilities of the expansion modules is a major point many just don't seem to ever grasp.
Great review as usual, but it didn't answer the #1 question that came to mind, which is: will the end-of-support (Auto Update Policy) date for this Chromebook be stuck at June of 2030 forever, or can this date be delayed if I later upgrade the Main Board (or other module(s)) to newer versions? The key selling point of this Chromebook is its modularity, but if it stops getting Google ChromeOS updates in 2030 no matter what, then that significantly reduces the value of upgrading components.
@@LonSeidman I asked Framework Support, and they said that if and when a new Chromebook Mainboard is released, they would "expect" the new AUP would be "different." So I suppose that means it's likely, but not definite. They also said that they hope that other developers find a way to deploy other OSs onto the Framework Chromebook, which is another way that the device could still be useful beyond the current AUP date of 2030.
Wow Steam Beta on Chromebook is looking great. Thanks for the review, that's a decent laptop! At end of support I'm sure you could just throw in a new motherboard and you're good to go.
Chromebook upgradability is generally nonsense since the OS itself has a limited (5 years or so) support period after which OS updates are no longer supported. By the time one might want to upgrade a component, the OS will be nearing end of life. However, REPAIRABILITY is another thing altogether and might be worth it for an institution rolling out 100s+ of these kits. If one breaks, it can be fixed.
Yes, selling for schools and kids is a pipe dream as even at $500, it is way overpriced for the education market, and it is unlikely that Framework could make money even at that lower price.
Upgrade are limited on other chromebooks, keep that in mind. The main board will only go as far as it can the day is was maid. The fact you can replace the mainboard and still use many other components, battery, IO, display and such is the thing I think many people just dont understand about the way framework thinks.
@@Elmer_RedEagle A replacement mainboard is £699 for last year's 12th-gen! I can buy a modern laptop with a 12th gen for that and have a brand new machine.
Lon, you forgot to mention that you run windows apps on the chromebook if you need to use certain windows apps on a chromebook using parallels desktop running windows thru an emulator and virtual machine.
@@BrandonGiesing There are gaming chromebooks that can run windows app using wine on linux. You just go into the settings and change the channel settings from stable settings to developer settings instead of using stable channel. I had to do this when sideloading android apps that are not on the google play store. My Samsung galaxy chromebook 1st gen with the 4k amoled display is compatible with running parallels. I just hope that newer chromebooks can support thunderbolt over usb c with external gpus like a 3090 or 4090 with the external gpu enclosures by using thunderbolt over usb c like windows. I don't like windows 11, my old laptop still has windows 10 and my newer laptop that came with windows 10 is gonna stay with windows 10 even though I kept on getting a notification if I want to install windows 11. Windows 11 is too cartoonish, more difficult to use than windows 10 since windows 11 is alot like mac os which mac os already confusing to use, the only reason why I use windows is the full support for pc games on steam otherwise I would use android and chrome os full time of they got the same exact game support like windows. The only thing that I like about windows 11 is support for android apps. I already installed android apps on my laptop with windows 10 using bluestacks. Windows 8 and windows 11 changed alot of simple functionality compared to the older version of windows, windows xp and windows 7 were my favorite versions of windows. I was watching a linus tech tips video about windows 8.1 and even linus himself said that windows 8.1 was confusing to use because microsoft changed alot of things like getting rid of the start button and use the windows tiles instead. I never liked windows 8.1 either, I was always used to older versions of windows like windows 95, 98, ME, xp and 7. Microsoft made newer versions of windows more confusing by hiding menus with 1 click of a button and they moved settings around in hidden menus so it takes multiple steps to do basic stuff and the ability to drag and drop files are more difficult to use. I had to do multiple steps to do basic stuff when I used mac os that's why I said mac os is confusing. The older version of windows would give you notifications if you want to make changes and it would happen automatically, with mac os there are no notifications if you want to make changes and they don't happen automatically, so you have to do them manually and they have to be done in a certain way but the way that things need to be done on mac os was comfusing and never made any sense and you have to do basic stuff in a multitude of steps instead of a right click solution like windows.
I hope that there will be support for thunderbolt for connecting external graphics cards like a 3090 inside the graphics card enclosure like a windows laptop. This would be useful once steam gets support for more chromebooks. I have the samsung chromebook with the 4k amoled display and the Intel i5 cpu. I want an updated chromebook with 4k and 1,000 nits. The windows laptop msi creator 17 has a 4k mini led display with 1,000 nits and a 3080 gpu 16gb vram version. Laptop displays are too dim, my samsung chromebook with the 4k amoled display is too dim. Smartphones have brighter displays in a small form factor but laptops should have a very bright display since you are gonna be using it with more screen real estate, watching videos, hdr and reading. There is no point in having a very dim display when the display laptops are too dark and can barely be seen since I have to crank the brightness to there highest level but they are still too dim, there should be a settings to adjust the display brightness at a comfortable settings and have the option to have extra brightness in the display settings. I use the samsung galaxy fold 4 and I enabled extra brightness always on with the manual brightness set to 100% 24/7 with autobrightness turned off, dark mode turned off and power savings turned off. I'm used to very bright displays. I also have the razer blade 2022 gaming laptop with the 4k ips 144 hz display and 3080 ti but the display brightness is too dim, but I don't like windows 11, I prefer windows xp and windows 7 way better than windows 11 since they don't require an internet connection and not full of bloatware like windows 8, windows 10 and now windows 11. I even prefer windows 10 more than windows 11 and I'm not really a fan of windows 10 that much but windows 10 was easier to use than windows 11. If android and chrome os can do exactly what windows in terms of full functionality and game support, I would switch to android and chrome os full time. I tried linux ubuntu debian but I was having issues with nvidia gpu drivers. The acer laptop that I was using linux debian had windows vista on it and windows vista made the laptop very slow, it felt like windows vista was slow as dial up internet thats why I installed linux ubuntu on it and it run much faster and more fluid. I really like downloading apps from the ubuntu software center. Android does about 90% of the functionality of the things that I do and the other 10% is windows. Before android existed, I tried to sideload windows programs because the windows programs have a 7 day trial or a 30 day trial and I was trying to avoid all the trials at all cost. I was trying to get windows programs for free and that's why I use android so I can sideload android apps and sideload android apps on my chromebook. The only thing that I like about windows 11 is support for android apps. On my other windows 10 Dell g7 4k oled laptop, I was using bluestacks to run android apps and I was having bluestacks resolution set to 4k since you can customize the resolution but playing call of duty mobile does not gamepad support unless it's an Xbox controller. Setting up bluestacks in 4k actually works. I just sideloaded android apps on my windows 11 razer laptop but trying to get google play store to download with google play services and all the necessary google apps to install google play is not working properly. I just wish on android phones you can choose the resolution settings and hopefully support for ray tracing in the future for android phones. I have bright memory for mobile and it supports ray tracing on pc. You can already adjust your refresh rate and certain graphics settings in games on android, even overclock the cpu with root access, hopefully there will be more support for more gaming features. The red magic 8 pro gaming phone has diablo mode that sets both the cpu and gpu max frequency to boost the phones performance to the absolute max and it even has a desktop mode dedicated to gaming. Eta prime talks about the red magic 8 pro gaming phone on his channel because it's the phone that I want and I would upgrade to the red magic 8 pro gaming phone from my fold 4 without a doubt. My primary android phone is the sony xperia 1 iv with the 4k 120 hz oled display, I have 120 hz always enabled since I love the 1,000 nits 4k 21:9 aspect ratio for watching 4k youtube videos, 4k movies from my micro sd from the headphone jack and playing games. Hopefully mini led or micro led will be available on android and mobile devices for a much brighter display and to avoid burn in. My pixel 4a 5g display is not as bright as it used to be when I first got it and it even gets pixelated when playing games even on max graphics settings. On my pixel 4a 5g, I have the screen brightness set to manual at 100% 24/7,autobrightness turned off, dark mode turned off and power savings turned off. I have these same exact settings on all my android devices.
Curious if you opt for less type c modules, can you just remove one module and use the built in type c? Can you use their hdmi or ethernet module as a dongle on any type c system?
$1k is a hard sell for something so liniting. I love Chrome OS, but $500 is the sweet spot for me. I live in a 3rd World Country(Philippines). Average monthly salary is a little more or less than $200.
I don’t think this is going to be popular with the budget market obviously. It’s the same framework laptop with the same components and the same price. They can’t magically make it cheaper because it doesn’t have Windows. Maybe the windows license saves them $100 but that’s it.
I wonder how hard is to remove the malware that come with the machine, you general can't do in a conventional google toy ""notebook "", but the repairability of this machine maybe can change that
I am unsold on upgradeability in 2023 due to the latest chips, SSDs and RAM being so fast that a Chromebook with these specs at the end of life will be enough for the average ChromeOS user. So, I see little point, especially with the pricing for the newer chips (£700 for 12th gen on Framework's site). As for repairability, unless you are unlucky, most components will last you seven years which is solid for any laptop. And, of course, you are paying significantly more for the "upgradeability" than the spec sheet dictates. Just checked online, and for this price, there are far better options, and they run Windows, so they have better functionality.
Clearly you haven’t been shopping for Chromebooks lately. Yes there are those ultra cheap chrome books but they’re ultra cheap because they use cheap components. It’s not Windows that makes it $1000 laptop. It’s the components. Do you think they paid Microsoft $800 for the windows license?
@@calvinwalker4654 it's still a very limited life system for way too much money. Chrome OS is far too limited to make something like this useful. By the time you're ready to upgrade, it is no longer supported. The repairable aspect of this is far more interesting.
@@Droogie128 Upgrades are limited on other chromebooks, keep that in mind. The main board will only go as far as it can the day is was maid. The fact you can replace the mainboard and still use many other components, battery, IO, display and such is the thing I think many people just dont understand about the way framework thinks.
@@Droogie128Chromebooks are limited by design due to their priority to security. However, you can do almost anything you could do on windows, Mac, or Linux. You get android apps, Linux apps, and you can even install VMs, which means you can also run Windows 11 within ChromeOS. No need to dual boot. I have an Acer Spin 713 with 11th gen i7 16gb ram and this thing will chew on anything I throw at it. I love it!
