Hello fellows,
I’m currently looking in 13-14" laptops with no immediate needs for one but just because it’s exciting. I love my Dell XPS but I feel I should support companies with which I share more common views. I could make the effort to go a with a less attractive look (especially for bezels) but I don’t want to go wrong with hardware so what are your thoughts on Framework, Starlab, Purism, and System76? I’ll be running Arch and I tend to have a preference for Framework for now.
Do you have feedback (positive and negative) to share on any of these companies?
Thanks for the knowledge you’ll bring me. That’ll be extremely useful when time comes to go with a new machine.
Update 1: Still wonderful to be part of such a great community. Thanks for all the great feedback (looking for more :) ).
So far everyone is standing behind Framework. Anyone with a less positive experience or who would like to speak for the other companies?
Update 2: Thank you fellows for the time you’ve spent to share your honest feedback! I didn’t want to influence your inputs but you all confirmed the Framework picture I had in mind. It’s a piece of mind to read real world experience so thanks again. I was surprised to not see the system76 community speaks louder. Anyway, when time comes I will (virtually) push Framework shop’s door.
I have a framework, pretty happy with it - Arch installed without any hitches and runs well. Only downside is how long it took to go from deposit to actually paying/shipping.
How long have you been waiting? Was it during the pandemic (when everyone was using this as an excuse)? Do you know if it seems to be a current issue?
Ordered on August 2nd, Shipped November 17th of 2023
If that’s something usual I’ll definitely avoid Framework. When I order a laptop it’s because I need a replacement very quickly for work.
If you’re in the US, the 13 is fully in stock and should ship on a week. OP may have preordered his
I didn’t think about that. If the usual shipping delay is reasonable then I feel better.
Most of the delays are effectively from pre-ordering. I ordered mine just after last Christmas, got it the first week in January. Would have probably been faster without the holidays. Also, get the AMD model if you can, it’s much better than the Intel offerings.
Great to hear! Going with AMD is something I’ve tried to do for a long time but I was not lucky with availability, I’ll definitely take the opportunity to do so with the next laptop!
Since it was not mentioned yet: https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en
If I would not get so many old computing devices that fulfill my needs (I don’t game on PC/Linux) I guess I’d buy one of those. I live in Switzerland and having a german company for support would be superior to me. And I heard that build quality should be great 😇 😂I guess I’d really like to have one, but as I said, for my needs, my macbookpro5,3 running arch does the job.
I’ve had the TUXEDO Pulse 15 from tuxedo computers for about 2 years and it’s great.
Nice to hear 😄
I currently have a System76 laptop, and sincerely regret my purchase. When I purchased it, the Framework was not out yet - I wanted to support a company that supports right-to-repair, and figured since they controlled the hardware, firmware, and software (Pop!_OS), it would be a good, stable experience. It has not been, and support has generally been poor. I know other people have had better experiences than I have, but personally, I won’t be buying from them again.
I haven’t personally used Purism, but former co-workers spoke really poorly of them. They were trying to buy a big batch for work, and said the build quality was awful. Additionally: https://youtu.be/wKegmu0V75s
Thanks very much for this important feedback. Framework is definitely taking the lead in responses to this post.
I have a framework laptop and endeavour os with gnome de. I’ve had no problems with it. I mainly use it for dev work and web browsing. I enabled gnome muli-gesture (basically the same gestures on a Mac trackpad). I’ve had no problems with that either.
I’d recommend it.
Thanks for sharing this feedback. One more point for Framework :)
I’ve had a framework for 2 years now. It’s run fedora, manjaro (arch based) and Debian with no major issues. Manjaro had some problems with KDE and the high DPI screen. Sometimes the scaling was inconsistent between apps. Fedora just works.
Only hardware issue is the battery life is just not that great. And the trackpad doesn’t always work property, but I think that was a first generation issue that’s been resolved since.
Thank you for taking time to share this detailed feedback. Very useful!
I’m going to add my +1 for framework, I got the batch 5 original framework 13 with pop os on it and a windows 10 copy on a 250gb expansion card. Its been my main work and play laptop and I enen replaced the main chassis after it got smashed (long story) involving the sidewalk. Anyway I love what framework is doing and the decision has arguably already paid off within these last two years.
I’m a fan of refurbished ThinkPads myself, but that is mostly for money reasons. If I had money to blow, I would probably also buy a Framework
Framework also has an outlet, just in case you want to take a look ;)
I had a System76 10 years ago. The customer service was excellent (several months after receiving my laptop, they sent me a replacement keyboard, because they didn’t like the one it shipped with). The build quality was meh, it was a plastic body and didn’t hold up well to wear and tear, but it’s in my closet and still works. I haven’t tried their aluminum bodies.
I now have a Framework. It arrived with trackpad issues, and one of the HDMI adapters didn’t work at all. They shipped me replacements for both at no cost to me (except time). It’s been nice knowing that any other issues I do have can be replaced piecewise. Also I like that the webcam/mic have physical kill switches.
Very nice to read this feedback. I’m very sold to Framework after all the great things posted here. An impeccable customer support like the one you describe means a lot about a company.
They’re all aight, but avoid asus like the plague, they don’t last very long and have tons of incompatibilities with linux. I’ve only had mine for 3 years and it already needs a new mobo as the pci lanes for wifi and bluetooth suddenly died
Thanks but I’ve already limited my choice to Framework, Starlab, Purism, and System76 as mentioned beside the title of this post.
Personally I’m holding out for a laptop based on the snapdragon elite X arm chips coming out later this year. Should be great for battery life (like 28 hours) and very fast. We’ll see how the linux support turns out. And also which manufacturers pick it up - would like framework but haven’t heard anything about that from them. Lenovo already released a system based on the old snapdragon chip so seems likely they’ll release one based on the elite X too.
I didn’t know about this specifically, but I’m holding onto my 2017 ThinkPad until I can buy an Arm laptop and run Linux on it.
That’s interesting… I was not aware of that. Another more element to add to my future decision ^^
Novacustom or System76, they actually use open Firmware.
Novacustom… Never heard of it. The almost insignificant disadvantage I can see so far for Framework is that they don’t use open-source boot. Everyone so far stand behind Framework. How would you sell me on System76 or Novacustom?
Framework tried Coreboot, has problems and gave up. When buying a Laptop with coreboot you support open Firmware Development for all CPUs, many board generations etc.
Just look at 3mdeb’s Dasharo guide. Its nearly as secure as Heads, on a modern Laptop!
Yes, using coreboot would just have been nice to support open-source from all aspects.
Another happy Framework user here. I have 2 first gens in my immediate family and 2 second gens among my friends. All run Ubuntu LTS. No one is complaining. I’ve already replaced my bottom chassis because I destroyed it during a bad mishap. Ordering was easy, the part was inexpensive, the replacement was straightforward. A Dell XPS perhaps feels a bit better made, but then it doesn’t say Made in Taiwan on the bottom so there’s that. 😅
On the other hand System76 is building a new open source desktop environment in a sane programming language… 🤔 If COSMIC desktop turns out great and I end up using it, I’ll probably throw a couple of hundred their way in lieu of buy their laptop.
Thanks for a nice feedback. One more vote for Framework ;)
I don’t use a DE, so this would not make me go with them. Also, I’ll use Arch anyway, not PopOS.Oh I now remembered that mine developed a problem with one of the USB ports, not a cartridge but the host port. Framework sent me a new board. I replaced it easily and sent the bad one to them.
Wow that’s quite impressive. Serious customer service definitely.
Weirdly, my (five year old) Microsoft Surface runs Ubuntu perfectly. (Edit to clarify, after some initial hassle.)
I’m eying a Framework 16 next.
Edit: To clarify, I would not recommend purchasing a Microsoft Surface to put Linux on it. As others have pointed out, it’s not the smoothest setup experience.
If anyone already has a Surface and wants to extend it’s life with Linux, that I recommend wholeheartedly. With the disclaimer that there was some weird nerdy deep-dive extra setup needed.
Certain surface models run linux fine, but I wouldn’t recommended it as a linux laptop as it requires solving several issues before you get a working computer.
That is a terrific point!
Anyone have some experience with StarLabs?
Ordered a StarFighter like more than half a year ago and am losing confidence in the company…
Can you expand on that?
Well, the Laptop is still not released. Not sure what I can say more about it :-\
That is an outrageously long time to wait for a laptop without updates. From the prices I just looked up, it also is outrageously expensive.
I would have sought a refund before now already, but that’s just my opinion.
Gnu/Linux…
@wwwgem I’ve been extremely pleased with @tuxedocomputers in both product quality and support. Next laptop will assuredly be another from them.