The framework laptop promises to be an upgradeable and repairable laptop, not quite the same philosophy that makes thinkpads great, but I wonder if newer thinkpads are good enough to prefer over a framework.
The framework laptop promises to be an upgradeable and repairable laptop, not quite the same philosophy that makes thinkpads great, but I wonder if newer thinkpads are good enough to prefer over a framework.
How much “newer” do you mean? I don’t have experience with the latest latest ThinkPads and I know they made some significant changes after my model, but I’ve been daily driving a P53 with an OLED screen and other than the mushy chicklet keyboard (ugh) I don’t really have anything to complain about, and I’ve been beating on this thing for a few years now. I’ve been eyeing up the 2nd gen T16s and they look pretty appealing too.
I mean, the Framework looks amazing too if it pans out the way they’re planning. I really want to support it (and I might in the future) but ultimately you’re making a choice of a sure thing against being an early adopter for something that may be much better and may be worse depending on how the continued support develops.
I’d say if it’s important to you to support the principle of the framework laptop, and you understand the risks of the whole project failing, go for it. But the Thinkpads remain great machines and will continue to be my “safe” choice.