I disagree on the comment about cost disparity. Spec’d equivalently, even the Framework 16 (without GPU) is no more expensive than the smaller ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The more comparative Framework 13 even less so.
The modular ports (and GPU on the 16) are a nice bonus, but I agree that the largest attraction is for the tinkerer.
I think the fact that it is easily upgradable makes it a clear winner on the merits alone.
This was me, basically.
I had a Thinkpad X1 Carbon Gen 10 that, by the books, should have been a beast with good Linux support to boot. I tried for so long, but ended up replacing it with a Framework.
The thermal management on the Thinkpad is awful, under Linux at least but by all accounts attributable to the EC itself. Running the most basic workload would cause the CPU to spike for about one second before it would throttle all cores back to 400 MHz where they would stay locked for the next few minutes despite the CPU temps remaining at 50-60°C the entire time.
And it wasn’t just me, numerous reports from all over. This made the system nearly useless. I shared pages of diagnostic info with them and they just seemed completely uninterested in trying to do anything about it.
Spec’d out equivalently, the Framework 16 (without GPU) is no more expensive than the X1 Carbon but with even better Linux support and unsurpassable upgradeability. I’m glad my company was onboard for me to switch.
You’re being downvoted, but you’re not wrong. At least in the case of the Ethernet module, which most people aren’t going to leave plugged in most of the time.
The utility in the ports being modular is more so in the initial configurability at purchase rather than swapping them out by the user on a regular basis.
But having a laptop with 4/6 USB-C is pretty nice. Add on the fact that my dongles don’t dangle and it is even cooler.