My nephew just graduated high school, and wants a laptop. When he decides what computer to buy, price (or more precisely, value) is the most important attribute. Apple's MacBook Neo upended the 'value laptop' equation—Apple's not supposed to be both the cheapest option and the best value... but it seems like that's squarely where the Neo landed for the good-but-cheap laptop category. My nephew is also my godson, and to kick off his computing journey, I thought I'd let him choose from a Framework 12 I bought to test, or the MacBook Neo I bought a couple months ago to use around the studio.
  • xylogx@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    1 day ago

    That is completely fair. For the way I use my laptop I need fairly current hardware, but if you do not, the premium price might not make sense for you.

    • brucethemoose@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      17 hours ago

      For the way I use my laptop I need fairly current hardware

      Then Framework isn’t a great option, as their hardware isn’t particularly new or fast. It’s not really their fault, but just a function of the modularity (which restricts space for cooling/PCB), the small company size (so they don’t get/integrate new chips as quickly).

      This is true even if you upgrade it over time, as other laptops might be a generation ahead with higher end chips.

      The one exception might be the Desktop. And that’s fairly niche.

      Don’t get me wrong, I like Framework. But it’s not a great brand if you really need all the CPU/GPU you can get in a particular size.

    • scytale@piefed.zipEnglish
      4·
      1 day ago

      Speaking of needing new hardware, do you think it’s still worth it when it ends up becoming a Ship of Theseus thing where you replace a different part every couple of years? Would that still end up being cheaper vs buying a new laptop with all the newest specs in 8-10 years?

      • Echo Dot@feddit.ukEnglish
        3·
        1 day ago

        Reasonably I don’t think that’s how most people are going to upgrade the laptop.

        You’ll swap out the GPU and the CPU but I suspect the rest of the hardware will stay the same.

    • Fermion@mander.xyzEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      Is there much of a resale market to recuperate some of the costs on modules you replace? I could see slower depreciation being part of an economic justification, but only if there’s a robust second hand parts market.