The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used

Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by pavon on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @06:38PM (#28610900)

Yeah, being limited to only 4 ports is a complete non-starter for me especially when you are required to use one of them to charge the laptop. So practically everybody is going to end up filling one of those modular ports with a USB-C module, when they could have easily fit two dedicated USB-C ports in the same space, with no practical loss in expandability.

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Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by enragedcacti on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @08:37PM (#28611822)

I think the issue with this is the number of thunderbolt ports provided by the chipset. They have to choose between having only 4 ports that all work the same way or more than that where they don't all have the same features.

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Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by gregmac on Wednesday September 22, 2021 @12:48PM (#28618589)

In the future if another alternative to USB-C PD arrives, you could presumably swap out to that module (of course, presuming it's otherwise compatible with the internals).

Also, is there any reason to believe someone wouldn't make a two-port USB-C module provided the market for such a thing exists? Maybe off-the-shelf ICs to do this aren't available (which would make this more expensive and thus less likely), but that doesn't mean that will always be the case.

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Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by scoopertrooper on Thursday September 23, 2021 @08:52AM (#28628394)

> In the future if another alternative to USB-C PD arrives, you could presumably swap out to that module (of course, presuming it's otherwise compatible with the internals).

The module itself works over USB-C PD, so the only effect of such a module would be to convert the new standard back to USB-C PD with all its limitations, plus the cost of conversion.

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Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by gregmac on Thursday September 23, 2021 @11:17AM (#28630400)

True, but that still might be desirable if there's a new cable standard that is otherwise compatible -- beats making the entire laptop obsolete.

As a thought experiment: If the Framework laptop existed prior to USB-C PD, it would have been a very cool feature to be able to add a USB-C PD module and effectively upgrade the laptop to support it.

It'll be interesting to see if the internal USB-C design works out in the long run. My instinct would have been to build a larger (proprietary) internal connector for the modules that included charging, constant and switched power, USB, and as many PCIe data lines as possible.

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Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by pxc on Thursday September 23, 2021 @10:48AM (#28629939)

The existing ports are thunderbolt, so they may be able to do some things that basic USB PD can't

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Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by eikenberry on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @07:36PM (#28611375)

With them being modular, if what you say is true space wise, then I'd expect there to be a module with 2 ports in it eventually.

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Re:The Framework is the most exciting laptop I've used by Jap2-0 on Tuesday September 21, 2021 @07:53PM (#28611507)

I was reading some forums on their website a little while ago and they said that seemed unlikely with a decent amount of space being used by the mounting mechanism and whatnot. It would be nice, though.

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