My favorite laptop of the year was completely unexpected

1. Home
2. Stance
3. Laptops

My favorite laptop of the year was completely unexpected

(Image credit: Future)

The Framework Laptop has been on my mind a lot these final few weeks. As 2021 winds downwards around u.s., I've been thinking about all the notable things that happened in the laptop market this year. It's my job to care near that stuff here at Tom'southward Guide, and 2021 has been a skillful year to be in this position considering there's been a slew of intriguing developments pushing the manufacture forward.

This was the twelvemonth Apple blew abroad our expectations of what a MacBook can do with its bespoke M1 chips. It was the year Intel Tiger Lake arrived, helping Windows laptops achieve new heights of power and efficiency. And of course, this was the year we met Windows 11, the follow-upwardly to Windows 10 we never expected.

But for me, the well-nigh heady thing that happened in the world of laptops this year was the debut of the Framework Laptop. In our Framework Laptop review we called it the anti-MacBook, and with good reason: the Framework is designed from the ground up to be customizable and repairable, the antithesis of Apple's MacBooks with their soldered-on components and chassis intentionally designed to be hard to open.

Different most laptops, the Framework is non hard to open up. (Image credit: Future)

Of course, information technology's unfair to single out Apple tree for such beliefs. Most laptop manufacturers don't blueprint their products to be easily repaired or modified by the owner, though it has been nice to come across more than laptops hitting the market place with upgradeable retention and storage.

The Framework truly is the almost owner-friendly laptop I've ever used.

Framework is different: the visitor launched its flagship laptop this year with the explicit promise that it'south like shooting fish in a barrel to repair, modify and upgrade. It was an exciting pitch, but I couldn't aid but be skeptical when I start went easily-on with an early model. But when I sat downwardly to review 1 of the launch units myself, I had to admit the company delivered on its promise: the Framework truly is the most owner-friendly laptop I've e'er used.

I almost wrote "convenient" in that location, but it doesn't quite draw why I recollect so highly of this device. Sure, the laptop's clever design makes a very complicated piece of tech experience pretty simple to use, and the Framework team have conspicuously put in work making the process of swapping out components on the Framework feel as user-friendly as possible. But information technology does still demand a sure amount of interest in tinkering with your laptop (heck, there's even a DIY Edition of the Framework you lot tin buy that yous take to finish assembling yourself), and it can be a petty harrowing to pry the thing open and start swapping pieces out.

No, the Framework is the about possessor-friendly laptop I've always seen because it'southward conspicuously designed by people who respect their customers. If y'all care to know how your laptop works, the Framework website is full of blog posts outlining the design of major and small-scale components, from the power adapter to the touchpad. There'southward also a list of guides on how to replace everything from the mainboard to the keyboard to the bezel around the display, an unprecedented level of reparability that no other laptop can match.

And then at that place'southward the Framework Marketplace, a place where Framework and tertiary-party manufacturers sell both replacement parts and upgrades y'all tin can apply to further customize your laptop.

The Framework'due south unique expansion menu system is one of the coolest laptop innovations of the yr. (Image credit: Futurity)

Plus, Framework has committed to making its schematics available to repair shops who asking them, which means you should be able to go your Framework repaired pretty easily even if the company itself goes out of business. The company has also published documentation, CAD templates and reference designs for the Framework's unique expansion cards under an open up-source license every bit role of its Expansion Card Developer Program, meaning anyone tin can conceivably design and distribute new components for the laptop.

The Framework's remarkable expansion card organization is another reason why this laptop is my favorite of the year. If you're non familiar with it, the bottom of the laptop sports four slots, each of which accepts a Framework Expansion Card that slides into place with a click and connects to the laptop via USB-C. Swapping them out is as unproblematic every bit holding down a security catch which secures the cards and sliding one out, and so sliding another one in. Y'all can even hotswap ports while the laptop is running — Windows just reads it every bit swapping 1 USB device for another.

(Image credit: Future)

This feature lonely makes the Framework more versatile than whatsoever other laptop I saw this year. Sure, yous practice have to spend money buying private expansion cards, merely y'all likewise proceeds the freedom to configure your laptop however you demand to. You could bandy in an HDMI out when you lot're going to give a presentation, for case, or a microSD card reader when you need to pull some photos off a camera.

Y'all could swap in an HDMI out when you lot're going to requite a presentation or a microSD card reader when yous need to pull some photos off a photographic camera.

Of course, none of these features would matter much if the laptop itself was subpar. On the contrary: in my experience information technology'southward a well-built ultraportable that'south as slim and easy to carry every bit a MacBook Air, with a comfy keyboard, a great 1080p webcam, and more plenty ability to tackle annihilation you'd exercise in the course of a workday. In our lab testing the Framework delivered respectable performance and lasted over 10 hours on a single accuse, though without a discrete GPU it's not much good for serious gaming.

Nevertheless, the Framework Laptop is my favorite laptop of the yr because it proves laptops can be svelte, powerful, user-accessible and withal be sold for a competitive toll. It'southward a remarkable accomplishment that I hope other laptop makers copy shamelessly, and I've been gratified to see Dell take a few steps downwardly that road with Concept Luna, a proof-of-concept laptop designed (in partnership with Intel) to exist more than eco-friendly and easier to repair. It's not quite as accessible as the Framework, simply information technology's a pace in the right direction, and I hope to see more companies take similar steps in 2022.

Alex Wawro is a lifelong tech and games enthusiast with more than than a decade of experience covering both for outlets like Game Developer, Black Lid, and PC World magazine. He currently serves as a senior editor at Tom'due south Guide covering all things calculating, from laptops and desktops to keyboards and mice.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/my-favorite-laptop-of-the-year-was-completely-unexpected

Posted by: penahadidecount.blogspot.com

Share this post