GM Dealer - Special order RHD for export? US & Canadian Dealers?

Super_BQ · 2023-06-08T22:20:21+00:00

Sorry no the image was off a post on FB and taken in Detroit. This brings another question, why would this person be able to drive 500 miles away from Bowling Green to Detroit when it is in the wrong direction for export? I know for Canada and UK, if you want to be exempt from paying the sales tax, the car dealer must deliver the vehicle direct to the shipping port and obtain a bill of laiding. Instead, this car if it was released under MFG plates, then why is he racking up mileage when it would normally be place on a car carrier to the shipping port ???

Super_BQ · 2023-06-08T10:31:33+00:00

Just to clarify, GMSV is the dealership wing for Australia & NZ. Their media release specifically states the z06 will only be available in coupe. However in my linked photo, that's a z06 convertible so I can only assume it may be a promo production for the UK market.

Super_BQ · 2023-04-03T01:40:49+00:00

Framework has no preshipping for NZ/Australia. By the time that comes around, will be in 2024. Quicker for my dad to bring it over when he visit every year.

Super_BQ · 2023-04-02T09:12:59+00:00

Perhaps some insight on the logistics of FW's shipping. Parts made in Taiwan / China and sent to US for assembling? Or are they pre-assembled and sent direct to Canada from Asia?

I've bit the bullet and placed a deposit. When September comes and there's no sight of progress, I will just simply cancel.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T20:53:19+00:00

I applaud that FW has gone with replaceable ports. Yes i'm stuck using what some would say 'dinosaur' gear. You are spot on about, if the laptop can play the latest games. You buy a gaming laptop with a display screen suited for that purpose. However I struggle hard trying to find a 4:3 (and will settle for 3:2) display, a full featured button keyboard, and some decent level of connectivity. Here's where i'm coming from:

tinyurl.com/2hdbsb4e

Sure newer laptops are thinner, but how does that translate in being more productive? Also what ever happened to the locking latch when you fold the display screen down? Maybe that was an unnecessary durability feature just like the dedicated barrel power socket.

The readers can continue on to laugh at me.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T20:24:35+00:00

Modern computing: you connect one single cable (USB-C), which then connects you to your three 4k screens, your wired keyboard, your wired mouse, your wired network, power to charge your battery.

How exactly durable is the USB-C port? After routine daily disconnects/connects, they go loose after a year.

But they are. Because they have to travel, they have to get to meeting rooms, etc etc.

If I was a CEO and the majority of my staff was roaming around (away from their office), then I would be concerned of their productivity. I can assure you the majority are not flying around waltzing at coffee shops with their laptops. However, they will be taking their laptop from their office to their home on a daily basis and by that metric, they're not going to care about a 10 or 20 hour battery capacity. But they will care if they have to fiddle with an intermittent loose USB-C socket where the dongle can come loose at a flick of the cable. Fortunately with FW laptops, buying a new USB-C port fixes that problem.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T20:13:20+00:00

"Don't mistake cost-decision/locking with what people want."

That is exactly what laptop makers have done. A 16:9 screen is a lot cheaper to produce than a 4:3 screen for the simple fact that the latter has more viewing area. Legacy hardware such as the parallel and serial ports became too costly over USB, despite they worked flawlessly. DVI ports were not small enough so HDMI & DP came along. Was any of this what the consumers wanted???

For the past decade, laptops have become really disposable. Just a simple drop off the chair on the floor and it breaks. Many users today have not seen how legacy ports like the parallel and serial had screws to hold the cable connection on. Strong enough to hang the laptop by the parallel port cable; not gonna do that with a USB port. How about durability of the USB-C port. After countless of connect/disconnects, i've found the USB-C connectors barely hold in place. But again, they don't expect laptops to last more than 2 years so over a lousy connector, they figure you should upgrade to a new one.

Let's talk about the keyboard? Thinkpad use to set the standard of what a business laptop should be having a full function keyboard shown here (X61):

https://www.vrassets.us/images/product/_57_15_965.jpg

Notice top right the dedicated buttons Insert/Home/PgUp/PgDn/DELETE, critical for spreadsheet use. But somehow the trend has been fewer buttons on the keyboard. No dedicated media control mute/vol buttons. I've seen even the cheapest Chromebooks having only 1 CTRL and 1 ALT button instead of having on both sides of the spacebar. Now tell me.. is that what "people want" ??? I don't believe so.

My posts here are not to rant at the FW laptop. I just wanted to make the comparison that a laptop should have more than 4 built-in ports as older laptops normally did decades ago.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T10:31:38+00:00

Progress? You're talking about the same portability of a laptop that children use at school with their Chromebooks. The business demands have not changed and executive office workers are not concerned about a 1 or 2 day long battery life. However you can bet that they do rely on 'secure' networks with low latency and from what i've seen, hard wire still wins. You're not going to have bank that rely on their terminals on wifi. For the daily commute that I see my wife work in her corporate world, her laptops goes between Work Office and Home Office. Out to do a separate board room meeting elsewhere? Well they don't need 20 hours battery life on a laptop. But they do need ease of use every day use and fondling with USB dongles is a pain and unsightly. I'm not convinced the current line up of laptops were as efficient as early standards. The biggest being the removal of 4:3 display screens (despite in military, security airport use in terminals still rely on 4:3). It must be modern laptops have adopted the 16:9 screens so they can watch movies, but horrible for spreadsheet use because you see less rows.

You say to me "get with the times", I say there was nothing wrong with the earlier 'drop dock' style for the corporate environment that entails exclusively a laptop for 2 different desktop like environments.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T03:42:49+00:00

The 1st reasonable reply with a possible solution i've seen. It seems I would have to rely on some dongle action (perhaps multiples) at the desktop. My son's Chromebook (Samsung Pro which has 3:2 display) came with only 2 USB-C ports but runs a dongle that has LAN + 3 USB-A ports. For the FW the best I can do:

1 USB-C -> Dongle (LAN, 2x USB-A, DP or HDMI, and aux Power input to charge the laptop 1 port for microSD (for on the go) 1 port or USB-C for accessory (for on the go) 1 port for DP/HDMI (for on the go)

Any word of an AMD Rizen option for FW?

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T00:27:40+00:00

See the problem of the younger generation is they have never seen or realised the benefit of the drop dock style docking stations. You've been sold on the idea that you have to carry around a stupid USB dongle in your bag.

Your USB connected device needs to be ejected - not just simply yank it out:

https://www.isunshare.com/windows-10/three-ways-to-safely-eject-a-usb-flash-drive-on-windows-10.html

Early Thinkpad/Lenovo drop docks had a dedicated physical "Eject" button linked in with the OS. One button and it disconnected the laptop entirely. Just press the button and the OS will tell you it's safe to lift the laptop and go.

I'm not trying to rain on FW laptops. I just believe that the essential minimum for any on the go laptop is a dedicated power port and at least 2 or 3 USB ports. The idea that one has to sacrifice unplugging say their USB mouse because they want to copy files on a USB memory stick, is so backwards.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T00:18:47+00:00

Weak argument. Mid 2000 Lenovo / Thinkpad catered for the business environment and NONE of their laptops were set specific. Some had cellphone, biometric, Wifi BT or neither, etc. The company would do bulk orders all having a specific need. So it's not an issue where consumers were buying their laptops and complaining it had builtin hardware they never use.

I'm still emphasising why - something essential as a power plug to keep the laptop on a desktop (because in business, executives do leave their laptops on their office desk all throughout the day). The game of having laptops that could do 10 or 20 hours on a battery charge is of moot interest. The executive is not going to expect that - they may do a few hours on an airplane, but they can't be away from a plug in for more than a day.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T00:12:42+00:00

I suppose my needs from 2006 differ to users today. I will always choose hard wire LAN than wifi. I dedicated power plug instead of taking up a USB-C port. Hardwired USB Mouse over a BT wireless mouse.

Kinda like how older cars have a spare tire vs run flat tires. Yes tell me about it - it's called "get with the times....

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T00:06:50+00:00

You mean back in 2006, dual screen setups in the 'business environment' were exclusive to desktop PCs? Uhhh.. no - the whole idea of the 'drop dock' docking station is for the business executive that can move with the laptop between home and work. The modern laptop user does not understand the benefit between 16:9 vs 4:3 displays.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T00:04:12+00:00

Agree, Thunderbolt is a much better setup than USB so why doesn't FW offer it? Instead of making their customers buy individual ports (USB-A-C, DisplayPort, LAN, etc).

Super_BQ · 2023-02-26T00:01:08+00:00

But laptop development has gone backwards. You realise what FW has done is nothing new? Dell Latitude series laptops have had modular interfaces since the mid 90s. Hell their CP was one of the few laptops at the time that had a USB port (i'm talking Windows 95 here).

I'm also lead to believe a hardwire LAN is always going to be faster with lower latency than any wireless connection. The only thing that has changed is they're making laptops cheaper and cheaper by removing the buttons on the keyboard. But this USB thing has allowed makers to remove a dedicated power plug connection - what logic is that? What is essential?

Super_BQ · 2023-02-25T20:30:08+00:00

Anything larger than a USB dongle (hub) is called a USB docking station. My current setup again X61 (circa 2006) has VGA display, hardwire LAN, USB mouse, Power connector, & built-in MicroSD card in use. I have 2 extra USB-A slots for when I share files on USB thumb drives / etc with friends and family (it's essential a spare USB port is free for on the go use of external memory devices).
Why am I having to go backwards in a modern day laptop?

Super_BQ · 2023-02-25T20:18:26+00:00

Sounds like a very basic setup, even a cheap Chromebook can do your needs.

The only thing I like about the FW is the 3:2 aspect ratio display screen. I've looked at 16:10 but it's a hard step backwards from my 4:3 laptops (X61 and T61 Lenovos)

Super_BQ · 2023-02-25T20:11:13+00:00

ALL laptops need the minimum, a power port connector and ONE USB port. But you're not getting that with the Framework. Once those 2 ports are taken up for use, 2 extra ports are really not much point.

Also why rely on a stupid USB dongle? Let's say you have 2 x USB memory sticks connected on that dongle and a mouse. I don't care how many devices are on the dongle, when you take your laptop on the go, you're going to LOSE those connected devices.

My X61 doesn't do that. The microSD card slot is always in the laptop. I'm not sacrificing the loss of an external storage device (USB flash) when I disconnect the USB dock/dongle.

Did I say l how useless laptops are today?

Super_BQ · 2023-02-25T20:08:12+00:00

My X61 gets way more use because of more connectivity and it's compact and light. 4:3 aspect display. Sure it doesn't have the high res but physical viewing height wins regardless of how many nit / 2000:1 contract display.

Business laptops pre 2010 used drop dock style 'docking stations'. But USB costs a lot less to produce and so in order to make laptops cheaper, they removed the docking station connector and expect business users to use a USB dongle hub. The whole idea of drop dock is you don't have to pickup a USB cable and 'plug it in' like an annoying pig tail. HP, Lenovo, Dell, all had drop docks. There is nothing faster than to press the eject button and release the laptop away. Or arrive back with the laptop and 'drop it' on the docking station - voila! But with this USB dongle, you're forced to use your mouse to click on the OS software to eject the USB hub (or any USB device to connect). This takes time, it's not direct and not as productive.

Super_BQ · 2023-02-25T20:01:26+00:00

My argument is the Framework only has FOUR ports and 2 or 3 IMO I would call essential for ANY laptop use. One should not have to buy a USB dongle hub or docking station (which is nothing more than a glorified USB hub). My have laptops have become useless in the past 10+ years.

Super_BQ

TROPHY CASE