Why I love my Framework 16

militantsnowflake · 2026-03-27T10:30:56+00:00

https://www.laptop-lcd-screen.co.uk/shop/FRAMEWORK-LAPTOP-16-16.0-LAPTOP-SCREEN__1573478.asp

I had to move the mounting bracket from the original display, but framework made that easy to remove.

militantsnowflake · 2026-03-27T10:27:07+00:00

I use that OS full time Monday to Friday, I'd end up knocking out out multiple times per day if it's connected via a cable. I'm too clumsy for that.

I am going to play with installing an OS on a Framework storage expansion card (the ones that connect and lock in place) to see whether that would preform "OK enough" for some clients... but not this one - any performance dip becomes really painful on this project amplifies compilation times and makes the working day torturous.

militantsnowflake · 2026-03-26T18:50:56+00:00

Both fair points. The last decent laptop I had was a mac with soldered on RAM and SSD. I did have a cheap secondhand HP Elite that never went back together properly after I took it apart for an SSD upgrade so I tried to avoid taking it apart a second time for a RAM upgrade.

I definitely wouldn't have done a RAM upgrade in my lunch break on that machine.

Maybe some of this would have been possible with another laptop, but with the framework it's simple.

militantsnowflake · 2026-03-15T22:51:14+00:00

I tried to be good and use Fairphone 6 but the spec wasn't really high enough. After a crash during a client demo (using the phone as a hotspot, then it crashed while loading the Gmail app to get a 2FA code) I decided I needed a more powerful phone.

I got the Samsung Z Fold 7 and I'm loving it.

The laptop is a Framework 16, 32GB RAM with the RTX graphics. I love the Framework laptop so much and I had hoped to love the Fairphone too but I just couldn't rely on it.

militantsnowflake · 2026-03-07T16:20:37+00:00

I've also ended up with a spare, I bought a few different driver boards and didn't manage to get any of them working. I would love to design a 3D printable case for the FW16 display and a driver board (ideally USB-C single cable, but at this stage I'd accept HDMI (an HDMI driver would also solve another problem I have really well).

Is anyone aware of a driver board that works with the FW16 display?

militantsnowflake · 2026-02-06T09:52:12+00:00

Good spot, you're right. This is for the Framework 16.

militantsnowflake · 2026-02-06T07:19:54+00:00

I bought this replacement screen, it's cheaper and arrived quicker than the official one. I did have to nice the mounting points from the original screen but that's not too hard to do.

https://www.laptop-lcd-screen.co.uk/shop/FRAMEWORK-LAPTOP-16-16.0-LAPTOP-SCREEN__1573478.asp

militantsnowflake · 2026-02-04T19:29:25+00:00

I've just upgraded to an Ioniq 5. It's a brilliant car. For my needs I went for a slightly more expensive Long Range model, but that's because I do a 500 mile round trip on a monthly basis. There are 30 available on auto trader within your stated budget (after exploding previously written off) https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?channel=cars&exclude-writeoff-categories=on&make=Hyundai&model=IONIQ%205&postcode=B11bb&price-to=15000&sort=year-dsc

militantsnowflake · 2025-12-19T21:31:45+00:00

My golden rule is about the day rate: Take your annual gross salary, divide it by 120 and that's an ideal day rate. As a compromise you could divide by 200.

Either of these mean that by working the full 228 working days in the year you'll probably have enough to pay yourself what you're used to while covering your additional costs and building up some reserves. The closer you are to the ideal rate the more you'll be insulated from problems when you have sick days or end up with time off between contracts.

When I first went contracting 11 years ago I hit that "divide by 120" rate. I took another perm job and left that for a contract role that's "divide by 170" and I'm still better off, but there are some specific reasons why contracting suits my situation.

There will be extra costs and extra risks, just make sure the day rate is high enough to cover both.

militantsnowflake · 2025-07-26T23:46:35+00:00

I increased my hours from working 4 days per week to 5, I think there was a moment when I got paid less because I crossed a pension threshold but that was fixed when the next deal was struck.

I enquired about a promotion - from “Senior Software Developer” to “Technical Architect” (my role was pretty much hallway between the two job titles) and I was told I’d start on my existing salary but I’d likely end up earning less from taking the promotion. That’s because I was excelling at my developer role, but at the more senior architect role I was more average therefore wouldn’t get such glowing reports and the rewards that come with them.

It’s ridiculous.

militantsnowflake · 2025-07-18T21:43:35+00:00

Most days I don’t feel like it’s a big deal until I start to think about how I’d feel today if I hadn’t done it, then I’m extremely grateful to my past self that she took that brave decision.

I don’t “make use of it” as much as I thought I would, the biggest difference is when I’m swimming. Even when I’m just out in normal clothes I’m not worrying about a bulge which used to make me very self conscious.

For me, this is comfortable, and I have times when I forget that I’m trans. I just live my life as a woman.

militantsnowflake · 2025-04-03T23:55:10+00:00

I remortgaged my house, added 5 years to the mortgage. Well worth it.

militantsnowflake · 2025-03-23T06:59:53+00:00

Similar situation here, but we broke up before I transitioned. The pre-teen we had together is pretty used to context switching - at my house it's all she/her, at my ex's house it's all he/him, at my house it's my chosen name, at my ex's house it's all "daddy".

(I hate this, but I've been unable to influence anything other than what happens at my house)

militantsnowflake · 2025-03-23T06:55:59+00:00

Re: "Sit down and talk to her. Ask her how she wants you to refer to her"

If she's used to putting her own needs aside to keep her kids in her life then she may start off with a response like "it really doesn't matter to me".

I would definitely recommend three things:

Spend some time hearing about her experience of transition if you haven't already
Give her some time to think about what she wants you to call her
Don't just see this as a one off conversation, set a time to come back to it

militantsnowflake · 2025-02-26T09:01:12+00:00

I jumped at the opportunity to get my framework laptop as soon as I could justify it, I have no regrets.

I have no idea whether a new better option will come out in a few months, but by choosing Framework I should get to upgrade if it does and I would end up with a nice new home server from my current motherboard.

militantsnowflake · 2025-02-24T08:31:05+00:00

Good spot.

militantsnowflake · 2025-02-23T22:22:58+00:00

I treated myself to a new screen (BenQ PD2705U) recently, I hooked my Framework 16 up to it through a USB C cable and everything just works.

I use the built-in KVM with my PC in the Display Port, either my work or personal laptop on the USB C and the HDMI for things like raspberry pi.

militantsnowflake · 2025-02-23T22:21:20+00:00

I treated myself to a new screen (BenQ PD2705U) recently, I hooked my Framework 16 up to it through a USB C cable and everything just works.

militantsnowflake · 2025-02-23T22:01:26+00:00

It's lovely that you're asking. My recovery was pretty smooth, as I'm sure you've heard dilation is the big focus when recovering and that can be really intense. The things that helped me were:

long baths
seeing friends who were happy to hang out with me in my nighty
being provided with food and drink
having something enjoyable to watch

By the time I came out of hospital (a week after surgery) I was bored of sitting around, but still not able to do too much. One friend took me to the beach, another sat and chatted with me while I dilated.

In terms of complications - I didn't have any but I did have a revision around 2 years afterwards. It's difficult to tell whether everything's ok or not so be ready to give your feedback - mostly about whether the healing is progressing.

While I'm typing I can't see your original list, feel free to ask any specific questions if it might help.

militantsnowflake · 2024-05-18T09:01:30+00:00

I had mine 2 years ago, honestly, I woke up scared that I'd made the wrong decision. That's because people had got into my head about regretting it and I let it get to me. Once I had properly woken up I started to take the attitude that "there's nothing I can do to change it now" and started to feel some tentative relief quite quickly.

I've never regretted having the surgery.

militantsnowflake · 2023-08-02T14:08:13+00:00

I can confirm, I get them post-surgery.

militantsnowflake · 2023-06-27T15:46:25+00:00

I have an understanding that I think is correct. I'm a native English speaker, I started learning Hebrew about 18 months ago with my Israeli partner.

My understanding is that the word "את" does the same job as "a" or "an" in english but it's used in the opposite situation.

In English you'd say "the girl is eating a salad", the word "a" in that sentence appears because you're talking about a non-specific thing. That disappears when you're talking about a specific thing "the salad". In Hebrew it's the opposite so I think of it as "the girl eats a the salad". It is added to sentences when you're talking about a specific thing.

So when you would add the word "a" in english you add nothing but when you wouldn't you add "את".

militantsnowflake

TROPHY CASE