The Great Framework Experiment: Why We Ditched Dell and Lenovo
Let's be honest—most IT departments have a love-hate relationship with laptop refreshes. You know the drill: three-year cycles, endless imaging, driver headaches, and that sinking feeling when a user spills coffee on a device that might as well be sealed with industrial glue. By early 2025, we'd had enough. Our 100-person IT company was running a mix of aging Dells and Lenovos, and the repair costs were starting to look like a second mortgage.
That's when we noticed Framework. The promise was tantalizing: laptops you could actually fix, upgrade, and customize without specialized tools. No more throwing away entire machines because of a broken keyboard or a single failed port. But could this startup's vision actually work in a real enterprise environment? We decided to find out—by replacing every single company laptop with Framework devices.
One year and 73 devices later, I'm here to tell you what actually happened. Not the marketing spin, not the theoretical benefits, but the real-world experience of running a business on repairable hardware. Spoiler: it's not all sunshine and easy upgrades, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
Our Deployment Blueprint: 73 Devices, One IT Team
First, let's talk numbers because that's what matters in IT. We deployed 73 Framework laptops total. The majority were Framework 13 models with AMD's 7640U processors—a solid mid-range chip that handles our development workloads without breaking a sweat. We standardized on 64GB of RAM because, well, Chrome tabs and Docker containers have a way of multiplying.
About 25 systems got the Ryzen AI 7 350 upgrade later in the year. The Framework 16? We grabbed five for our power users who need that extra GPU oomph for data visualization and occasional gaming during lunch breaks (don't tell management).
Here's the part that made our finance department nervous: we went all-in on the DIY edition. Every single laptop was assembled by our own staff. No pre-built configurations, no vendor imaging. Just boxes of components arriving at our office like some kind of tech-themed Christmas morning.
The Assembly Line Reality
You're probably wondering: how long did this take? Was it a productivity nightmare? Honestly, it was smoother than expected. We set up an assembly station in our server room—basically a clean table with anti-static mats. Each build took about 30-45 minutes once we got the process down. The Framework's modular design is genuinely intuitive; if you can build a PC, you can assemble one of these laptops.
But here's the pro tip we learned the hard way: batch your orders. Don't try to build 73 laptops one at a time as requests come in. We did ours in batches of 10-15 over a month, which let us create a proper assembly line. One person handled RAM and storage, another did the mainboard installation, a third ran the initial OS deployment. It became almost meditative.
The real benefit? Every single person on our IT team now understands exactly how these machines work. When a user reports an issue, we don't just guess—we know which module might be causing trouble. That knowledge has saved us countless hours in troubleshooting.
The Dock Dilemma: Making Framework Play Nice with Enterprise Peripherals
This is where things get interesting. Our office setup isn't simple—most of our laptop-wielding staff run triple monitor configurations: one ultrawide 3440x1440 plus two standard 2560x1440 displays. That's a lot of pixels to push, and it requires serious dock horsepower.
We standardized on the Dell WD19DCS 240W dock. Why? Because we already had them, they're reliable, and they provide enough power for the Framework 13 through USB-C. Some older WD19S 180W models are still in rotation too. Compatibility was our biggest concern here—would Framework's more open design cause issues with Dell's proprietary docking ecosystem?
Surprisingly, it just worked. Plug and play. No special drivers beyond what Windows Update provided. The Framework 13's USB4 ports handle the bandwidth without breaking a sweat. We did have to make sure users connected to the correct port (the one with full USB4 support), but once we documented that, support calls dropped dramatically.
The Power Delivery Quirk
Here's something you won't find in the marketing materials: power delivery negotiation. The Framework laptops are particular about their power. We discovered that using the Dell dock's 240W charger worked flawlessly, but some third-party USB-C chargers would cause the laptop to complain about "slow charging" even when theoretically providing enough wattage.
The fix? We standardized power adapters too. Every desk got either the Dell dock with its native power supply or an official Framework charger. Eliminating the "charger roulette" cut our power-related support tickets to zero. Sometimes, standardization is worth the upfront cost.
Repairability in Practice: What Actually Breaks (And What Doesn't)
Let's talk about the main event: repairs. Over 12 months with 73 laptops, we've seen our share of issues. But here's the revolutionary part: we fixed almost everything in-house, often in under 10 minutes.
Keyboards were the most common failure point—about seven failed over the year. With a traditional laptop, that's a several-hundred-dollar repair requiring complete disassembly. With Framework? We ordered replacement keyboard modules for $49 each, and swaps took about 90 seconds. No screws, no glue, just pop the old one out and click the new one in.
Display issues? We had three. Two were user-inflicted (closed laptop with pen inside, classic), one was a manufacturing defect. Framework's modular bezel system meant we could replace just the display panel, not the entire lid assembly. Total cost: $150-200 versus $500+ for a traditional laptop display replacement.
The Real Cost Savings
I won't give you exact numbers, but our repair budget dropped by about 60% compared to the previous year with traditional laptops. More importantly, downtime plummeted. When a keyboard fails on a Dell XPS, the user is without their laptop for 3-5 days while it ships out for repair. With Framework, they're back in business during a single coffee break.
But it's not just about fixing what breaks—it's about preventing waste. We had two laptops suffer liquid damage. With a traditional device, they'd be e-waste. With Framework, we simply replaced the mainboard ($500-700) and reused everything else: display, keyboard, chassis, expansion cards. The damaged mainboards? We shipped them back to Framework for recycling through their program.
The Upgrade Path: From Ryzen 5 to Ryzen AI 7
Here's where Framework's promise really shines. About eight months into our deployment, Framework released their Ryzen AI 7 350 mainboard upgrade. We decided to test it with 25 of our devices—mostly for developers working with local AI models and machine learning.
The upgrade process is stupidly simple: remove six screws, disconnect the battery, swap the mainboard, reconnect everything. Each upgrade took about 15 minutes. No reinstalling Windows (it just works), no driver headaches, no compatibility issues. The existing RAM, storage, and expansion cards all worked perfectly with the new mainboard.
Think about what this means for enterprise lifecycle management. Instead of replacing entire laptops every 3-4 years, we can just upgrade the mainboard. The chassis, display, keyboard, touchpad—all that physical stuff that usually outlives the internals—stays in service. Our CFO loves this. Our sustainability officer loves this. I love not having to migrate user data and settings to a whole new device.
The Storage Flexibility Bonus
Since we're talking upgrades, let me mention storage. Framework uses standard M.2 NVMe drives. Not proprietary, not soldered, just regular SSDs you can buy anywhere. When prices dropped on 2TB drives last Black Friday, we upgraded a bunch of our 512GB systems. Total cost: about $100 per upgrade. Try that with a MacBook or most ultrabooks.
This also means we can repurpose drives easily. When we upgraded those 25 systems to the Ryzen AI 7 boards, we simply moved the existing drives over. No data migration needed, no cloning software, no user downtime. It's the kind of simplicity that makes you wonder why every laptop isn't built this way.
The Human Factor: User Adoption and Support Realities
Now for the messy part: people. How did actual humans react to these modular, repairable laptops? Better than expected, but with some interesting wrinkles.
The Framework 13 is a solid, professional-looking device. It doesn't scream "experimental" or "DIY." Most users didn't even realize their laptop was different until they saw someone swapping expansion cards or when we mentioned they could choose between matte and glossy displays (we let users pick—about 60/40 in favor of matte).
The Expansion Card System: Brilliant or Gimmicky?
Framework's expansion card system lets users customize their port selection. Need more USB-A? Swap a USB-C for it. Need HDMI for presentations? Pop it in. In theory, this is brilliant. In practice, we discovered most users set their configuration once and never changed it.
We standardized on two USB-C, one USB-A, and one HDMI for most users. The cards themselves have been reliable—we've had only one fail in a year. But here's the thing: users lose them. Those tiny expansion cards are like socks in the dryer. We've had to order about a dozen replacements for cards that "just disappeared."
Our solution? We bought a Small Parts Organizer for the IT office and keep a stock of common expansion cards. When someone needs a different port configuration for a meeting or project, they borrow from IT and return it afterward. It's not perfect, but it works.
The IT Department Perspective: Management and Imaging
From an IT management standpoint, Framework laptops behave like any other Windows machine. They support all the enterprise features you'd expect: TPM 2.0 for BitLocker, standard ACPI for power management, and full compatibility with our MDM solution.
Imaging was straightforward. We created a standard Windows image with all our corporate applications and used Framework's official drivers from their GitHub repository. The beauty of the modular design is hardware consistency—every Framework 13 with a 7640U has exactly the same mainboard, same audio codec, same WiFi chip. No driver hunting for different SKUs or regional variants.
The BIOS Update Process
BIOS updates are where Framework's open approach really shows. Updates come as standard .exe files you can deploy through your management software. No proprietary update utilities, no weird pre-boot environments. We've pushed several BIOS updates over the year without a single failure.
Compare that to some Dell models where BIOS updates occasionally brick devices (we've all been there). Framework's update process feels refreshingly mature despite the company's relative youth.
Common Questions (And Honest Answers)
Let me address the questions we get most often from other IT teams considering Framework:
Q: Is the build quality enterprise-grade?
A: Yes, with a caveat. The aluminum chassis feels solid, keyboard is excellent, trackpad is good. But it's not a tank like some ThinkPads. For typical office use, it's perfectly durable. For construction sites or extreme environments, you might want something more rugged.
Q: What about warranty and support?
A: Framework offers standard one-year warranties. We purchased extended coverage for critical systems. Support responsiveness has been good—better than some big vendors, honestly. But you're not getting next-business-day onsite service. For us, the ability to fix things ourselves quickly outweighed this.
Q: Are there enterprise purchasing programs?
A: Framework now has an enterprise sales team. We worked directly with them for our larger orders. Pricing is competitive with business-grade laptops from major brands, especially when you factor in long-term savings.
Q: What about Linux support?
A: Excellent. About 20% of our team runs Linux (mostly Ubuntu). Everything works out of the box. Framework actually contributes upstream to Linux kernel drivers. If you have a mixed OS environment, this is a huge plus.
Looking Ahead: Would We Do It Again?
As we enter 2026, I can say unequivocally: yes. The Framework experiment has been a success by every metric that matters to us. Lower total cost of ownership, reduced e-waste, happier users (once they realize they won't be laptop-less for days when something breaks), and an IT team that actually understands the hardware they support.
That last point might be the most valuable. When everything is a black box, IT becomes glorified parts-swappers. With Framework, we're actual technicians again. We understand how the pieces fit together, we can diagnose issues quickly, and we can fix almost anything without sending devices away.
Are there challenges? Sure. The expansion card system requires some user education. You need to stock some spare parts (keyboards, displays, mainboards). And you have to be comfortable with a slightly different support model.
But here's the bottom line: in one year, we've saved enough on repairs and extended the useful life of our hardware enough that the initial investment has already paid off. When our next refresh cycle comes up in 2027, we won't be replacing laptops—we'll be upgrading mainboards. And that's a future I'm excited to build.
If you're considering Framework for your organization, my advice is simple: start with a pilot. Get 5-10 devices, put them through their paces, see how they fit your workflow. The modular design means you can customize them to your needs, and the repair process is so straightforward that even junior technicians can handle most issues. In a world of disposable technology, Framework offers something radical: laptops that are built to last, and built to be fixed.
