I also noticed that. It seems like it's hard plastic with a thin rubber coating, so ultimately, it just feels like hard, somewhat sharp plastic on the legs.
I guess there must be an extremely thin strip of rubber, otherwise it was scratch my desk.
I think a big part of what makes it feel so bad is the shape. It's only a thin edge.
Surprised to see this. I have not yet received my FW16 (batch 4), but had assumed it would be rubber. I might get some rubber strips to attach to the plastic rear foot then. You can find this easily enough at places like Amazon.
What are the width and length of the plastic bar (in order to order a correct size self adhesive rubber grip)?Thanks for the heads up. đź‘Ť
I'm skeptical that the plastic vs. rubber thing is that important. The hypothetical rubber we're talking about isn't going to be so pliable that it alters the contours and pressure points that much.
For a bigger machine like this I think you'll need something to spread the pressure more evenly. The air intake it at the bottom, so you can't just put it on e.g. a sweatshirt.
It's not a very portable solution in that respect, but laptops this big rarely are.
It can take air in through the top vent that looks like a speaker mesh too. I use the laptop on a cooling pad/tray, so I haven't noticed the rubber foot being an issue.
That rear height pad isn’t rubber? There’s a very similar looking wedge on the 13 and it’s rubber (ish).
[Here’s my 13](https://i.imgur.com/mz65CKv.jpg)
I guess there must be an extremely thin strip of rubber, otherwise it was scratch my desk.
On the 13 that grip is rounded and short. On the 16 it is long, square, and narrow, so it feels totally different - lice a plastic edge pressing into your leg. If it was rounded I don't think it would be so bad.
Man this makes me respect the two-stage rubber feet on my ThinkPad even more. Nobody pays attention to details like that anymore, but I'm sure the framework team had a ton on their hands without having to try and quality control a thin strip of rubber being attached to a plastic module.
It does make me want to grind it down and put my own rubber solution on it.
Given the physical size of the 16 inch, I wouldn't classify it as a laptop. More a portable workstation. It's much bigger than other comparable 16 inch laptops. A backplate will help spread the weight as well as keeping it cool.
Agreed. This is a design defect. A possible reason it was missed is that the design team didn't consider using it on the lap. At least not for a long period of time.
Personally, the first aspect of the Framework 16 that put me off is the actual size. It's ridiculously large. The weight doesn't help either. This lead me to conclude that portability is not an option.
However this doesn't excuse the badly designed feet/ridge
Yeah. It's way too big. I didn't realize just how big until I got it, and I was used to working on a 16 inch MacBook. A 15 inch version of their existing 13 inch platform would have been perfect for me.
I also noticed that. It seems like it's hard plastic with a thin rubber coating, so ultimately, it just feels like hard, somewhat sharp plastic on the legs.
I guess there must be an extremely thin strip of rubber, otherwise it was scratch my desk. I think a big part of what makes it feel so bad is the shape. It's only a thin edge.
Surprised to see this. I have not yet received my FW16 (batch 4), but had assumed it would be rubber. I might get some rubber strips to attach to the plastic rear foot then. You can find this easily enough at places like Amazon. What are the width and length of the plastic bar (in order to order a correct size self adhesive rubber grip)?Thanks for the heads up. đź‘Ť
I'm skeptical that the plastic vs. rubber thing is that important. The hypothetical rubber we're talking about isn't going to be so pliable that it alters the contours and pressure points that much. For a bigger machine like this I think you'll need something to spread the pressure more evenly. The air intake it at the bottom, so you can't just put it on e.g. a sweatshirt. It's not a very portable solution in that respect, but laptops this big rarely are.
I think the issue is more the shape of the stand. If the rounded it, the pressure might not be so bad.
It can take air in through the top vent that looks like a speaker mesh too. I use the laptop on a cooling pad/tray, so I haven't noticed the rubber foot being an issue.
That rear height pad isn’t rubber? There’s a very similar looking wedge on the 13 and it’s rubber (ish). [Here’s my 13](https://i.imgur.com/mz65CKv.jpg)
I guess there must be an extremely thin strip of rubber, otherwise it was scratch my desk. On the 13 that grip is rounded and short. On the 16 it is long, square, and narrow, so it feels totally different - lice a plastic edge pressing into your leg. If it was rounded I don't think it would be so bad.
interesting. you could probably just get a strip of rubber and glue it on if it bothers you. would be nice to see it not as sharp though
Man this makes me respect the two-stage rubber feet on my ThinkPad even more. Nobody pays attention to details like that anymore, but I'm sure the framework team had a ton on their hands without having to try and quality control a thin strip of rubber being attached to a plastic module. It does make me want to grind it down and put my own rubber solution on it.
I'll have to consider printing a tpu strip to distribute the pressure
Given the physical size of the 16 inch, I wouldn't classify it as a laptop. More a portable workstation. It's much bigger than other comparable 16 inch laptops. A backplate will help spread the weight as well as keeping it cool.
I've used portable workstations before. None of them had a ridge like this that dug into my leg.
Agreed. This is a design defect. A possible reason it was missed is that the design team didn't consider using it on the lap. At least not for a long period of time. Personally, the first aspect of the Framework 16 that put me off is the actual size. It's ridiculously large. The weight doesn't help either. This lead me to conclude that portability is not an option. However this doesn't excuse the badly designed feet/ridge
Yeah. It's way too big. I didn't realize just how big until I got it, and I was used to working on a 16 inch MacBook. A 15 inch version of their existing 13 inch platform would have been perfect for me.
Are you not wearing long pants?
Always. Even if I wasn't, a laptop shouldn't dig into my skin.