There is no point to get a lower speed than 5600, as it will very likely simply not work. Based on community experience, as far as we know, the Framework is only compatible with 5600 and will refuse to boot lower speeds.

If it says PCIe (preferably version 4) or NVMe, it’s compatible.

Trackpad: Not sure if it’s meant to look like that, but people on the forums have “modded” their trackpad by disassembling it partially and e.g. inserting small pieces of paper into the mechanism to make it have less travel. I can’t give direct instructions, but this guide goes in the right direction: https://guides.frame.work/Guide/Touchpad+Rubbing+Fix+Guide/103

Screws: I wouldn’t needlessly mess with the screws, they’re easy to damage. However if you suspect that some are missing or faulty, I’d await the response of support.

Backlight: You seem to have a blank black keyboard, so there aren’t really letters to light up. You only get the (mostly unwanted) light that shines behind the keycaps.

Tight expansion cards: Normal, they’ll looses up if you switch ports often. I’d use both thumbs to push the card out and use another finger or the palm at the same time to push the button.

I think the only reason to get the 7840U is because you have the money and are happy to invest it in a little bit of performance and comfort. The difference in battery life is probably not that much and for the price difference you could get one or two 99Wh power banks (or buy the larger battery separately) instead.

I guess so. If it blinks it could indicate that the charger shuts off because it’s overloaded or so, but if the light stays on it’s probably charging.

It works with the FW13, so it probably will work with the 16.

And is there a limitation for SSDs?

Other than the size constraints when using two SSDs (one 2280 and one 2230), not really. Just make sure to not get one with a heatsink.

Yes, theoretically the Framework should charge even on a standard 5V charger without Power Delivery (very slowly of course). However there might be incompatibilities.

Should be fine to try, but I wouldn’t use a very cheap charger, because who knows what shocks that could give to the delicate Framework electronics. But Apple should be fine.

I got the Crucial Laptop memory 5600, but the Kingston you selected is probably still faster. How much faster is probably hard to say, and if it’s worth it. I don’t know where there is good benchmark data.

They should work, but I’m not sure I’d go for maximum performance and “gaming” labelled parts, as these could use a lot of power or produce a lot of heat and might not be very suitable if you want to optimize battery life. Not that I have compared the power usage of these parts to others, more as a general remark.

Your selected memory will only reach the rated speeds with XMP technology, which the Framework doesn’t support.

Can you try to connect an additional, different power supply on the other side, like even a smartphone charger if you have nothing else?

I understand it correctly that the laptop is running from power supply and just the battery isn’t charging? Then its possible the battery is defect or the connector is bent.

There is a known issue where the Framework Laptop uses up too much current during PD voltage ramp up, which not all chargers like. See this post on the Forum: https://community.frame.work/t/amd-framework-usb-c-charger-compatibility-issues/39323/1

This will probably fixed in a future BIOS update.

I also got the Crucial one you selected, but make sure you get the 5600 MHz version. The slower (5200/4800) don’t seem to work.

Have you tried getting the current drivers from AMD? They’re newer than the bundle Framework provides and some reports on the forum said that it improves bugs like this.

Framework has said that they don’t strictly follow the batch order, they prepare and ship laptops as they’re build and parts are available. So they might have a temporary shortage or queue for the 7840U mainboard or any of the other part you selected (expansion cards, bezel, keyboard, …).

If you go with AMD you can put DP or HDMI cards in any slots except the front left one. However if you wanted to connect two external monitors I’d probably use DP chaining or an external docking station instead of using up half of the ports with HDMI cards.

Yes, of course you can limit charging if you want to be even more conservative, I’m just saying that leaving at in the default settings is completely fine and won’t cause any damage. Most battery degradation is anyway caused by charge-discharge cycles and not by charging it to 100% and mostly keeping it there.

Afaik it’s damaging the battery if you get close to 100 and 0% of charge.

Not really, Framework has adjusted it so that 100% and 0% are relatively safe levels, it will not get undervolted or overcharged.