What kind of general media? X61 is still pretty capable at browsing and video if you have the right dependencies/drivers/etc. installed and you stick to lighter software methods.
What was the context for this? Filtering coffee with socks???
The motherboard replacements are definitely one of the selling points of FW. ThinkPad can do that sometimes on a double-generation basis where you get the same chassis per two years and the second-year mainboard can replace the first-year, but that's around the limit for them in my experience.
They're cool concepts, but I don't think they're taking it for me over ThinkPad. They are still better to me and you stated some reasons why. I am attracted to a well-built laptop. It requires a good keyboard, sturdy display assembly hinge, decent I/O, etc. Their 4x TB4 board is cool, but it's still 4. Even Macbook Pros got better at port selection than Framework IMO. Many of the higher-end ThinkPads destroy Framework on chassis material.
I am endlessly waiting for them to become ThinkPad 2 and they don't seem to be going that route. Still waiting for them to implement your wants + I want it in a darker tone. Great machines if you can ignore the faults, just not for me (yet?)
Nice! I've had my eye on these for a bit.
Any packages breaking? Faulty applications? Limited functionality?
Have you tested battery life on Linux?