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.
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?