Other people on this site have recommended the MNT Reform to me: https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform
It seems like a different flavor of an open source laptop that people who want a better keyboard and has the option of a trackball (!!!) instead of the trackpad.
I think the MNT is going to be my next laptop, but the Frame.work is pretty cool.
I was in a similar boat until last year when I switched from a modded x61s to an x220 i7 then x230 i7 w/16GB which I'm still using and cost under $300 on ebay. The HD4000 iGPU is at least Vulkan capable.
It's really unfortunate the imx8 SoC didn't have even an 8GB variant. The fact that you can get a raspberry pi with more memory than the Reform is such a bummer.
Also, I will be able to upgrade that part as it comes available. Plenty of room!
(I've seen some thinkpads with PCBs which use the Kailh chocs, but I don't think the laptop lids can close).
It reminds me of the Apple PowerBook 170 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_170) I had in the early 90s.
I loved the trackball on those early PowerBooks.