Steam Deck and Microsoft Floor homeowners trying to get extra SSD storage than is usually supplied (and for much less cash) have a brand new, sudden supply: Framework, the repairable laptop computer firm.

Seeing the necessity for respected distributors of smaller-size M.2 drives, the corporate determined to “add yet another line merchandise” to its typical Western Digital drive order. As such, the corporate has began providing a 2TB M.2 2230 drive for $300 in its US and Canada shops. As of this writing, the drives are offered out, however you’ll be able to signal as much as be notified once they’re again in inventory.

Framework founder and CEO Nirav Patel describes the transfer as “an attention-grabbing alternative to allow upgrades on one other fashionable client electronics product: the Steam Deck.” Patel notes that “it may be tough to seek out authentic sources for bigger capability drives,” just like the 2TB SN740 2230 fashions from Western Digital that Framework will supply. Patel hyperlinks iFixit’s guides to upgrading the Steam Deck and Floor gadgets and asks Framework followers to let the corporate find out about different methods to “aid you with hard-to-find upgrades for different merchandise.” We’ll presume “retail-price GPUS” is not value mentioning.

As we famous in an article about the widening availability of teensy SSD drives, these drives aren’t low-cost, however they nonetheless present a big financial savings over the large OEM distributors’ costs.

Upgrading the Floor Laptop computer Go 2 from a 128GB SSD to 256GB prices between $50 and $100 for those who purchase from Microsoft or one other retailer, and higher-capacity drives aren’t out there. Microsoft will cost $300 to improve the Floor Professional 9 from a 256GB SSD to 512GB and $600 to improve from 256GB to 1TB. The Steam Deck’s numerous worth tiers include different non-storage-related advantages, however going from the bottom mannequin’s 64GB of gradual eMMC storage to a 256GB SSD nonetheless prices a minimum of $130.

Shopping for from a reputation like Western Digital through Framework can also be prone to be a greater wager than buying from lesser-known distributors on eBay or different marketplaces. Whereas these drives aren’t Framework-labeled, and thus haven’t got the corporate’s one-year guarantee, there may be nonetheless a 30-day return coverage and a wider variety of help choices. Framework’s guarantee language means that precise malfunction or failure response can be dealt with by Western Digital.