i'm more interested in the process that the claims have been about. it seems to either be very wasteful by carving the entire thing out of a single piece of metal or they are calling an old technology something new and trying to spin it. to me it looks more like hydroforming than anything else. who knows but i'm actually interested in this "breakthrough" technology.
now if it is just for rapid prototyping and cutting something out of a single chunk of metal then this could be done with a specialized EDM machine, but then again that would be old technology being spun as something crazy new that it is not.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't they just gather all the shavings produced by these, and then remelt them to form more bricks, thus recycling the shavings?
Yes, I'm wondering about that too. A laptop case machined from a giant solid block of aluminum is excessive, and I don't think that anyone would be dumb enough to design a case that needs to be milled on an expensive machine for several hours, and expect to sell a lot of them at a decent price. Yes, the shavings are/should-be melted down, but that also takes some energy, and could waste valuable time. So I bet it's stamped or drawn, with some kind of jet or beam used to cut it. But even then, it's a hell of a lot more expensive than the current cases. But I bet it'd feel really solid and look really cool... btw, it's not so cool now that it's only the top half that's solid, but more sensible, I guess.
New technology? No. But has this every been used to make laptop shells? No. I think that if it's true, it will mean a much sturdier laptop. But I'm no mechanical engineer so I could be wrong. I just think it's pretty innovative to use this on a laptop, if they can keep costs down. I'm all about sexy computers, and fanboys and non-fanboys alike can agree that a carved computer will look very sexy. Looks don't always make the product though.....
h_2_o, you worry too much. If that thing is real. -I-F-. It can't be milled process.
The massive production units that need to be delivered won't allow it. That is why people are speculating it to be some innovative process, because no one can figure out how that's possible. Yes, it can be done. But, the ways we know of that it can be made, can't be reasonable for a mass product. So there must be some new process that allows this to happen at mass production level, and at a per unit cost low enough to not hike up the cost of the end product's predecessor. It could even be a simple evolution of cut and stamp process combined with creative case design. Who knows.
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i'm more interested in the process that the claims have been about. it seems to either be very wasteful by carving the entire thing out of a single piece of metal or they are calling an old technology something new and trying to spin it. to me it looks more like hydroforming than anything else. who knows but i'm actually interested in this "breakthrough" technology.
now if it is just for rapid prototyping and cutting something out of a single chunk of metal then this could be done with a specialized EDM machine, but then again that would be old technology being spun as something crazy new that it is not.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but can't they just gather all the shavings produced by these, and then remelt them to form more bricks, thus recycling the shavings?
so far they havent spun anything. this "new technology! business is coming from fanboy rumors
Yes, I'm wondering about that too. A laptop case machined from a giant solid block of aluminum is excessive, and I don't think that anyone would be dumb enough to design a case that needs to be milled on an expensive machine for several hours, and expect to sell a lot of them at a decent price. Yes, the shavings are/should-be melted down, but that also takes some energy, and could waste valuable time. So I bet it's stamped or drawn, with some kind of jet or beam used to cut it. But even then, it's a hell of a lot more expensive than the current cases. But I bet it'd feel really solid and look really cool...
btw, it's not so cool now that it's only the top half that's solid, but more sensible, I guess.
Maybe the 'breakthrouh' has to do with making them fast... some sort of assembly line of water jets or something.
New technology? No. But has this every been used to make laptop shells? No. I think that if it's true, it will mean a much sturdier laptop. But I'm no mechanical engineer so I could be wrong. I just think it's pretty innovative to use this on a laptop, if they can keep costs down. I'm all about sexy computers, and fanboys and non-fanboys alike can agree that a carved computer will look very sexy. Looks don't always make the product though.....
Meant to say "New technology? YES" sorry.
h_2_o, you worry too much. If that thing is real. -I-F-. It can't be milled process.
The massive production units that need to be delivered won't allow it. That is why people are speculating it to be some innovative process, because no one can figure out how that's possible. Yes, it can be done. But, the ways we know of that it can be made, can't be reasonable for a mass product. So there must be some new process that allows this to happen at mass production level, and at a per unit cost low enough to not hike up the cost of the end product's predecessor. It could even be a simple evolution of cut and stamp process combined with creative case design. Who knows.