Analyst: Thin laptops have design issues
Updated at 12:15 p.m. PDT: adding Intel comment and additional discussion about laptop casing.
An analyst said Wednesday that some PC makers are hitting snags as they try to bring out ultra-thin laptops.
"Early production units being built in plastic, with the bottom case being plastic, are cracking," said Broadpoint AmTech analyst Doug Freedman, in a phone interview, referring to discussions he had with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and and original design manufacturers (ODMs). Typically ODMs don't market under their brand name but supply devices to OEMs, which then slap on their own brand.
Freedman wrote about the problem in a research note distributed Wednesday morning.
"So, to get that really thin form factor that they're after, they're probably going to have to go with a metal case," he said.
Pricey ultra-thin laptops like the MacBook Air and Dell Adamo are made of metal. Lower-cost ultra-thin laptops are typically made of plastic.
In the report, Freedman refers to ODMs and OEMs trying to bring out laptops based on Intel's "CULV" technology. CULV, or consumer ultra-low voltage, is a strategy Intel launched at Computex in June to engender a category of low-cost ultra-thin laptops that offer the portability of Netbooks but are more powerful--and more expensive. These laptops use low-power "ULV" (ultra-low-voltage) processors, as dictated by the space-constrained, ultra-thin designs.
"ODMs were advising their customers to switch to full-metal cases," Freedman said of his discussions with ODMs. "Cost-reduction features are going to be hard in that form factor on the industrial design side," he said.
Intel issued a statement Wednesday saying that the case problem that Freedman refers to has nothing to with Intel processors. "Case design issues reported to be found by an ODM, not consumers, in early production units for ultra-thin laptops have nothing to do with Intel processors whatsoever. We want to be clear that this is not a CPU design issue," Intel said in a statement.
Freedman said some PC makers are opting for large, 11- and 12-inch Netbooks with the Atom processor--and Nvidia's Ion chipset in some cases--instead of ultra-thin ULV laptops based on Intel's Pentium, Celeron, or Core 2 architectures.
"Just look at Lenovo. They're the guy that is not falling in line with Intel's aspirations of 'we don't want 12-inch Netbooks.'" he said.
This summer, both Samsung and Lenovo will begin marketing 11- and 12-inch class Netbooks, respectively, based on the newest Atom processor and Nvidia's Ion chipset.
Brooke Crothers has served as an editor at large at CNET News, an editor at Dow Jones' Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly, and a senior editor at InfoWorld. His CNET blog covers chip technology and computer systems, and how they define the computing experience. He also contributes to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure. Follow Brooke on Twitter @mbrookec. 
Apple was able to design one so why can't others? Intel chips has nothing to do with their inability
to design thin ones...
The Intel chips run too hot. That is why the plastic cracks.
you really think people's buying decisions
are influenced by comments made on Cnet and other sites ! Lol !
Jennifer Guevin
CNET News
And it burns so nicely when it overheats.
Apple MacBook AIr. Thin body, top cover is semi-flexible but the screen is not which results in broken LCD's. The warranty does not cover this and repairs are running $800-1200 for this $1500 laptop.
Lenovo X300/301. Thin body, thinner plastic case which is prone to breakage around the ports and corners. When IBM held the Thinkpad title, they were built like tanks. Now that Lenovo has control, they are built like Yugo's.
Toshiba Portege R500. Thin top case, semi-flexible LCD panel that customers like to show off how much it can bend- then bend it too far. *SNAP* Because of the thin design, many components are held in with doublesided thin tape. Keyboards and touchpads are considered disposable as you cannot remove them for servicing without destroying them. Thankfully the parts are cheap or covered by warranty.
It's hardly Apple's fault that you charge 2-4x what it costs to replace a cracked screen with a new one. I notice how you failed to list the price of repairing the other laptops, but threw in an exaggerated anti-Apple claim, trying to bury it in an informative post so people believe your propaganda.
You are very transparent...
"It's hardly Apple's fault that you charge 2-4x what it costs to replace a cracked screen with a new one"
Well, considering that is the price that *Apple* charges us, it wouldn't make much sense to raise that price even more, would it? I would *love* to have Apple charge less and pass that savings on to the customer, but it is what it is.
Not a big suprise that you are going to pay a premium for a full speed processor in a Netbook size computer.
You get what you pay for. Thin plastic sucks. Let's see what they look like after a few years of moderate use, CRAAAACKKKK! There is no substitute for solid design from the bottom up.
- by shakershaker1 July 2, 2009 2:27 PM PDT
- I love how you people have turned something as little as cracking plastic in a pc vs apple flamewar, people will buy what they want both side are a$$holes
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