Comments on: Analyst: Thin laptops have design issues

Some PC makers are hitting snags--such as cracking plastic--as they try to bring out ultra-thin laptops based on Intel's latest low-power chips.

[slickuser]

wrong title - It should have been "OEMs not able to design thin laptops"

Apple was able to design one so why can't others? Intel chips has nothing to do with their inability
to design thin ones...

[ewsachse]

Was this article about Apple? No.

The Intel chips run too hot. That is why the plastic cracks.

[slickuser]

where does it say, Intel chips are too hot which was the reason was cracking? read properly moron

[jaguar717]

Read yourself, Macboy. The super thin Mac and Dell laptops "work" because they're made of metal. That adds weight, and cost (on top of the Mac surcharge).

[slickuser]

read the 8th para you dumb windoze lady

[viper396]

People like slickuser are why Apple will never gain the business of alot of people. You come off as @holes. You have no objectivity, your irrational, illogical, hypocritical, and just plain arrogant. If promoting Apple is your intent you're doing a terrible job of it. Keep it up smart guy. {thumbs-up}

[seven7dust]

@viper396
you really think people's buying decisions
are influenced by comments made on Cnet and other sites ! Lol !

[mbrookec]

Correct. This is an OEM/ODM issue, not an Intel chip issue. The update clarifies this. --Brooke Crothers

[PiKappZ746]

This article is about a problem with some thin laptops, yet your picture is of a Lenovo Netbook that doesn't have the problem. That's very misleading and not very fair to Lenovo.

[jenguevin]

The article clearly states that Lenovo is choosing to go a different route because of this problem, and that's what the picture illustrates. The caption from that photo says the same: "Lenovo IdeaPad S12: Some PC makers like Lenovo are opting, in some cases, for large Netbook designs that use an Intel Atom processor and Nvidia Ion chipset."

Jennifer Guevin
CNET News

[getwired]

Not terribly surprising. In my early Motion Computing M1200 "slate style" Tablet PC, the constant torsion forced on the single chassis led to all kinds of cracks all over the chassis and even on cosmetic trim pieces that shouldn't have been torsion bearing to begin with. Hint: Plastic is cosmetic - chemically it makes a really, really, really lame structural backbone. Witness the fact that in order to "get thin", Apple has effectively shifted _everything_ to aluminum. Not because it's cheaper - because it works then as both substructure and surface structure, saving net costs, as well as support and goodwill costs. Reliability Engineering FTW!

The current Motion Tablet PCs use a magnesium chassis to combat this. The LE1700 is very rigid and exceptionally thin. I haven't had any cracking problems at all.

[jameskatt]

It would be interesting to see more news on the cheap netbooks and laptops made with plastic cases cracking or melting or catching on fire.

[viper396]

Many of the netbooks use different and/or cooler running chipsets. They also aren't all going for "thinner" in their design so it hasn't been much of an issue yet.

[solitare_pax]

I'm all for PC makers to beat Apple at their own game and build their cases out of pure magnesium, which is lighter than aluminum.

And it burns so nicely when it overheats.

[Vegaman_Dan]

From my experience in laptop repairs currently, I'm seeing hardware failures due to case damage increase a lot as OEM's drop size for portability. Sometimes you need the mass to help protect the units. Here's our biggest call volume contenders for this title:

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.

[ikramerica--2008]

VM-

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...

[Vegaman_Dan]

@ikamerica--2008:

"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.

[basshawg]

I'm pretty sure Intel has something to do with the problem. They have no problem making netbooks out of plastic because the Atom chip runs very cool. These ULV chips in the same size chassis just are going to work because the thermals produced by this chip are greater than Atom.

Not a big suprise that you are going to pay a premium for a full speed processor in a Netbook size computer.

[cp256]

Fricking fanbois ruining the discussions yet again.

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.

[shakershaker1]

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