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Chimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,783
Can somebody link me to the survey? I am unable to find the link :-p

We'll be sending a separate survey to the mailing list, I'm working on it right now actually. http://kimeraindustries.com/subscribe

It was sent out in an email to kickstarter backers. They said they don't want us sharing the link to non-backers yet.

Welcome to the forum! And the reason for keeping the two surveys separate is we want to know what the actual backers want first, but getting data from everyone who's shown interest in the project is useful too.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,783
Any suggestions on what I should add to the mailing list survey?

Adding "no preference" to stuff like the panel material and differentiating front-SFX vs rear-SFX on the PSU question are on my list so far.
 

Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,947
4,953
>> What PSU form factor support?
I would add briefly what limitations this incurs, like "ATX: limited CPU cooler height to xx mm" and "front SFX: front radiator support limited to 140/120mm"
 
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jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
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Ok, I considered explaining in-depth the pros and cons of each answer but I think the wall of text would scare people off :p

But for the PSUs it seems reasonable to add a brief explanation.
 
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HansWursT619

Trash Compacter
Feb 22, 2016
45
20
As price is probably a major concern for many, maybe you should add some explanation to the feature section. For example the front audio, if it only saves me 3$ I am fine with either option. If it saves me 20$ I am fine without. I know how this is difficult before hand and adds to the complexity of the survey.

But for the aluminum option especially, you should say that this actually adds cost.

Silver color option maybe?

Where do you expect people to mention missing features that turned them off? Like dust filters.
I think the "Any other options you want us to consider?" does not make this clear.

I am not sure if a desired or max price question could be beneficial. But probably that would lay out of the reasonable range of possible savings.
 
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jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,783
I know how this is difficult before hand and adds to the complexity of the survey.

That's basically the issue, so I'd rather see what people think ignoring price. If most people don't need something even with no mention of price then we can be even more confident in eliminating it.

But for the aluminum option especially, you should say that this actually adds cost.

I had a note about that in the backer survey, I've been debating whether to leave it off or not but I think I'll add it back.

Silver color option maybe?

I basically took the most popular suggestions from the backer survey and added them as choices. Anything not on that list is what the suggestion box is for :)

Where do you expect people to mention missing features that turned them off? Like dust filters.

That's another one I'm debating. We've already talked about why we can't easily include dust filters, so whether that's a turn-off doesn't really matter. But there is a "other" choice for that first question that can be filled in with whatever.

I am not sure if a desired or max price question could be beneficial.

It's not really useful. Like above, it doesn't matter if lots of people would like the case to cost $50 and asking max price just makes us look greedy.

Keep the feedback coming! I'll finish it up either tonight or tomorrow and send off the email.
 

vpr

Cable Smoosher
Apr 2, 2016
8
6
Ok, here's a draft of the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MUkHKl9oHPpb2ajEVARh6AHEX9CFJOZ5nhN-5jrMRjQ/viewform

Let me know what you all think.

Edit: To be clear, I'm interested in feedback on the survey itself (are the questions clear, do the available choices cover everything, are there any typos, etc.). The responses to the draft will be deleted.

For the colors, instead of radio buttons do you think asking the surveyee to rank the options in order of preference would provide better feedback or do you think it would skew results too much?
 

tedlas

Average Stuffer
Aug 18, 2015
86
27
Good survey, much improved from the backer one. Consider making an "uncoated" color option for those that want it (not me, I just want black).

Also, put a question of how much people value American production. Value very much, good idea, no preference, or It doesn't matter at all.

Why is anodizing not an option on aluminum side panels with the pins? what interferes? Can't you put the pins on after anodizing?
 

Vidjagames72

Chassis Packer
Apr 5, 2016
17
2
Why is anodizing not an option on aluminum side panels with the pins? what interferes? Can't you put the pins on after anodizing?

They mentioned somewhere before that putting in the tool less pin setup mars the surface making it unsightly, the powder coating covers this up and looks nice. Anodizing would not hide any marks so if these marks were bad it would probably look just horrible.
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
Silver Supporter
Feb 22, 2015
4,969
4,783
For the colors, instead of radio buttons do you think asking the surveyee to rank the options in order of preference would provide better feedback or do you think it would skew results too much?

For some reason Google Forms doesn't have a ranking option. Not sure why though, it'd be super useful.

Consider making an "uncoated" color option for those that want it

Good idea, I'll add that.

Also, put a question of how much people value American production.

American production is more for ease of communication, QA, and shipping to NA than it is end-user preference.

Why is anodizing not an option on aluminum side panels with the pins?

The pins screw onto threaded studs that are pressed into the panel. The problem is that the sheet thicknesses we're dealing with mean that the studs are pressed through the sheet and so the back side of it is visible. Even with the powder coat the outline of the stud is visible at the right angles so it'd look ugly with anodization.
 
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Ceros_X

King of Cable Management
Mar 8, 2016
748
660
American production is more for ease of communication, QA, and shipping to NA than it is end-user preference.

Even if this is the case (pun intended :D ), it might still be useful to know how important this is to the end user. (No interest in purchasing a case, just chiming in)
 
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Phuncz

Lord of the Boards
SFFn Staff
May 9, 2015
5,947
4,953
While the origin of production might not be generally of concern to the buyer, there are several issues for smaller projects like these that make overseas production very frustrating. Ncase was successful in this aspect because Wahaha360 went to Asia more than a few times, has experience with manufacturing and this sort of stuff. While Asia is excellent for production, you do need to supervise and manage it there as well to get the quality you want. Let's also not forget prototyping (plus shipping) by Lian-Li isn't cheap !

There were also some issues with shipping, with more than a few people getting different cases (panel configurations) than the ones they ordered because a postal worker went... postal. So I can certainly see why Kimera wants to keep this close to home so they can guarantee quality and I'm not sure moving overseas would allow the same quality for the same price.

In the end, the cases for the US would become more expensive to ship, while those for Europe would become cheaper. Necere also recently mentioned that they offset the shipping costs by moving some of the cost towards the case's price. So the Ncase M1 which costed 205$ with 40$ shipping could just as well have costed 160$ with 85$ shipping, as an example. It was an excellent idea, because people didn't have a problem with the 200$ price target that was set earlier, but they would have thrown a fit if it was 160$ with 40$ more expensive shipping.

I'm also a fan of keeping people in the US and EU employed for production like this, so I'm not a fan of overseas production just so the shipping price (for me as a European) is lower.
 
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Vittra

Airflow Optimizer
May 11, 2015
359
90
Survey questions look good.

Haven't really had much to contribute to the thread as of late, and I will fill out the survey, so my commentary is not necessarily needed here. :)
 
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PNP

Airflow Optimizer
Oct 10, 2015
285
257
I'm curious, is there anyone that would consider aluminum a deal-breaker assuming that the price of Cerberus doesn't increase?

Not a deal breaker, no, especially not if powder coated so I don't have to look at inevitable scratches and dings. But I will be disappointed.