Production SENTRY 2.0: Evolution of console-sized gaming PC case

Idle2824

Average Stuffer
Apr 26, 2018
67
68
I wasn't really sure what to expect in terms of order numbers; you certainly managed to get a lot of exposure as far as I can tell, but it is a pretty niche (well, expensive) product. It certainly looks like it'll reach 1000 units, but do you think you'll hit your 5k limit? What happens if you do? Retail? :)
 

loader963

King of Cable Management
Jan 21, 2017
660
568
30% in first 24 hours is a good sign for crowdfunding and sentry was right at it. I do admit I thought 1000 units to be a lofty goal but I think it’s still very reachable.

Anyways been watching excitedly as I know it’s game time for Zaber and Co.
 

Idle2824

Average Stuffer
Apr 26, 2018
67
68
Also, I wonder if your conservative estimate for shipping dates isn't putting people off a bit. I appreciate that you want to be totally open and honest about everything, but by the sounds of it, it wouldn't be misleading to say that we could have these by October (maybe?) if everything goes well. I don't think it's wrong to lead with the best case scenario, as long as you make it clear that that's what it is. You'd be forgiven for a delay if something went wrong, I'm sure. :)

Then again, maybe I'm just so used to the overpromising and underdelivering on everything that goes on in my line of work that I think it's normal...
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
472
883
I wasn't really sure what to expect in terms of order numbers; you certainly managed to get a lot of exposure as far as I can tell, but it is a pretty niche (well, expensive) product. It certainly looks like it'll reach 1000 units, but do you think you'll hit your 5k limit? What happens if you do? Retail? :)

We have hoped to get above 2000 units with this amount of exposure and the fact that we've already delivered once with pretty satisfied backers with what they got. Also it seems like 2500~3000 units is a total limit of how many people are going to put their money into crowdfunding of a premium chassis in such a time frame while also waiting for it to be made.

As for 5k - we'll see how this goes, and we did not want to put a low ceiling over the amount of orders, and with how indiegogo worked in our previous campaign, people refunding to change colour back and forth were burning a lot of slots that weren't coming back to the pool (this didn't affect the funding meter, just the available units in perk limit). It seems to be working differently right now and those seem to be coming back, but still the actual real limit is that there's no way more than 3000 people would back any campaign for a case at similar price point.
 
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ZombiPL

Airflow Optimizer
Original poster
DR ZĄBER
Apr 13, 2016
238
762
Also, I wonder if your conservative estimate for shipping dates isn't putting people off a bit. I appreciate that you want to be totally open and honest about everything, but by the sounds of it, it wouldn't be misleading to say that we could have these by October (maybe?) if everything goes well. I don't think it's wrong to lead with the best case scenario, as long as you make it clear that that's what it is. You'd be forgiven for a delay if something went wrong, I'm sure. :)

Then again, maybe I'm just so used to the overpromising and underdelivering on everything that goes on in my line of work that I think it's normal...

The problem is that we are engineers, not marketing guys. We always repeat that. We know how to make a good exposure for the product, but more important for us is to give people the exact, correct information that we have... which we know sometimes isn't good for us in terms of sales. We just prefer to give our backers the best information we can instead of making the false advertising. We already made a successful campaign in the past, and we know how much time some things took us. The best case scenario is that you can get Sentry in September, but with the worst case, you will get it in December.

What is more, many of you guys are hanging out with us in our forum topics for a long time, and we can't imagine situation where we would not be honest with you. We prefer to sleep well, knowing you have the full picture of this project, instead of making false image just to gather more orders. Many crowdfunding campaigns were just a scam, and we think people deserve at least one which will be honest.
 

Idle2824

Average Stuffer
Apr 26, 2018
67
68
The problem is that we are engineers, not marketing guys. We always repeat that. We know how to make a good exposure for the product, but more important for us is to give people the exact, correct information that we have... which we know sometimes isn't good for us in terms of sales. We just prefer to give our backers the best information we can instead of making the false advertising. We already made a successful campaign in the past, and we know how much time some things took us. The best case scenario is that you can get Sentry in September, but with the worst case, you will get it in December.

What is more, many of you guys are hanging out with us in our forum topics for a long time, and we can't imagine situation where we would not be honest with you. We prefer to sleep well, knowing you have the full picture of this project, instead of making false image just to gather more orders. Many crowdfunding campaigns were just a scam, and we think people deserve at least one which will be honest.

Yeah, I understand completely, it's how I'd choose to operate too. You've managed to get me to put up £227 on a crowdfunding website, which I am deeply sceptical of, because you have a good product and you've given us every reason to trust you, so I really can't fault your approach too much.

All I mean is that it definitely stung a bit when I saw the December delivery estimate, whereas possibly September would have felt much more in line with my expectations (not that they are necessarily reasonable). I imagine others might feel the same. To be honest, just you saying here that they could be ready by September is pretty encouraging to me, even though I know it's not all that likely and you can't commit to that. Plus you need to give more time to feel comfortable, you shouldn't be placing unrealistic deadlines on yourselves after all.

Anyway, that's enough from me. Thanks for your replies, I hope this campaign goes even better than your first one. I'd love to see your case building side projects turn into something commercially viable in the future. You certainly have good ideas and the skillset to back them up.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
472
883
I thought to change the switch to blue color.

Can you please check specs of this one and tell me would it fit?
It should be momentary?
What about the cable and wiring?

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...16mm_-_Black_Housing_-_Ring_Illumination.html

Thank you!

There's a hole for 16mm switch like this, but motherboard is giving out 5V, and this one has quite a long end on the inside which might interfere with modular plugs on psu.

Yes, you want it to be momentary/non-locking one so it's connecting only when you are pressing it.

As for wiring, yo have to solder it yourself unless a PC shop has a complete switch like this wired.
 

DaHans

Average Stuffer
May 11, 2018
58
23
Caseking.de is offering a Cable set like this:
https://www.caseking.de/lamptron-taster-schalter-connection-cable-300mm-molt-081.html
So maybe you can connect any switch you want to your case.

Regarding the color "Navy grey":
Is that kind of the color of that old computer cases back in the 90's? Where every case was grey?

I was just aorund the corner ordering the black one as I got a big retro feeling on thinking about that grey one.

Edit: Or maybe little more like the SNES Case color. Anyway I think I will get the grey. Thats something new instead of that many black ITX cases on the market. Nice idea! :)
 

ZombiPL

Airflow Optimizer
Original poster
DR ZĄBER
Apr 13, 2016
238
762
Regarding the color "Navy grey":
Is that kind of the color of that old computer cases back in the 90's? Where every case was grey?

I was just aorund the corner ordering the black one as I got a big retro feeling on thinking about that grey one.

Edit: Or maybe little more like the SNES Case color. Anyway I think I will get the grey. Thats something new instead of that many black ITX cases on the market. Nice idea! :)

I'm not sure how gray were gray cases from 90's in comparison to our color, but in the post below I showed why our Navy Gray is called that way:

https://smallformfactor.net/forum/t...sized-gaming-pc-case.7106/page-20#post-139069

Also in this photo you can see what kind of difference is between snow-white speaker and our Navy Gray Sentry:

 
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zustroy

Trash Compacter
Jun 19, 2018
54
33
There's a hole for 16mm switch like this, but motherboard is giving out 5V, and this one has quite a long end on the inside which might interfere with modular plugs on psu.

Yes, you want it to be momentary/non-locking one so it's connecting only when you are pressing it.

As for wiring, yo have to solder it yourself unless a PC shop has a complete switch like this wired.

They state that LED voltage is
3.5
5
12

Switch voltage is 24

I guess it should work? Total length is 37.8mm. What do you think maximum length of switch should be?

Could you tell me where did you order switch you ship with the case? Maybe they also have in some other colors and looks.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
472
883
They state that LED voltage is
3.5
5
12

Switch voltage is 24

I guess it should work? Total length is 37.8mm. What do you think maximum length of switch should be?

Could you tell me where did you order switch you ship with the case? Maybe they also have in some other colors and looks.

Make sure that it means that it has different connections for each voltage, not that it won't burn on these voltages, because it may be just put to specs so you will find this switch when looking for a 3.3V switch.

Some boards have 3.3V on the LED and others have 5V, and if you have a 5V led and 3.3V provided by the board, then the led will be slightly dimmer. With 12V connected to a motherboard it may be barely visible. If it has multiple connections for different voltages though, it should look the same on each, but make sure to connect these properly, or you can fry it.
 

zustroy

Trash Compacter
Jun 19, 2018
54
33
That sounds too complicated.

Do you know if the brand you ship has the switch in blue color and could you share the brand and model?

That's much safer way.
 

ZombiPL

Airflow Optimizer
Original poster
DR ZĄBER
Apr 13, 2016
238
762
As stated in the Indiegogo campaign the warranty is one year. Of course I'm sure I probably won't need it, I trust your QC standard, but will European cutomers, based on https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-returns/index_en.htm, get 2 years warranty?

It is more complicated, but roughly it is like you wrote. However it is possible we will make some changes to extend this period, because honestly, we do not even check if you are from EU and you have a 2 years warranty or you are from some other place and you have only 1 year. If we can help, then even if someone's warranty is over, we are trying to do it... so maybe we will change those periods.

The only reason why we do not give you guys a lifetime warranty is that we are manufacturing wind turbines, not computer pc cases, and Sentry is a product "on demand" (it is not laying in thousands of units on our shelves). If we would be able to run its mass production, then its design allows us to give you such warranty.

We will talk inside our company about possible changes in the warranty. Thanks for pointing that out.
 
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DaHans

Average Stuffer
May 11, 2018
58
23
As looking long enough at the horizontal position, is there a chance to put a monitor on it or will it bent the case?
 

Solo

King of Cable Management
Nov 18, 2017
859
1,431
As looking long enough at the horizontal position, is there a chance to put a monitor on it or will it bent the case?

You won't bend it. You might obstruct some of the ventilation holes, but the case will be fine.
 

SaperPL

Master of Cramming
DR ZĄBER
Oct 17, 2017
472
883
As looking long enough at the horizontal position, is there a chance to put a monitor on it or will it bent the case?

This is something we've been asked few times already, and you have to know that the screen has it's weight and adding such weight at offset from the center of weight will make it easier to tip over whole thing. And this may mean damaging the screen depending on what was in front of it when it tips over.

To handle this properly, you'd have to either have a counterweight on the other side which seems like a stupid solution to this, or you would need a vertical stand that extends towards the side where your screen is.