Sure.
Right now suppliers are asking us for more money if we want to prioritize B2 before Chinese New Years... So unless we pay a lot more, it won't be here before next year. This leaves B2 in a very weird place.
To get around this issue, I'm working on a redesign of B2 that may be a bit easier / faster to manufacture... (while still being all metal, and of the same exterior design and quality)... IMO it makes more sense to pull the contracts from manufacturers who want to play that game, then spend more to deliver a product that we're already running at a loss. If we're being hit with a delay anyways, I'd rather improve the case / design, deliver in the same time frame, and have it be a better product.
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As part of this redesign, I'm moving to a stepped approach for the rollout of Winter 2.0
The First Edition of Winter 2.0 case will be clear anodized aluminum (Silver) as promised, and go straight to B2 backers. The external design is almost identical, looks-wise, but there are major improvements internally. This can be considered a reconfiguration of the spine itself... but the changes in quality of life are significant enough that this should be considered a 2.0 interior.
Improvements include:
- better separation between the fans / radiators and other parts
- improved cable routing, eliminate 4 parts ($42 in cost savings -- still leaves the project in the red, but by a bit less)
- resolved the spine issue for mounting a pump.
- keeping the external design the same
- making the build process considerably easier within the case.
A derivative of this design will be made with a different material and manufacturing method in the future, as the regular Winter 2 case. This will be delivered at a lower price point (pricing TBD), but only AFTER the Winter 2.0 is delivered.
I know these kinds of changes can be scary, but if you all remember, we did something similar between versions 1.0 and 1.2 that significantly improved the case interior. We're going to be taking a similar approach here...
