[ZombiPL]

Unfortunately yes. At least at the beginning. We're not a pc cases manufacturer and this is our hobby, not a day-time job. Normally we design wind turbines and heavy-duty machines for heavy industry. To sell our pc cases from local stores in each country or at least from each continent, we would need a lot of orders, and at this point we can't really say how many people would like to have a hi-end PC instead of console under their TV. Maybe in the future we'll use some other ways of transport than selling directly from us as manufacturer. For now, if You're not from EU, than You have to be prepared for additional local tax and bigger transport costs (everyone who is from a country which isn't in EU will have to pay such internal fees). We don't know how much You should add to our price, because vat, customs fee, etc. are different in different countries.

Actually that's not a problem for me as I'm from Poland too. I was asking about that because in most cases price in $ is a little lower then in € because of VAT and sometimes shipping. And this mean you could sell me directly in PLN (if I would decide to buy that is )

We'll be giving the prices in $ because many parts inside our case we import from non-EU countries and we pay in dollars. It means if You will be buying in PLN than we will check the actual value USD/PLN and then we'll give You the price in PLN. But it will be done automaticly, because of safety reasons we'll probably use PayPal as money-transfer service, so both sides will be safe diring this transactions. At this moment we don't predict the other way of payment (maybe if kickstarter will be available in Poland, than we'll think about it...)

[Draghmar]

You're going to kickstarter with this? Do you know when will that happen?

[ZombiPL]

You're going to kickstarter with this? Do you know when will that happen?

At this moment Kickstarter isn't available in Poland. If we would like to use it, then we need to pay some other company (which is registered in a country where kickstarter is available) to make a crowdfunding campaign for us. It means: Kickstarter equals more expensive pc-case. And we don't want that. If Kickstarter starts its service in Poland, than we will consider using it. If not, we will try to use our private money (as we're doing through all prototyping stage) and PayPal preordering system.

[ianuk2005]

Size seems a little large 340x310mm is a large area for living room integration. Can't help but think 310x200x100 approx would do better in many rooms with the same capacity.

A smaller variant focusing on 170-200mm GPU's might be nice.

Price is very expensive by comparison with cases like a node 202 priced around $80.

The big important question is how well the cooling works under load in real world solutions. If the target is living rooms then it's likely to be put into somewhere compact like a TV unit stand and very close to a wall.

I've always wanted to build something small for the living room but the cases have never been quite compact enough. Currently I went the steam box route and got an alienware alpha which comes in at 200x200x55mm approx.

[kilimanjaro]

brand marketing 101
need a logo

chrome
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...1).svg.png

xbox
http://compass.xbox.com/assets/a9/d0/a9d...00x200.gif

ps4
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c...rk.svg.png

sentry?

no logo just doesnt say proffesional, like those no name usb wifi sticks from china that cost $5 and get the same usb stick from with a logo on it and it cost $8

brand marketing...

[ZombiPL]

Size seems a little large 340x310mm is a large area for living room integration.

We can't go lower in volume in SFX form factor. We're below 7L of internal volume and we're still using standard, non-custom pc components.

And i'm not so sure about that, it would have problems with living room integration:

[Draghmar]

At this moment Kickstarter isn't available in Poland. If we would like to use it, then we need to pay some other company (which is registered in a country where kickstarter is available) to make a crowdfunding campaign for us. It means: Kickstarter equals more expensive pc-case. And we don't want that. If Kickstarter starts its service in Poland, than we will consider using it. If not, we will try to use our private money (as we're doing through all prototyping stage) and PayPal preordering system.

Oh yeah, sorry. Forgot about our law.

[ianuk2005]

Size seems a little large 340x310mm is a large area for living room integration.

We can't go lower in volume in SFX form factor. We're below 7L of internal volume and we're still using standard, non-custom pc components.

And i'm not so sure about that, it would have problems with living room integration:

I know lower volume would be a hard push with full sized GPU's but the dimensions could be different e.g. dan's case 205x112x327mm.

I'm not saying every living room is going to have issues but a lot of living room storage tends to have either a large depth or width, not both. e.g. my shelves are 350x300x250 for example. It was an issue for the xbox one as well, something that only has one oversized dimension just fit's into more spaces.

[Draghmar]

Price is very expensive by comparison with cases like a node 202 priced around $80.

But Node 202 is made partially from plastic, looks cheaper and is bigger (377x330x88mm vs 340x310x66mm) with fewer hdd slots. It could be cheaper - everything could be for us, customers. But if overall quality will be at top level the price is not as high. Remember that this won't be high volume production which rise costs a little.

[ianuk2005]

Price is very expensive by comparison with cases like a node 202 priced around $80.

But Node 202 is made partially from plastic, looks cheaper and is bigger (377x330x88mm vs 340x310x66mm) with fewer hdd slots. It could be cheaper - everything could be for us, customers. But if overall quality will be at top level the price is not as high. Remember that this won't be high volume production which rise costs a little.

I could list literally dozens of cases that are small and have positive reviews., they tend to retail from $50-$100. It's not a question of quality, the case is significantly more expensive than high quality cases from competitors. It's a fact and people will take it into account when making a decision to purchase.

[ZombiPL]

I know lower volume would be a hard push with full sized GPU's but the dimensions could be different e.g. dan's case 205x112x327mm.

I'm not saying every living room is going to have issues but a lot of living room storage tends to have either a large depth or width, not both. e.g. my shelves are 350x300x250 for example. It was an issue for the xbox one as well, something that only has one oversized dimension just fit's into more spaces.

I have to say that, You have to have a very specific situation if only a "brick" would fit in Your shelf. Most of the peoply try to use something smaller and a bit flat under their TV, than a cube. But everything depends on situation You have and Your taste. And about dan's case... we predict he may have trouble with many returns, because of the idea of using such pci-e riser with non-standard length. Long PCI-E risers cause many issues if they don't have additional power connector (stuttering, screen freezes, etc.). We tested several long risers and i know what i'm saying. And in case of damage, you have to pay for one single pci-e riser something like $90...eh. I hope we'll be wrong, because it would be a big disappointment for people and would kill growing SFF market.

To sum up: I know our case isn't the smallest (even if its internal volume is smaller than DanA4 You mentioned), but we tried to make something which will last, will have a universal look, and will allow you to install high-end components, while still keeping the sub-7L volume. I think we should wait for the first reviews. We'll see if the size is a real problem here

[ZombiPL]

I could list literally dozens of cases that are small and have positive reviews., they tend to retail from $50-$100. It's not a question of quality, the case is significantly more expensive than high quality cases from competitors. It's a fact and people will take it into account when making a decision to purchase.

I think You don't understand a niche market. Go and check dan's kickstarter page. He want's for his case something like $260 + VAT in Your country + customs fee + shiping, so if you live outside EU your final price for the case ends up over $350. And people are still buying it. Don't worry. Such cases aren't for everyone, but for enthusiasts. We know that and Dan also knows that.

And about our case: our quality is OK. We spent 2 years and changed 4 or 5 manufacturers because the quality wasn't OK. And i don't think SENTRY has some real competitors, in which you could install top components while being able to transport it like this (17''-18'' laptop bag):



Please also remember that we made SENTRY not because we wanted to become a pc-cases manufacturers. This case is our free-time hobby. We're designing it, because we couldn't find something similar. The only similar case was original Valve's SteamBox, but it didn't allow to use standard components and they stopped their project.

[ianuk2005]

I know lower volume would be a hard push with full sized GPU's but the dimensions could be different e.g. dan's case 205x112x327mm.

I'm not saying every living room is going to have issues but a lot of living room storage tends to have either a large depth or width, not both. e.g. my shelves are 350x300x250 for example. It was an issue for the xbox one as well, something that only has one oversized dimension just fit's into more spaces.

I have to say that, You have to have a very specific situation if only a "brick" would fit in Your shelf. Most of the peoply try to use something smaller and a bit flat under their TV, than a cube. But everything depends on situation You have and Your taste. And about dan's case... we predict he may have trouble with many returns, because of the idea of using such pci-e riser with non-standard length. Long PCI-E risers cause many issues if they don't have additional power connector (stuttering, screen freezes, etc.). We tested several long risers and i know what i'm saying. And in case of damage, you have to pay for one single pci-e riser something like $90...eh. I hope we'll be wrong, because it would be a big disappointment for people and would kill growing SFF market.

To sum up: I know our case isn't the smallest (even if its internal volume is smaller than DanA4 You mentioned), but we tried to make something which will last, will have a universal look, and will allow you to install high-end components, while still keeping the sub-7L volume. I think we should wait for the first reviews. We'll see if the size is a real problem here

I wouldn't say it's exactly brick sized, it fits a ps4, mini pc, sky+ box. Could probably even fit the clumsy xbox one on there (although it may overheat).

TV's are getting thinner and so are stands, plus a lot of people wall mount and use smaller shelves. If some people have trouble fitting an xbox one then i'm sure it will be the same case with this. It's something to be aware of if your creating a case for the living room.

[ianuk2005]

I could list literally dozens of cases that are small and have positive reviews., they tend to retail from $50-$100. It's not a question of quality, the case is significantly more expensive than high quality cases from competitors. It's a fact and people will take it into account when making a decision to purchase.

I think You don't understand a niche market. Go and check dan's kickstarter page. He want's for his case something like $260 + VAT in Your country + customs fee + shiping, so if you live outside EU your final price for the case ends up over $350. And people are still buying it. Don't worry. Such cases aren't for everyone, but for enthusiasts. We know that and Dan also knows that.

And about our case: our quality is OK. We spent 2 years and changed 4 or 5 manufacturers because the quality wasn't OK. And i don't think SENTRY has some real competitors, in which you could install top components while being able to transport it like this (17''-18'' laptop bag):

Please also remember that we made SENTRY not because we wanted to become a pc-cases manufacturers. This case is our free-time hobby. We're designing it, because we couldn't find something similar. The only similar case was original Valve's SteamBox, but it didn't allow to use standard components and they stopped their project.

Wow you asked for feedback and then get defensive over everything I mention. It's a lot more expensive than most cases, it's a simple fact I'm pointing out.

That's the second time you've took a jab at someone else's case to defend your own. That's pretty low.

[ZombiPL]

Wow you asked for feedback and then get defensive over everything I mention. It's a lot more expensive than most cases, it's a simple fact I'm pointing out.

I thought this is they way we should talk here. People are "attacking" our design in a "constructive" way and we should try to defend our choices. If we can't then we should try to change something in our design. Still we didn't get an information what should we change that can be changed. If You say to change dimensions, to make our case look like dondan's, than this isn't a good reason for a change.

That's the second time you've took a jab at someone else's case to defend your own. That's pretty low.

First of all You are the one who started speaking about some other cases, noone else. And please read again what i wrote. You have attacked the possible high price of our case, and it looked like You are attacking all SFF market. And the only case at this moment which can be compared in the terms of price is the DanA4 You have mentioned. And i just tried defending it by showing You what are the real prices You are complaining about.

Please next time read more carefully, because i see a negative attitutde in every Your post, and that is really low. I come here to get constructive critics, which will help, not just complaining why our case isn't someone's else case or get attacked without getting any ideas how improve our eventual design mistakes. If You want to write with similar attitude, than please stop, because You're not helping in that way.