Vice-President of CaseLabs calls out Thermaltake for directly copying their designs (Computex 2015)

[Solkia]

HOW INTERESTING CAN A BLACK BOX GET? GET OVER IT PEOPLE.

 

Thermaltake one is much wider as well.

 

I was under the impression that the problem isn't similarities.

 

The cases, if we take the reference pictures at face value, have little to no difference in their design. In which case CaseLabs has every right to call them out.

[patrickjp93]

There was NOTHING like case labs before case labs. Not lian li, not mountain mods, nothing.

Then you weren't a favored Lian Li customer. The ones who took Lian Li overclocking got god-like treatment and case modding/design help from Lian Li.

[Syntaxvgm]

 

Was trying to comment, forums lagged out or something.

 

It can't really be that blatant, otherwise Caselabs would have legal recourse wouldn't they?

 

And the X9 looks exceptional to me, I'm still kinda surprised @LinusTech hasn't reviewed it yet. (still mad about that, since Linus's reviews are the only ones I truly trust other than Tek Syndicate)

 

 

I bet he will

This is LTT. Paying for quality is not something the kids understand. These guys will pay for LED bedazzled bullshit before they pay for quality goods. 

See: venom laptop. I got super pissed at him because it was a clevo rebrand that charged 700$ more for literally nothing because "better paint cools it better" was the best the rep could say to me 

[Guest Kloaked]

This is LTT. Paying for quality is not something the kids understand. These guys will pay for LED bedazzled bullshit before they pay for quality goods. 

 

Yep.

 

Same thing with cars: I keep seeing people with muscle cars that have put SUV spinners and the ugliest paint on them. So cringey.

[-CLASSIFIED-]

you all realize thermaltake has been stealing case designs for years right ? look at their f51 , look familiar ? and the core x1 and core x9 , again look familiar ? 

[Trik'Stari]

This is LTT. Paying for quality is not something the kids understand. These guys will pay for LED bedazzled bullshit before they pay for quality goods. 

Some of use would prefer both, even though it's usually impossible. Hell, I'd be willing to pay $75 for a noctua LED fan, mostly because I know their implementation of LED's would be far better looking than the "reverse swasitka" look we get with every single last other fan manufacturer.

 

I bet he will

See: venom laptop. I got super pissed at him because it was a clevo rebrand that charged 700$ more for literally nothing because "better paint cools it better" was the best the rep could say to me 

If he was going to, or had good cause, he wouldn't be crying on social media about it. Any lawyer would tell him "just don't say anything, and let me handle this".

[Syntaxvgm]

Then you weren't a favored Lian Li customer. The ones who took Lian Li overclocking got god-like treatment and case modding/design help from Lian Li.

Lian li is not like case labs. they are a great company with great cases and great outreach,( and are miles above mountain mods should not have put them in the same sentence) but people tend to compare them to case labs. Apples and oranges. 

I'm so sick or corsair after the 380t I'm most certainly buying Lian li and bolting on a handle for my next portable itx machine when I go for x99 

[Syntaxvgm]

you all realize thermaltake has been stealing case designs for years right ? look at their f51 , look familiar ? and the core x1 and core x9 , again look familiar ? 

I've despised them for a long time, and this is why I side with CL so quickly. You don't suddenly stop being shit 

[-CLASSIFIED-]

I've despised them for a long time, and this is why I side with CL so quickly. You don't suddenly stop being shit 

exactly !! 

[Misanthrope]

It does look like a rip off, but I don't think they can do much about it: it's a black fucking rectangle with a smaller mesh rectangle in the center of it. You really can't put a patent on simple design patterns like that, not even Apple has succeeded to sue Samsung for their black rectangles with rounded edges and such and the similarities there are about as strong.

 

It is much simpler to take it with a bit of grace and style like Fractal Josh did, knowing they are offering the superior product with overall features that set em apart from Thermaltake's cheap "knock off" vibe to them.

 

Of course Fractal actually charges a sane and reasonable amount for their very high quality components, Caselabs are just fucking rip offs. 

[Syntaxvgm]

Some of use would prefer both, even though it's usually impossible. Hell, I'd be willing to pay $75 for a noctua LED fan, mostly because I know their implementation of LED's would be far better looking than the "reverse swasitka" look we get with every single last other fan manufacturer.

 

If he was going to, or had good cause, he wouldn't be crying on social media about it. Any lawyer would tell him "just don't say anything, and let me handle this".

I was talking about linus not doing research on products. Vemon is just a rebrand. Perfectly legal 

[patrickjp93]

Lian li is not like case labs. they are a great company with great cases and great outreach,( and are miles above mountain mods should not have put them in the same sentence) but people tend to compare them to case labs. Apples and oranges. 

I'm so sick or corsair after the 380t I'm most certainly buying Lian li and bolting on a handle for my next portable itx machine when I go for x99 

My next build will be in an Enthoo Primo unless a more water-friendly version comes out with tube grommets at the top back. I'm a sucker for hanging big rads off the back, and I really don't like pedestals. I'm not tall enough and don't have the arm span to safely move a filled case with a rad pedestal

[Misanthrope]

I'm so sick or corsair after the 380t I'm most certainly buying Lian li and bolting on a handle for my next portable itx machine when I go for x99

Gotta ask, what happened with your 380t or what is your beef? It's price?

[Syntaxvgm]

My next build will be in an Enthoo Primo unless a more water-friendly version comes out with tube grommets at the top back. I'm a sucker for hanging big rads off the back, and I really don't like pedestals. I'm not tall enough and don't have the arm span to safely move a filled case with a rad pedestal

drill and grommets form another case? 

[patrickjp93]

I've despised them for a long time, and this is why I side with CL so quickly. You don't suddenly stop being shit 

Eh...Lian Li's gone so far up and down over the course of 4 years it boggles my mind at least. It can happen, but not when the design's that close to someone else.

[Syntaxvgm]

Gotta ask, what happened with your 380t or what is your beef? It's price?

Honestly, once you get it together, it's fine. But the quality is shit. I have a review almost done of it, just been too busy so I've been sitting on it. I carry it every day just fine though 

[patrickjp93]

It does look like a rip off, but I don't think they can do much about it: it's a black fucking rectangle with a smaller mesh rectangle in the center of it. You really can't put a patent on simple design patterns like that, not even Apple has succeeded to sue Samsung for their black rectangles with rounded edges and such and the similarities there are about as strong.

 

It is much simpler to take it with a bit of grace and style like Fractal Josh did, knowing they are offering the superior product with overall features that set em apart from Thermaltake's cheap "knock off" vibe to them.

 

Of course Fractal actually charges a sane and reasonable amount for their very high quality components, Caselabs are just fucking rip offs. 

Caselabs isn't a ripoff. They don't have the scale of production a lot of these other mainstream brands do to be price-competitive, and to make up for that they ensure their quality and service are immaculate. Seriously, look at the number of customer service complaints or QA complaints there are against CaseLabs. They're sterling. Little known fact: the racks used in Google datacenters are co-designed and built with CaseLabs.

 

[patrickjp93]

drill and grommets form another case? 

I don't really possess the tools for that, or the skill to get them just right. I also don't have another case with grommets. My family's builds all used Lian Li, and we cut off some of the grill at the back top and lined it with electrical tape to prevent finger cuts and scratches of the tubing.

[Trik'Stari]

I was talking about linus not doing research on products. Vemon is just a rebrand. Perfectly legal 

....wat?

Caselabs isn't a ripoff. They don't have the scale of production a lot of these other mainstream brands do to be price-competitive, and to make up for that they ensure their quality and service are immaculate. Seriously, look at the number of customer service complaints or QA complaints there are against CaseLabs. They're sterling. Little known fact: the racks used in Google datacenters are co-designed and built with CaseLabs.

I have a hard time finding professional quality reviews of their cases, so hard to tell. Not actually questioning the quality though. For that kind of price, their products had goddamned well be sterling quality.

 

Edit: Didn't see your edit

[Misanthrope]

Honestly, once you get it together, it's fine. But the quality is shit. I have a review almost done of it, just been too busy so I've been sitting on it. I carry it every day just fine though 

 

Well I experience similarly disappointing quality with my Corsair case but I thought it was just because it was a very low entry level product from them (SPEC-03)

[patrickjp93]

....wat?

I have a hard time finding professional quality reviews of their cases, so hard to tell. Not actually questioning the quality though. For that kind of price, their products had goddamned well be sterling quality.

That's likely because only a very passionate few bother going into that price bracket, so it doesn't really go into being worthwhile for most reviewers. Maybe way into the future when I have money to build machines I can do some reviews.

[Agent181]

Woooow tbermaltake first fractal design now case labs.......

[Syntaxvgm]

Well I experience similarly disappointing quality with my Corsair case but I thought it was just because it was a very low entry level product from them (SPEC-03)

The drive cages were astoundingly shitty. They took the existing designs and literally broke them...I should work on that review tonight its hilarious. 

[Trik'Stari]

That's likely because only a very passionate few bother going into that price bracket, so it doesn't really go into being worthwhile for most reviewers. Maybe way into the future when I have money to build machines I can do some reviews.

That's true, but I've still yet to see a decent review of the Thermaltake core X9. Which is only like, $20 more than my air 540 was.

[Misanthrope]

....wat?

I have a hard time finding professional quality reviews of their cases, so hard to tell. Not actually questioning the quality though. For that kind of price, their products had goddamned well be sterling quality.

Actually not hard to believe there's a couple of key factors

-They ship every case unassambled. This is actually rather important since most cases that are damaged end up damaged during delivery at some point

-They build everything to order. Again no mass production line or anything that needs to have tolerances they can just manually see if it's gonna work or not.

 

This means that they will always be a relatively tiny company with 0 hopes of succeeding beyond their current notch above a mom and pop business level. It is indeed hard to fail when you take 0 risks, self evident in their designs as well: black squares placed around 100% for functionality, the design is actually up to the customer to decide on finish, types of panels, virtually everything.

 

Now is it actually worth the money? Not to me but there's certainly a market of "rich enough yet lazy enough" individuals doing custom builds out there. As for your question, here's an actual professional review of one of their products such a thing does exists: