I think I hate this thing already...

[Ampera]

https://volta.computer/

So I found this on twitter thanks to the awesome Lazy Game Reviews (Who is awesome and you should check him out). He seemed pretty hype about it (Probably because it's wood and he likes wood), but I have some major issues with it.

First, this screams wanky gimmicks to me. They claim that Americans throw away tons of E-Waste, which is true, we do. But they then go to claim they solve that by developing a system that can be upgradable for life. Seriously, here is their claim.

What happened to the computer you had ten years ago?

One day it got slow, the plastic faded, parts fell off, it
became clogged with dust. Eventually it got replaced.

Since most computers are designed to last only a couple of
years, Americans throw away more than 9.4 million tons of
e-waste each year. We think the first step to a solution is to
design a computer that will be useful and stylish for a long
time, built with modular parts that can be upgraded for
years. We call this idea Designed for Life.

Noble cause, but my issue with it is that this doesn't really solve the problem. So you've replaced your mainboard, CPU, SSD, and GPU after a few years after you've saved up some dough to get it done. What do you do with the old stuff? I mean I keep my old computers or sell them, I have thrown away a computer once in my life since it was fried through and through, but I have never tossed a working desktop computer in my entire life.

What I am getting at is by replacing parts your still creating E-Waste, your just doing it with wood grain.

And what really grinds my gears is the stupid pricing.

I will price my system really quick for you.

Case and PSU: 125 USD
500GB SSD: 250 USD
GTX 970: 350 USD
i7-4790k: 300USD
16GB DDR3 RAM: 100 USD
misc drives: 100 USD
AIO Water cooler: 120USD

Unless I forgot something, that adds to 1460 USD including tax and whatever shipping.

They demand for an i5 (Skylake) with 8GB of RAM a GTX 1050 2GB, with a 250GB SSD and Windows 10.

2000 USD.

That's beyond an Apple markup. I mean that's 800-1000 USD worth in parts, for 2000 USD.
And the picture of the unit looks pretty friggin cheap too. It looks like a whole load of parts lobbed together in a box, which I admit describes most computers, but this one looks like it was done almost on the fly.

And the only system that comes close to mine, albeit with faster RAM and 2 generations + on the CPU (A slight bit above), costs 3000 USD. That's fricking insane.

I hope I'm missing something here, but it really looks like a company has come and trumped Apple at their own game. Seriously.

Either way, check it out for yourself, don't take my word as your opinion until you've examined for yourself, but this is my take.

[PA0PBZ]

Wireless graphics card?

[Farley]

Wireless graphics card?

I noticed that also. Is there another method of communicating with a graphics card without involving the card edge connector?

[RGB255_0_0]

Wireless graphics card?

They'd obviously use a riser or ribbon cable, which are becoming common and with fewer issues.

As for the case, I don't think it looks good with the way they're showing: wood with modern plastic/metallic frames of the monitor.

But as a home theatre PC it would look pretty good if the furniture matches. And because they don't expect to sell too many, the price isn't too bad.

[suicidaleggroll]

Desktop computers are already modular, they're not solving or even changing anything.  If they would just market this as a wooden HTPC case and charge a few hundred dollars for it, they'd probably get a lot more traction.

[ZeTeX]

its just a bloody expensive PC in a wooden box, nothing special, and it is expensive as fuck for what you get.
instead they should just sell the case itself for much, much cheaper, like 100-150$, and many will buy it for sure.

[Ampera]

Wireless graphics card?

They'd obviously use a riser or ribbon cable, which are becoming common and with fewer issues.

As for the case, I don't think it looks good with the way they're showing: wood with modern plastic/metallic frames of the monitor.

But as a home theatre PC it would look pretty good if the furniture matches. And because they don't expect to sell too many, the price isn't too bad.

Not sure how a 100% markup is not too bad.

[Ampera]

Wireless graphics card?

At least they plugged the power in. :3

Yea, definitely a riser. I guess it's a rear draft cooler, otherwise that's not a good orientation.

And I am not saying it's not a somewhat okay looking machine, and it could fit as a media center computer.

But that's just bullshit for twice the price of parts. And I mean I wouldn't spend more than 120$ on the case if I were to buy it as a proper ITX case.

[RGB255_0_0]

Wireless graphics card?

They'd obviously use a riser or ribbon cable, which are becoming common and with fewer issues.

As for the case, I don't think it looks good with the way they're showing: wood with modern plastic/metallic frames of the monitor.

But as a home theatre PC it would look pretty good if the furniture matches. And because they don't expect to sell too many, the price isn't too bad.

Not sure how a 100% markup is not too bad.

Depends how much the wood, the making and so on costs, and how many to sell before breaking even. If it's hand made expect there to be a premium. Subjectively you find it expensive, others may not. If you don't like it, why care?

[corrado33]

GTX 970: 350 USD

Obvious GTX 1070 in the picture is obvious. Although I'm not sure where you're still buying a 970 for $350. If so you're getting ripped off.

[Ampera]

Wireless graphics card?

They'd obviously use a riser or ribbon cable, which are becoming common and with fewer issues.

As for the case, I don't think it looks good with the way they're showing: wood with modern plastic/metallic frames of the monitor.

But as a home theatre PC it would look pretty good if the furniture matches. And because they don't expect to sell too many, the price isn't too bad.

Not sure how a 100% markup is not too bad.

Depends how much the wood, the making and so on costs, and how many to sell before breaking even. If it's hand made expect there to be a premium. Subjectively you find it expensive, others may not. If you don't like it, why care?

Simple Answer: I have nothing better to do and I thought that people would like to collectively bicker with me. You wanted an answer, didn't you?

And yea, boutique crap like this can be expensive, but 1000 dollars markup on the base unit? I don't care who you are, but 1000 USD for a case I'd expect more than just a cheap wood box. It's a large markup than even Apple does.  That's the fact I can't get over. I could see if they sold the base system for 1500 or even 1600 USD, that would be a bit more justified for what you get, but I mean the i7 version is literally a 1500 USD markup. That's money you could use to not only buy the materials to make that case, but to also buy a year of top dog membership for your local makerspace. (Mine charges 90$ a month, 60 for students).

[Ampera]

GTX 970: 350 USD

Obvious GTX 1070 in the picture is obvious. Although I'm not sure where you're still buying a 970 for $350. If so you're getting ripped off.

because I'm not? I bought the 970 when the 970 was worth 350 USD. The money I spent on my system in today's market could rip even the best system there a new one.

[Ducttape]

I think Poplar Science did an article on this.

[Ampera]

I think Poplar Science did an article on this.

I wouldn't know, I don't read them.

[gnif]

Wow, I am glad those blue USB cables are long enough to reach well and truly outside the opposite corner of the box. What a joke.

What is sad is that in years gone by, people would have laughed that that and stated they could knock the box up in their workshop for just a few $ worth of wood and a few hours of time.

[Ducttape]

I think Poplar Science did an article on this.

I wouldn't know, I don't read them.

If you had written "I woodn't know, I don't read them." then I'd know you'd gotten my joke. It is hard to spot, I'll admit.

[RGB255_0_0]

Simple Answer: I have nothing better to do and I thought that people would like to collectively bicker with me. You wanted an answer, didn't you?

And yea, boutique crap like this can be expensive, but 1000 dollars markup on the base unit? I don't care who you are, but 1000 USD for a case I'd expect more than just a cheap wood box. It's a large markup than even Apple does.  That's the fact I can't get over. I could see if they sold the base system for 1500 or even 1600 USD, that would be a bit more justified for what you get, but I mean the i7 version is literally a 1500 USD markup. That's money you could use to not only buy the materials to make that case, but to also buy a year of top dog membership for your local makerspace. (Mine charges 90$ a month, 60 for students).

At the volume they would be selling at, yes, that mark up is reasonable. Even with a $500 mark up, how many do you think they'd sell? Would have to be more than double to equalise the difference.

This is a specific case (sorry), but when it comes to boutique products, from chocolate to clothing, there will be "extortionate" pricing models. But when it comes to this product there will be so few sold that recouping investment, paying for wood that has to be almost perfect and the labour cost will mean that it's going to be expensive.

Having said that, this product could well last for hundreds of years if looked after, so you'd never have to buy another ever again.

[Ampera]

Simple Answer: I have nothing better to do and I thought that people would like to collectively bicker with me. You wanted an answer, didn't you?

And yea, boutique crap like this can be expensive, but 1000 dollars markup on the base unit? I don't care who you are, but 1000 USD for a case I'd expect more than just a cheap wood box. It's a large markup than even Apple does.  That's the fact I can't get over. I could see if they sold the base system for 1500 or even 1600 USD, that would be a bit more justified for what you get, but I mean the i7 version is literally a 1500 USD markup. That's money you could use to not only buy the materials to make that case, but to also buy a year of top dog membership for your local makerspace. (Mine charges 90$ a month, 60 for students).

At the volume they would be selling at, yes, that mark up is reasonable. Even with a $500 mark up, how many do you think they'd sell? Would have to be more than double to equalise the difference.

This is a specific case (sorry), but when it comes to boutique products, from chocolate to clothing, there will be "extortionate" pricing models. But when it comes to this product there will be so few sold that recouping investment, paying for wood that has to be almost perfect and the labour cost will mean that it's going to be expensive.

Having said that, this product could well last for hundreds of years if looked after, so you'd never have to buy another ever again.

What the issue is though, is that there is no reason to spend more money on it. It doesn't bring anything to the table.

And the box could last hundreds of years, but we haven't had semiconducting electronics long enough to say hundreds of years. And Moore's Law is still riding true to this day. You can buy it, use it for 30 years, but after 4-6 of those years, your computer will be obsolete and not able to do modern tasks. That is the key flaw in their thinking. You will have to upgrade, and they admit that, but what they ignore is that when you upgrade, you have old parts you will still have to throw away.

My Socket 3 486 machine has lasted 20+ years, and it's fun to use, but it could barely even parse even XviD video at a reasonable resolution, thus putting it WELL out of the reach of something like YouTube. Even my AMD A4 computer. Dual core, it ran alright for me before, but now I can't do anything but simple tasks on two flimsy cores.

This computer is expensive to the point where making your own system and case will be around a thousand dollars cheaper, and it doesn't solve, nor go anywhere near solving the issue it says it solves.

I think Poplar Science did an article on this.

I wouldn't know, I don't read them.

If you had written "I woodn't know, I don't read them." then I'd know you'd gotten my joke. It is hard to spot, I'll admit.

Haaaaa. Now I see what you did there.

[GreyWoolfe]

Quote from: Ducttape on Today at 04:10:31 AM
Quote from: TwoOfFive on Today at 03:59:49 AM
Quote from: Ducttape on Today at 03:55:18 AM
I think Poplar Science did an article on this.

I wouldn't know, I don't read them.
If you had written "I woodn't know, I don't read them." then I'd know you'd gotten my joke. It is hard to spot, I'll admit.

Haaaaa. Now I see what you did there.

Well, I'll be a son of a beech, I missed it at first, just got it. 

[Brumby]

Since most computers are designed to last only a couple of
years, Americans throw away more than 9.4 million tons of
e-waste each year. We think the first step to a solution is to
design a computer that will be useful and stylish for a long
time, built with modular parts that can be upgraded for
years. We call this idea Designed for Life.

So, in other words, a case.


 

[eugenenine]

What happened to the computer you had ten years ago?

I put a new backlight tube (laptop) in it a couple years ago and keep using it.

[timb]

I think Poplar Science did an article on this.

I didn't reed it either.




(U guise c wat I did thar?!)

[imidis]

I just.... Ummm yeah... 

[Mark]

No one has noticed, no puns needed! 

Gary Underwood
CEO

Ty Underwood
Designer

Dale Woodard
Engineer

 

[imidis]

I had to..... 

https://youtu.be/d3ci2tsxk_A