Agrarian components
written by dm , April 28, 2008

I'd be tempted to call it Gilligan, after all the Professor's wood and vine gadgets.

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written by Green In Richmond, TX , April 28, 2008

ULPC - Ultra Low Power Computers are nothing new. All of our email and web servers on a 25W Intel Servers all this while running with hard drive spinning.

I like the fact that Dell is going to be using recycled parts, not sure about the wood. I think it would be better to make the case out of recycled plastic grocery bags with a woodgrain look. How many more tree will be harvested to make this cases?

They could futher reduce their foot print by reducing packaging and/or more earth friendly packaging.

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written by caro , April 28, 2008

It looks like a fig newton!

Thoughts
written by Aaron , April 28, 2008

@Green:
It's bamboo - a very fast growing plant. As wood goes, it's far more environmentally friendly than any other kind of wood that I'm aware of.

@Caro:
It DOES look like a Fig Newton!!!

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written by Green In Richmond, TX , April 29, 2008

@Thoughts

Bamboo or not there are other materials that already exist that are better suited to the case materials.

FYI - I know all about bamboo - I have about 20 different species. You can almost watch them grow.

What a bunch of posers.....
written by dk , April 29, 2008

How is this "eco-friendly"? It's simply one of those smaller e-pc's outfitted a wood or bamboo veneer, which 1)consists of glues and other chems, and 2)probably screws with how easily it can be recycled at then end of product life. Saying that this is a green option as opposed to a normal e-pc, is like saying that a wood-paneled station wagon is healthier for the environment than one without the panels.
Now if they had a case made out of 100% recycled plastic that could be returned at end-of-life, wouldn't that make more sense?

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written by Ken , April 30, 2008

Here is a thought for you guys. Making products out of fast-growing wood like bamboo that can be quickly replaced is an excellent way to capture CO2.

Looks like something from the 1980's.
written by Knight Chat X , July 31, 2008

It really does look like a giant "Fig Newton".

It's good if it runs low amount of power but still packs heavy duty performance and can be easily and cheaply upgraded.

One thing I like about a computer is having room and being able to take a computer apart easy and upgrade the individual components, often compact PC's have scalability issue's.

If you built your own computer and have 1 good full tower computer case and manufacturers stick to mounting specs you could still be using that good computer case for many years to come without having to have a new case all the time, while it's nice to have something look different, the fact is everytime you get a new computer it's a different case.

While it's nice Dell's cut down on packaging, I hope they always leave an option for re-installing the OS and applications easily if you need to replace or upgrade the hardrive.
Having to buy a new copy of Windows OS once the standard warranty runs out is not cool, neither is having multiple partitions on a hard drive just to store backup for restoration.