9300 construction materials - Page 2

That was the first thing I noticed when my 9200 arrived last December. I took it out of the box, and it was coooollllld!

My thought is that it would have to be plastic. After having my laptop on all day there's a part of it on the bottom that is warm, but it quickly gets cool as you move towards the edges.

If it were Aluminum, the whole bottom would be roughly the same temperature since aluminum conducts heat very well. Not as good as copper, gold, or silver, but definately at the top.

I've done almost that now! I went to the Dell Direct store here in Bondi Junction, Sydney, where they had a 9200 on display that seemed to have a case of gravel rash (looks like someone had scraped the base of it up against a brick wall or concrete walkway or something). Clear layering - the bottom-most black layer of paint, a really thick white plastic layer and the unmistakable dull-grey of laptop magnesium alloy. One corner of the 'bump' near the SD card slot actually chipped a little.

So if the 9300 is the same chassis as the 9200, then yes it has a magnesium alloy base! I think in fact that the white surround is also metal - there were some scrapes there and I'm pretty sure I saw metal under that too (but they weren't big enough to tell for sure if it was metal or dark grey plastic).

It had been running for a while so the cold-to-touch test didn't work but tapping, pressing and feeling various parts of the laptop, I've come to the following conclusion:

Base - definately all magnesium alloy (or some aluminium alloy that I've never seen before)
Base surround (the white bit) - 85% sure it's the same magnesium alloy
Deck/keyboard surround - either metal coated in plastic or really thick plastic. I'm leaning towards metal coated in plastic as to get the same stiffness in plastic would require a huge volume of plastic and/or many braces underneath.
Screen back - definately a panel of metal over the outside of the screen (covered in a thin layer of plastic) but I don't think it goes all the way to the hinges. It almost feels as if that metal panel is 'floating' somehow (not connected to the metal screen frame by anything other than the plastic trim).

Overall I was very very impressed with the build quality ... with the screen folded back, I could lift it from one corner of the base and the thing would hardly flex. I was tempted to try the same thing holding the corner of the screen but I don't think the screen hinge would have survived! Resistance to twisting of both the base and the screen was very good - I wouldn't have any qualms about throwing this into my backpack and jumping on my bike with it.


Anyone care to confirm/elaborate/counter?

I don't remember how the hinges are attached, but I do remember for certain that the Mg-alloy goes through the entire thickness of the lid, and that the LCD is grounded to the lid.

The hinges are not integral to the lid:

OK maybe the screen frame right at the hinge isn't quite strong enough to stop it from flexing a little ... still, for a screen of its size, I was pretty impressed

Looks like it's only NSW unfortunately (and only in Westfield shopping centers for that matter) ... http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topi...=au&l=en&s=dhs ... stores at:
Westfield Chatswood
Westfield Bondi Junction
Westfield Parramatta
Westfield Miranda

I know the feeling - I hate buying things without seeing, feeling and (ideally) taking them apart first myself ...

The bottom side of the chassis that is black and the top of the LCD cover are made of metal, I assume magnesium since that is what Dell has been known to use the past.

Hey I took great pride in returning most of them to their working condition at least once

Of course, I'd pull them apart a few days later and they'd stay pulled apart ... hehe

The technology for casting plastic parts that exceed the durability and strength of their traditionally metal counterparts is here; it's just still too expensive. Plastics impregnated with glass or other fibers can be cold cast, reducing the shrinkage percentage to nil, and the result is a very strong part, just as thin as the metal counterpart, lighter, non-ductile yet possessing high tensile strength (won't dent, hard to crack), and can be made to tight tolerances .

Even as a metalsmith, I look forward to even better plastics replacing things like laptop chassis' in the future.