Wow. 330 for a paint job on an otherwise meh case. I suppose that's one special Gen Z-bear then.

I also sometimes wonder how much is a printed plastic foil which I apply myself on a fish tank case.

Hyte Cases seems to be the better deal.

Vayra86Wow. 330 for a paint job on an otherwise meh case. I suppose that's one special Gen Z-bear then.

If you scroll down you see that you're also getting some wall art and a desk mat. Actually, TPU mentions it as well.
Still expensive, especially if you don't care about those, but nowhere near as bad as you're saying lol.

NostrasIf you scroll down you see that you're also getting some wall art and a desk mat. Actually, TPU mentions it as well.
Still expensive, especially if you don't care about those, but nowhere near as bad as you're saying lol.

You're right actually. I'm gonna order two.

Vayra86Wow. 330 for a paint job on an otherwise meh case. I suppose that's one special Gen Z-bear then.

Special paint jobs/limited run always cost a pretty penny. Cooler Master sold CSX line up cases that had 4-5x the premium added on top of base cases.

Vayra86Wow. 330 for a paint job on an otherwise meh case. I suppose that's one special Gen Z-bear then.

It's not just the case, you get a whole bundle for that price . The Dan x Lianli A4H20 is a 155$ case by itself, The deskmat 39$, and the wall art 49$. For the probably low volume that this is going to be sold at, it's a fair price.

(I'm talking about the print on the case)

Now that I'm working in print, I realise that a business can't just charge a customer for the ink used; the printers used for that kind of stuff have a perpetual operating cost (UV printers). Regular automatic cleaning is mandatory to prevent clogging the 3000$ printheads (some of those printers have multiple heads), meaning you have to use ink just to keep the machine alive. Some pieces have to be changed every 6 months or yearly. Then there's the tooling required to place each panel on the print bed with precision, which needs to be custom-made. Then there's the guy operating those printers who needs to check that everything is going well, find the right settings, and place/remove the panels manually. UV printers are also not speed demons, one panel is probably talking several minutes. The company needs to pay for all that, and still make a profit.

It's not like printing on beverage cans where you just buy a machine meant to print on a standard form factor, which can be heavily automated, and the quality requirement lower.

dyonoctisIt's not just the case, you get a whole bundle for that price . The Dan x Lianli A4H20 is a 155$ case by itself, The deskmat 39$, and the wall art 49$. For the probably low volume that this is going to be sold at, it's a fair price.
Now that I'm working in print, I realise that a business can't just charge a customer for the ink used; the printers used for that kind of stuff have a perpetual operating cost (UV printers). Regular automatic cleaning is mandatory to prevent clogging the 3000$ printheads (some of those printers have multiple heads), meaning you have to use ink just to keep the machine alive. Some pieces have to be changed every 6 months or yearly. Then there's the tooling required to place each panel on the print bed with precision, which needs to be custom-made. Then there's the guy operating those printers who needs to check that everything is going well, find the right settings, and place/remove the panels manually. UV printers are also not speed demons, one panel is probably talking several minutes. The company needs to pay for all that, and still make a profit.

It's not like printing on beverage cans where you just buy a machine meant to print on a standard form factor, which can be heavily automated, and the quality requirement lower.

You're knee deep in bullshit here.

You can get any custom print on any random OEM accessory for a low-low-price in China. Almost every company has a collection of branded giveaways. They cost jack shit and are bottom barrel junk. Even if I just want an extremely low volume custom made coffee mug, I can get it done for what, ten, fifteen bucks.

This is nothing else, except now people have to make serious money (*make a living) off this merchandise, so the price gets inflated to generate paychecks. That's all this is, let's call it what it is okay? All of these accessories are already custom made in large quantities, just put the design in and print, its that simple, there's whole specialized factory lines for this just waiting to get your order.

Also... quality requirement? Take a good look at that desk mat. Its the bog standard aliexpress version with a cool print, nothing more.

Vayra86You're knee deep in bullshit here.

You can get any custom print on any random OEM accessory for a low-low-price in China. Almost every company has a collection of branded giveaways. They cost jack shit and are bottom barrel junk. Even if I just want an extremely low volume custom made coffee mug, I can get it done for what, ten, fifteen bucks.

This is nothing else, except now people have to make serious money (*make a living) off this merchandise, so the price gets inflated to generate paychecks. That's all this is, let's call it what it is okay?

1. Man, I'm working in that field, I have hands-on experience with those machines.
2. I was talking about the case btw, not the other stuff i said UV printing on P-A-N-E-L-S. Where did you see me talking about printing on the deskmat? There's more efficient than ways to print on textile.

Stuff like mugs and other standard goodies are easy, the tooling is standardized, and they often come ready with the printer. And if it's not direct UV print, you can just use a mug press, which is even easier.

The kind of print that they are doing on PC case is absolutely going to require custom tooling, and Starforge said that they are using UV printers. That's also why they specifically mention that they don't accept customer designs. It's too much effort to do that work for a single client for that type of product. Origin PC only does side glass panel custom print, nobody does custom full case print.

Unless you think that Lian-li created a custom UV printer and specific production line just for Starforge, and print on the cases while they are being made ? Roland, Epson, Mimaki and others are still selling object and flatbed UV printers in the West because there are people who don't want to deal with the hassle of doing business in China. We have clients who want stuff produced locally, it's easier to get/give feedback, and see how the print looks. And you wouldn't believe how many businesses (especially small and medium-sized) are really bad at doing long-term event planning, and need something delivered fast once it's printed. Some people want to print on specific objects that they are bringing themselves, and we have to adjust for that.

There are numerous companies offering custom UV printing on just about anything across the world. And still surviving despite China being a thing.

And yeah, sorry, but where I live 370$ a month isn't a legal salary, so of course printing in the west is going to be more expensive. Not to mention that China can get Chinese printers and the spare parts themselves for dirt cheap and faster compared to a company based in the West.

If that were possible, I would have invited you to my workshop, with my A4H2o and my O11, and see how you would handle correctly printing on that unconventional stuff.

Vayra86Also... quality requirement? Take a good look at that desk mat. Its the bog standard aliexpress version with a cool print, nothing more.

You tunneled on the goodies haha.
UV printers (which again, is what they are using to print on PC cases) can be used for Fine art printing, they can often print at 1200DPI, even the models that print at "only" 900DPI have a pretty high output quality. I'm going to upload an example that I've printed myself. It's not the technology that you want to use for fast and cheap output, because it's inherently slow. There are many faster inkjet technologies.
I'll begin with that one just for the depth effect: If you look at some of Starforge case, you'll see that the print isn't flat, it has some depth, and some shine. That's because UV printing allows you to create depth if you use layers of white ink underneath. UV printers can also add gloss to specific areas as a default functionality.

Here's a couple of macros printed by a 900DPI UV printer. But as always, a picture never equal the real stuff

And for reference, that's the kind of size that you can expect for an industrial large UV printer. 70 000$ for one printer.

Vayra86You're knee deep in bullshit here.

You can get any custom print on any random OEM accessory for a low-low-price in China. Almost every company has a collection of branded giveaways. They cost jack shit and are bottom barrel junk. Even if I just want an extremely low volume custom made coffee mug, I can get it done for what, ten, fifteen bucks.

This is nothing else, except now people have to make serious money (*make a living) off this merchandise, so the price gets inflated to generate paychecks. That's all this is, let's call it what it is okay? All of these accessories are already custom made in large quantities, just put the design in and print, its that simple, there's whole specialized factory lines for this just waiting to get your order.

Also... quality requirement? Take a good look at that desk mat. Its the bog standard aliexpress version with a cool print, nothing more.

Just because you don't like the choice of case and think the art work is bottom barrel low quality crap doesn't mean you have to come in here and crap all over the comments section about how you think it's a waste of money. Personally I think this case is a cute design and for a quality UV print with a few extras I think the price is justified. Expensive? Yes. Worth it for a low volume product? Also yes.

Arrakis9Just because you don't like the choice of case and think the art work is bottom barrel low quality crap doesn't mean you have to come in here and crap all over the comments section about how you think it's a waste of money. Personally I think this case is a cute design and for a quality UV print with a few extras I think the price is justified. Expensive? Yes. Worth it for a low volume product? Also yes.

Thats fine too isnt it?