SPCR

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:14 pm**

News: Protocase's innovative enclosure design competition

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2006 2:08 pm**

You might want to fix that link...

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2006 4:28 pm**

WTH....looks like they just want a bunch of free designs, engineering, prototypes, and unpaid labor. In return they use your design, and you get a free case......one that sort-of looks like the one you just built?

No thanks.....

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2006 5:11 pm**

Well, not with THAT attitude...

I wish they had a design template for a real ATX case, that could accomodate expansion cards, an ATX power supply, and a motherboard I/O panel (which most enthusiast motherboards already ship with). Their Protocase Designer software is abysmal, though, without even an 'undo' feature. I really wish they used constraint-based modeling, like SolidWorks or IronCad.

Posted: **Wed Nov 15, 2006 6:13 pm**

I'd like to see more detail in the Terms and Conditions. Right now, it doesn't say that the copyright for the case design stays with the designer and that it cannot be mass-produced without licensing. Although as far as I know that should be the default, I seem to recall that copyright transfer is common in company-run contests.

Rory, can SolidWorks export to a .dwg file?

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:43 am**

These case design competitions are ten a penny.

Manufacturers are always trying to get us to do all the hard work

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:41 am**

Anyone else notice the free* prototype means *up to $500. I thought I saw a review site do a thing on Protocase and the prototype came out to about $1,000. And it wasn't a particularly fancy design either. Just a test bed thing. This sounds a little sketchy.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:20 am**

It does come across as a rather underhanded attempt by the company to get some free designs and labor. Sketchy. Very sketchy.

Posted: **Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:14 pm**

If we get to keep the copyright it may be worth it... all you have to do then is sing their praises when you get your case back (even if you don't want to).

Posted: **Fri Nov 17, 2006 11:33 am**

Bluefront wrote:WTH....looks like they just want a bunch of free designs, engineering, prototypes, and unpaid labor. In return they use your design, and you get a free case......one that sort-of looks like the one you just built?

No thanks.....

Does all the company does what Bluefront said?

Protocase doesn't commercialize any client design and they don't mass produce. The design submitted is the property of the designer itself.

Posted: **Fri Nov 17, 2006 12:28 pm**

This email addresses some of the expressed concerns:

Hi Mike,

I just checked the Article Discussion section of you website. It seems from the discussion that some of the audiences are worried about their intellectual property / design. I am not sure how should I correct them as I donâ€™t want them to be confused about the competition. I would appreciate you if you could add a line to the message you wrote earlier.

â€œThe design submitted is the property of the original designer, not Protocase's. Periodâ€œ

Should they have any comments / questions they can always contact me.

Thanks,
Sagar Thulung -- [email protected]

Posted: **Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:05 am**

so no-one got interested in this?

i woudl be if they offered better finishes, quite fancy a htpc case but need something in a silver or anodized alu finish for that...

Mike, you not working on cases with antec these days?