Would you take a plastic back if it meant 50g in weight reduction?

[iMaven]

My Kindle has an aluminum back.

My Kindle is all plastic.

 

[doboy]

Nope. Better heat exchange with the aluminum.

 

[mcl]

My Kindle is all plastic.

The 2nd generation Kindles had aluminum backs.

 

[Hoggles]

Polycarbonate would be a very viable option. Plastic is too generic of a term.

I think the weight would be negligible, but it would be strong enough.

Nokia has been using polycarbonate in some high end devices and the feedback has been great.

The dream would be to someday be able to customize the shell.... Aluminum, Polycarbonate, designs and finishes etc. If people are willing to pay....that would be fun.

 

[xraytech]

I was looking at the tech specs of the iPad 2 and the GALAXY Tab 10.1 and found that as light as the iPad 2 is at 601 grams, the GALAXY Tab 10.1 weights in at 565 grams. I can only imagine this is due to the plastic back.

I remember playing around with the Samsung model and it did feel a little cheap but was pretty darn light. Since the new iPad weights considerably more due to the bigger battery at 652 grams, would you have taken an aesthetic hit to the iPad by having a plastic back instead of aluminum if it meant it would weigh less?

What you give up in weight you have to gain in thickness.

I could be wrong but I think a millimeter of molded plastic does not have the same rigidity as a millimeter of machined aluminum. So you'll have to use a thicker plastic back just to save, what a previous poster said, 3 CDs worth of weight?

Keep the aluminum

 

[Larrupin]

for some reason, i tend to like heavier things. I know weight does not always equal quality, but it is a perception i have. I dislike plastic. So for me, i would not give up the aluminum back to save weight.

+1

 

[RAWphenom]

No. It would cheapen the whole feel of the device. It would feel like a Kindle.

Exactly.
I don't think the Kindle is all that cheap feeling, though. Maybe I'm crazy.

 

[Buildbright]

If I wanted junk I would buy an android tablet. Jk

 

[kvizzel]

More like a Samsung Galaxy Tab. As nice as Samsung products are internally, they are still all made out of plastic...

This... used to have the 4, but got edge speeds on T-Mobile. Couldn't take it anymore.

Bought a S2, miss the solid construction of the 4. Do love the S2 though, if the backing was like aluminum it would be amazing. Same with the bezel, I think the bezel is plastic, I barely dropped it and it cracked/chipped.

The 4 i dropped on the bezel so many times, a simple wipe and it was brand new.

 

[Rogue.]

Simply put, NO.

 

[thefreeagent]

No. Way. Man.
Plastic looks and feels cheap, pedestrian, and disposable.
I like the weight and feel of burnished metal and glass.
Oh Apple, you've got me by the short hairs, you really do.....

 

[7even]

Hell no.

 

[DrCheese]

ew no. We had plastic iPhones for two years (3g and 3gs). Pretty much every single one I've ever seen (Mine included) has had hairline cracks form overtime. It would be awful if the iPad ever went backwards to that.

 

[mrklaw]

does the aluminium also act as a heat sink? Not sure how its all laid out in there.

How about - 'would you accept a plastic screen cover in place of glass to reduce the weight by 150g?' (weight made up)

 

[Macman45]

100% no, It would reduce the quality feel of the iPad and cheapen it IMO. I like the design as it is, reducing it to a plastic looking device would be crazy.

 

[eawmp1]

If Galaxy begins using "we are 50 grams lighter than the iPad" in marketing, you will know they have lost the game.

No, OP, I like my iPad the way it is.

 

[BergerFan]

The best of all worlds(inevitable price hike excepted), would be a carbon fibre back.
With at least 1/5 the weight and twice the strength of steel, this would be the ideal material.
It would cost an arm and a leg to have a carbon fibre unibody, but boy, would it be cool.

 

[Abazigal]

The difference in weight isn't enough to entice me to switch over to a flimsier material.

If it was something like plastic vs metal chair, I can see a case. But come on...50g? I know I won't feel the difference!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Noooo. I have an HP TouchPad that I bought only because it was $99. The first thing I thought when I picked it up for the first time was "Wow! This really feels cheap." The iPad feels solid and worth what it costs, and so does the TouchPad... at $99 not it's original $499.

 

[drober30]

I would of liked to see the iPad come in at a lighter weight!

 

[snow blind]

Plastic no... carbon fiber or Kevlar composite back shell... hell yes!

 

[ZipZap]

I would gladly take plastic (unbreakable) over the current back. I still feel the ipads are too heavy.

 

[Archer1440]

The best of all worlds(inevitable price hike excepted), would be a carbon fibre back.
With at least 1/5 the weight and twice the strength of steel, this would be the ideal material.
It would cost an arm and a leg to have a carbon fibre unibody, but boy, would it be cool.

In the volumes involved the cost of a structural carbon (not cosmetic) rear shell would be on the order of 3.00 each including paint. Relatively trivial.

Now, specify a 3K cosmetic 0/90 weave with no flaws, and the price goes much higher. But for structural carbon the cost is not that much.

The big problem is, these are painted parts and will not hold up as well as a metal shell for ordinary cosmetic wear and tear.