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Sources:
http://www.shay-tech.co.uk/?reviews=fra ... ctic-white (at end of article)
https://forums.ebuyer.com/showthread.ph ... pgrade-Kit!
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar
To whom it may concern,
Since the release of your USB 3.0 Upgrade kit for the R3/R2 cases, the general Internet community has found numerous problems with the product. In fact, these problems were noticed almost immediately after the product began shipping. Six months later the problems have not been rectified.
I'd like to bring this matter to your attention since I have the utmost respect for Fractal Design (I personally love my R3 chassis). Please read the following SPCR forum thread for details of the shortcomings of this product, which includes photos of what people are having to do to make the product work correctly:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=62666
The key problems are:
1. The screws used to hold the main connector/bus module in place are too short given the excess amount of rubber/plastic surrounding the module itself. The screws should either be made longer or (my choice) the plastic moulding thinned greatly.
2. The cables for the eSATA and USB ports are thicker than previous models, resulting in the cables not fitting through the proper routing hole "behind" (or next to) one of the 5.25 inch drive bays. The only way to rectify this is to run the cables directly through one of the drive bays, effectively wasting one of the bays. I say this well aware of the fact that shielding is important, but it seems that the product was designed then not actually tested for size/dimensions/thickness pertaining to cable routing.
I say this as professionally and politely as possible, but both of these problems indicate lack of quality assurance and testing.
I, and the rest of the SPCR community, would love to hear what you have to say about this + how you plan on rectifying it.
Also, if you plan on releasing an "upgraded" model of the upgrade kit, please change/modify its serial/product number so that customers have a way to delineate which of the products is actually fixed vs. has the above design flaws. Please do not re-use the same serial/part number; this just adds for confusion.
Thank you.
There is a FD representative in the forum, you could always try to send a PM - user profile.koitsu wrote:I sent the following message to Fractal Design today via their web form (sent to "Product suggestions"). If I get no response, or a get a half-ass response (excuses, etc.) I will attempt other communications with them to get this rectified.
Thank you for contacting Newegg.
Generally, our stock moves so fast that we have the latest version or revision of everything. Unfortunately, we do not have a way to physically get our hands on our most current stock and tell you what revision we have at the moment. Also, we cannot tag a particular item for a particular order. We do not guarantee revision numbers unless it is specifically noted on the description on the website. We hope this information is helpful.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our FAQs page. If you still require any assistance, please feel free to reply directly to this email.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Newegg Customer Service
Dear koitsu,koitsu wrote:I mailed NewEgg, since the product on their site shows the older (faulty) version with black screws, just to try and find out what exactly they were selling. Their response indicates more or less that as a customer you're playing Russian roulette with your purchase. This is exactly why changing model numbers/strings is important when changing a product. FD, you may want to get in contact with NewEgg, since they are listed on your site as one of your official product distributors in North America, and ensure they are not selling old/faulty stock.
The incident number pertaining to my inquiry (and their response below) is 120419-002399, in case you need something to refer to.
Thank you for contacting Newegg.
Generally, our stock moves so fast that we have the latest version or revision of everything. Unfortunately, we do not have a way to physically get our hands on our most current stock and tell you what revision we have at the moment. Also, we cannot tag a particular item for a particular order. We do not guarantee revision numbers unless it is specifically noted on the description on the website. We hope this information is helpful.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our FAQs page. If you still require any assistance, please feel free to reply directly to this email.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Newegg Customer Service
...because NewEgg's photos of the R2/R3 USB 3.0 upgrade kit lacked photos of the screws. How convenient of them, no? I had to refer them to *something* that showed screws. However, I made the assumption that the XL kit had the same problem as the R2/R3 kit -- that assumption was obviously wrong, and thank you for correcting me.Fractal Design wrote:Dear koitsu,koitsu wrote:I mailed NewEgg, since the product on their site shows the older (faulty) version with black screws, just to try and find out what exactly they were selling. Their response indicates more or less that as a customer you're playing Russian roulette with your purchase. This is exactly why changing model numbers/strings is important when changing a product. FD, you may want to get in contact with NewEgg, since they are listed on your site as one of your official product distributors in North America, and ensure they are not selling old/faulty stock.
The incident number pertaining to my inquiry (and their response below) is 120419-002399, in case you need something to refer to.
Thank you for contacting Newegg.
Generally, our stock moves so fast that we have the latest version or revision of everything. Unfortunately, we do not have a way to physically get our hands on our most current stock and tell you what revision we have at the moment. Also, we cannot tag a particular item for a particular order. We do not guarantee revision numbers unless it is specifically noted on the description on the website. We hope this information is helpful.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our FAQs page. If you still require any assistance, please feel free to reply directly to this email.
Thank you,
Jennifer
Newegg Customer Service
We are happy that your are eager to help, although in your message your are referring to the upgrade kit for the Define XL which is a different case.
Understood -- but again, I ask you to keep in mind that colours of screws is not how distributors/vendors differentiate products. They do inventory entirely based on product numbers/strings or SKUs. Most (~90%) vendors do not open up a product they stock and take pictures of the insides. NewEgg is one of the few which does, and in this case, the R2/R3 upgrade kit lacks photos of the screws, thus consumers have no idea which "version" of the R2/R3 kit they're getting.Fractal Design wrote:The problem with the short screws was only affecting the Define R3/R2 Upgrade kits not the Define XL
Define R3/R2 Upgrade kit: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811994039
Define XL: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811994040
All the faulty black screws of the Define R3/R2 Upgrade kit should have been replaced, although some upgrade kits may have been sold before we had time to stop it.
Regarding why we chose to switch black screws to silver screws. This was because we thought it would be much easier for you as a customer to identify which screws you have. Even though a certain serial number or sticker is put on the box this doesn't mean that the screws inside are right, this in a try eliminate the human error.
Best regards,
Fractal Design
The posts here on the forum refute your statements. People in just this thread which have gotten the black (bad) screws are:Fractal Design wrote:Because the kits where produced and awaiting distribution here in Sweden when we found out the problem we recalled everything that was shipped out to local resellers and reworked everything manually.
This was done before we shipped anything to Newegg and we still have not heard of any complaints of faulty screws from any other places.