Technology giant Dell has shown off its latest project, Dell Concept Luna to the public with a focus on creating a sustainable PC design, or in other words a user fixable and upgradable laptop to reduce the amount of e-waste produced.
The first thing that came to your mind in the Framework Laptop. Yes, Dell’s Concept Luna is very similar to the Framework Laptop in the way that the core components can be switched out, upgraded, or replaced but the company is going one step further with this concept.
A complete overhaul of the laptop
Looking at what Dell has to say about Concept Luna, the company is working to reduce the amount of e-waste is produced by having user replaceable parts but also improving the overall design of the laptop by doing the following:
New and improved motherboard
A motherboard is one of the most energy intense parts of a laptop. Shrinking it down by around 75% and using 20% less components gives Dell an estimated carbon footprint reduction 50%.
The motherboard is created out of a bio-based material called flax fibre and a water-soluble polymer as the glue. This allows the motherboard to be separated out during recycling much easier as a large tank of water would be required to break it down and the metals removed.
New internal layout
Dell has moved its new motherboard to the top of the device, behind the screen as it almost never gets placed on a surface that could impact cooling performance. This can also open the possibilities of using a vent system that allows the warm air to rise through the top of the screen.
Less power to run
With the efficiency improvements, they will result in less energy consumption and in turn a laptop that uses less power and has a longer battery life.
Improved manufacturing
Dell shares that the chassis for Concept Luna will be produced out of an aluminum chassis processed using hydro power and consist of stamped aluminum construction, which requires less energy to create.
Repairability
Dell has been able to reduce the overall number of screws needed to gain access to internal components to just four, reducing the time needed for repairs and making it easier for all to undertake them.
The palm rest and keyboard assemblies have been simplified and designed without the need for screws, making it easier to recycle and reuse the components.
Improved battery
The new deep cell battery provides the laptop with a longer battery life that is expected to be maintained for longer that current batteries allow for. This allows Luna to have a longer life and be given the opportunity to be passed on or resold.
Our thoughts
It’s great to see such a massive company publicly sharing its work on a repairable and sustainable laptop. While yes, this is only a concept and might not even make it to market, hopefully this will result in other manufacturers start to think about user-repairable designs that can reduce our carbon footprint and make laptops accessible to more.
While this might seem like Dell is copying Framework and it’s a bad thing, I would rather look at it like this. Framework started the movement to repairable laptops and will always been known for it. Now that Dell has seen how well received the Framework Laptop has been it knows that there’s a market for the product, which can only mean one thing. Competition! and we like competition.
Dell is also able to take its large presence and put more R&D into producing a sustainable laptop. Take the new motherboard and battery for example. It’s great to see Dell is looking deeper into the parts that the standard repairability and sustainability efforts dont and is trying to create a solution from the ground up that tackles the problem head on.
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Source: Dell
