Could someone shed some light on what each release of the phone entails, I’m a little confused when it mentions things like loose case and so on and so forth.
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I think most people don’t need to worry about that too much anyway, as they most likely don’t qualify for Aspen or Birch (but can possibly choose to switch to that slot).
To my knowledge, it is a common thing to iterate on the accuracy (clearance) of mechanical parts - I remember reading about Tesla not living up to expectations in that regard in early models.
What this most likely doesn’t mean is that the case makes rattling noises or things like that.
If you zoom at this picture, you can see some “imperfection” at the display corners. That would be that.
The batches until Dogwood will have refinements on that case.
I assume, these refinements also serve as a way to iterate before creating the mold of the final case.
Some related info on molds: Librem5 silicone cover
Definitely, Evergreen will be the real deal.
Fitting name 
Supposedly, we’ll soon learn whether we can later get that molded case for previous revisions (which I expect).
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I so want to be aspen (and I think I bought early enough that I’ve got a good chance of that)and I so want that case! It’s an actual piece of history being made now! 
Also, the handmade with love aspect you see at small town craft fairs, farmers markets, etc. on the buttons.
Confession time: I’m not sure I’m responsible (I’m pretty irresponsible) or smart enough to be aspen 
and give it the TLC it’s going to need though.
I’ve got some serious thinking to do on that in the next little while…
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I just made a post speculating about the purpose and size of the different batches.
Regarding the moulded case, my assumption is that, because they didn’t write Dogwood + molded case, this means that the final version will have the actual body of the phone made using a moulding process, as opposed to a milling process. I’m not sure I like the sound of that (quality issues abound with metal castings, in my experience) but we’ll have to wait and see. I’m assuming it will be a metal case… but I guess we weren’t actually promised that?
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Original campaign page:
Starting with a metal case, high resolution screen, and multifunction port, we heard your feedback, know what you want, since we want it too.
I also think Nicole mentioned it in regard to the antenna. It’s quite possible that now, having the final hardware, they need to experiment with the metal case, which was not possible with the dev-board.
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Finally, I thought I wouldn’t see somebody who knew how collectors items worked. Batch one is a rare item indeed, and if the world works out like I want it to those will be iconic and heavily desired long after they stop working in a useful way.
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There’s only one thing for it. If you get an Aspen, you will need to put it aside (Aspen -> Aspic), and order another later batch phone that will be your day-to-day, drop it, bend it, break it phone. 
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Actually, I’ve already been putting some thought into making an otterbox sort of case for it and I do want it to kinda seal it like aspic…oh and you can bet there will be a glue gun involved at some point 
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Finally, I thought I wouldn’t see somebody who knew how collectors items worked.
And maybe some of us do and keep our mouths shut to avoid creating a stampede before we can do anything about it. 
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having one shipped as soon as possible then the rest next year (v2) would be the best thing for me i think. would that be possible ?
Best to ask Purism directly. Good question though.
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So really the true launch date for a true working and mass produced product in Q2 2020?
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“True working” ? No. “Mass produced” ? Sure, depending on your definition of it.
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It sounds like the first batch is going to work fine, just not using a mass-produced case. Sure, the software will be more mature in 6 months, but that is always the case.
I imagine 2 years from now, when more developers (myself included) get a lot of apps produced for the phone, you will have quite a selection as well
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Cough
clears throat
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Why’d you have to ruin the illusion, I was still pretending to myself I might qualify for Birch since I didn’t find out about this until this year. My hopes and dreams are now ruined 
Every Librem 5 that rolls off the assembly line will be a high-quality smartphone. Every component, tested and lovingly assembled.
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It was nice to get some additional clarifications but I would have liked to have seen included/further clarified:
- Details/confirmation on case material. Are batches Aspen to Dogwood getting a “milled” metal or plastic case? Is the “molded” case for Evergreen planned to be metal, or will they switch to plastic?
- The initial post mentioned “unfinished switch caps (handcrafted)”. That they would be handcrafted seemed imply that they wouldn’t be left as bare, but topped or tooled by hand (filed down, rounded edges?) in some way. The FAQ now seems to imply that they will actually simply be left bare, which is somewhat contradictory.
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How about a table, purchase date against shipping date?
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