Slashdot Mirror
A Real Tabletop PC
Xunker writes: "Sure, your modded case-with-window from ThinkGeek looks cool on your desktop, but it's nowhere near as cool as this case that turns your PC into your desktop. Drive bays, casters, fan ports and a glass top so you can see everything. With some uncontrolled overclocking you could probably use it to keep your tea warm, too."
I will not be impressed until I can fit a PC into my coffee mug. With overclocking, my java will never get cold.
"I hope they legalize drugs so you hurry up and fucking die." Charles Bronson (the band, not the man)
Before I followed the link I thought - "Cool! What an ace idea!".
The I followed the link. That is one ugly lump of metal.
Nice bit of kit, just price tag... i dont think the common slashdotter will be able to afford this (i know i cant :()
"What do you mean you have no ice? Do you expect me to drink this coffee hot?" - Random Customer, Clerks
/.ed already? wow, sad.
All I can say is a beowolf culster of desks
Got Athlon?
jebus - now the MCP will become a reality. nice work guys....
/* Half alive and half dead too, work is for suckers and the sucker is you. - "Half-life" by Local H*/
save the poor site from /. dos
I like how they aknowledge that it's not a novel idea ... but then push that they can do it with *quality*.
so this desktop site is already slashdotted.
I wonder if we can destroy Slashdot by posting an item to it that links to www.slashdot.org ?
They ripped off my computer!
My computer has been my computer for the last 2 years. It is a pentium 233MMX with 64 megs of ram and 2 hard drives. It has a DSL "bridge" above it.
It was built into my desk and has survived 2 moves and lasted a long time.
here
and here
these are the largest images I could find...
-metric
I'd be more interested in a case made out of that new-fangled transparent concrete. Granted that maintenance would be a bitch, but talk about uber-l33t!
Of course, it didn't have the natty glass cover and its processing power was somewhat small compared to the average pocket calculator, but it was a desk. It was also IBM's first real foray into the world of the minicomputer where they were looking for a form that could even go into an office (with a/c of course). Of course, when you added a line printer and a card-reader, this rather defeated the object as they were each larger than the desk.
I'm fairly certain that Digital also had some early systems in the desk type format.
See my journal, I write things there
Oh, and while you're at it, how 'bout shoving head in the oven and leaving it there? Thank you from the rest of us.
You mook.
Reminds me of these fancy japanese restaurants where they cook you meal ON you table :) Looks like having the news AND breakfast at the same time @ 2500MHz
0 001 11 1
And... here
About this? It has some geek potential, but to be using it as a server? I don't think many of us would be doing this. Perhaps nice to show off but that's about it.... Or at least not put it to serious use.
Ah well... it does look nice...
but the case is the least of my concerns. Sure it it the ugliest part of a PC, but what about the monitor, and some sort of input like a keyboard? Cord management? I can always hid the case relatively easily. Let's see some monitor mods that aren't done with a shotgun.
I like the opposite end of the spectrum and wish rackmount cases were cheaper! I'd put everything I own in racks if I could.
Those that suggest you "dance like no one is watching" really want to see you make a complete fool of yourself.
If you made it a big bigger, painted it green and put a net in the middle, you'd never need Pong again.
This will never catch on. It's just another prototype which will die out. Computing is about portability from 2000 and on. It's not about modding your table for christ sakes.
Looking at the pictures hitchhacker so kindly mirrored for us, The desks strike me as much too small. By the time you plop down a 21" monitor and a keyboard, there is very little surface area left to have a couple of open books, notes, coffee, and whatnot. Maybe I'm just too dumb to memorize all of my programming books, but I like a desk to be at least 5 feet wide so I have room to actually get stuff done.
Sig (appended to the end of comments you post, 120 chars)
I hope that no coffee can be spilt there! I can't see the amount of overhang from the picture, but if it doesn't, the first spill could be the motherboard's last!!!!
This is an interesting case, but it wouldn't be difficult to recreate it. Start off with an industrial strength work table. Add some high quality casters so you can move it around. Glass table tops can be obtained from a craft store like Michael's or a place that sells custom cut glass. Plexiglass would also work, and has the advantage of being lighter. The keyboard tray is also easy; Home Depot/Lowe's/your hometown hardware sells the mechanisms for that. PC Mod sites can get you the fans, motherboard offsets, and suchlike (or simply buy a cheap case and raid it for parts). This goes for drive bays and such as well; many cases these days come with a cage for several drives. Et voila! Fit, assemble, and you've got it. You get the joy of construction, and save money too.
I think...I think it's in my basement. Let me go upstairs and check. -M.C. Escher (1898-1972)
...The old 'Cocktail' cabinet style video games they used to have.....If a flat, wide, LCD or gas Plasma screen (for people with $$$), was laied on top, now that would be a great system to play the 'ol Packman on!
Hey!!! the parentheses are good for something
video games in the 80's used to come in table versions too
we had a table version of Missile Command in our pub.
was great. I used to get the piezo sparker and clock credits up on it and play all day
(the machine was provided by a video game rental company and we didn't have the keys)
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Is the table waterproof? And is there any fish that
survive in mineral oil? - In that case you can
make a pretty cool aqarium.
- To understand recursion, we must first understand recursion -
This is still the most creative use of a computer case that I've seen. Mmmmmm.... beer.
Not very smart. Google caches text, but retreives the images from the original site. If you tried google images you would have found something.
like this
but how do i take it to lanparties? ;)
Don't teach people they can trust google image links. It's a bad idea...
Remember the table-top Galaga and Ms PacMan at the local pizza joints?
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
and read, "Episode 2 script" or something, otherwise no one is going to click on a link that goes to slashdot, because anybody that is here, already knows where slashdot is.
Besides the fact that I don't find it aesthetically pleasing whatsoever, it's just not big enough for me.
The only monitors I use are at least 21". Combine the desk space taken up by the average 21" crt, add in a keyboard, mouse, speakers, microphone, phone, and you are well out of desk real estate. The novelty of having a glass top quickly disappears when you realize that you'll be covering the entire thing with other devices.
Instead, I use a Jerker-series workstation desk from Ikea. The tabletop is big enough and strong enough to hold 2 21" Sun monitors (each almost 90lbs), 2 keyboards & mice, router, stereo receiver, plus it has a nice overhead shelf that I have speakers mounted from, and side shelves that hold my printer, phone, scanner, and CD/DVD players. Its not too bad looking, and it has space for everything I need, which is much more important to me than anything else.
I've always wanted to buy a black leather recliner, gut some of it and turn it into a computer case. Have a lcd screen on a swivel that can be stored in the arms (like some trays on air planes). Just kick back and surf,game whatever.
Yes but every time I try to see it your way, I get a headache.
Great. I mod, there for I buy ThinkGeek.
:-\) On one hand I've got, good looking window that's suited to my tastes (I chose a Biohazard symbol) OR I can buy there desk and have.. uhmm.. four posts and a plastic top.
And I'm supposed to envy this desk over my home-modded mid-tower? *cough*
There's a slight difference here. I can fit a full sized computer into mine just fine, not with just a limited selection of components. Not to mention I can also fit two 19" Sony CPD-G400's on my desk to boot!
Not to mention the looks, thanks who ever mirrored those two (forgot your name already
And, to top it all off, I modded my computer my self. Saved a bundle and turned out how I wanted. None of this Pcmods, thinkgeek, etc. pre-modded crap (I won't even mention the 3d people, they suck)
Computational Madness in a round package.
In one of my grandpa's Popular Science magazines (when they were still readable, but already going down hill - mid 60s I guess) Some engineering talking to the press "After we designed the comptuer we went right to work on a desktop model." Of course in those days comptuers were big things, 6 feet high, 4 fett wide, and 3 feet deep - about the size of a desk except for height. So the first picture is a computer like that, and the second is the same computer, but sitting on a desk (and taking up all the room so the desk is useless)
ac: you should have replied to the first poster, who relied on the google cache, not understanding that the pictures are taken from the original site. but that is why you replies as ac.
By the way, finding this in google images is not very simple.
You could skip a CRT and head straight to flatpanel to save some of that precious desktop space.
Add a few carefully chosen items with the money you saved in making your own desk, like a translucent USB hub or a set of Harman/Kardon Champagne speakers (save even more space, only 3.5" squared), and you'll be ready for the next SciFi Channel Original casting call.
The only real problem I could forsee with this desk would be trying to use an optical mouse with it.
Does anyone else think this computer is eminently steal-able? Just put a cloth over the top and take it for a walk.
11.0010010000111111011010101000100010000101101000
With some uncontrolled overclocking you could probably use it to keep your tea warm, too.
Tea? TEA?
Coffee.
about such tablecase system design, esthetics, usefulness, and construction:
The example at hand appears, um... less than sturdy. The top appears to be a U-shaped frame with the "bottom" of the U at the back of the desk. The legs must be welded to this U-frame (it would be downright flimsy if they were just bolted somehow). I'd like to see some spreader beams just above the casters, plus some braces or cabled braces tensioned with turnbuckles. A hefty spreader beam at the front below the system case would help keep structural alignment too. Sturdy is good, in an office space.
Second, the airflow doesn't look well thought out. The disk drives appear to be mounted against the front sill of the system case with no air inlet. You won't get away with mounting several high-rev SCSI disks in there without risking overheating and shortened MTBF. The fans don't look up to cooling anything hotter than a Celeron or Duron.
Where are the AGP and PCI cards? The system case doesn't look tall enough to hold either. Is the case designed for onboard graphics, sound, NIC, and modem mainboards? Well, that's rather, er... limiting. This thing looks like something you'd give a teenage kid - a cool-looking desk PC with low-end components for AOL, IM, CDs, and MP3s.
However, the concept of computer systems integrated into furniture, for home or office, is... intriguing. Herman Miller (modular cubicles) should jump all over this idea. Look for end-tables with multimedia digital-convergence PC-based systems hidden under their tops, tucked behind clean looking woodwork, plastic, or metal structures.
Now you need an even bigger table to hide this thing under!!
I could see applications for this, but certainly not for the home or office. And the only way I could see using it is if you put a nice large flat panel display UNDER the glass to make a work table on which you could display blueprints, plans, maps, and the like.
The frame maybe wonderfully strong, but I think you could make something yourself that would look much more appealing. Say a nice wooden desk maybe?
Yeah, but does it come with a free Apple iAnglePoiseLamp?
here at my work (a large prepress shop) we have alot of older but really expensive print-industry computing equipment. Among loads of SGI and other more crusty stuff, we have a desk with a drawing tablet built into it. The top is completely smooth, and the only way you can tell where the drawing area is, is by small hash marks in the corners of the rather large square patch. Too bad it doesn't interface to any current standard, but cool none the less.
Really,
I have been toying with the idea of REAL fish in my computer , OR submersing my whloe computer in a fish tank and filling it with water (Well and old computer not my ceuurent beastie)
DeIonized water carries no current, SO throw it in a tank , fill, and evacuate (i have a nice vacume pump) to keep oxidation from ovvuring thus ioizing the water and zapping everything to hell.
I know its out there but damm I wanna try, I have also thought of a pseudo variant where I take some of the crystal clear shrink film we use here and "coating" the MB an chips, silicone around the edge to make it appear it is in the water (but actually dry).
NOW to the fish, Well Im assuming it will, with dissabation carry a temp of around 90-90 degrees, any suggestions on FISH ? Does all the em drive em batty ?
Any suggestions tips etc, I AM going to try this, how much of a success is another story, I am concerned about the first method leaching toxins into the water, If the fish live more than 3 days Ill be happy , I want to use this at a trade show, Or has it been done ?
Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
The site is slashdotted so I can't see it. Is it made of transparent concrete Lego blocks, which are able to "trap light" and release it again, and when you look at it from just the right angle, you can see a picture of Calista Flockhart with a cartoon "speaking bubble" containing DeCSS?
... was not even a desk at all. It was some kind of frame that you sat "in", with footrests, and most of the computer components suspended on small platforms. Looked like a jungle gym at a kids playground, but seemed very workable. I think I saw it on discovery channel, and supposedly the mfr. was selling it for around $2-300. Of course, since then, I've been unable to locate one.
Google cached the site here: Google Cache of the site
People are actually impressed with this? The idea of a computer in a desk isn't new, but this one sure looks ugly. desktop pc != stylish.
Fish need oxygen. That's why most tanks have the little bubble things. If you want to keep the water ion-free, you'd better grow some anaerobic bacteria or something. Though those might not be as impressive at trade shows. ;)
the carnation in my buttonhole / precedes me like a small / continuous explosion. -RS
Some time ago it was announced that Palm will (dramaticaly) upgrade its hardware (and software) to use ARM. That's what every Palm fan should be waiting for. Any news about that?
no text
My tea can beat up your tea. For the love of Allah, please get a life.
While this thing is rather ugly, it's inspired me to go out and get one of those old cocktail game tables (e.g. Ms. Pac Man), gut it, and mount the board in there somewhere, under the monitor.
Using a joystick to bang out code might get tiresome, though.......
- DDT
So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
Already did this, and applied for the patent. I'll put pictures up on the net shortly. You can't use di water because the metals on the pc board contaminate it and everything shorts out in about a week or so.
You must use oil. I'm using a high grade mineral oil. For fish, I'm using those magnetic fish that come in the dytoy awaworld tank. To get them to move, you just stick electro magnets in key locations around the tank. The electro magnets are then connected to solid state relays and a micro controller which is interfaced with the USB. The key is the software to trip the electro magnets so that you get the most realistic fish movement possible.
The cooling is rather fun as well, I'm using a standard motorcycle oil cooler and pump. Everything is sealed in plexy to eliminate contamination. For added effect, the hard-drive is mounted in a gyro type cage. So, as the hd spins it acts a bit like a gyro; a rather cool effect I must say.
What is the point of this? Why not just bolt your case to the bottom of any metal table? I really don't see the point of having a glass top so you can see the mobo, if there was a screen under neath, I could see it, but those kinds of desks have been around a while (usually used for kiosks).
Now, anyone want a slightly damp, previously working iPaq? Going cheap!
Eric
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Come on man, make up your mind. If you're worried about taking the Diety's name in vain, then find another word. If you're not worried about it, then go ahead and use the correct word.
Don't use some namby-pamby half-word. That's as bad as the idiots who think fscking is cute.
I couldn't get through, so I wasn't able to read the site, but I did check out the mirrored pics. As everyone has been saying, that's one ugly desk, but still...
I can't shake the feeling there's more to it. Did the site have any intended purposes? It looks like it belongs in a prototyping workshop. You know, get the PC out of the way so you have room for more PALs and ROMs. There's no way in hell I'd put that thing in my room, but I might put it in the EE labs around campus. It would make it harder to steal the computers too.
You call God "Allah"?
Fuck, now you're really going to incur Her wrath, whitie...
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
To bad its been slashdotted, I'd have liked to seen it.
I had the idea, many years ago, that an "in the desk " PC would be a great idea for the education market. Where's a VC when you need them?
Yeah, but it's from Real. Ugh, I hate that company!
I can picture it now. Just unplug Internet- and the Power-Connection and you are ready roll the whole thing to the next LAN-Party.
or maybe it was a Simpson's reference. ya think?
That's nice if you're going for a modern look, but then again so is this.
At least "she" doesn't get her panties in a bunch over who has the 31337-er caffeinated beverage.
Well, technically its not really a "tabletop". More aptly, it should be called a "table-in".
Skiers and Riders -- http://www.snowjournal.com
It is just a rackable case bolted onto the bottom of a table. If you do it yourself you can save a bundle of cash, and atleast your table will match the rest of your furniture.
would like to check out this case, but the link doesn't work.
I want my whole table-top to be an ultra-hi-res flat screen and have a built in camera facing up. Then I can have real fun using my hand to drag around virtual bits of paper, bring up flat keyboards to type on (yeah ok the lack of tactile feedback would suck).
Actually, if you did this you might want the desk surface to be at 45 degrees or something so you could see it better... Maybe have a real keyboard but no mouse.
You could basically almost do this now by building a desk with a 45 degree angle with a small keyboard shelf on the front of it, then getting an awesomely huge lcd flat panel and putting on the desk. Of course it would have to be a touch screen too.
Haha probably then people would start getting real-life nasty letters from the bank manager in the mail and wondering why they didn't disappear when they stabbed their finger into the top-righthand corner of them.
graspee
As for me, I'll continue to use my Foosball table with the glass top as my kitchen table.
Who would come up with such an idea to make a thing like this?
Actually, being as she's God, and God Is All, she actually *does* get her panties in a twist.
...
Also, she's pretty good with irony, too, unlike some people
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
I hope those are prototypes...they're pretty ugly.
I knew a human who built something like that once, except he used more wood so it looked a lot nicer.
Mew
Yes, that's really my e-mail. Don't change a thing.
You're good at irony? How's this for irony? You actually think you know what you're talking about. Now *that* is irony.
This is cool but it must be an ergonomic nightmare!
the subjet says it all
Next step would be the computer so seamlessly integrated into the desktop that you don't even realize its there, unless you need it. I'm thinking touch sensitive membrane keyboard built right into the desk. An LCD monitor you have to fold up to see, otherwise its flush with the desk. CD and floppy drives encased behind hidden panels in the front of the desk. A designated surface of the desk would be the touchpad.
It could work. I would never use it. But it would be ideal when the computer gets in the way and you need more physical desk space to work with.
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
I'd rather have a case made out of transparent aluminum.
Yep. Saw that one coming a light year away.
That's right! Hail Eris! (and maybe she won't hail on you...)
Dude,
So if it's a 233, then I guess that you haven't dusted since mid-1997?
If you're worried about dusting with a damp cloth for fear of getting moisture on your hardware, you may want to take a look here for moisture free dusting, with a fresh lemon scent to boot.
pressure/grep
Microsoft Fucking Sucks!! Up The Penguins!!
Otherwise, with the EMF radiation so close to Big Jim and the Twins, I could be creating some really interesting genetic mutations in future offspring.
Anyone know why the hell it has wheels???
If your computer is plugged in, I sure wouldn't want it on wheels. Imagine standing up to grab a paper and accidentlly bumping your desk. "Damn! I unplugged my computer again!"
Can you imagine a whole beowulf cluster of these?
I remember years ago visiting my brother's apartment. One of his roommates had what looked like a nice, standard oak desk, except the monitor was on a rack under the top of it angled upward so you could see it on through the glass. This is smaller, metal and uglier but it's no great innovation.
I've always wanted Dillinger's desk from TRON.
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
No, irony is that I'm even bothering to try to out-smart-ass an Anonymous Coward, when really I should be cleaning out my navel, harvesting toe-jam, or maybe even going the whole hoot and giving the old earwax a bit of a taste...
Feel free to comment, though. I like your sharp wit and eager mind.
Feels good to help you waste it, when you could be doing something brilliant, I'm quite sure.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
What geek would *buy* an ugly case mod? Doesn't that defeat the purpose? It looks like an industrial lightable for animation or drafting. Home made mods are cool because they are home made, personal and unique. If I'm going to actually buy an integrated desk/computer, it better be slick. This looks stupid. Think of all the bloody knees that will result from banging them under the desk...