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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."
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.
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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.
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No problem, they've fit pc's into coffemugs cince 1998.
It's called the DIMM pc. from a company called emj you can get a 386 or 486 monster, and I believe a 586 is right arount the corner.
Hell with the dimm pc in the tiquit format I can fit the pc, storage and power source in your coffee cup.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
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)
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.