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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."
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.
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*/
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
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.
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
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? ;)
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.
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.
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
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.
Yeah, but does it come with a free Apple iAnglePoiseLamp?
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?
A good cup of china black, well steeped, would kick the living shit out of whatever 'coffee' you think you need to drink to get a 'buzz'...
Still, this case would make a pretty shitty tea table.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
What currency? Yen? USD?
Lex orandi, lex credendi.
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!"
I read an article about this thing in some trade magazine. Interestingly, it was developed by the same guy who thought up the cubicle, and it was intended to replace the cube - I mean, who needs a 6x8 cube, when you you just roll in huge rows of these things, which I believe took up about half the space.
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. --
Well, technically its not really a "tabletop". More aptly, it should be called a "table-in".
Skiers and Riders -- http://www.snowjournal.com
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. --
This is cool but it must be an ergonomic nightmare!
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.
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.
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. --