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."
Before I followed the link I thought - "Cool! What an ace idea!".
The I followed the link. That is one ugly lump of metal.
here
and here
these are the largest images I could find...
-metric
If you made it a big bigger, painted it green and put a net in the middle, you'd never need Pong again.
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.
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)
Hey!!! the parentheses are good for something
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.
Maybe next time you'll think to get a patent. How hard could it be?
You: I'd like a patent for my "Method and process for circumventing the expenditure of $30 for the acquisition of a case by making a total mess of my desk and failing to dust, to boot," please.
USPTO Clerk: Sounds pretty complicated. OK, here you go.