Impressive Homemade Aluminum Cube Case

baschie writes "A Belgian guy, Dennis Vieren, probably designed and built the most beautiful aluminium case ever, called project "Frozen". He designed his case from the ground up using CAD software, and built it from plates of 3mm aluminium and 3 mm acrylic glass. It cost him about 300/400 euro, and took him about 250 hours to build."

Comments

page down?

[Jaster Mareel]

Has the slashdot effect taken this page down? I can't seem to reach it. I do have to say though that 250 hours of working on a case is amazing. I'd love to see it.

"something witty"

Re:page down?

[RogrWilco]

250 hours of working on his computer case could have obviously been better used revamping his network connection.
Thank you Slashdot effect!

Re:page down?

[MattWeth]

MS specific problem (DNS reslover??):
This link works in I.E.:
http://case.1be.be/

Matt

Re:page down?

[ScumBiker]

Hey, someone mod parent up. It's the only link I see anywhere that actually works and shows pictures, at least to us using IE (gack...).

Very cool case! If cases like this where manufactured instead of custom made, I'd buy one.

dead link

[glenebob]

i'm sure it's all very interesting, but i wouldn't know...

404 - File not found

Re:dead link

[cbodine]

Mmmmm 404 error Well that what happen with the slashdot effect. Why not make them out of copper?

Re:dead link

[Zeinfeld]

404 - File not found

At least you are not an Enron employee:

401K - Unauthorized - you are not authorized to withdraw your pension until the executives have sold their shares

Re:dead link

[prock307]

Hmmm....
The problem must be on your end, the entire page loads on my machine in about 3 seconds.

Re:dead link

[Anonymous Coward]

strange, everyone but you gets a 404...

Re:dead link

[Anonymous Coward]

At work out of 3 computers, 2 with Mozilla gets the page just perfectly, while IE gets an 404..

Strange..

see the /. effect in real time!

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out the guy's page stats here.

Re:see the /. effect in real time!

[crystalplague]

hahaha, we're going to /. the stats page showing the /. effect.

Re:see the /. effect in real time!

[Anonymous Coward]

A lot of Verenigde Statenians around here huh?

Re:see the /. effect in real time!

[Graspee_Leemoor]

I too thought of /. immediately when I saw "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back". Now when I see flamebait posts I can (more) easily imagine little kids writing them.

graspee

Ain't all that.

[linzeal]

Look here for some cool cases. IMHO this case in the slashdot story isn't all that.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Xerithane]

Those cases are modified. This is a brand new never-before-seen-completely-from-scratch assembly. Also, are you on crack? This case was awesome. It brought a tear to my eye and turned me green with envy. I think I would kill that guy to get one if he weren't living so far away (or just buy one from him)

Re:Ain't all that.

[Silver222]

Damn straight! I have a feeling linzeal is the kind of guy who scoffs at a hand built hotrod and raves about a modded Honda.

That case is a work of art!

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

are you all on crack??? this case took the guy 250 man hours!!!

let's say that a case modder would get half the hourly rate than a computer repair guy... $100/2 = $50 x's 250 hours = $12,500!!!

sweet jesus... you're envious of this?

hmm, maybe someone was on crack, and its not slashdot readers...

Re:Ain't all that.

[linzeal]

Wtf are you talking about? Did you even go to the link and click around their are clear cases, aluminium cases, and suitcase cases all built by hand.

This page has a case made entirely out of legos.

This page has a custom plastic case porsche-like with a spoiler.

I know the difference between a modded case and a custom case. I just wish people would frigging take more than 2 seconds at a link before raving like lunatics.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

that's what i thought at first. i looked at it and said to myself, "self: that is one cool setup." then i scrolled down and saw the second picture with the door upen, and the cdrom visible, which gave it some scale. that thing is huge! twice as wide as a normal computer, just as tall, about as deep. it's enormous.

"hey, how did you make your mini-fridge glow like that? is the door open?"

Re:Ain't all that.

[MaxVlast]

That is beautiful. It looks a lot like a non-black NeXT cube. Even the little logo is reminiscent of a Linux-styled version of the NeXT logo.

It's a shame it'll have a nst of hideous PC cables coming out the back and connecting to a butt-ugly monitor and keyboard. The peripherals are half the battle =)

I know--I use an Apple Extended Keyboard and a Mac trackball. They work well, but they look crappy in front of a nice, sleek black monitor.

Oh, yea, and those cases the earlier poster linked to are some of the more tasteless things I've seen in a while. I can't imagine someone would prefer those to the cube that the guy built.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Jedi Binglebop]

Maybe if we plead to him he might release his CAD diagrams and other stats?

-JB

Re:Ain't all that.

[maverick_and_goose]

i would assume he included design time in the CAD environment. also add in the fact that the first time you do something like this it takes way to much time then it would to recreate. I am not sure, so this will be strictly a guess but i would assume the next one could be done in under 20 hours and i wouldn't be surprised if it took even less time.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

whatever dude.

your comparing a handcrafted aluminum case built from scratch to some prefabbed case w/air brushed graphics.

most of those modded pc's look like some store bought case + store bought spray paint.

form follows function buddy.

and your taste is pretty aweful.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Chris Burke]

In that guy's defense, all the custom by-hand jobs were after the 1st page. Still, most were hack-ups of existing cases. The suitcase ones were cool, and the lego was a nice novelty... But even counting those amongst the majority of "stock case with extra holes for fans, some neon tubes, and blue spray paint", there was nothing as cool as "Frozen".

The porsche one looked stupid, because of that ridiculous spoiler.

Re:Ain't all that.

[zinger]

You'd think that people would learn to stop attacking Israel.

Re:Ain't all that.

[jayemdaet]

Yeah, those cases weren't all that. The use the same verticle design model and weren't as cool... The Frozen box rawkz my world.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

are you all on crack?

i'm still getting a 404.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why aren't we told if it's an editor moderating our posts?

because stone cold said so (tm)

Re:Ain't all that.

[Alan Partridge]

I'm a long time Mac user and I laugh at PC case mods but I think this guys' work is really good. The only things that would have improved it (in my view) would have been to use a slot-load drive and a cleaner door arrangement. I LOVE his fan placement and lighting ideas. Kudos!

Re:Ain't all that.

[Xerithane]

It could be a coffee table. That is part of it's coolness in my opinion. It's a massive beast, but it looks cool.

A friend of mine is working with me one what would make a case "really cool and effective" -- lots of ideas can be taken from this. While it's size is a deterrent for most people, it's a good setup and base design.

Re:Ain't all that.

[NonSequor]

You have overwhelmingly bad taste.

Re:Ain't all that.

[syn3rg]

I prefer this Case mod myself http://www.datadocktorn.nu/us_desktop1.php

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Huh?

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it just me or is this porn for geeks not just news for geeks?

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

I e-mailed him. I didn't even plead. He said the following. I sincerely hope that he doesn't kill me for the posting of this:

"It's pretty quiet and pretty heavy :-) (about 20 kg) the internal temp
is about 3 degrees above room temp.

This is the first time I build this. For the cad drawings check my site
in a week or so ok.

Dennis"

Sweet, no? I don't have the machinery to build this thing. As mentioned before, it won't take you 200+ hours to make this if you have the design. I mean, he definitely spent 90% of his time doing it in CAD.

Not to sound like an ass, but a lot of you guys, atleast the loud-mouths who are talking, have little to no experience with CAD. You can't get a CAD program that can do anything worthwhile for $100. A mini-CAD costs $350 with an educational discount. You could design that with a mini-CAD, so that's probably it.

Also, you're all such software heads! "yeah, it costs 400 euros, but he had to buy the cad software...blah, blah" So what about the machinery? The drills? The cutting? How to make the bevels? Sigh...

Re:Ain't all that.

[Anonymous Coward]

most CAD programs will auto generate the CNC code to drive the milling machine and cut the parts. i've used pro-engineer which does that all fairly trivially. you can download http://www.blender.nl blender which isnt CAD but it gives you the same "feel" as using proengineer or CATIA. CATIA trials are also available free for 30 days.

Re:Ain't all that.

[WyldOne]

Actaully I would say the case is about 2ft on each size in size max. I use the ATX MB size as a reference so it's maybe a bit smaller.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Xerithane]

Ok, so maybe an end table. I used to have an ATX mobo that was the bigger of the factors (Used the full perimeter of the mount plate) and damn that board was huge. Was a Micronix (I think.. been a few years) -- loved that board, then it caught on fire. (Literally)

Re:Ain't all that.

[WyldOne]

Well for big boards Micronics 486 was very large. The biggest I've seen so far was from a Compaq server. Almost 3 ft long.

Re:Ain't all that.

[Xerithane]

This was for a P6-200Mhz. I loved that box like a child until it blew up. Micronics were great boards, even though they were large (excluding my fire incident) -- the VXi power card was just spiffy.

Server Problems!

[hank]

It appears the /casemod subdirectory was removed from his webserver. Here's the Google cached version:

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:q2MWTRCyeksC: www.vieren.be/casemod/+&hl=en

very nice

[frankmu]

it looks like a very nice design. i wonder where the powersupply is, and how loud the fans are. i wish we had access to good looking cases such as these. especially for those who are innept at building stuff.

Re:very nice

[CalcMan]

there are other pics on the page that seem to show it before it was fully assembled

Re:very nice

[frankmu]

yes, i noticed it soon after. are there any decent fan-less powersupplies out there that this box could use?

Syntax Error at line 1

[gwernol]

A Belgian guy, Dennis Vieren, probably designed and built the most beautiful aluminium (sic) case ever, called project "Frozen".

I think there's little doubt that Dennis built the case.

Perhaps you meant "A Belgian guy, Dennis Vieren, designed and built what is probably the most beautiful aluminum case ever..."?

Re:Syntax Error at line 1

[jsprat]

Or maybe the original poster is from Britain, where they sometimes actually spell it "aluminium". Before I post, let me double check...

From dictionary.com:

aluminium
n. Chiefly British

Although, after seeing a few posts here, he could have just misspelled it...;)

Re:Syntax Error at line 1

[enneff]

You fucking retard. The element is 'aluminium', not 'aluminum'.

Re:Syntax Error at line 1

[Anonymous Coward]

Aluminium was the original correct spelling, which turns out to be the spelling used at the author's homepage, too. (a google search on aluminum site:vieren.be would show zero results, as opposed to the other spelling.) The spelling without the "i" came from a misspelled U.S. chemistry poster of the periodic table of elements. Since then, aluminum became an acceptable spelling in the States.

Re:Syntax Error at line 1

[1234567890zxcvbnm]

That still doesn't excuse the fucktard's shitty grammar.

Re:Syntax Error at line 1

[Fruit]

The poster is Dutch. In .nl we spell the element "aluminium" and pronounce it like that, too.

Re:Syntax Error at line 1

[armb]

> Britain, where they sometimes actually spell it "aluminium"

We did this before.

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=28259&cid=30 37 610

/.-ing commencing....

[nihilist_1137]

1 aluminium case : few hundred euros
cad software : $100
self-assembly : free

Posting 3 256kb pictures in a slashdot link : priceless

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[luge]

You can watch the pain at his ISP's stats page.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[belg4mit]

That's not his ISP. Nedtstat is a free counter, been around for a long time I've had one for at least 4 years. It's in Dutch (Ned Stat = Nederlands (Dutch) Statistics, I'm guessing). They also have a US/English service available as well.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Nameles]

Isn't it Netherlands and not Nederlands?

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Any Web Loco]

Can someone mirror this?

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think it matters much when the English name isn't the local name to begin with.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[bonzoesc]

Only in the US and maybe some other english-speaking countries. The people of the nation in question refer to their home as Nederlands.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't it Netherlands and not Nederlands?

Isn't it Verenigde Staten and not the United States?! ... You fuckin' monoglot drongo!

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[belg4mit]

Yes now, you are correct sir.
We have also accepted Holland.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Engelbot]

I would, but now the stats page is slashdotted. Somewhere, some gremlin is laughing his/her fool head off over this one.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[PG_Cathedral]

Nederland.

Not Nederlands.... Otherwise, you are completely correct.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Anonymous Coward]

It's weird how MasterCard commercial parodies continue to be funny. I laugh every goddamn time. Kudos to you sir, you are a master comedian.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't Dutch one of those dying languages?

What percentage of the world's population speaks it?

How does that compare to non-dying languages, like Spanish, English, Chinese?

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[cyberon22]

Are those "Land van herkomst" stats representative of the slashdot audience overall? Looks like the Netherlands is completely clocking the UK....

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Anonymous Coward]

Can someone mirror this?
http://216.74.64.37/casemod/index.htm

- God is a meme -
Yep.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't call it dying. It's spoken in Holland, a part of Belgium, and - in a rudimentary form called Afrikaans - by a part of the population of South-Africa. I don't know what it is percentagewise, I guess not too much compared to English. It's spoken by millions of people, though.

Apart from that, it has class, which cannot be said from your native tongue.

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[cvanaver]

Results are in for Country for Page Views.....

And the winner is....
USA in a remarkable blowout (48%)! Gold for tha Americans!
Canada takes the silver
Netherlands takes the bronze

Interesting profiling of slahdot viewers (or maybe the rest of the world doesn't give a damn about case mods)

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[belg4mit]

This was supposed to be a child of:

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=28653&cid=30 82

Oh well

Re:/.-ing commencing....

[Garak]

Only if he got paid $1 for every hit is page recived. $79,000 would be pretty nice to get for being slashdotted. :)

Oooohhh Aaaahhhh

[Hammerself]

It makes me feel like I'm living in the future.

Then again, so does bubble wrap.

"'Moon Pies'? What a time to be alive."
--Jasper

OT

[[amorphis]]

use the link at the bottom to watch the slashdotting in realtime! :)

WOW!

[red5]

This is the radest case ever.
300/400 Eur = 259.5742/346.0989 source Exchangerate.com.

Re:WOW!

[leviramsey]

I would have no problem paying up to $200 for this. Seriously...

Considering that it cost him about $250 in materials, I don't think so.

Re:WOW!

[Sloppy]

I would have no problem paying up to $200 for this. Seriously...

Swell. Let's see... the raw materials cost more than that, and assuming a sweatshop slave wage rate for 250 hours .. oh, it cost him about ten times as much as your bid. Don't hold your breath waiting for his excited reply to your generous offer.

Re:WOW!

[red5]

Swell. Let's see... the raw materials cost more than that, and assuming a sweatshop slave wage rate for 250 hours .. oh, it cost him about ten times as much as your bid. Don't hold your breath waiting for his excited reply to your generous offer.

The materials were bought for a single unit if you buy in bulk you get considral price breaks.
250 Hours laber was most likely in the CAD program, design work only neads to be done once.

Re:WOW!

[Hall]

I can't imagine that design needing 250 hours of CAD work... It is VERY nice looking, no doubt about that. My guess is most of the labor was in actual production of the parts. Assembly looks pretty simple.

Re:WOW!

[jawad]

Emm. He gives a roundabout number from 300 to 400 Euros (HUGEly roundabout) and you do your conversions to 4 significant digits each? Wow, SOMEONE missed those high school chem/physics lectures about significant digits.

Re:Wow!

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope you realize it shows [goatse.cx] right by the link. :P

On another note, a dward throws a knife at you!

Re:WOW!

[Anonymous Coward]

Please learn to spell, you fucking
communist. You are hurting my eyes.

Re:WOW!

[red5]

Naw just to lazy to round them off.
Exchangerate.com alwase converts to the 100th of a cent.

Re:WOW!

[red5]

Fair enough but if he were to get them mass prodused the cost would drop significantly.

Re:WOW!

[Anonymous Coward]

and making router templates for those crazy cutouts.

Re:WOW!

[DrSkwid]

yeah because no doubt he hit on that design first time in about 2 hours!

:)

WOW!

[Kaypro]

Very well done.

So when you gonna start mass producing?

I would have no problem paying up to $200 for this. Seriously...

What's the noise situation like BTW?

mmm

[Joe the Lesser]

*drools* I think I'm in love. It is too sexy! I shouldn't look at it, but I must!

What a waste...

[HorseMorticuS]

How does that Styx song go? "Too much time on my hands..."

Re:What a waste...

[virg_mattes]

Odd, that's what someone once said when Steve Jobs and Woz were burning the midnight oil in their garage...

Perhaps this guy can start making a living building and selling them. One never knows, so one shouldn't be so quick to judge.

Virg

He's being sued.....

[JayAndSilentBob]

by Nintendo for ripping off their next-generation Game Cube. Seriously, that thing does remind me of a Nintendo Gamecube. maybe it's the cutsey logo thing on the side... I'm not sure

Re:He's being sued.....

[Garinwirth]

I guess you've never seen a NeXT Cube, eh?

Re:He's being sued.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Pardon my age, but what the hell is a NeXT cube?

Re:He's being sued.....

[Garinwirth]

This: http://www.lowendmac.com/next/cube.html

Re:He's being sued.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for the update.

Re:He's being sued.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Apple sues Nintendo sues guy who made aluminium case.

Re:He's being sued.....

[DrSkwid]

My IP is 192.168.1.100 Hack it if you want.

hey, that's mine, give it back!!

i'll have to use I92.IGB.I.IOO now!

Sweet

[CalcMan]

That Case is pretty damn cool, but 250 hrs, that is insane, how can there possibly be time to do that, like does this guy have absolutely no life? or was this some type of a job project?
cool but way over the top

Re:Sweet

[Anonymous Coward]

I did some pretty cool case mods myself (but nothing to compare with this guy). My work took me 3 weekends. Each day of the weekends I spent about 15 hours working on it. So I put in about 90 hours over 3 weekends. Kinda of burned me out on case mods for awhile. But then again, this guy looks like he has all the right tools and cad software and so on. My tools boil down to a dremel tool and a hand file. My cad "software" is quadruled graph paper. I'd love to have a machine shop to play with though ...

Re:Sweet

[Logopop]

No actually - it is this guy who HAS a life, who can take the time to enjoy a great hobby etc. If you don't have a couple of hours a day to mess with a great project like this (due to cubicle work for example), then you don't have a life. What's the meaning of life, anyway?

Re:Sweet

[Anonymous Coward]

you dont have a lot of hobbies, do you?

Re:Sweet

[Anonymous Coward]

If you were to stop watching 3 hours of TV each night and work on a hobby of some sort (like building a fancy new PC case out of aluminum), then it would take you about 83 days, or about 3 months to do 250 hours of work.

Sweet!!

[Enhypnion]

I will definatly give the guy a 10 for style, but its definatly not as accessible as a Mac.

Re:Sweet!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I will definatly give the guy a 10 for style, but its definatly not as accessible as a Mac

bullshit. show me how accessable your mac cube is...

Re:Sweet!!

[phyxeld]

bullshit. show me how accessable your mac cube is...

The mac cube is this accessible.

Apple envy?

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like another case of Apple envy to me...

Sexy

[Skyshadow]

Now *that's* one sexy cube.

I'm telling you: there's a huge market out there for designer computers. If you could put out machines that weren't beige boxes but which instead were hip, you'd find a huge market with the 20-somethings.

Apple made a run at this, and look how successful they were without running the mainstream Wintel setup.

People already routinely pay 500% more than they need to for clothes (ck), home furnishings (Pottery Barn), even sporting goods just because of the brand name and for the chance to be fashionable. I can't see why computers should be any different. Pair this thing with a big flat-screen, a top-notch audio system and other similarly hip appointments, do some serious marketing, maybe brand it with known designer and I gaurantee you could sell these things for $5k each.

Re:Sexy

[WasterDave]

Pair this thing with ... a top-notch audio system

Remembering to make the case itself a subwoofer?

Dave

Re:Sexy

[megaduck]

Remembering to make the case itself a subwoofer?

Call me crazy, but I'm not wild about having a huge throbbing magnet next to my drives.

Re:Sexy

[Anonymous Coward]

Encase it in .125 7075-T6 aluminum and you wouln't have to worry much about it.

Re:Sexy

[Anonymous Coward]

Call me crazy, but I'm not wild about having a huge throbbing magnet next to my drives.

I'll be sure to forward that to Dr. Freud.

Re:Sexy

[Skyshadow]

I'd think the vibrations would cause drive problems...

Re:Sexy

[spencerogden]

I doubt most components would like too much vibration...

Re:Sexy

[Metrollica]

I'm telling you: there's a huge market out there for designer computers.

Tell me why then did the Apple G4 Cube and many other designer computers fail miserably? Apple has said it will not try to resurrect the Cube in the future, and I think for a good reason.

I just don't see why the purchase of an expensive small non-upgradeable machine, like the one discussed in the article, would be a good decision for anyone. There are inexpensive mini towers if you want something small and they can be upgraded.

Computers were designed first and foremost for getting a job done, not to look good or be overly expensive. The same goes today. This explains why many of the designer computers are no more and the basic beige boxes will continue to be popular.

Re:Sexy

[WasterDave]

Oh, um, yeah. Not good, eh?

Dave

Re:Sexy

[sean23007]

But if companies were to do this, they might alienate the geeks. If computers suddenly became "hip" for everyone, and the average computing Joe had an uber-mod case, what would we at Slashdot do? That's right, we'd all go back to the ugliest beige boxes we can find, and we'd disconnect the LEDs, and we'd unplug every speaker except the one on the inside that beeps when something goes wrong.

We don't buy CK because we can wear clothes without the 5x surcharge. We don't buy home furnishings from Pottery Barn because we can buy adequate furnishings elsewhere for much less money, we avoid things that are expensive for the sake of being popular (or vice versa), so would we then avoid the case-mod?

Just a suggestion.

Re:Sexy

[Spencerian]

Um...did you actually look at the size of this thing?

This is nothing more than an ATX motherboard with an exceedingly large amount of space for expansion.

Apple failed at the Cube because it didn't really have an audience--it was powerful but not expandable (like the G4 towers) or cheap (like the iMacs) or portable (like the iBook or PowerBook). It was a great design--but it had no market since Apple covered them all for its area. You're right--Apple discontinued it for that good reason.

But a case like this--oh, boy, would IT have a market. I would pay up to $300 for this case alone.

ANY computer can get the job done today (just slap Linux on it if you have to)--now its a matter of aesthetics until someone places one with an artificial intelligence in a human-shaped form.

Re:Sexy

[MrBlack]

From what I saw of the screen-shots the case shown was not small, and could have been easily upgraded. It was made from scratch, you're not exactly 'locked in' to anything with that are you?

Re:Sexy

[dimator]

People already routinely pay 500% more than they need to for clothes (ck)


Hrm... I might spend 500% more, but that means I'm 500% cooler than you!

Re:Sexy

[Oztun]

This machine is upgradeable. He used standard PC parts to build it. Now granted it might take longer to upgrade but a consumer isn't gonna care about that. Hell if I had a case this cool I wouldn't care that it took me longer to change out the parts.

Didn't mean to post this AC the first time, doh!

Re:Sexy

[zapfie]

I agree with the fact that it is definately possible (and common practice) to charge large markups on "hip" items. However, this is more true at the lower price end, where the markup still results in a product most people can afford. When you begin to mark up more expensive items, say a $1000 computer, you are talking more about a markup of $4000, which will put the product far outside the price range of most in the market for a computer.

Re:Sexy

[napa1m]

forget making the case a sub, park one of THESE badboys in the corner and you're all set :P~~~

Re:Sexy

[istartedi]

I bet this was true for Jennifer Lopez.

Re:Sexy

[Jedi Binglebop]

Does that mean you spend 500% more for 1/500th the coverage?

-JB

(laugh, it's funny!)

Re:Sexy

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly...Look at the pretty, shiny, beautiful GUI that comes on WinXP or a Mac, yet many hardcore geeks rebel against that and use the command line only. I think that when boxes get all pretty, shiny and beautiful lots of geeks really will start to use ugly as hell beige boxes. Maybe even beige boxes with green screens!

Re:Sexy

[Some Dumbass...]

Hrm... I might spend 500% more, but that means I'm 500% cooler than you!

Sorry guy, but 500% of zero is still zero...

Re:Sexy

[DrSpin]

When the 286 came out, I suggested marketing incredibly expensive walnut, teak and mahogany cases for them. People said I was a basket case.

I personally woud pay $150 for a CAST IRON case. I am truly P*ssed off with Alminium ones - they crush when you put a cup of coffee on them.

And I want AT/ATX dual fitting, and enough cooling to handle dual Sledge Hammer processors. (Quad Sledgehammers if someone ever makes the motherboards).

But i'm writing this on a 233MHz K6-II (NetBSD), which I would also put in a cast iron case if I could.

Re:Sexy

[quirk3k]

Apple failed at the Cube because it didn't really have an audience--it was powerful but not expandable (like the G4 towers) or cheap (like the iMacs) or portable (like the iBook or PowerBook). It was a great design--but it had no market since Apple covered them all for its area. You're right--Apple discontinued it for that good reason.

I was thinking how much it look like a suped up version of the G4 Cube. The reason that the Cube failed though was not because there wasn't a market. There just wasn't a big enough market for Apple. A small shop making customized cases like that could do well selling them to fashionable home users, but a even bigger market would be for a companies front office or sales office. Something like this guys cube would make a big impression.

-- Jeff

Or mabye just get one and set it up at work to make all my cow-orkers jealous as H*LL.

Re:Sexy

[JoshMKiV]

Like the super sexy 20th aniv Mac? Or all of the other sexy boxes? Like the fine woods, etc? This one is perhaps the best I have ever seen, but the market for selling these at the price-point to make a profit is sadly, very small.

Re:Sexy

[RFC959]

I personally woud pay $150 for a CAST IRON case. I am truly P*ssed off with Alminium ones - they crush when you put a cup of coffee on them.

And with your new cast iron case, you can crush your entire desk when you put the computer on it.

Re:Sexy

[0x20]

You're crazy.

The magnet in a speaker, unless it's the size of a small asteroid, won't magically erase your drives. This is a common misconception. It's not the presence of the magnetic field itself, but a very specific oscillation in the magnetic field, at microscopic distances, which can alter data on a hard disk platter. Floppies are only slightly more vulnerable.

Re:Sexy

[Schrodinger's Mouse]

Yeah, but it'd be impossible to steal. And it'd look really good with only an occasional coat of shortening.

Re:Sexy

[Pooua]

The magnet in a speaker, unless it's the size of a small asteroid, won't magically erase your drives. This is a common misconception. It's not the presence of the magnetic field itself, but a very specific oscillation in the magnetic field, at microscopic distances, which can alter data on a hard disk platter. Floppies are only slightly more vulnerable.

I found an interesting Web page that might shed some light on the use of magnetic fields to erase magnetic media:

"It is important to note that the US Government guidelines class tapes of 350 Oe coercivity or less as low-energy or Class I tapes and tapes of 350-750 Oe coercivity as high-energy or Class II tapes. Degaussers are available for both types of tapes. Tapes over 750 Oe coercivity are referred to as Class III, with no known degaussers capable of fully erasing them being known, since even the most powerful commercial AC degausser cannot generate the recommended 7,500 Oe needed for full erasure of a typical DAT tape currently used for data backups."

Typical Media Coercivity Figures

Medium Coercivity

5.25" 360K floppy disk 300 Oe
5.25" 1.2M floppy disk 675 Oe
3.5" 720K floppy disk 300 Oe
3.5" 1.44M floppy disk 700 Oe
3.5" 2.88M floppy disk 750 Oe
3.5" 21M floptical disk 750 Oe
Older (1980's) hard disks 900-1400 Oe
Newer (1990's) hard disks 1400-2200 Oe
1/2" magnetic tape 300 Oe
1/4" QIC tape 550 Oe
8 mm metallic particle tape 1500 Oe
DAT metallic particle tape 1500 Oe

"Do You Know What's Left On Your Disk? 'Data Remanence'"
http://rr.sans.org/covertchannels/rem anence.php

Re:Sexy

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting how this post is modded a 3 funny (it is funny), but the next post, which is basically the same joke but slightly more sexual, is modded '1 offtopic'.

Someone gave mod points to the christians again, didn't they!

Well done

[LiquidPC]

Really nice looking. Appears kind of elaborate to get into though, as far as I can tell from the photos. I especially like the logos on the side. Too bad it'll be slashdotted soon with the amount of images on the page.

Re:Well done

[netsharc]

The genius of it is that (a couple of) the cut out logos serve as ventilation holes. But 2 layers of alumunium? A bit of overkill, in my opinion.. but it is sure as hell one sweet case

hats off

[spir0]

my hats off to this guy. too many case mods I've seen at lans are just more of the same thing.. little window here, neon tubes there..

I've been trying to tower/mod my amiga 3000 for some time now, but don't have the patience this guy does. or probably the desk space either :)

what I would like to see is this guy get some venture capital and start his own business designing primo cases because, lets face it.. even a lot of the nice aluminium cases out there just look plain boring.

oooh sexy.

[BenTheDewpendent]

nice case... this guy should keep it up. i hope to see more cases from/by him.. maybe even for sale. looks like some quality case and would love a couple sexy boxen like that around...

now i just gotta learn CAD... get setup for CAM...and find 250 hours and the money to build one.

Nice

[1stflight]

Yeah this'll prolly get modded "redundant" but even still, that's one nice case, I'd buy one!

Wow I'm impressed!

[Daath]

The thing is truly a beautiful piece of work! I just hope for him that the light can be turned off ;) Also it appears immensely big! I mean, build a cube out of 6 full size ATX mainboards - it's bigger than that!
I couldn't fit that where my computer is now. And I'm pretty sure my girlfriend wouldn't let me if I could :) hehe

Re:Wow I'm impressed!

[vanguard]

It didn't look *that* big to me. I could be wrong but as I look at the picture that shows the cdrom, I see that it's large but not huge.

Re:Wow I'm impressed!

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, build a cube out of 6 full size ATX mainboards

Ooh, imagine a beowulf cluster of those.

Re:Wow I'm impressed!

[l810c]

Looking at the 5 1/4 CD and the 80cm(I assume) fan up top, this thing about a 12" cube.

Re:Wow I'm impressed!

[yukonbob]

I couldn't fit that where my computer is now. And I'm pretty sure my girlfriend wouldn't let me if I could

Just don't let one hand know what the other's doing...

;),

-yb

Re:Wow I'm impressed!

[Anonymous Coward]

That hand comment was too funny! I don't think most people got it.

Re:Wow I'm impressed!

[awx]

I couldn't fit that where my computer is now. And I'm pretty sure my girlfriend wouldn't let me if I could :) hehe

My girlfriend lets me keep a VAX 11/730.

Very cool, but what I want to see is...

[jcsehak]

a clear plexiglass case that's a foot or two high by a few feet wide and a few inches thick, that I can hang on my wall. It could go right under a flat screen and I could spend all day "staring at the wall."

Re:Very cool, but what I want to see is...

[Kisai]

There is a local company somewhere in BC that makes pure plexiglass chasis. They are designed for "showing off" the inside of the machine. I would imagine the EM fields from plexiglass lack of shielding would be a trade-off. No using the computer for a chair now...

Re:Very cool, but what I want to see is...

[Anonymous Coward]

how about the guys sys in the film Pi, the processor was in a plexiglass case and the rest of it was spread out over the rest of his room

Re:Very cool, but what I want to see is...

[commanderfoxtrot]

I am currently in the process of constructing a slim-line case for my car mp3 player: it's a basic P90 AT machine with an AWE32 sound card and networking stuff. I have worked out how to build it in a twelve inch square box that is just over an inch thick: limited by the size of the two hard drives.

I use an ISA sound card because it is relatively easy wire up a flexible extender without worrying too much about the wire length. Soldering 60-70 wires isn't fun, but when you can flatpack your cards, it's definitely worth it!

Re:Meh

[moncyb]

What's the point??? Well, Hollywood execs will want it for their next movie. It'll impress girls-- slutty ones too. He can straddle them all on the case and make his own pr0n--no need for storage here!!! I just hope he made it sturdy enough! ;-)

coincidence?

[Terry Dignon]

looks a bit like a G4Mac...mere coincidence? nananana (lame attempt at twightlight zone theme song)

Is there a recursed /. effect?

[Anonymous Coward]

No one will be able to see the /. effect in real time because in a matter of minutes, the stats website is going to be taken offline as well ;)

Ok, the below now starts to get off the news topic and onto the topic of the /. effect.

As a side note, I wonder what the longest recursive /. effect is (or has been)?

e.g....
Slashdot links website x1
website x1 links website x2
...
website xn-1 links website xn

Obviously, website x1 would be taken offline. But in the process, how much would the /. effect ripple down? Even if x1 is taken offline, people still view the cached copy on google (or some other similar service), which would provide links to websites xi.

Anyone know the record number of websites taken offline by the "recursed /. effect"?

Re:Is there a recursed /. effect?

[Anonymous Coward]

(1) you're taking the /. effect WAY too seriously.

(2) you're overestimating it's strength

Unless we're dealing with some REALLY puny web servers, I don't think even the second-level deep linked sites ever experience a traffic surge big enough to wipe them out.

Re:Is there a recursed /. effect?

[drachenstern]

--start with throaty breathing sounds through a powered filter--
CowboyNeal-Never underestimate the power of the /. effect. The power of the uninformed is no match for the power of the /. effect.
A/C-Don't threaten me with your voodoo wizardry, CowboyNeal. I'll never believe there is some all powerful group of programmers who can perform on the fly DDoS's on the Internet.
CN-(steps forward)
A/C-(cough cough, strangle)
CmdrTaco-CowboyNeal, that's enough, release him.
CN-(faces CmdrTaco, releases A/C)

-okay ppl, if ya got that one, i'll fell really good.

(This post has been a gratuitous movie reference [Star Wars: Episode 4 - A New Hope])

Re:Meh

[LiquidPC]

Something to do, something to brag about, something to get you on slashdot's front page... We'll never know.

Too Many Fans!

[Anonymous Coward]

I count at least 5 case fans... seems like overkill. Yes, if he could get the costs down, this is a marketable design. Looks like some redesign is necessary to make it more economically manufacturable, though. 250 hours of labor per case won't cut it in the market, I'm afraid.

interference problems

[crystalplague]

I wonder if the Al shields EMF's enought that they don't interfere with anything like phones, tvs, etc.

Re:interference problems

[psavo]

Al is metal, it conducts electricity. That's enough to make Faraday cage work.
I really don't think that materials that are used in today's cases are chosen for their emf-shielding abilities, but because of their low price.

Re:interference problems

[Anonymous Coward]

I wondered about the EMI considerations as well. Those "neat" logo cut-outs on the side are like garage doors for EMI radiation.

For commercial applications, cases must meet specific requirements but I'm sure homemade deals get in under the "experimental" label.

Re:interference problems

[Phanatic1a]

Those "neat" logo cut-outs on the side are like garage doors for EMI radiation.


That'd be a high frequency EM wave that can fit through what looks to be gap of about 1cm. About 30 GHz, actually, which puts it into the microwave range. If your PC is emitting in the microwave range, something's probably wrong in the first place. Plus, it's not going to interfere with much.

Re:interference problems

[diablovision]

There are FCC regulations covering how much EMF noise electronic equipment is allowed to generate. Ever see that CE mark on almost any electronic equipment? That means its certified by the FCC.

Re:interference problems

[Speed Racer]

Guess again. The CE mark has absolutely nothing to do with the FCC.

The FCC is an independent United States government agency that is is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable.

The CE mark is used the by the European Commission as a "passport" which can allow a manufacturer to freely circulate their products within the European marketplace

Re:interference problems

[Anonymous Coward]

If your PC is emitting in the microwave range, something's probably wrong in the
first place. Plus, it's not going to interfere with much.

If it interferes with the pizza reheating
in my microwave range, there's going to
be trouble. Nobody interferes with my pizza!

Re:interference problems

[Bishop]

The European CE mark is quite a bit more strict then any of the FCC's guidelines. Look for CE the next time you buy anything electrical. It is an indication of a better product.

Re:interference problems

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps so, but the CE marking is nothing more than a promise from the manufacturer that they follow the guidelines. There are no independent checks to ensure that they actually are followed.

Re:interference problems

[jaoswald]

For good shielding, you typically need to limit the apertures to something like wavelength/10. That gap is a little slot antenna, which still radiates even when it is smaller than a wavelength.

Also that huge open space where the light comes through probably doesn't shield much of anything.

I doubt this case would get past the FCC.

Re:interference problems

[plsander]

Don't forget - If RF can get out, RF can get in.

External RF and computers do not get along very well. And the FCC says that it is up to the device to reject any interferance from licensed transmitters.

Re:interference problems

[Anonymous Coward]

Openings have to be at least a full wavelength for rf to escape.

NeXT-style cube cases

[radoni]

I find the cube to be more attractive then a bulking beige box. Thinking back to when the Apple G4 Cube was introduced, and how many of my friends said they liked the design, why is it that the consumer market is still dominated by tower-type system housings? What makes Aluminium easier to machine than say, Magnesium or Steel? How marketable are hobbyist case designs to larger consumer-market case retailers/manufacturers?

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[crystalplague]

Magnesium is hard as hell for an amateur to work on. It needs to be cut in an inert environment so it doesn't burn. Once Mg gets burning, not much stops it.

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[caferace]

What makes Aluminium easier to machine than say, Magnesium or Steel?

Hmmm. You don't seem to know much about metal, do you? Aluminum is a rather "soft" metal, therefore it doesn't require rather expensive machine tools to machine. If one wanted to (and had a decent set of hand or low-end power tools) you could ostensibly make this at home in your garage. Of course, the laser-cutting device might not fit unless you had a large garage.

Magnesium and Steel, on the other hand require some serious hardware. Plus, steel is rather heavy, although a rusted out case might look pretty cool.

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[Anonymous Coward]

The NeXT cubes were a Magnesium alloy that didn't burn easily. I think it was Simson Garfinkel that tried to burn one and it took a lot of work to get it done.

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[binaryDigit]

Plus, steel is rather heavy, although a rusted out case might look pretty cool

Hey, how about neo-industrial art cases made from rusted out stuff from a junkyard. You could have a case that's cut from the gas tank of a 82 Nova. Or how about mounting that dual proccy Athlon inside the exposed radiator of a VW Bus? Or mounted in an old upright freezer, plenty of cooling there.

Or how's this, mount the guts under your office chair, and put dual lcd displays on each arm with a split chorded keyboard, now THAT would be sweeeet. Better provide plenty of cooling though, or put some insulation in your jeans, or just sit around reading /. all day and build up your own insulation.

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[boinger]

Uh. VW Buses don't have radiators. Nor do Bugs. Nor do Ghias. Nor to Fastbacks, Squarebacks, Notchbacks, Things, Super Beetles, Type 4s, Schwimmenwagens, or Kubelwagens.

And in case it comes up, nor do older Porsches (356s, 914s, older 911s, etc).

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[Hadlock]

actually, if i recall correctly, there were two models of the VW busses, the air cooled, and the water/air cooled. my friend has an air cooled model, but when shopping around for one in south dallas, about 1 in 3 had water cooling built in. i wouldn't mind seeing a case built out of an old VW engine block, though. attach whatever you want to the engine block and let it passively cool it. might have to get an engine stand to mount it on, though.

i know audi vw and porsche share alot of similar parts nowadays, so are there any air-cooled audi's you forgot to mention? or is the audi/vw/porsche parts alliance more recent than air-cooled design?

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[pizen]

i know audi vw and porsche share alot of similar parts nowadays, so are there any air-cooled audi's you forgot to mention? or is the audi/vw/porsche parts alliance more recent than air-cooled design?

According to Audi's website, Audi became a wholly-owned subsidiary of VW in 1966. However, I never hear of anyone praising the simplicity of the Audi air-cooled engine like I hear of the old Beetle and Micro-Bus engines.

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[fataugie]

Plus, steel is rather heavy, although a rusted out case might look pretty cool.

Great, a rusty desktop case to go with a rusty '73 Pinto in the front yard....who the hell are you? Kenny from SouthPark? ;-) J/k dude!

You are right on about Aluminumiumium, althought it's harder to weld than steel. I have no idea about magnesium for welding.....like the guy above noted, if you manage to light it, you are screwed. Hope you're in the yard and not your basement. Now lithium, that would be a cool case, just don't drop any water on it!

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[ddstreet]

actually, if i recall correctly, there were two models of the VW busses, the air cooled, and the water/air cooled.

VW buses used the air-cooled VW bug engine (exact same engine) up until 1972 (or 74...i forget), when they changed to the new 'Porsche' engine (used in Porsche 914s) which was larger (really not much more difference). Still air-cooled. In 1979 the 'T3' bus (commonly called Vanagon) was introduced, but not fitted with a water-cooled engine until late 1982.

Most 'hardcode' Bus fanatics only consider the T2 (or less common T1, known as the 'split window' sytle bus, due to the split front windshield) body style bus to be the 'real' bus; T2s were from 1967 to 1979. T1s (the 'real' bus) were 1950-1967. The T3s are not considered 'real' VW busses usually.

attach whatever you want to the engine block and let it passively cool it.

The engine won't do anything more that act as a giant heatsink, basically, and unless the engine is actually running, you won't get cooling from the fan - it's bolted onto the front of the crackshaft. (And if it's running, you HAVE to have the engine shrouding in place or the air cooling won't work; plus operating temp is well over 300F).

Overall I don't think using an engine (from any car, really) as a cooling device is really going to work. :)

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[boinger]

You start off good. Yes, the early busses used the Type 1 "upright" engine. Past that...well, let me hit the problems point-by-point...

In mid 1972, yes, the larger engine came out (officially for the 1973 models). It is known as the "Type 4" engine. It was used in the porsche 914 (and 912), yes, but it was originally from the VW 411 and 412 (hence, the name). It was considerably larger and had a completely different case. Most parts, in fact, are not compatible with the earlier Type 1 and 2 engines.

T1 means Type 1 which is the Bug and Ghia (and the rarer variations like the Hebmuller)
T2 means Type 2 which is Buses only.
T3 means Type 3 which is Squarebacks (Variant in Europe), Fastbacks and Notchbacks.
T4 means Type 4 - already explained above.

The fan is NOT bolted to the crankshaft at ALL. It's on a shaft that runs through the generator (or alternator, if you have one). yes you have to have the shrouding in place. Jesus Christ, if your VW engine is "well over 300F", you'd better get away from it right now! If it's over 250F for any longer than a tiny bit (like sudden traffic after having been zooming around on the highway) you're going need it to be completely rebuilt really soon.

On a non VW issue. Your theory on heatsinks is ridiculous. Increased surface area certainly does decrease temperature. If it didn't you'd have to have a fan on ALL chips. Old computers have no fans on chips - just heatsinks. Not to mention Apple's Cube.

Any questions?

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[boinger]

The watercooled models stopped the "bloodline" of what were called "buses" and are referred to as "vans".

Semantic, yes. But semantics are good for ya! :)

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[ddstreet]

it was originally from the VW 411 and 412 (hence, the name)

Yes. But it was designed by/with Porsche, so it really is a Porsche engine, regardless of who used it first. Yes, it is parts-wise completely different, when I said it was 'just larger' I meant the basic design is the same - 4 cylinder horizonally-opposed engine. I don't dispute that most parts are very different, just that the design is very similar.

officially for the 1973 models

Mmm, pretty sure 72 was the first year for them. At least one person agrees that the "pancake" engine started in 72. I didn't bother looking elsewhere because I know I'm correct. :)

T1 means....etc

No, Type 1, Type 2, etc. mean bug, bus, etc as you say, I don't dispute that. However the BODY STYLE for the bus is T1 (early splitties), T2 (no split window, sliding side door), T3 (Vanagon), etc. See here, and here, and here, etc.

The fan is NOT bolted to the crankshaft at ALL.

Umm, on the pankcake engine it is. Either that, or someone is giving me drugs every time I removed and reinstalled it! :P I don't have much hands-on experience with the bug engine but I seem to remember it's part of the doghouse shrouding as you say.

if your VW engine is "well over 300F", you'd better get away from it right now!

You should install a cylinder head temp sensor some time...you are most likely thinking about OIL temperature, which indeed shouldn't be over 250, in fact that's a bit high.

Your theory on heatsinks is ridiculous

My "therory"? I didn't realize I had a "theory" on heatsinks...not sure where you got that idea from.

Increased surface area certainly does decrease temperature.

Yes it does. That doesn't mean bolting a 100+ lb case onto a CPU (and how you get good surface mating, I'm not even going to think about) is a good idea by any means. Anyway, the majority of cooling on a VW engine is done by the cylinder heat fins, and I just can't see how you're going to bolt a cylinder onto a CPU (no flat surfaces) - if you somehow did, it probably would work pretty well...

Old computers have no fans on chips - just heatsinks.

Uh, DUH? I have a 200MHz system at home with heatsink-only CPU cooling.

Any questions?

I have no questions, but you should really know what you're talking about before trying to flame someone; you are not really that informed.

Re:NeXT-style cube cases

[ddstreet]

The watercooled models stopped the "bloodline" of what were called "buses"

Actually the T3 body style (usually called Vanagons in the US) changed them from being called busses to van(agon)s. That happened in 1979. The first water cooled engine didn't come until 1982. And anyway, the name (bus/van) was associated with the body sytle, not engine type.

Impressive

[macdaddy]

This guy should work for Apple!

Re:Impressive

[rampant mac]

That sounds good! Like 3 years ago... Let's see him engineer it to 8" x 8" x 8" then he'll have something to bring to the table.. Ooops, they already did that, silly me. :)

Re:Impressive

[demon]

Oh, except then it's not really expandable. And the power supply is external. And you have to employ passive cooling, because there's not enough room for a fan.

Shrug. I think this completely kicks the crap out of the G4 Cube. It's not small, but who cares? It leaves room for expandability, and looks _damn_ sweet. What more can you really ask for?

Case mod mod

[Nathdot]

I mean sure that thing is beautiful and all, but its also fucking gigantic.

So why not utilise the extra space? Install some sort of refrigeration system -- very useful should you ever choose to overclock -- and turn it into the worlds first PC-case/Bar fridge.

You think it's a thing of beauty now, imagine reaching into it and pulling out a brewski, without getting up from your Quake session!

Awesome!

:)

Re:Case mod mod

[damsgaard]

Mmm ... /dev/beer

Re:Case mod mod

[cosyne]

the worlds first PC-case/Bar fridge.

Dude, it's a little late for that. It's been a while since /. ran the story (look it up yourself) but one of the best is VAXBar

Someday i hope to get back to the network-controlled drink mixing machine (yes it will have /dev/vodka) but that's on the back burner for a bit.

On the more serious side, i think if you did want to mix computing and beverages, you'd do better using the heat from your cpu for keeping your coffee warm, not putting extra load on your cooling system (and god forbid warming up your beer when you run a big job)

Re:Case mod mod

[Anonymous Coward]

Use the heat to make alcohol ie using it as a still. It's lawfull for you kiwis out there but us the other side of the tasman will be voilating a few laws

try this link more pics, god it's sexy!

[Anonymous Coward]

http://216.74.64.37/casemod/index.htm

Some decent work...

[danamania]

It's nice to see 'case mods' reach a point where they're more than a simple light or hole in the case.

Take a look at the modifications that extreme custom car builders do to their transport, not out of any practical reason, but for the love of building something with the most extreme quality. With imagination and hard work you can inject a LOT of style into your PC. I'd like to see systems with some insane 'tidying'... the auto customisers hidden wiring tricks, colour coded everything, even components laid out in an aesthetic manner. Not for practicality, but just -because-

If that's not your thing however - good for you. Everyone has a little excess (read: pointless but pretty) style in their life. Like the friend of mine who derides Mac cases for their 'prettiness' and claims function means all the most to her, but drives a more expensive bespoilered sporty looking car with no more performance than an average one.

Re:Some decent work...

[tswinzig]

Like the friend of mine who derides Mac cases for their 'prettiness' and claims function means all the most to her, but drives a more expensive bespoilered sporty looking car with no more performance than an average one.

If your friend drove a computer around town, perhaps she would be interested in a Mac?

Re:Some decent work...

[Anonymous Coward]

who derides Mac cases for their 'prettiness' and claims function means all the most to her

While Macs certainly look pretty, their designs clearly favor function over form -- pretty much every feature serves some function, but is made to have a beautiful form, within the context of serving that function. Compare this to a lot of modded PC cases, which tend to be encrusted with a lot of gratuitous flash -- plexiglass windows to show you the guts of the machine, lights to turn the interior pretty colors, complicated scenes painted on the sides.

Comparing an Apple to the average modded PC case is like comparing a Porche or BMW to a slightly-hotrodded, decal-covered Honda Civic.

weight???

[edrugtrader]

first off, the thing is huge.

second, how do i open the damn door?

Re:weight???

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm guessing the door opens like the covers hiding the controls on some TVs or older monitors - push in to have it spring back open, push it closed to have it spring back clasped shut.

Hmm that was harder to explain than I'd hoped.

Nothing beats the mac cube.

[Anonymous Coward]

And those cracks. They're art. Luddites!

talent

[f00zbll]

The simplicity of the design is very appealing. The guy obviously has talent.

Awsome

[Max the Merciless]

That looks awsome. I wonder how much these cases would cost if they were mass manufactured? I'd buy one for sure!

Re:Awsome

[Anonymous Coward]

How much would it cost? A freaking fortune! 3mm aluminum sheet ain't cheap, CNC laser cut panels, about a hundred little holes, hinges, brushed satin finish, on and on and on. All hand work, all expensive. Then there's the welding...

Production run of 1000 pieces, I bet they cost >$800 each. The only reason buddy got this thing together for ~$350 is free labor. The sheet probably cost him $200 alone.

Re:A waste of time

[SweetAndSourJesus]

You're absolutely right! We could have fed that aluminum and plastic to starving children. They'll eat anything.

It's all that and a bag of chips...

[megaduck]

While case mods are cool, they're just modifications of boring old PC cases. What's super-cool about this cube is that it was built from scratch and doesn't look like a traditional computer.

Besides, how many case modders use CAD and laser-cut aluminum? That's just nifty.

Re:A waste of time

[enneff]

Meanwhile you're using precoius resources to troll slashdot.

The idiocy of your post is astounding.

Wow! An idea!

[WetCat]

Why not make refridgerators (home fridges) with a slot for motherboard and cards? If you are in kitchen, you can use your fridge as a computer. Cold made by fridge can have an outlet to motherboard, making this a efficient cooling system for computer.

Re:Wow! An idea!

[CeZa]

actually its the hot air in abundance in a frion cooled system... if you've ever noticed that the refrigerator is always running, it does seem to have enough of a task to keep food cool, let alone hardware that would nuke itself if it had the choice.. first step would be to build non-suicidal processors

Impressive design...

[Agent_Seo-2]

hell of a design...not much more to say..
just some phats congrats to designer...

What's the big deal?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok, it was probably a lot of fun for him to design and assemble the case... But as a finished product I don't see it as anything great. Even the looks of it -- I don't care for looks but I know that other people do and I would definitely give credit for it, but it really doesn't look good, in my opinion.

Hybrid Project?

[alacqua]

I just know there's a kiwi out there itching to make a hybrid of this case and this jet-powered beer cooler. There should be plenty of room for that monster in the shed or garage.

Indeed cool

[Compuser]

This case is indeed looks good except that
beige face plates on cd-rom and the like
look out of place. What kind of air does this
case move?

Re:Indeed cool

[l810c]

I love my brushed aluminum Lian-Li. My only complaint is the face plates Do look out of place. I bought some silver spray paint and was going to experiment with on a couple of old drives first. It seems like bottom to top airflow would work better. The intakes and are near the top. The top blowhole is nice.

Re:Indeed cool

[gripdamage]

"What kind of air does this case move?"

Just the regular kind I imagine.

What?!

[Akardam]

You're probably a troll, but I'll bite.

How could you possibly compare the modded cases on that forum to this guy's completey custom case? What are you smokin' and where can I get some?! The case this guy did is GREAT! Hell, I'd pay him good money for one (and mebe I will, if he ever starts selling them)!

Probably?

[ari_j]

...Dennis Veiren probably designed and built the most beautiful aluminium case ever...

Is he claiming the credit, or is there a general consensus that he is the mostly builder? And who's calling this the most beautiful case ever?

Re:Probably?

[Graspee_Leemoor]

This is not insightful.

a) someone made the same point earlier
b) the grammar is fine. He "probably designed and built the most beautiful aluminium case ever" because he DID build an aluminium case and it is PROBABLY the most beautiful ever, therefore he "probably designed and built the most beautiful aluminium case ever".

graspee

Re:Probably?

[Anonymous Coward]

the grammar is fine. He "probably designed and built the most beautiful aluminium case ever" because he DID build an aluminium case and it is PROBABLY the most beautiful ever, therefore he "probably designed and built the most beautiful aluminium case ever".

The problem isn't bad grammar, but rather, unnecessary ambiguity of meaning. "Designed and built probably the most beautiful aluminum case ever".

Get over it!!!

[stefanlasiewski]

(humor)

Oh, get over it!!

It's the 21st century, and there are *many* *many* liberated women who use a vibrator. Don't be ashamed!

(/humor)

Re:Get over it!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I see that you offended a puritan moderator.

You should go do some hail marys or something...

Open Source

[noz]

Open the CAD data files to the public! I want one! I want one! ( : In all seriousness, unless the creator plans to make more (250 hours?), we can all benefit by learning from his design, if it only educates us a little more about good (or bad) techniques.

Re:Open Source

[drachenstern]

Seriously. In all seriousness. And to be honest, I too would love to have merely the CAD schem's. I would even be willing to pay a little for the files, to offset his previous work. My only question to the /. community is if anyone knows if this is possible (ie, has the designer told anyone his plans?)

Best case mod site known to man...

[rootedgimp]

To VIEW moded cases, anyway.
http://pcdb.overclockers.com.au/ (over 3000 cases).

Best place I've found to buy parts to mod
your case would be www.pcmods.com

Not bad

[MoneyT]

Looks like a G4 cube with more space and a really cool lighting effect. Maybe appl ecould take some notes, or at least hire him

Re:Not bad

[Anonymous Coward]

It looks more like the NeXT Cube, which the Apple Cube is descended from. I don't think Apple needs any lessons in cool cases, though.

Too bad he didn't go with a slot-loading optical drive and no floppy. Other than that, it is a very nice-looking system.

Wow!

[rampant mac]

An Apple cube, cubed... With bright blue lights... How... ummm, cool.

Nice floppy drive.

Looks great on hte outside, but...

[Sloppy]

Beige bezels on the drives? What a cheap-ass slacker! ;-)

a much better case design

[Anonymous Coward]

very impressive for a home job... but if i were gonna spend the money, I'd want this case:
http://www.helio.co.jp/products/xtrem/xtrem mac/pho tos.html

too bad the company went under before they could ship... had active cooling system built into case design too.

MOD this

[cbodine]

I got to see it , just like all special cases I see it is nothing new. Cool he made a case.

but in the end is he any cooler then me.

NO!

When weill people get over this IMAC thing!!!

If we applied half the brain power and time into something that would make system better to use we would have to set to make the box look cool.

but we all suck nobody wants to do anything that might set some new standards.

WWWWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA

Re:MOD this

[Anonymous Coward]

When weill people get over this IMAC thing!!!

The iMac is not a cube.

Re:MOD this

[cbodine]

The IMAC is nothing more then a none standard case for a machine.

It is the fact that it looks cool and if it looks cool then that is all that matter.

I know it is not a cube.

Damn you would think that just beacuse you have a low karma people think you are stupid.

Xmms plugin

[Anonymous Coward]

All one needs one is a plugin for Xmms that will cause the blue neons to flash in time :)

Great!!!

[SPYvSPY]

Now you slashdotted netstat!! (J/k, obviously).

Speaking of cubes

[Patrick Cable II]

Wow. That is pretty cool. Speaking of cube computers thoguh, i found some other interesting designs.. check out www.soldam.com for these really nice small looking cubes... Note the price is in yen though, use this to convert.

..pcable

Space issues

[kwishot]

Many people are complaining at the size of thise case, but I don't think it's quite as large as many of you think.

Looking at http://216.74.64.37/casemod/images/pict22.jpg I would say that it's probably similar dimensions to a standard Midtower, except twice as wide.

You can use the CD/DVD drive as a reference. Also note that the whole setup is sitting on a pool table.

Oftentimes height is more of an issue (with a desk) than width.

-kwishot

Re:Space issues

[Anonymous Coward]

No Pool Table rather its a Billiard Table (No Pockets) He's Belgian after all :)

Check out the one I built

[Anonymous Coward]

I use this case at my job on Wall Street where I'm a derivatives trader. The case is both aesthetically pleasing and functional for my work.

Re:Check out the one I built

[Jedi Binglebop]

Nice!

-JB

What a nice guy...

[Jeffv323]

For all of you who are getting a 404 error, it's because he is blocking any requests from people browsing with IE (and possibly Netscape..) I used Opera and it worked just fine... This guy is made a damn nice case but he sure takes that whole Microsoft sucks thing a little too far.

Re:What a nice guy...

[Ace905]

I think your experience was just a coincidence. It may be because IE just sucks and couldn't load the page properly. Unfortunately, I have to use windows regularly - but I do have a Debian partition that I get a lot of use out of. Let me tell you, you can't take the whole Microsoft sucks thing too far.

I checked my connection log with IE 6.0 and, also I got the web page. No rejection.

Re:What a nice guy...

[cbodine]

I was able to gte to it with IE 5 no problem, but I will not tell how I did it, IT WOULD BE OFF TOPIC and would be MOD down for it!!!!

WWWWHHHHHHAAAAA

Re:What a nice guy...

[jjeff]

well actually i managed to browse the page just fine running IE5 here at work.

he's not blocking anything.

Re:What a nice guy...

[Anonymous Coward]

Got a 404 with Explorer...booted Linux and got the web page...booted Windows and got another 404...booted Linux and got the page...booted Windows again and again 404. Maybe he's just figured a creative way to offset the ./ effect given that most people are using Explorer.

Re:What a nice guy...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep IE reports 404, however Opera under windows works just fine, now if everybody would set up
the web serrvers to do this, we could bring down microsoft

Someone DOES this

[qurob]

www.apple.com

People already routinely pay 500% more than they need to for clothes (ck), home furnishings (Pottery Barn), even sporting goods just because of the brand name and for the chance to be fashionable. I can't see why computers should be any different. Pair this thing with a big flat-screen, a top-notch audio system and other similarly hip appointments, do some serious marketing, maybe brand it with known designer and I gaurantee you could sell these things for $5k each.

Re:Someone DOES this

[Anonymous Coward]

He mentioned apple in his post. Reading comprehension a bit lacking?

Re:Someone DOES this

[Sloppy]

No. Apple's cases are only suitable for use with modern computers. If you use 'em with a typical x86 motherboard 'n' stuff, you'll probably wind up with a blob of molten plastic.

Thus, the need remains unfilled.

Maybe that's ok, though. Maybe super-neato cases should be limited to the "elite" who are willing to put the effort into making them. Ownership of neat case would be a badge of craftsmanship, rather than the usual -- *yawn* -- wealth. There's already enough symbols of wealth out there; let the real doers have something of their own.

Re:300/400 Euro?

[qurob]

Doesn't count the $50 of labor

250*50 = $12,500

Laatste 10 bezoekers

[jeeryg_flashaccess]

From the stats page..."Laatste 10 bezoekers" sounds like an insult to me.

Re:Laatste 10 bezoekers

[Foxman98]

Last 10 visitors....

Re:Laatste 10 bezoekers

[Anonymous Coward]

"laatste 10 bezoekers" simply means: "last 10 visitors"

OoOh that's sexy..

[Evil_Furby]

Although I would have used a red neon, MSI K7T266 Pro2, red rounded ATA100 IDE cables, and a Gainward GeForce3 Ti200. I'm a sucker for red...

I notice...

[RainbowSix]

In my browsing the page I notice you never see ANY cables coming out of the case. They really ARE that ugly, and I bet the case wouldn't be as cool if you could see them.

Nope, THIS is:

[Anonymous Coward]

That is the meanest looking case I've ever seen. Although it sure wouldn't be a mass-produced model. It's a work of art.

Re:Nope, THIS is:

[red5]

That looks mad cheasie.
the neon glow is cool though.
Give me a simlp elagant design over a loud design anyday.

Re:Nope, THIS is:

[Moofie]

Simple elegant design...with blue glowing neon. Can you spell "oxy moron"?

Re:Nope, THIS is:

[red5]

Simple elegant design...with blue glowing neon. Can you spell "oxy moron"?

Compared to the one painted bright green with skeletons and stuff.
It's quite simpl and elagent.
A neon glow isn't nearly as loud as that god awful paint job.
Besides the glow is a soft light and easy on the eyes.

Re:Nope, THIS is:

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you spell "oxy moron"?
Yes, though apparently you can't. It's oxymoron. No space.
(Only a moron would put a space.)

Also, glowing blue neon does not preclude the design from being elegant by any means.

400 Euros? How much is that in Monopoly money?

[Anonymous Coward]

400 Euros? How much is that in Monopoly money?

Beautiful case though.

Sheet aluminum?

[Ogerman]

Where can you buy this stuff in the US for a reasonable price?

Re:Sheet aluminum?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not the cheapest, but everything you need:

McMaster-Carr

Re:Sheet aluminum?

[Calle Ballz]

any local hardware store sells the stuff for heavy duty duct work. Some stores will even cut it for you and give you the exact sizes you need. You'll have to do your own dremel work though.

Re:Sheet aluminum?

[Anonymous Coward]

If really want to make something like this, you don't need cad:
1. Design the case from a full sized cardboard model.(for proper placement of hardware)
2. Take the final cardboard cutouts to a plasma or laser cutting shop(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=plasma+l aser+cutting+services)
3. Take the pieces home and drill the holes for assembly and mounting.
4. Assemble

This is great and all...

[tahpot]

but still got the old 404.. any mirror's?

I got one.

[Tekgno]

I can't see those pics of his case, but I have made
(and still making) an custom case of my own.
Not totally made from scratch, The backplane was
scavenged from another case, because I wasn't
sure if I could make it to the proper measurements
but some pics are up, mind you, I have done a bit
more work on it since I put up those images. New
ones will go up when I get around to it.
Tekgno's Case

Re:BALLS

[cbodine]

and AC's wish they had IMACS

Pics in cache?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone brave enough to post the pics of this from their cache...or does anyone know of a site which does cache images? Sadly, google does not cache pics (or if it does I have no idea how to access them)

Can i just ask

[jjeff]

what made you decide on 192.168.1.100?
was 127.0.0.1 too overused?

im just curious

Re:Can i just ask

[JWW]

127.0.0.1 is a loopback address.

192.168.1.100 is a private network address that won't route across the internet (unless you use multicasting, but then that's still not routed as a address, just works that way).

If you want a small private network you need these addresses as the only machine you can talk to at 127.0.0.1 is the one you're on.

Re:Can i just ask

[jjeff]

Oh i realise that, its just the signature said hack 192.168.1.100 ...

now for almost everyone this address wont exist (i mean i connect to 4 different networks and none of them use 192.168.1.x).

so i was just wondering why 192.168.1.100.

my reference to 127.0.0.1 was due to the fact that most people make the joke telling 31337 script kiddies to get root on 127.0.0.1.

Re:Can i just ask

[Anonymous Coward]

does this conclude today's IP lesson?

There's Intelligent Life After All

[Spencerian]

Get that man on Sony's computer design staff, or have him make these things on the side.

I say Sony because:
1) Apple already has a great designer, Jonathon Ive
2) Michael Dell wouldn't know a good case design if it appeared as a cow with a black turtleneck shirt and spoke to him--"Dude, your cases SUCK...!!!"
3) Gateway couldn't afford to do this change
4) HP and Compaq are too wrapped up in their mutual admiration society
5) Sony understands design is important, even for PC boxes

As a preferred Macintosh user, this PC case is the most ingenious design I've seen. Nice work. Where I can get one to replace the POS with the Athlon I just assembled?
--

Re:There's Intelligent Life After All

[Anonymous Coward]

I cannot agree more with your analysis of Dell's cases. I run a computer lab full of them, and their functionality gets worse as the models get newer.
Prime Example: In order to get to the usb and the headphone jack on our newest Dell PCs, you have to lift up a shield shaped panel on the bottom of the box. We keep the towers on our floor so it is A) really out of the way and B) tends to get broken by users.

Well...

[FakePlasticDubya]

If I had one of those, I could always tell my friends, "You see, my home is powered by a miniature nuclear reactor, notice the impressive glow."

Protective eyeware is, of course, optional.

Is it just me..

[Fweeky]

.. or does it just look like a rather oddly designed overhead projector?

OHP's, I'm sad to say, are not my idea of the pinnacle of design, no matter how many neon lights you fit in it :)

Oh, and it has one of those awful doors who's only purpose in life is to slow you down when you're trying to juggle CD's.

Re:Meh

[VAXman]

He had to make up for the fact that he has an Athlon instead of a P4.

It's great. Now...

[Perdition]

Paint the drives aluminum, move the access panel to the top section of the side wall, waterproof this obvious aluminum coffee table, run liquid nitrogen through it and carve a huge Pd in it (for Perdition, natch). Have it here by Friday week, and name your price.

MIRROR

[j2demelo]

Someone, please pull the images out of your cache and post them somewhere.

Re:MIRROR

[The Dutch Tom Bombad]

Dutch mirror with the most important pics: http://www.tweakers.net/nieuws/20762

If it wasn't for the cool blue light...

[Anonymous Coward]

it would look a lot like my trashcan. :)

I think I'm gonna put my trashcan on ebay. All i need is to turn it upside down, stick in a motherboard, drill a couple of holes for the wiring, and voila... designer computer!

If you think I'm kidding.. i bought it either at Bed Bath and Beyond or Ikea.

You think he paid for the CAD software?

[rMortyH]

Is it included in the cost???

Impressed

[Zemran]

That is really impressive. I hope he sells the design because he deserves to make some money out of it and I want one.

Slashdot Effect

[dotderf]

While the page is alive and kicking, I presume the /. effect will cost this guy much more than his computer case.

Absolute Beauty

[MADCOWbeserk]

I'm impressed. I just spent the week modding my system to be silent. I replaced my fans with Panaflows, and run the three case fans at 5 volts, put an 80mm on the processor and replaced the PS fan with a panaflow. Everything stays cool and now all I hear is the drives spinning.

By the way you can get good fans cheap.. here BGmicro

It is impressive

[enol]

What a beautiful case! I've seen people paint, modify, etc. their existing cases and I applaud their efforts but this is the one I can really say, "this is very beautiful." Well done Belgian guy!
(btw I HATE the beige cases, not only because they are ugly but because the $20 ones really are worth only that, $20. If you can, get the better ones with plenty of room, upgrade slots, and a good power supply. They don't have to be so loud either)

Truely beautiful

[OneNonly]

I just wish he'd posted a model of his design for us all to use :)

*Starts dreaming up a nice little logo for the side of his case*

MOD THAT UP

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually has the pics, why hasn't he been modded up yet?

Wow.

[demon]

I want it. I want it to have my children. (Bad Hackers reference.)

That is an awfully sweet setup he's got there. I wish he'd share the master DXFs, or make some sort of plans for it. It looks mighty yummy, and I'd certainly love to have one.

Your point being?

[PeelBoy]

Like companies really care what a few geeks think compared to the rest of the world LOL. This is about making money :)

I guess nobody here noticed but MOST companies are coming out with nicer looking cases every year. Even dell has designer looking cases now. I bet there are even cases with snap on color peices like they have for most cell phones now :)

BTW what is the point of going out of your way to be a geek? That reminds me of those people who go out of their way to be goth or skater just so they can claim they are different, just like everybody else :)

Re:Your point being?

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't setting yourself apart (or thinking you are) the whole point of why people buy designer crap in the first place?

Re:Your point being?

[PeelBoy]

I can't speak for everybody else, but for me? No. Not at all. I am already different than everybody else in the world. I don't need clothes or to act like a geek or anything else to set me apart.

When I go shopping I buy what I like and what I (and other people) think looks good on me. Regardless if it is a name brand or not.

Although I do tend to chose the name brands with the higher quality stuff for the price. Some name brands are just that. A good name on a peice of shit product.

Do you avoid buying Sony monitors because it is a name brand? I doubt it :)

Personally I think going out of your way to avoid name brands and going out of your way to be a geek is JUST as STUPID as people who go out of their way to buy name brand clothes to be cool. It's the same freakin concept. I don't see why one way is right and one way is wrong?

Logo

[finitimi]

Even the little logo is reminiscent of a Linux-styled version of the NeXT logo.

It's very much like the NeXT logo, but also quite similar to the SGI logo. Am I the first person to notice this? I would have a greater appreciation for the man's very skilled handiwork if he had created a more unique logo.

Antec's Casemod contest

[ahaning]

This guy might want to contact Antec-Europe about their Casemod Contest. His box might actually fit in the "Others" category...

Minimalist: Minor mod, extra fan or handle
Artist: Typically not cutting the case, instead the case becomes a canvas
Exhibitionist: Windows, showing the guts of the system
Decorator: Matches case to coordinate with a room/desk
Sponsor: Case with stickers, logos, etc
Others: If your case doesn't match the above

Re:Antec's Casemod contest

[IngoSchi]

He can't participate:

Quoted right from the start of the page:
"Submit any Antec case that's been modified for a chance to win an ..."

His case is new from the scratch and not a modified Antec case.

Re:Antec's Casemod contest

[ahaning]

It could be recycled Antec alumin[i]um ;).

Well, poop, maybe they can buy the design off him and that would be his prize. He certainly deserves something other than just a cool case. A job with the Antec Enclosures Dept, perhaps.

the Aluminum does, but...

[markj02]

The big plexiglass window in the top probably does not. It's better than an all plexiglass case, but people really shouldn't leave unshielded holes in their computers.

Re: workability of Mg

[resident machinist]

nah, magnesium is great to machine. Cuts like butter, great finish, you just gotta keep the feeds up to make large, hard to ignite, chips. You may have to put it in an inert atmosphere to lase it. Large pieces (greater than 1/16 inch) are hard to ignite with conventional machining techniques (assuming normal cutting conditions). Can be welded with usual TIG torch (Tungsten Inert Gas). It's easier than aluminum to machine. Course, you could say I'm a professional...

Re:Meh

[Anonymous Coward]

It's kind of sad, but i jsut finished an mp3 player exactly like this a while ago. I dont have great pictures online (courtesy of a $30 digital camera) but they do show the mp3 player working.

It's made of acrylic and alumnium too, and it's made for a bit more portability, being slightly smaller than your average vcr.

http://users.bigpond.net.au/mp3/ for pics.

He should have used transparent Aluminum

[Caractacus Potts]

I bet if OddTodd showed him how to establish a donation system, he could afford to replace the acrylic sheeting with some of that newfangled transparent aluminum. With enough support, he could build a Beowulf...

Mirror of site/pictures

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, our good friend has moved his website to a new server.

But the idiot forgot to fix the size of the bloody photos, so please, commence slashdotting the new site: http://case.1be.be/

Try this URL...

[sheldon]

The whole site seems to redirect to this page:
http://case.1be.be

I'm not quite clear what he is doing. I think it might be trying to send back a permanent page redirect, and IE does not like it.

Although at one point I turned off friendly http error display on IE and then the site came right up. Next time I tried that, it said it was redirecting to 216.74.64.37/casemod which doesn't seem to respond.

To use Occam's Razor, "Never attribute to malice what can be adequatedly explained by stupidity." I don't think this was intentional, the whole configuration of that web server is just whacked.

That being said, that case is cool! I wouldn't mind something like that at home. :)

Re:Meh

[Webmonger]

If you have to ask why, you'll never know.

Mirror link

[colindiz]

Well, hell, I posted this as an AC, but wtf, a score of 0? Craptacular.

Dennis Vieren has moved the pictures of the case to: http://case.1be.be/.

Go forth and /., as the moron hasn't fixed the size issues.

communist?

[red5]

What about me makes you think I'm a communist?

Water Cooling Option.

[Anonymous Coward]

The guy could of used a water cooling system instead of the fans. It would of made the case really complete.

That has to be the best case design I have every seen.

Nice Job...!

case badge?

[Suppafly]

I looks like he forgot to cut in a nice little indentation for the AMD case badge.

Yup...SGI.

[NoData]

Good. I wondered who else would notice.

Wow!

[davmoo]

That's a beautiful case!

But since its cube shaped, I expect Apple to sue him any minute for copying their look and feel...

Re:That's because stupid Americans can't spell...

[Robber Baron]

The correct spelling was originally aluminium (following the convention of other elements' spelling (barium, cadmium, uranium...).

The adoption of the incorrect spelling dates back to a period when most of the world's aluminium was being sent to the U.S.for use in aircraft parts. The trouble was the Americans couldn't spell and consequently they kept leaving out the second "i"... Eventually the incorrect spelling stuck.

How bout this one?

[Anonymous Coward]

How about the Sleekline 1260?

It's slim, powerful, and you can get it with many different options. May not be the size that YOU want (it's actually slimmer), but I'm sure that with some modding, you could probably due something creative with the case.

--OptipleX02

coming soon...

[Chris Pimlott]

I'd like to see systems with some insane 'tidying'...

Woohoo! Extreme case cleaning!

Looks like fridge

[Anonymous Coward]

Rather than put up a box that become more and more fridge-lookalike, wouldn't it be easier just get a 89.95 bucks bridge at local Walmart and put everything in?

I'm serious.

I want IKEA cases

[jellybear]

Personally, what I want is a computer case I can get from Ikea, preferably with a cool name like Frofi or Lipu or something leet like that. Glass, brushed steel and pine :P

Poor soul

[Anonymous Coward]

That person is going to have to sell that case on ebay to help pay for his web host bill now.

more spiffyness for u non-DIYers

[darekana]

Here is a shoebox sized one for about $300 etc. With mb and powersupply. Here for the table case. etc. (*warning* Japanese)

Re:Sheet aluminum? - try McMaster-Carr

[cweagle]

One of the best places for all things mechanical - sheet metal, aluminum, brackets, fasteners - is McMaster-Carr. At mcmaster.com their entire catalog is online (don't even _try_ to get a paper copy) and the 'Raw Materials' section will let you sort in a myriad of different ways. Add to that incredible 1-DAY shipping, at STANDARD UPS COST, and you see why these guys are on every engineering firm's Christmas card list.

didn't you know?

[afxgrin]

Using 'communist' or 'commie' as a derogatory
term is back! People are calling each other 'commies' in such fashionable ways:

You FUCKING COMMIE!
Go suck some red dick!

or my favourite

GODLESS COMMIE SCUM!

You too can take part in political slander! Join now!

Re:That's because stupid Americans can't spell...

[thrig]

We can to spell! Why, just the other day, I was adjusting my proxy to hide the Referer HTTP header and... damn. Nevermind.

ummm, 250 hours?

[bleckywelcky]

does anyone else think this guy is a complete, well, retard for spending 250 hours on this thing? that is utterly crazy. considering the simplicity of such a project I'm not sure how one could even drag that sort of thing out. I would image you could spend, at the absolute maximum, 1 day designing the thing in a cad program. then, with all of the measurements and such, you could spend another extremely long drawn-out day trying to achieve all of the random parts, and getting the specs to your friend to cut out the pieces. Then, you could spend another 2 or 3 days at max (again, if you drag your feet the whole way, and take 20x as much time as necessary to do anything) to assemble everything, and you are done, having spent at the absolute maxium, 5 days, maybe 6 if you drag everything out even more (just add another buffer day in there). and, I'm thinking of all of these days as weekend days where you can give a large portion of the time to these tasks.

All in all, you end up with a max of 6 days, working perhaps 10 to 15 hours each day on the specific tasks, for a total of 90 hours, mind you these are non-consecutive weekend days, etc. I could imagine that if you tried for the fastest time possible that you could minimize the work time, and maximize trips, etc for efficiency and end up only working on the project for 10 or hours and you would achieve the same product.

This guy really had to waste some time in there, it would be interesting to see an itemized list of how he spent time on this project.... (Day 15 - Went to work for 9 hours, thought about project during the day, +9 Hours to Project time) :)

Re:ummm, 250 hours?

[martissimo]

I could think of worse things to do with one's time, heck what if he gets a job outta the deal with Apple or something makin good money... would that 250 hours seem like a waste of time then?

And if not, maybe he just flat out enjoyed the time he spent doing it. There are lots of "recreational" activities taht people pour tons of time into, to others sometimes they seem odd, but if it is what you enjoy...then (shameless Nike plug lol) "Just Do It"

If you ask me, its one of the cooler lookin boxes i've ever seen, only the BeBox would compare favorably imo

Re:ummm, 250 hours?

[Lord of Caustic Soda]

Well, if he's doing all the card/drive mounting points by hand then doing them all with precision - I'd imagine if you spend a few hundred dollars on material you'd probably want everything to fit together perfectly instead of ending up with the kind of "tolerance" found in those cheap and nasty sheet metal cases.

Re:ummm, 250 hours?

[interstellar_donkey]

All in all, you end up with a max of 6 days, working perhaps 10 to 15 hours each day on the specific tasks, for a total of 90 hours

He's probably a consultant who's used to reporting hours in terms of billable time.

Re:ummm, 250 hours?

[kimmo]

Maybe he likes to tinker with .. things, build stuff. And enjoys it, both the work and the resulting gadgets and cases. You don't usually try to save money or maximize efficiency on hobby projects, do you?

Anyway, it looks really nice and the lack (or minimal use) of bolts and screws is another plus if the usability is also considered.

Re:ummm, 250 hours?

[Tetra]

Ummm, how much time did you spend responding in such a negative way, you obviously completely non-creative fuck? Try getting some passion you loser.

-C

Wrong Answer

[Anonymous Coward]

It was actually named aluminum before it was aluminium. Aluminium however, makes more sense, and most of the world spells it that way.

Witness:
--------
Sir Humphry made a bit of a mess of naming this new element, at first spelling it alumium (this was in 1807) then changing it to aluminum, and finally settling on aluminium in 1812.

LOL

[red5]

Okay I guess the 'red' part of my username is why.
Not a starwars fan I take it.
Damn commies

Very cool,but what I want to see is...Glow in dark

[Anonymous Coward]

Try this.
Tinted computer case RFI rated.
Mainboard submurged in a clear cooling fluid.
Tube or solid state lighting of the interior.
With the Mac's asthetics.

And people thought the cray was cool.

Re:That's because stupid Americans can't spell...

[rabidcow]

WRONG. The original spelling was alumium. (no "in")

This was then changed to aluminum, then aluminium. Then it changed back to aluminum in the US.

See http://www.world-aluminium.org/history/language.ht ml

But none of this really matters unless you wanna go back to wulfram, plubnum, etc. (and originally, English had no "correct" spellings for anything.)

Re:NeXT-style cube cases-black box.

[Anonymous Coward]

Try making it out of the same material "black boxes" are made of.

BTW are any cases made from composites?
Two how much impact does device "formfactors" have on case design?

Re:That's because stupid Americans can't spell...

[Anonymous Coward]

That's great, because the web is a US invention, right? Right? Those blokes at CERN had nothing to do with it. :)

OK, that's the Towers...

[voidref]

When do people start modding laptop cases.

The most I have seen is upolstry, fake fur on this one person's notebook that I know. Man and I thought STICKERS were wild and crazy! ;)

Re:OK, that's the Towers...

[Halloween Jack]

When do people start modding laptop cases.

Probably never, because laptops are designed to fit all their stuff into the smallest space possible, which excludes the unused inside surfaces, empty interior volume, and easily-upgradable power supplies that enable tower case mods.

That having been said, this guy did a cute hack on his iBook.

Re:That's because stupid Americans can't spell...

[haggar]

But none of this really matters unless you wanna go back to wulfram, plubnum, etc.

That would be plumbum (the latin name for lead) and wolfram (the not-so-old original name of tungsten).

Close, but for a nit-picker you were quite off.

That's a big hole in the top...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder if the system meets FCC class B specs.

Looks nice...

[Anonymous Coward]

About to get my goldfish and ask her if she would like a suntan....

PC design

[dragonfly28]

who said only macintosh did design computers?
This leaves all the mac's way behind crawling in the dust. This guy can make a lot of money with designs like this.

-still drowling, and wannahave one myself

Casemod to hard to make ( www.amstelbier.info)

[WouWouW]

Well it's not easy for everyone me use those kind of materials. Not everybody can bent and saw 3mm thick aluminium. I created my own casemod (see Amstelbier.info) the materials I used are more easier to use.

What is "ck"?

[0000 0111]

Never heard of 'em. Do they use Unix?

Re:What is "ck"?

[biglig2]

Drat, I was gonna post the results of netcrafting their website to answer your question, but they appear not to have a web page!

IE

[emmons]

IE did that for me too. Used opera, loads like a champ.

The black hole effect

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi
This case is cool! The problem is, it needs a place all by itself in a room (you don't put this under your table!).
And you probably need a forklift to move it (it looks to be near to critical mass to me).

Q.

That is just SEXY!

[Bakajin]

i'm not afraid to admin, i'm a little turned on.

Anyone know of any small form factor cases?

[Moderation abuser]

While we're on the subject.

Standard m/board sizes only though FlexATX etc. Most of the ones I've seen so far aren't really all that different from standard ATX form factor. The SV24 would be nice but for the non standard motherboard.

Nuts

[Bazman]

Shame the nice lines are spoilt by the four nuts at the top. I think they detract from the appearance of the box. Perhaps he could have countersunk some screws in there and covered them with something....

Baz

Re:Nuts

[Bazman]

Imagine the new Apple Imac, with its flat screen, supported on its smooth chrome arm, and its shining dome glistening in the fluorescent light. Now add a couple of screw-heads sitting in the top and a little nut for good measure. Kinda spoils it dontcha think?

The alumin[i]um and plexi case is fantastic, I'd rather have that on my desk than the beige box I'm stuck with. But I was just surprised the nuts were visible.

RAID on home PC's is STUPID

[Anonymous Coward]

Its not any faster (read the latest Maximum PC), and it makes your PC significantly more complex, particularly if you crash something.

And of everything, RAID 0 is the stupidest.

Its great to be geeky, but in general, you try not to do STUPID things.

The case is COOL. The stuff in the box is STUPID.

Heh heh, Belgians taking over /.

[tyl]

This is the second story in row that involves Belgium (the Jeremiah comic strip was created by a Belgian dude).

Next time we'll go for a hat trick. Heute Slashdot, Morgen das Sonnensystem...

Re:Heh heh, Belgians taking over /.

[sithlord2]

>> Heute Slashdot, Morgen das Sonnensystem...

hehe... That's German. Dennis speaks Dutch. The correct translation would be :
Vandaag Slashdot, Morgen het universum...

Re:Heh heh, Belgians taking over /.

[tyl]

It's an Illuminati joke. And Sonnensystem is "zonnestelsel" in Dutch, not "universum".

And we speak Flemish, not Dutch :^)

Design Patent

[ClarkEvans]

I hope he filed a design patent. This is probably one of those rare cases that deserves one.

Use this link for IE

[MattWeth]

http://case.1be.be/

Matt

Transparent Aluminum

[Anonymous Coward]

The big plexiglas top won't shield much of anything.

Hasn't Scotty come back to invent transparent aluminum yet?

Plain ally is good, but....

[shplorb]

The thing that would make this case look so much cooler would be to have it anodised! Imagine it anodised blue with those lights! You could anodise that at home with some time, battery acid, battery charger and fabric dye.

I think i'd rather have had those logos laser etched and burnt than cut out though.

I'd say most of the cost in this thing would have come from the fact that it's a one-off, but if you compare it to Lian-Li cases, it's about the same price as one of their full towers. Since it's all laser cut, they could be manufactured in automated batches for quite a saving on both materials and labour - with a simple instruction sheet you could ship them as assemble yourself kits - thus making freight costs cheaper because they'd pack flat with no wasted space. I'd bet that with 3-4mm ally it'd weigh a fair bit even though it is ally.

Finally, to all you lamers giving this great guy shit for spending 250 hours on it - do you understand what a hobby is?

Re: workability of Mg

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a professional...

Can I say that you are a mook?

and I thought mine was cool....

[Anonymous Coward]

because I glued plastic googley eyes to the cdrom....

why bother with a case

[Anonymous Coward]

It takes too long to take them off to change
things. I just remove the covers on my computers
(except laptops) and throw the covers away. They
run cooler too.

Case Pics

[El Phantasmo]

Virtual Hideout has the pics on the main page and here.Case Number 215

Are these stats about the same as for /. ?

[chris_7d0h]

According to the guys ISP, the demographic distribution of visitors are as follow:
1. United States (48.6%)
2. Canada (6.7%)
3. Netherlands (6.2)
4. UK (5.1%)
5. Australia (3.3%)
6. Sweden (2.2%)
7. Belgium (2.1%)
8. [visitors from .net] (1.5%)
9. Germany (1.5%)
10. France (1.4%)

Does anyone know the actual figures for /.?
If the figures above figures are representative, it would mean that the US visitors are loosing ground and that perhaps /. should start expanding it's view a bit wider than the US. The reason I write this is that there previously was a section in the FAQ _basically saying_ "/. is made by americans for americans and we pretty much give a damn about anyone else, so if you don't like it, go away" (personal interpretation).

300 EUR and 300 hours?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not that impressive for that ammount of money and work. sorry I could buy a great looking case for about 200 dollars.

Re:That's because stupid Americans can't spell...

[thrig]

My brain for some reason indicates that it was Netscape who hoisted that evil header upon us, though I cannot find any supporting evidence.

Bad brain! More caffine for you!

Say it with me...

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the meaning of life, anyway?

I really don't think this needs to be said, but...

42.

It's not time for that yet

[Kphrak]

No. People won't pay 500% more than they need for it. It's because of the way computers are perceived.

A computer is a utilitarian thing that's kept in the house and usually tucked out of the way. Cars, clothes, home furnishings, and sporting goods all get seen by a lot of people. They're meant to be seen. When have you seen a designer wastebasket? Or a designer TV? In 99% of people's homes, the TV is still a big black box. If they want to show it off, it's because it does its function better than anyone else's; in the case of the TV, it's because it has a bigger screen or better sound, perhaps. There are some exceptions; speakers are often works of art.

I'm not shooting down your original idea. I'm sure people will love designer computer cases. But don't expect people to pay $5k just because it's "prettier"; they'd rather stick it out of the way and show its power off to the Joneses who come to visit. A rich nerd might pay that kind of money for a more powerful or more reliable machine, but I don't believe that he would just for the case.

That said, I would modify the idea by saying: Package a computer with a more beautiful case design (note to designers: Read "The Design of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman) at about the same price. People love different stuff as long as it doesn't cost them any more effort to use. Once everyone is used to showing off their PC (which they aren't now), you can go with the original idea, make more beautiful b0xes, and everyone who wants to be hip will buy your box.

Re:It's not time for that yet

[Skyshadow]

When have you seen a designer wastebasket?

Go visit Crate & Barrel sometime.

Sure, people view computers as utilitarian, but that's only because that's how we've trained people to view them. With the proper application of marketing dollars, you can convince people that it's worth paying $200 for a pair of tennis shoes, for Christ's sake.

The point is, this doesn't happen by itself. It happens when a company recognizes the market and spends a whole shitload on the proper marketing -- ads, commercials, product placements, etc.

Remember: You're not selling a pretty case. You're selling the image.

my misreading is your gain

[Erris]

I misread it as, "aluminum can case". Well, why not? People live in bear can houses, and I've got can shelves. Crush space is one way to make something rugged. Stop me now! Someone stop me please....

Mirror

[kriebz]

I mirrored.
http://128.180.92.16/cube/

Re:That's because stupid Americans can't spell...

[rabidcow]

Yeah, I probly should've looked them up...

I doubt it.

[Deslack]

As he didn't make any profit out of it.

Well...

[virg_mattes]

We use command line because we can. We use ugly beige because we must. But, we use amber because green is for plebians.

Virg

Huge Throbbing Magnets

[Anonymous Coward]

Thanks for playing.

Alumin[i]um has a fairly low magnetic permiability. You want a mu-metal case. Just be careful not to thump it too often. I figger you could put one together for maybe less than $5000USD. Plus no more pesky EMP threats!

Re:Sheet aluminum? - try McMaster-Carr

[afidel]

(don't even _try_ to get a paper copy)

Why not? I was looking at one on an engineer's bookshelf not more than 4 hours ago while I fixed his pc.

Has anyone ever gone "retro"?

[way2muchsense]

What I mean is, more like a wooden exterior, like an old radio set. Perhaps in Art Deco style.

http://www.way2muchsense.com

Oh my they missed something...

[WyldOne]

Rounded cables and cable wraps - almost all case-mods have those. Helps airflow for one. Also give you a chance to use color.

That fan in front for the power supply makes me wonder about airflow problems. Eg do both blow out/opposite/in? I also think the top fan should be bigger to compensate for the two fans on the bottom pushing air in.

Interesting case design thou. I wonder if you can build one that can be made out of only flat pieces.

it's not just about fashion...

[Technodummy]

it's about pleasant design... useful things do not need to be ugly... or unpleasant to touch...

some people say it's Calvin Klein

[Anonymous Coward]

but the fucker stole my initials