Easy Access PC Cases?

swight1701 asks: "I remember seeing the MAC G4 case open for the first time and it was like a ray of light dropped down from above, and the Case was good. This has to have been the easiest access case in history, to be able to flip down the motherboard without removing any card from your PCI slots, genius. So why is it, like most of Apple's more frivilous case designs , and colors, was it not copied by other case manufacturers? If anyone HAS seen this, or know the reason why it wasn't, please tell us all!"

Comments

Apple //gs

[MountainLogic]

Apple has been doing great cases for a very long time. The old gs did not require a single tool to strip down.

I've had the pleasure of hiring ex-apple industrial designers/mechanical engineers. It was a real pleasure working with such talented engineers.

Link for instructions ....

[dustpuppy]

Make A PC Out Of A G4 Case

The above URL is for instructions on how to make PC using a G4 case.

Too easy to open?

[innocent_white_lamb]

The problem with making a case too easy to open is that people will open it.

Imagine a kid with his peanut butter and jelly sandwich opening the case just for the hell of it, to watch the CPU fan spin or whatever.

I remember some old XT cases that had a suitcase-type lid where you just pushed a couple of buttons on the side and could open the top of the case just like a suitcase (hinged on the back and everything). The problem with those cases is that, as I said, "everybody" would open them.

On the other side, the two absolute worst cases that I ever tried to open were both Packard Bell. I was trying to install a CD-ROM in one and discovered that the drive bay had a plate welded onto the front. I ended up using a hammer and chisel (literally) to beat it off. The other really awful Packard Bell case that I had to deal with is one that was a real Chinese puzzle to open. There were no visible screws and once I had actually found the screws then it took me literally a half-hour to figure out how to push-and-pull that case to get it to come apart.

*shudder*

There seems to be a happy medium between too easy to open and too difficult. Now once I've got it open, it's nice to have some room to work, indeed, but that's another issue.