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Mac-Case Clone for PCs
An anonymous reader writes "Ever wanted a Mac case for your pc? Well this is your lucky day. Well sort of... you can read a preview of this yet-to-be-released case at hardware-unlimited.com." Smart design -- Now, if only this came in black ...
Wonder how long it'll be before Apple sues them for "look and feel" infringement, though?
I don't want a Mac case. Why would anybody? They're ugly, even if the hardware inside is fine...
Doesn't look too "mac" but I guess thats a good thing. Its a REALLLY nice case, I think I should get one, the cooling on mine sucks, I cannot use the floppy or the cdrom unless I take them out of the case :(
Quit your damn whining.
Why do people consistently whine about this topic? If you don't like it, just shut up. No one cares about your opinion, especially here.
... this does'nt look as half as good as the original powerMac case does!
;-)
Too massive and not enough transparency.a
I'm not a mac-user, but I don't like it.
Besides, not the right hardware in it!
Tend to post comments only when drunk
"Take Metamucil, or get cancer and die!"
Now, if only this came in beige...
:wq
Yep looks great without anything in it
however itt will look pretty crap with my beige floppy/zip/dvd/cdrw in it (although the top slot has a flip top by the looks of it)
Will thety sell extra covers for these things?
G4 Case PC mod guide
G4 Case Auction
kawai
How about instead of having a Mac-Clone case for my PC I get MacOS X for i386. Now that's a fucking brilliant idea :)
i'd wager 10 minutes before this gets slashdotted....basically, the case looks the same as a G4 mac case....from about 10 feet away and if you squint real hard. no handle on each side, just round bumps where there would be a handle. 3 5 1/2" bays, a 4th 5 1/2" bay with flip out cover for a CD drive. oh, and it doesn't unfold like a suitcase (like the mac cases do - one of the main reasons to want one).
:)
i can't say i'm altogether impressed with this one, but put some blue LEDs on it and you have a case-modder's dream
as for making it black, 20 minutes with paint thinner should make those outside panels clear, like the G3/G4 cases, and you can paint it whatever you want. the front has a flip down bit, behind it is a firewire, usb, audio in/out ports, which could be useful.
moox. for a new generation.
This is no Mac case. Apple wouldn't be caught dead releaseing something this pedestrian.
It's a beige box except it's not beige and it's covered in lucite. It is much nicer than standard issue cases coming out of PC manufacturers warehouses though.
PC case, yes. Mac case,no.
some people like to know when a cool looking modification comes out for their computer. Nerds especially.
I am not a fan of it either but how does that make it not newsworthy for nerds?
Dunno about you, but I think your $150 could be better spent than on a Mac case look-a-like. Even retail stores have half-way decent cases for ~$30. Oh, I guess if you're the kind of person that'ld want to put a window in their harddrive or lights in their case, this might be right up your alley, but for the price difference, you could probably upgrade at least one of your major components (bigger harddrive, faster processor, better motherboard, faster graphics card, more memory, bigger monitor, etc).
Wand then again, none of your hardware (drives, fans, monitor, etc) is going to match the case. Look at that case and imagine a bunch of white/beige components in there (makes it look ugly, doesn't it)...
Let's face it... Some of Apples successes is because their cases appeal to the artistic side of the brain... Helping to overpower the logical side that would have definitely said by PC...
Without the Mac user segment out there, we wouldn't have all those cool multi-color, fancy, visually charged Car Steros, Stereo components, and Windows XP...
Tournament Management Online &
Looks nice, but doesn't have the functionality and *internal* configuration of a Mac. The current towers (starting with the Blue G3) are the best damn cases i've ever seen. Pull one small lever and the whole thing opens up, laying the motherboard flat right in front of you with nothing in the way. It's even got a very large, quiet case fan built into the side, opposite the PCI slots.
Someone release a case like THAT for x86!!
I am not a Mac fan by any stretch of the imagination, but to compare that ugly POS case with a Mac case is completely unfair. From an aesthetic standpoint, the Mac case is far more appealing and was clearly conceived by talented designers. Calling that a clone of the Mac case is like calling a Pontiac Firebird a clone of a Ferrari.
Color me silly, but once again a PC maker is attempting to make a sorta cool looking pc by adding some plastic to the run of the mill pc case.
My favorites are the ones where they just replace the front pannel... kinda like building facades... stock brick building with greek columns glued to its face. Maybe I should just glue a picture of the case I really want to the side of my pc.
-=sig=-
A colleague of mine who doesn't like Apples was in the lab when the first Mac with the current case design (the Blue-and-White) came in. It's on and working when he comes over to see it.
This is a bare-metal guy. All his machines in the lab have had their covers removed because he's in them so often he can't be bothered to take the time to take covers off and put them back on. (FCC? What FCC?)
He starts ranting and raving about how stupid Apple stuff is, how jerky the case looks, etc. "All this meaningless decoration." Pointing to the ring on the right side, he says, "Look at that stupid thing, for instance. What's that supposed to be?" He starts to fiddle with it--and the case swings open, the interior is completely exposed, the motherboard is mounted ON THE PIVOTING SIDE PANEL so it is totally accessible from above AND FROM THREE SIDES (nothing to obstruct your knuckles!)
And the Mac goes on working without missing a beat.
"Wow!" he says. "That's the best case design I've ever seen!" Then he adds, "I still hate Apple, though."
This case clone reveals the shallow understanding of most non-Mac users who think the Mac is all about appearance at the expense of functionality.
Who cares about a case that just looks vaguely like a Mac (I don't even think they've captured the appearance very well--it somehow looks awkward and unaesthetic)--but that leaves out the Mac case's best functional feature?
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
we live in hope, but it is just not going to happen.
but i think XDarwin is the best we can hope for
I must say that the case is the one I'm least interested. OS X? Great. The UI? Wow. The hardware? Cool. But the case? Eh, it's just a box.
Now, when I can OS X on PC hardware, then we'll talk.
In my opinion, a system case does not need to be the cutting edge of external design.
What I really want from a system case is the following:
1. A decent 300W power supply at minimum that works with all the current ATX motherboards.
2. Easy installation of the motherboard itself.
3. Designed so system cooling works well with just one case fan and the power supply fan.
4. Easy to remove system covers.
Fortunately, you can get cases meeting my criteria for under US$70 pretty easily.
Buy a man a cheap suit and cheap shoes and what have you got? A man in a cheap suit and cheap shoes.
Someone, please shake me from this wide-awake nightmare.
Apple does something slightly out of the ordinary -- shave off a few edges, put a spit shine on the thing, throw in a screen -- and they're the heights of hardware innovation.
Yes, cloning Luxo Jr. makes up for it all, but it's the exception that proves the rule. For the most part, a tower is a tower is a tower.
They don't have to be.
Where are cases that look like they'd fit directly in with an entertainment system, replete with integrated DVD-ROMs and elegantly sliding front panels for expansion?
Where are low depth mods of rackmount cases, meant for vertical deployment next to your monitor?
Why is everything so angular? Volvos weren't this boxy. Why is every sharp angle in the computer world the kind of thing you could just *see* a prisoner filing down in about five minutes into a lethal weapon? I mean, I know programmers have a thing for powers of two (bug me, we'll chant 2^n, it's a real party lemme tell ya), and 90 is 360/2/2, but damn. Pass calculus already.
Hell, just to be ornery -- where's a natural keyboard clone you can stick a PC inside? In case you haven't noticed, your keyboard is several times larger than the avarage laptop.
This isn't random complaining. We've got cookie cutter cases with trivial modifications for a reason: Systems that *do* new things are apparently selling better than systems that *look* like they do -- or at least, the economies of scale of making nigh-identical cases are so incredibly massive that every deviation from the standard design introduces order of magnitude slashes of profit margins.
You might say this has as much to do with the limitations of the ATX spec, which specifically for cost purposes enforces fixed locations for all motherboard connectors. I don't know. I saw one random hobbyist with an ATX machine made out of a hollow cylinder of transparent plexiglass, illuminated with LEDs and with a detailed LCD providing system stats. Damn thing was a work of art. Sony, the one company most known for its attention to industrial design, recently came out with the closest "competitor": A _dark_ grey box with a spinach green LCD.
And that's the thing, folks. That hobbyist probably spent dozens of hours hand crafting that beauty. The processes required to make such a unique case are extraordinarily varied and unique, and if every new generation of computers needed completely new case designs, costs would shoot through the roof. Your case would become the most expensive part of your machine.
And so...we don't have unique cases. And I think I'm OK with that. But everyone, please. Unless you're talking about that brilliant homage to Pixar, don't think there's any originality at all among corporate case design.
There's just not. Your dollars have spoken -- maybe even wisely.
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky
DoxPara Research
http://www.doxpara.com
Uhm, we're in the 21st century, and our "computers" are STILL huge metal boxes. Everything in the computerindustry shrinks, but aparently the case is the exception to prove the rule, as they keep making bigger and bigger cases.
Place the latest and greatest Full-Tower-Ultra-Plus-Mega-Giga-ATX case next to say, a Flex-ATX or Micro-ATX case, like the one Tom's Hardware has their hands on here, and tell me which one embodies progress.
Not to mention how nice it would be not to have to lug around a 30+ pound case (not to mention the heavy-ass 21" trinitron monitor) just to go to a LAN party.
*sigh* Big Iron isn't a description of mainframes - it's a description of the standard cases you and I use and the cause of our hernia.
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
The homosexual factor is waaaaaay below standard Mac rating.
Cellphone-using yuppie fags demand only the best!
It doesn't seem to have the functionality of Apple's form factor. An Apple enclosure (be it Blue & White, Graphite of Quicksilver) has a door that simply swings open after you pull the latch, even while the system is running, making internal parts servicable in seconds. This thing is just shallow cosmetics, and not very convincing at that if you ask me.
As a Mac user for many years, all I can say is, " YUCK!"
cygnuhchur
are there any other places to buy G4 PowerMac cases? i've looked forever with little success.
Some links to check out.
http://www.colorcases.com ( I've dealt with them and recommend them)
http://www.pccase.com
http://www.crazypc.com
A lot of the others posts hightlight one of the very important points about apple cases - the ability to open them up and have everything there easy to access. Brilliant. PC cases have cut me up and stabbed me so many times that this was ground breaking. Like most simple ideas are. But, alsa, that is not my point.
Forgive me, but this case is disgusting. I would be embarrased to show anyone this case, it looks cheap tacky and the sort of thing a wannabe design student from school designed. To coin a phrase, "close but no cigar". Yes the apple case has curves, yes it's smooth plastic, yes it has handles and yes if you copied it out right you would have a law suit on your hands. But if you can't come up with something usefull and good looking dont even goto production.
Let me ask a few questions, can you imagine a group of designers using this case? No neither can I. Can you imagine your parents using this case? Nope, not them. Can you imagine walking into work with your machines looking like this? Nope neither can I. Schools? Nope, Universitys? Nada. yet these are all places where Apples feature and look correct. Please, please, please can someone not come up with a case that is nice to look at, unobtrusive and functional. Surely I am not alone in wanting something like this.
chris at darkrock dot co dot uk
http colon slash slash www dot darkrock dot co dot uk
I don't think his point was "all anyone needs is a $30 case" but "if all you need is a $30 case, don't spend $150 on a fancy looking case". Of course there are good reasons to buy an high-end case, but most cases designed for looks aren't much better than the El Cheapo case you can get from your local computer store.
Mac-like cases have been around for ages. Nobody wants them. Why would someone buy a Porsche 911 and then make it look like a Ford Ka?
I don't particularily care HOW nice a cse looks..... unless it is functional as well then it is just pretty eye candy coating of a poor case design. Even the Chinese PC case market with all their plastic mouldings and bulges here and there have made "kind of decent" cases that allow the mobo to swing out like the G3/G4 power macs. I have Celeron2 based minitower cased in plastic mouldings beside me that I use as a home server - upgrading or swapping hard drives is just a "push button, flip out side, fark around inside for a bit, slam side shut". Now that is functional.... - HeXa
To be succint and sum up what everyone has said, will say, and was thinking of saying, its been done already. And frankly, they weren't that good.
Love and Peace,
Valen
"The best compliment a girl ever gave me was 'Your hair smells nice.' I hate being the platonic friend." -Valen
A friend of mine in the mid-seventies put an aluminum V8 into a little Toyota (or maybe it was a Datsun, I forget.). Took quite awhile and a lot of mods on the poor little Toyota. He then drove the thing to Kansas.
The point? Well, I think he did it so he could say he did it. That and the little Toyota could smoke anything else on the street. Computer hardware mods are kinda like that too. Fun to do and the result is you have something unique (or at least different from the mainstream.)
I once hacked an Atari ST into a beige tower PC case. Wasn't much point in the exercise other than my ST looked a whole lot different than other STs and I learned alot about hacking hardware. Case modding is overall pretty damn cool, IMO.
Everything in the Universe sucks: It's the law!
Hmm, well, looking at it my first impression was "really nice", but then, looking more closely, some things are off ...
/. crowd has some answers :-)
1) The "handles" are not handles, but rather ugly protrusions. What a pity!
2) as some ppl before me mentioned, as soon as you put your standard-beige drives in the drive trays, it will look a lot crappier than now. Do they plan to provide some way to cover the beige ugliness?
3) and most important: You can't swing open the side door. That feature alone (and only that one, maybe) would convince me to go for such a case, despite the price tag. Because that is just a plain good idea. But no, not in this case.
This makes me wonder: Is there a technical reason (I am no big hardware tweaker myself, so I am asking) that an assembly as seen with the G3/G4 macs can't be done in the PC world? Mount the motherboard on a swing-out side panel and leave enough room for the connectors so that it can be opened even when the box is running, and nothing snags or breaks? Why isn't this the standard way of mounting a PC?
questions, questions, but I am sure the
If you want a case that would go well with your stereo / VCR / TV, check out this one:
ATC600
RMN
~~~
Does anyone know where there are some decent pictures of an Apple case thats opened up?
I mean, we've all heard the propoganda (oh, the Nazi's did propoganda**), but I never actually see any pictures of an Apple with all of its guts hanging out. So to speak!
**[Joke - works best if you're into Eddie Izzard]
> has a door that simply swings open after you
:-)
:-P
> pull the latch, even while the system is running
I've read this on more than one post. Not exactly a unique feature, is it? I mean, don't all PCs continue to run normally when you open the case? Or, if they're running Windows ME, don't they continue to crash normally?
And don't a lot of cases (Chieftec, etc.) open with a simple latch?
Personally I even find real Mac cases ugly, and this one is uglier.
I really can't see how this article belongs in Slashdot. Are they going to mention every new PC case that hits the market? Or are these cases made / sold by some member of Slashdot's staff...?
This is nearly as bad as the article about adding a plexiglass bubble to your case, which apart from being terribly interesting (NOT), didn't have a single picture in focus.
RMN
~~~
I admit, I used to be just like this guy. I used to work at a PC store/repair shop and I despised macs to no end. In fact, the company I worked for wouldn't even allow someone to drop one off because no one wanted to deal with "those damn macs".
/. without reading the damn article first.
So, i was a mac hater for a long time. And i would use all the excuses that people still use. They don't have any software support, they are expensive, people only buy them cause they're pretty, etc etc.
But,a few months ago a friend of mine bought a powerbook, and i began my usual mac taunting. He then told me to come over and try it out. Now I own a powerbook and i'm happy as all hell with it.
Point being, give'em a chance. Go and try using one at an apple store for a little while. Mac bashing without ever trying one (especially since OS X) is like posting comments on
my last sig was too controversial... now, a new and improved useless sig!
Try Apple's Power Mac "expansion" page.
We PC users feel inferior because of the recent study about mac users being more intelligent, so we need special cases to feel (or at least pretend to be) smarter.
Makes you wonder though... one day after the aforementoned study, now this?
self-esteem complex, anyone?
It's not a Mac. Doesn't look a blessed thing like a Mac. Doesn't have any of the attractive features of a Mac (flip down motherboard, e.g.) It doesn't have the fit and finish of a Mac. It's not ergonomic. It doesn't look like the ventilation is all that good, either.
I was recently in the market for a new case. This is what I wanted. Unfortunately, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Keeper of the Privy Purse shot me down. So I've got a big beige box with beaucoup fans. It's functional, and sits under the table where big ugly boxes belong.
Now, how about some Stuff That Matters?
News for birds. Stuff that splatters.
Really. If you buy PC's, for whatever reason, stand to it. Trying to make it look like a Mac is just low.
The only skin on a computer should be porn.
Why bother to wait for the review next week? It's just a standard ugly box with some crapiola facing. What makes a good box is not just on the outside.. I get sick looking at the layout inside... it's the standard crap box.. and for god's sake what's with the stupid design of having a flap for the front inputs?!?!?!?! Most of us will be using at least one of the ports and makes the damn flap useless.. how about making the design around the inputs so it blends in without the usage of a front flap.
This is no more a Mac case clone than a Hyundai is a Ferrari clone
IM(NS)HO, of course
---
Information wants...you to shut your pie hole.
You could Build a PC Inside of a Mac
I love this case! It doesn't look like something Apple would build, because IT LOOKS BETTER! You just don't like it because it's too cutting edge for you and Apple wouldn't have the courage to release something like this.
Of course, this is just my opinion. I happen to love this product too.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
That's a nice looking case, but it lacks one major feature of the G4 Mac cases, the ability to pull down the cover where the MB is actuall attached and get access to everthing nicely. nice looking plastics though.
-- DuckWing
The picture the other poster linked to is nice, but to really appreciate it, I suggest you visit a computer store that sells Macs, find an understanding salesperson, and ask to have a look inside the case (even if you don't do it yourself, have them open it up). It's really a thing of beauty.
--
Runnin' around, robbin' banks all whacked on the Scooby Snacks...
I am tired of these fucking Mac articles. I am tired of you Apple marketing astroturfers. When is Slashdot going to be about geek stuff again?
Rob? Did they core out your skull or something?
When did you sell the dried husk of Slashdot to Apple Computer as a marketing gimmick?
A company in Japan was successfully sued for making a line of PCs that looked like Macs. It was reported on "Japan this day"(tm), on NHK World about two years ago.
Who is the idiot that keeps modding messages WITHOUT A SINGLE REPLY as flamebait? Do you even know what the word means...? Christ, Slashdot moderators should have to do an IQ test...
And BTW, I agree with the guy above who said this looks more like free advertising than news. I bet the editor who decided to post this crap has a little shop where he sells those ugly cases.
News by nerds - stuff that no-one gives a fuck about!
This is my favorite function of the Power Mac case design and I wish more PC case designers would lift it.......some of them are getting better, but still haven't found much close to this (the closest I remember was some Toshiba designs where the motherboard could be slid out somehow....not as good, but an interesting start).
hey, taco, it comes in black.
It's farkin' hideous... the design, the color, the functionality, etc.
The only thing it has in common with a Mac case is the shiny plastic.
As a former repair tech at a PC/Apple shop, I've known for years that Apple has been consistantly (not 100% of the time, just most times) superior to other consmer PCs as far as hardware design goes. Cases included.
And has anyone has the occasion to use Apple ServiceSource? Simply the best repair documentation ever. Down to sample startup sounds for the laser printers. We used to put the new guys on Apple repair because just about any moron with average reading comprehension abilities and a screwdriver could follow the procedures in there.
The problem has always been the OS, and the costs of the hardware.
Fixing one out of two isn't bad, right?
Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.
That doesn't look much at all like a mac case - first of all it doesn't have the trademark handles, and feet that lift it up. Secondly, there's no distinctive trademark on the side.
Just because it doesn't look like a hunk of junk doesn't mean that it looks like a mac.
- passion
In fact, this is very reminiscent of my trusty G3 Blue-and-White, aka "Yosemite":
http://www.xoxide.com/ecmid.html
It's reasonably priced too...
--.\\-H--
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I seem to recall seeing an advertisement in the back of Wired or Web Tecniques,er,New Architect every issue for exactly that. Damned if I can find the advert now that I'm actually looking for it though...
What I really wanted to see take off was a company about three or four years ago that was making PC cases that were anodized aluminum cubes rotated such that they were effectively standing on one point. That had the advantage of using a standard square motherboard and looking terribly cool.
News for Geeks in Austin, TX
I would like to see a Titanium-like PC notebook. With _big_ screen and slim shape it would be a cool thing. And of course, bigger keyboard - in Titanium a keyboard is smaller than the case and it annoys me.
Before I get any more irony-impaired moderators too quick on the "Troll -1" draw, here is an explanation.
:: a real Apple Power Mac :: a real Porsche 935
this PC clone case
as
this 911 dressed up like a Porsche 935
That is to say, they both vaguely look alike, but in both cases, the clone is a pale comparison of the original.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
An SGI o2 Clone. Now that I'd like to see...
The power supply isn't proprietary. I cobbled together a G4/400 in a B&W G3 case a few years back from parts found around the building when I worked at Apple. The power supply was a plain old ATX unit.. nothing proprietary about it at all.
I have always been a fan of cheap beige cases. Not for the color itself, but specifically for the price. I also look for functionality - since I spraypaint my cases another color anyways.
What I would like to see is a good spray that will coat my case/laptop with that 'wet'-looking gloss, and not wear down easily.
I attempted to use one type of gloss coat on my laptop, but parts of it still wear down. (such as the corners)
Anyone have any advice for this 'magical' gloss I'm looking for?
not only is it uglier than a g4 case, it lacks the useful carrying handles! sign me up!
There is a reason it doesn't look exactly like a mac case.
People here seem to have forgotten that apple (along with every other major computer manufactor) patents their products. If this company made a case that looked exactly like the mac case, they'd probably get their asses sued off by apple inc.
I still haven't found the "any" key.
So you can cram an ATX mother board into a PC, i can cram a B&W into a shop vac! http://applefritter.com/hacks/shopmac/index.html
t ml
Or Mod an old Zenith Radio case for a 7600.
http://applefritter.com/hacks/dlz3/index.h
And sadly both happen all the time...congrats on having a open mind, even if it took a while.
So Silly,
Let's see we can make our PC LOOK like a MAC from the exterior. Then we have all these silly skins so we can make our desktop LOOK like a MAC. Ummm why not buy a MAC and stop this silly obsession with LOOKING like MACS. C'mon people have some originality
Ah, yes...a Mac case with a slot for floppy drive. It's a dead ringer. ;-)
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
Sounds like a problem to me.
Since when does the appearance of a machine affect it's functionality? I get immensely irritated by the whiney 'my computer is better than yours because I think it looks better' Mac crowd.
Please, all Mac users, grow up.
Ditch the three hard drives for one large hard drive. Partition as necessary.
And watch disk performance go down the tube when one head seeks back and forth between the swap file and the data. For another thing, how did you know that the hard drives weren't in a RAID array?
Put an IDE internal ZIP drive in the floppy bay ... Put [a floppy drive] in the 3.5" floppy drive bay
Ummm... neither the PC floppy bus nor the ATA bus is hot swap capable.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Reminds me of the E-Power and the eOne. Coincidentally, all three of them share a common feature: They look like cheap Mac rip-offs that would cause any self respecting PC user to be the victim of a beat down for being a wuss. And, if any lesson can be learned from the fate of the former two, it isn't a good idea to walk around admitting that you tried to mimic the Mac design.
"Ever wanted a Mac case for your pc?" fuck no.
i cant stand using a mac for very long, not just cuz its slow on the internet, i cant stand the design. it looks like something a 5 year old came up with. i love my plain grey monitor and case.
Competition in America: If you can't beat 'em, Sue 'em!
Does anybody else think that it looks like a 9500 deep fried in a shiny silver shellack coating?
I'm a BSD Geek who sells PC & Mac's for a living...I demo Power Mac's all day long.....All I want is a nice pc case that FOLDS OUT like a mac case.....Elongated oval drives doors and a handle do not make for a Mac Case......
Here's the thing: I've seen a PC case that is built like a Mac case, and it's a clusterfuck.
/Brian
Walk into any CompUSA and go looking for a case that bears a significant resemblance to a late-model HP Pavilion case. I don't even want to get into the quality of the case (execrable; it's meant for a full ATX board but has piss-poor ventilation; it also falls apart a bit too easily) or the looks of the case (copies HP's design while completely failing to capture its elegance). The big problem is that the ATX spec just doesn't work for this kind of design.
The case in question (I think it's OEM by Fujitsu, but this is more speculation than anything else) initially appealed to me because of its easy access design. Just like a Mac case, it's a drop-side design, and in theory could probably be opened up while running. The big problem is that it's just not practical with the current design; the ATX power connectors are usually towards the top of the board, which is a very inconvenient place for a power cable; not only is the cable in the power supply that comes with the case too short, there is no obvious way to get it out of the way of daughtercards, fans, etc.
I do think a case design like this is a really good idea. Unfortunately, it's just not practical with the ATX spec, and the case featured in the parent article (which is a very poor rendition of its inspiration to begin with) is just a plain old case. At least the Lian Li cases have easy-removal mobo trays and substantial sex appeal...
Now if someone would just release a regular BEIGE case that I can fit a G4 Mobo into, I might consider getting some new Mac hardware.
I have multiple computers, some of them are Macs. I will not buy a new Mac because they are so damned ugly.
I don't want it to look "pretty" I want it to look normal. I can not take seriously any machine that looks like it came from the Buck Rogers prop room.
My E-one(433)'s are still ticking along just fine.
I know there were a number that had problems with hard drives (one of mine did, right out of the box), and that the power supplies are too small.
But to fault the design as too, mac'ish is too simple an approach to the reason for the demise.
The All-In-One approach, using notebook components is a solid, right idea, green lowpower computers with tight integration between components.
Just the computer for Mom, or the kids.
The addition, or non removal of the PCMCIA slots was great, and the inclusion of RCA video in to capture video straight from the VCR, great.
I'm not claiming the the machines were powerhouses, they were not, and were not mean't to be.
The killer was the law suit over 'look infringement'.
That combined with production flaws and shipping induced failures killed the EOne, but only the Courts can hold back the concept.
The All-In-One has been here before, and it will come back again, the popularity of all notebook homes (homes with more than one PC, but no desktop PC's) is a sign of consumer demand.
But don't most PC cases look and feel close enough? If not, I am going to go patent a Black computer case and the "Retro" Beige case right now..
Tibbon
tibbon.com