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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 ...
G4 Case PC mod guide
G4 Case Auction
kawai
Nobody because the damn thing looks NOTHING like a Mac case. It doesn't have the 4 handles like a Mac case, the drive covers aren't nearly as seamless, it doesn't open like a Mac case, the drives don't floor mount like a Mac case. It seems to have that slippery covering like a Mac case but I'm inclined to think that even that is a subpar knockoff.
Pathetic... and I'm not even a big Mac fan, I'd hate to hear what they have to say.
Dissolve... Resolve... Evolve...
I seriously doubt that your $30 case can match my $100 case. For starters, my case has an Antec True 480W power supply. It also has four case fans. Your $30 case probably has room for one, maybe two case fans. You might not think this is such a big deal, but I've got a dual Pentium Pro 200 that's still running, not to mention a P233 MMX. My computers don't die, no matter how hot the summers get.
Oh yeah, and that 480W power supply drives a dual processor Tyan Tiger MPX motherboard. You don't necessarily need more than 350W for that board, but you can't add more juice to your power supply when it turns out you miscalculated your power requirements.
Your $30 case probably wouldn't hold half the motherboards I've got (with one exception, they're all dual processor). These motherboards are necessarily large, occasionally coming in sizes that won't even fit in a quality mid-tower case! I know what you're going to say: nobody uses dual processor motherboards. I'd mostly agree with that, but consider power users who want integrated IDE RAID (blech), Firewire, and 8 zillion USB ports. All of that takes up space on a motherboard. Some of the nicer motherboards require you to have a big case. Some of them even take up as much space as my dual processor boards! Let's not even talk about dual Xeon boards...
Last but not least... you get what you pay for. I know, nobody wants to believe that, but it's mostly true. If you put down $60 for a motherboard, $20 for your RAM, and $30 for your case, I pity the stability of your computer. Every one of those components are going to be flakey, unless you're lucky (sometimes you do luck out and get good quality items). Chances are, though, that stuff is cheap for a reason... it failed QA testing, someone in China is dumping sub-par equipment in the West, or it's refurbished/returned.
Don't get me wrong, I use $2 mice and $39 motherboards sometimes. But I know what I'm getting myself into, and I never, ever recommend anything but top quality stuff (Asus, Antec, Toshiba, etc) to my friends. Also, I never build systems for my friends or clients with cheap-ass components.
Holy shit, this post is long. I better get moderated up for all this typing.
Try Apple's Power Mac "expansion" page.
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.
Both the blue G3 and all the G4 cases have drivebays like PC towers, PCI expansion slots, etc. etc. This is something Apple fixed a loooooooong time ago. Nice troll attempt, though.
slashdot!=valid HTML
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...