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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 ...
Now, if only this came in beige...
:wq
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kawai
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.
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!!
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!
Some cases really are worth that (and more). I paid £120 (around $180) for my new Lian Li, and don't regret a single penny of it. 4 Builtin fans (variable speed), entirely thumb screw based, pull out motherboard tray, and the chasis is 100% aluminium.
$150 spent on a graphics card might get you top FPS for a few months. $150 on a decent case will last you the rest of your ATX sized upgrades, and save you a LOT of pain if you go inside your machine a fair bit.
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...
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
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
Pathetic... and I'm not even a big Mac fan
You're a Burger King kind of guy, right?
"And like that
Would you also argue that anyone spending $1000 on a leather couch is an idiot because you can buy cinderblocks and foam rubber mats for much less?
No, but I'ld argue that spending $1000 on cinderblocks and foam rubber mats covered with leather makes that person an idiot...
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...
I agree with you! Great thoughts, thank you for sharing them with us!