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Beautiful Wooden PC Cases

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:28 AM
from the art-matters dept.
Hardware
mrbill submitted linkage to a site offering to sell what appear to be very beautiful wood PC cases combining wood, glass and silicon into something a hell of a lot prettier than that beige box. Something tells me these wouldn't win the recent Intel sexy case contest, but they sure are sharp.
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[+] Sexy Intel Computer Design Worth Big Bucks 269 comments
An anonymous reader writes From a BBC article, "Intel is offering $1m in prizes to designers and manufacturers who can come up with sexier alternatives to the "big beige box". The competition is open to PC designers and manufacturers worldwide and each company may submit up to five different designs. The grand prize winner will receive $300,000 (£159,000) to enable the mass production of the system and $400,000 (£212,000) to co-market the design with Intel. The runner-up will receive up to $300,000 to help with manufacturing costs."
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  • "Couldn't these catch fire?" (Score:4, Funny)

    by CrazyJim1 (809850) on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:31AM (#16266391) Journal
    Says the man with the cardboard shipping box used as a case. I just won't leave it on overnight.

  • The Fossil Computer (Score:4, Interesting)

    by PIPBoy3000 (619296) on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:33AM (#16266425)
    Back before I had a couple little kids, I pulled in my dad and his milling machine to make the Fossil computer [adamandjamie.com]. It's brass and wood, with a neat fossil as a badge.

    It's now my daughter's computer, so it plays more Dora the Explorer than the latest high-end games. When I replace my main computer, I'll gut it and put in fancy new components. The main draw is that it's silent, with the main issue being heat (I have some big, slow fans to help with that).

  • What's the deal with the new submission style? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:33AM (#16266437)
    I call it "Taco Lazy" myself, but one of my friends prefer to call it "Taco Classic." Thoughts?

    Anyway, wooden cases are hardly new. Slashdot's had stories on them a couple [slashdot.org] times [slashdot.org]. From a quick Googling of this company they appear to be new, as their link was just posted a number of places the last few days.
  • I depend on my case to radiate heat; Wood is exceptionally bad at this.

    So while it's pretty, it's not worth it in my opinion.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Mr._Galt (608248)
      Wood is exceptionally bad at this.

      Which is why all the cases are liquid-cooled and air cooled. TFA claims they have been designed to maximize airflow and with the liquid-cooling, I would imagine they don't run hot at all. Not to mention silently....

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      This is about as bad as the misconception that aluminum cases offer better cooling than steel cases. The simple fact is that moving air is what moves the heat out of the system, and very little, if any heat is actually transferred to and radiated by the case.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by undeaf (974710)
      The only thing a computer case is conducting is sound, the heat is removed by air convection(or alternatively water convection can do most, but not all of the work), that's why wood or acrylic are actually more efficient materials for a case to be made out of in terms of cooling per noise, see: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?p=1 00913#100913 [silentpcreview.com]

      The claim that a case needs to be made out of a conductive material is basically a hoax perpetuated to sell aluminum cases.
    • The majority of heat lost from your PC case is through convection, not radiation. Heat rejection should not be a deciding factor. What kills it for me is the exhorbitant prices these guys charge for the cases. Truly insane.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by isecore (132059)
          Seriously, computer cases haven't depended on convection since the freakin' 80s when a case-fan was someone who really liked William Gibsons books.

          The manufacturers may claim a lot of booyah like "aluminium is better for cooling" and all that jazz, but it's just hot air (no pun intended). Cases these days depend on airflow, not convection from the cases material. Hence, it doesn't matter at all whether the case is made of aluminium, wood, solid steel or pink plastic.

  • Good news, everybody! (Score:4, Funny)

    by celardore (844933) * <celardore@gmail.com> on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:36AM (#16266481) Homepage
    The modern world can bite my splintery wooden ass!

  • I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK (Score:5, Funny)

    by conner_bw (120497) on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:38AM (#16266499) Homepage Journal
    These cases are Made In Canada.

    Mounties :
    He cuts down trees. He skips and jumps.
    He likes to press wild flowers.
    He puts on women's clothing
    And hangs around in IRC?!

  • If you're using an Exploding Dell laptop, you might want to use brick and masonry to handle the heat and battery acid. Or, better yet, install the laptop into your fireplace since it's a safe place, the fireworks would be entertaining, and the resulting fire would enough to cozy up with your significant other (assuming that you're an abbey-normal slashdotter who's not a basement dweller).

  • Price is nuts.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DESADE (104626) <slashdot@NospAm.bobwardrop.com> on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:51AM (#16266605)
    A tall tower box is "Well appointed from $6635 in Maple"

    There is also a media box selling for $35,000. It's nice work, but I think the guy overestimates the financial worth of his craft.

    • These are not for you. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by khasim (1285) <brandioch.conner@gmail.com> on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:58AM (#16266649)
      These are for the CEO's of the world who would pay $6K for the chance to stand out from the crowd of beige boxes, black laptops and under-powered tablets.

      It would be a status symbol. Nothing else.

      • Re:These are not for you. (Score:4, Funny)

        by saboola (655522) on Sunday October 01 2006, @01:59PM (#16267821)
        My NewEgg 30 dollar special with a giant glowing Z, more lights glowing inside it than the vegas strip, and a power supply only rivaled by a 747 also was purchased as a status symbol. That status being im a cheap bastard.
    • People will always pay stupid prices for luxury items. Manufacturers will charge what they can in the market place. How much do you pay for a coffee in Starbucks? does the hot water and coffee beans *really* cost that much? how about those designer jeans that have the fashionable label? are they actually worth much more than Wal-Mart jeans? and why do the latest mobile phones cost so much then drop price so rapidly 18 months later? the transistors cost the same amount to produce...

      It's all about consumerism

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by contrapunctus (907549)
        A $100K violin is worth more than the wood it's made out of :-)

        (I'm not disagreeing with you, just pointing out other perspectives since the quality of the violin is more than just what it's made of)
        • That's a very fair point, and I guess in the same way a well made sports car might be constructed in a way that the components combine better than if you or I bought the components and bolted them together, perhaps improving with age.

          I think the expensive computer case is in the very nebulous (but valid) territory of being worth as much as you want it to be worth, once the workers' and components costs are covered. Limited edition also gives it scarcity (therefore attractiveness) value. I'm sure they'd sell
  • These are whole computers, I personally would be a lot more interested if I could just buy the ATX compliant cases and put my own components in, paying inflated prices for a cool case is one thing, paying uber inflated prices for a "custom" pc is not my thing.

  • Old news (Score:3, Funny)

    by loconet (415875) on Sunday October 01 2006, @11:54AM (#16266627) Homepage
    Already done here [silicium.org] and specially here [wikimedia.org].
  • ...though I still prefer the all-transparent cases. Still: w00d!

  • Wooden Bender (Score:4, Funny)

    by kevn (730412) on Sunday October 01 2006, @12:01PM (#16266687) Homepage Journal
    The downgrade is complete! Bite my splintery wooden ass!

  • Wood warping (Score:4, Interesting)

    by westyvw (653833) on Sunday October 01 2006, @12:01PM (#16266693)
    As I have pondered doing this, I had concerns about the humidity level of the wood going up and down as the case got hot, then cold, then hot again. I wondered if this would eventually crack or split the wood. What is the longevity? Is his choice of woods helpful in this regard? My chioce would have been ceder, what a great smelling computer, but it is very prone to splitting, and covering that wood on both sides with laquer would be pointless if you wanted to enjoy the smell. Maybe my fears were unfounded.....

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by KokorHekkus (986906)

      As I have pondered doing this, I had concerns about the humidity level of the wood going up and down as the case got hot, then cold, then hot again. I wondered if this would eventually crack or split the wood. What is the longevity? Is his choice of woods helpful in this regard? My chioce would have been ceder, what a great smelling computer, but it is very prone to splitting....

      Guess there's better quality cedar around because you can apparently line a sauna with cedar (http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h [doityourself.com]

  • I say, I say, I say. (Score:5, Funny)

    by zmollusc (763634) on Sunday October 01 2006, @12:06PM (#16266721)
    I once built a wooden computer. It had a wooden psu, a wooden HD, wooden everything.
    It wooden work!

  • Those look great, but... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TechnoGuyRob (926031) on Sunday October 01 2006, @12:09PM (#16266757) Homepage
    I guess it wouldn't be a good idea to get one for my Dell laptop.
  • That is seriously sexy. :)

  • Looks nice... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ewl1217 (922107) on Sunday October 01 2006, @12:27PM (#16266895)
    Not only do these computers look nice, but they actually include some good bundled software. From the list of bundled programs:
    • Open Office version 2.0.3
    • Firefox Web Browser Version 1.5
    • Thunderbird Mail Version 1.5
    Of course it also includes a trial of WinRAR, but it is progress.
    • Thank goodness they're packaging FOSS, otherwise these things would be prohibitively expensive.
  • In one of William Gibson's novels, there's a company called Sandbenders which makes super-artsy laptop cases. The cases are intended to be permenant; you buy (and periodically replace as technology progresses) the silicon guts of the machine.

  • If you live somewhere with easy access to cheap and skillful carpenters(e.g Egypt), you can kick the collective bottom of these cases. $35000? I'm in Egypt at the moment, and for $35000 I could buy a beautiful Arabesque case and the carpenter and his dog.

    1) Go with carpenter to select wood from source provider
    2) Agree on external chassis specs
    3) Argue for 15 min on price
    4) $200, and you're robbing yourself
    5) hammers and splinters and...
    6) Profit!

  • Too fancy for something with such a limited life (Score:4, Insightful)

    by bigtrike (904535) on Sunday October 01 2006, @12:49PM (#16267123)
    Building a case out of a garbage can would be more appropriate given the very limited lifespan of the average PC.
  • ...they're tacky. Sorry, but the designs are gross and dated, and not in a fun retro way. If I'm paying $5000+ for a computer case, I expect the company to at least hire a good designer. You could probably hire a designer and a good local woodshop to make a much better looking case for the the same price.
    • I agree that those cases are pretty ugly. The craftsmanship appears to be good, but to me, they look like overwrought stereo shelving. The designs appear to be somewhat derivative, and they haven't seemed to master the balance between wood, metal and glass.

      I have yet to see any nice wood designs for PC cases -- I have mostly wood furniture in my house, and I would never buy one of these monstrosities even if they were only $500.
      • It's hard for me to picture a stylish wood design, but I think the place to start would be some of the better non-wood designs, like the Mac Mini. A Mac Mini in a really light or dark wood box might be nice. Or maybe take a page from the other McIntosh (the high fidelity audio company), with their classic retro industrial style -- a wood case with mechanical VU power meters and super-minimal switch/control design. Actually a lot of the hifi equipment companies have really clean design that could be used

  • Dejavue (Score:2, Interesting)

    by j741 (788258)
    I've seen something like this before, in a cigar humidor. I think I like it much better than these monstrosities.

    here's a picture of the humidor: http://images10.newegg.com/UploadFilesForNewegg/hu midor_description.html [newegg.com]

    • Did you even bother to read the timeline on the page you posted? According to that Luddite was founded in 1995.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by DeadboltX (751907)
      Someone in that other room is looking at it though.

      I agree that computers shouldn't need to look extraordinary, and if anything, should try to be unseen.

      That is exactly what some of these wooden cases do, they mask the PC behind a nice wooden cover, designed to look like a table, or decorative piece, or other piece of furniture.

      One of the best home mod wooden pc cases I have seen was for a media center, and it was actually built into some sort of nice looking wooden table (perhaps an old sewing table where
    • Yeah, they are beautiful.

      Way back when I was single and and was renting my first apartment (and only apartment -- I bought a house when I got married), I decked out my living room in (c. 1985) style: leather furniture, brushed aluminum window blinds, minimalist glass tables, designed halogen lighting, and a B&O 5500 stereo. I wanted a nice media/equipment (media meaning cassettes and CDs) cabinet for the stereo, so I worked with an artist and came up with a design. I then hired someone to build it.

      The B

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