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Beautiful Wooden PC Cases 153

Posted by CmdrTaco from the art-matters dept.
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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Beautiful Wooden PC Cases More

Beautiful Wooden PC Cases

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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.

  • Wow. (Score:1)

    by Kid Zero ( 4866 )
    Wow... some amazing work.

  • 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:2)

        by dfghjk ( 711126 )
        You think those fans out the back are silent? Did you see the photo gallery?

        They make these cases that look like coffee tables until you see that they're a lot like the Stonehenge monument in Spinal Tap.

    • 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 claim that a case needs to be made out of a conductive material is basically a hoax perpetuated to sell aluminum cases.

        Um, what about EMI shielding? Wood is horrible at that. I would bet that these systems have internal EMI shields.
        • I was going to comment about the case being a Faraday cage, but in the same comment I was going to point out that lining a wooden case with some mesh or copper foil would do the job just fine. I'd love to have a wooden case for my rig. It would fit the design of my computer room/conservatory quite well. Unfortunately, at the prices this company wants it sits firmly outside my budget.

          Virg
          • Yea, seriously - these things are BIG BUCKS!

            Plus, it would make the machine terribly heavy. I mean, sure, most of us including myself don't move them around all that much but when I do, I would rather not move around an extra 30lb because of the wood.

            I guess the good thing about the case is that if you ever get sick of it, you could always refinish it with another stain =)

            Personally, I like the aluminum cases. Whether or not it's some conspiracy theory or not about the radiant-heat or whatever, it doesn'

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hb253 ( 764272 )
      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.

      • The prices aren't just for the cases... they don't sell the cases seperately... only the full blown computers... (of course... that only helps on the fact they're expensive a little...) also realize... they're Canadian, so the prices aren't in USD...

        Nephilium

        Early rising is a vice, Ira; it'll stunt your growth and shorten your days. -- Lazarus Long in Time Enough For Love

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

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

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday October 01, 2006 @11:38AM (#16266499)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • 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).
  • "Glazed laquer finish ensures longevity and a quick, surface burn should your beauty happen to catch fire. Of course, fire happens in only 5 in 8 computers, so don't be alarmed

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

    by DESADE ( 104626 ) <slashdot@@@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.
    • 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

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by say ( 191220 )

          Bah, Marx has been through this.

          A violin is worth the wood it is made from plus the craftmanship (including education of the craftsman). What is weird, is that a pair of Levi's jeans consists of roughly the same cotton and the same amount of invested work-hours as a pair of wal-mart jeans. The Levi's jeans aren't worth their cost because of anything intrinsical, they cost a lot because of human vanity.

      • Price reflection of change. (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        "...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"

        Um, no they don't. Your argument leaves out a couple things. First there are one-time start-up costs that needs to be dispensed with, and the manufacturer is going to try to get rid of them as soon as possible. Second there's process improvements over the lifecycle of a product. The product gets made cheaper and better maybe by using a new injection molding techniq

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by jawtheshark ( 198669 ) *

      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.

      You are hugely underestimating the prices of good carpenters/cabinet makers [wikipedia.org]. This isn't some low skill job that any dolt can do. I've some of these guys in the family and I couldn't even buy one of their smallest items. They make a very nice living at it too!

      People do want pretty furniture, and if your want a pretty computer case to go with your mahogany desk, well,

    • Considering that I've recently purchased hand-crafted furniture... hand-crafted wood does not come cheap. It's the not the cost of the wood (unless the maker has to get it from elsewhere), it's the labor and the knowledge of how to put it together.

      Don't even plan on talking to a carpenter who makes furniture unless you have a few grand to spare for each piece.

      OTOH, you'll end up with a piece of furniture that can easily last 50+ years.
  • 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].
  • From Win95 days... probably the first wooden computer... http://lapage.com/kunst/ [lapage.com] (Archive of the original site.) The designer was http://blaisegaston.com/ [blaisegaston.com] who is still very active, doing high-end furniture, not computers!

  • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • 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]

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Purdah ( 587096 )

      Cedar will crack, just like any other 'unsealed' wood, due to expansion and compression of the wood fibers due to humidity. If you can control the humidity then you will be able to have an unsealed cedar case. (Cedar is also a good dehumidifier)

      Cedar is commonly used in humidors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humidor [wikipedia.org] and is used unsealed on the inside, but it is encased in a pretty veneer, so it is kept at a constant humidity with a tight fitting lid.

      The heat from the computer, on the other will limit the

  • 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!

    • Duh, you left out the magic smoke! Good luck getting that to stay confined in your wooden chips. Maybe some varnish would help seal it in.
  • My Computer is not in the same room as me, so I never see it. It's in a little room next to my room. I drilled a hole in the wall where all the cables go through, because I couldn't stand the noise the thing makes.

    "Only a computer that isn't there is a good computer.
    • I didn't have your option of drilling so I got more expensive fans/sinks/controlers/cases/power supplies to make mine very very quiet (almost silent).
      To go back to the topic though, I agree with you that looks aren't important since it's under a desk in a corner where it can't be seen.
      • Maybe off-topic, but:
        I tried to make it as silent as possible. But there was always some perceptible noise. And watercooling was too expensive and complex a task for my taste, apart from not silencing the harddrive, which is a main offender when it comes to noise.

        Now there's really no difference to my ears if the computer is on or not when I'm sitting in front of the screen. And I have unusual sensitive ears, as my doctor confirmed after a medical hearing test.

        I can switch it on and off with my keyboard, so

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      >I drilled a hole in the wall where all the cables go through, because I couldn't stand the noise the thing makes.

      Please tell me more about your child raising strategy... ;)

    • 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

  • 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. :)
  • This is great stuff. I have plenty of cliental that will love this stuff and gladly pay the premium.
    • 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

  • 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.
    • and it comes with
      Windows XP Professional x64
      there are quite a few people who want to use windows XP x32 and go to 64 bit with windows vista.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by fobbman ( 131816 )
      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.

    • I'm working on a CNC'd case to do just that. Over the last decade, I must have filled-up a dump truck with cases from all the PC's and Servers I've 'consumed'. What an environmental waste. I knew the idea was seeded from some forward thinker/dreamer. Wood is not that suitable a material to construct cases from (in my opinion), but aluminum, stainless steel, glass, acrylic are. Then all I have to do is some Slashdotvertising..

  • Low low price (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Spazmania ( 174582 )
    And they can be yours for the low, low price of SIX THOUSAND DOLLARS.

    I'm thinkin' Home Depot + Pine + Minwax.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sakusha ( 441986 )
      Yeah, but that's $6000 in worthless Canadian dollars.
    • Try using walnut. Downside, very hard on the saw blades when cutting, but will hold it's shape for decades. probably have to be a good woodworker to begin with, and have a table saw, dremel rotary tool [dremel.com] with all the woodworking attachments, a variable speed drill, plenty of screws, and dowels. You'll probably have to join several pieces together with dowels to make the sides, using clamps to hold them together while the glue dries.

      You would have to get some walnut scraps from a cabinet maker company, and s

      • You seem to know what you're talking about... couldn't a similar effect be achieved using a nice veneer and a metal case? Even if you had to make "real" wooden edge pieces, wouldn't a nice thin veneer eliminate a lot of cooling problems - and cost less, to boot?

  • Easily beaten (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Plutonite ( 999141 )
    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.
  • I don't find the case on the front page particularly attractive. The USB/headphone slot looks ugly to me, the drives on the left contrast too much, the metal and glass on top wouldn't complement any monitor that I've seen. Furthermore, why is the front page shot taken on a freaking sidewalk with grass behind it? Why not take a picture in context? I think the answer is that with any real peripherals attached, this thing looks ugly.

    Unless, of course, you can find a mouse with a wood grain wire, a monitor with
    • Well, the wires would come out of the back, and you use bluetooth wireless accessories. Problem solved.

      I would assume that if you have the ability to do a nice computer case, you could take the guts of a mouse and put them in a nice wooden shell. Ditto for a keyboard. Frankly, you may be able to just veneer over an existing keyboard shell.
  • ...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.
    • You obviously don't have too much wood in your home.
    • 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
    • Also disqualified because they put in AMD instead of Intel? =)
    • Sorry, but the designs are gross and dated, and not in a fun retro way.

      Well I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I wouldn't call these wooden cases in particualar "gross and dated"--it looks apparent to me that they are made by professional craftsmen and don't at all evoke memories of the amateur/hobbyist cases of the 1970s (and earlier) with the curved-sheetmetal-plywood-end-cap design. There isn't any tin painted gaudy blue either. Certainly they are a step up from the putrid putty boxes we've

  • sweet release (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    evisceration by a thousand branches of a mighty oak!

  • 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]

  • I wonder if they'd give me a wooden case if I redid their website =P.
  • I would like to add some accessories:-

    Wooden Monitor
    Wooden Keyboard
    Wooden Mouse

    But then I think the final computer Wooden work!
  • Debian Woody?
  • They must be either kidding, or stoned.
  • People seem to drool over wooden monitors, keyboards and cases while for me it is just a mismatch somehow.

    Same with cars. I was car shopping on the weekend, and sat into a wooden steering wheel BMW with some parts of the dash also being wooden and I just felt it did not belong there. Oh well, I am the one who would ask for the bigger engine without the leather seats, nicer rims without the wooden dash, sport wheel instead of the wooden crap ...

    but hey, some people like it. Even in furniture I choose whatev
  • I remember when I worked at Digital Review that we got a "concept" VAX for testing that had a wood case. Actually it was a combination of forest green metal on the sides and a dark stained wood front and top. It was quite attractive. The idea was that it could be put into an office environment and blend in. Obviously, they never saw the light of day, but it was an interesting concept.
  • .... having the whole thing hidden away in a desk drawer is better still. A wireless mouse, keybord, and flat screen monitor that is easily tucked away - much better in my opinion.

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