Asus Motherboard Box Doubles As PC Case 243
itwbennett writes "Taiwan's Asus has a novel idea to cut down on shipping waste: What if the shipping container became the PC case? That's the idea behind a box the company will begin using to ship one of its Mini ATX motherboards. It holds the motherboard snug for shipping and is constructed so additional components required to make a PC can be added, said Debby Lee, a spokeswoman for the Taipei-based company. An example of the box is showing at this week's Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany."
interesting (Score:4, Interesting)
I suppose it's ok, but the article even mentions that it is for interim use while the buyer shops for the perfect case, thus they will still buy a case. Since this uses *more* material then a normal box I'd say overall the effect is opposite what they claim. As a marketing gimmick it's great though.
-nB
Re:No RF shielding (Score:4, Interesting)
It depends funnily enough.
Try running your PC at different HZ for the OS-es that support it (hint - BSD). You get some very interesting results with unusual HZ like 2000-3000 and when using ACPI timers. Very unusual. In fact so unusual that if you are running the MB "bare" on a desktop with no EM shielding and have audio kit nearby you may want to stick some earplugs in your ears first.
Tested with a Via EPIA motherboard by the way. I needed high HZ and spent half a day swearing until I found a frequency which was good enough and did not wreak havoc around the kit.
Re:No concerns about RFI? (Score:4, Interesting)
No way that a motherboard in a cardboard box is going to pass the various RF emission tests for FCC or CE certification.
1) Fortunately they are selling the Motherboard, not the entire PC (the PC assemblers would have to pass the FCC or CE certs).
2) The FCC or CE (and possibly NFPA) would really flip out if they saw my "computer room" which has several computers sans cases mounted across 4x8 plexiglass sheets. They're so much easier to upgrade & clean, they're more functional than paintings/posters (and more aesthetic (to me) ). Wallputers give the room a cosy, cyber-punk feel...
Who needs cases? Also: the cardboard case is fairly bulky, ugh.
P.S. I use Synergy [synergy-foss.org] for my Multi-screen/Multi OS/Multi Computer command and control center.
Re:That is the coolest thing I've seen in years (Score:4, Interesting)
IF you box gets hot enough to catch this on fire, it would have failed before it got hot enough to set this on fire.
You heard me.
Corrugated cardboard ignites at over 400 C