Every time someone says Apple computers look better than PCs, someone else says “there are PC cases that look good too”. So in your opinion, which PC case has aesthetics that rival Apple’s designs?
(I’m a PC user but I haven’t found any fancy cases that I really like. I usually choose the most plain and inoffensive case.)
Alienware systems have some pretty cool 'sci-fi looking, boxes (see here ).
No actually, I take that back. They’re horrendous.
It always irritates me when Mac people try to use that as a selling point. It’s a computer not a fucking sports car - who cares?
That said, however, my Gateway looks pretty sleek, but I can’t find a good picture of my model. It is a silver mettalic color and curved in all corners.
Also on the topic, the most horrifying aesthetic modification to a computer, EVER: http://www.b0g.org/wsnm/uploads/casemod.jpg
Well, meh. Here’s a full link, instead: http://www.b0g.org/wsnm/news.php?artc=8512
I’ve always thought it looks better to go without a case. Just nail the motherboard to a noticeboard or something. Point a fan at it, and off you go! Not that great for the health of the computer, but still.
That said, there are bajillions of different PC cases available from all over the place. Saying that PCs are ugly is like saying that cars are ugly.
Brief hijack: is there any way to disable software drive ejects? My new computer has a case with a door over the drive bays, and I don’t especially wanting the CD drive motors grinding against it if some dodgy javascript decides to eject it for me.
~ Isaac
You can’t go wrong with Coolermaster - Main Website
Built like a tank and pleasing to the eye. My current case - Wavemaster
And just for fun, here’s a case that’s simply stunning - Orac-3
The Wavemaster looks pretty good, I admit. Are those expensive? I don’t see any prices listed.
The others (esp. the Alienware) look cool but in a very nerdy way - not something I’d like on my office desk or kitchen counter. (Or wherever people put PCs they want to show off)
People who want their office or study to look good, I guess. I think it is an important quality for a computer, if it’s intended for home use. And products that look good are more satisfying to own and use. I never thought it was important until I bought my iPod - now there’s a good piece of product design. Not only is it easy to use and functional, but it makes you feel privileged and honored to be an owner.
This is the best prouction case I’ve ever laid eyes upon
Especially the red one
Custom case mods however…
Some people have way too much time on their hands, but damned if it isn’t cool results.
grrr. Preview is my friend
production.
Punctuation would help too…
To each his own, I guess. As long as you think it is worth it to pay a ridiculous markup for aesthetics when there are cheaper devices that have the exact same functional value, knock yourself out.
That’s funny – it always irritates me when Porsche folks try to use that as a selling point. It’s just a fucking car, not a computer - who cares?
I don’t know how much time you spend in a car versus at a computer, or how much pleasure and entertainment and “personal empowerment” (i.e., it lets you do cool things) you get from each, but the last time I was a car owner I really just used it to get from one point to another; the roads here are clotted with traffic and overpoliced, there’s no place you can red-line it in each gear and level out at 110 mph, nor is there rugged terrain where you can point the beast off into the sticks and go places no vehicle has gone before – and there’s no “main street” where people cruise to show off their wheels. Under the hood, pollution controls and on-board computers have taken away the sense of being able to work on them and make them my own, I would not even be able to tune a modern car. Even the sporty cars look like countertop kitchen appliances writ large, and I have the same emotional attachment to them.
My computer, on the other hand…I’ve swapped out the processor for a zippier one, replaced RAM chips with larger capacity chips, moved the hard drive into an external case put a new HD in the original and moved the files; I’ve installed and personalized an incredible array of operating systems (some native, some in emulation) and can boot from them. What comes up when I boot is no plain vanilla out-of-the-box experience but is heavily modded and extended and turned into the experience that I want to work in when I work. And work – they pay me to create stuff with this. I solve problems and address needs by creating databases, and I make the databases play nicely with email and web and the file systems of folks’ computers and network file systems accessed remotely. Things are creative conceptually, visually, and dynamically. My computer is my axe, man, I jam on this thing! And I take pride in how quickly and elegantly I can make it perform tasks that other, more pedestrian computer boxen limp along at.
So you’re damn right my attitude towards it is akin to the attitude some folks used to have (and in some places and cases, still do have) to their hi-performance awesome exterior plush racy interior personally modded hot rods. I have been known to spend a day reading hex codes looking for the exact hidden sequence that tells the computer what to draw on screen during boot before the real GUI comes up, just so I can modify it and make it something more to my liking. So?
And yeah, it’s a Mac. This beautiful little dreamboat of a sleeper WallStreet with its little aftermarket additions and expansions and its plentitude of operating systems, this gorgeously curvy sweet li’l computer that I carry with me everywhere I go, is most definitely a Mac.
ThinkGeek has some cool cases, including this acrylic one. I don’t personally care much what my PC looks like, as it sits down on the floor next to my desk and I rarely look at it, but I can understand the appeal. I think they look cool, but that’s not where I choose to spend my money.
I think the analogy AHunter3 makes is a good one; some people look at a car as a vehicle to get them from place to place and don’t much give a shit what it looks like, but others are very much into the whole experience of driving and care about aesthetics as well as performance. Each of has different things we consider important.
Really? My Mac has been running for eight years without catching a virus, being infected with spyware, or getting hacked by script kiddies, without requiring any sort of firewall or anti-virus or spyware-removal software. Where’s the Windows PC with the “same functional value”?
I like colorcases.com. They have some nice cases for decent prices. This is my case.
I don’t care enough about what my computer looks like to pay a huge premium for a Mac, but I’ll throw up a few extra dollars for a cool case.
I’d take performance over a good looking and aesthetic pleasing case any day. For anyone who is more concern with looks than performance, well, at least you can say “my box looks better than yours” after you personally have been thoroughly trounced in an FPS game.
As another point, which computer looks “nicer”? A boring looking beige coloured box which is running the latest game at 1600x1200 resolution SMOOTHLY without any frame skips? Or a sleek looking curvy Mac (or whatever) complete with LEDs, molded buttons and bays, and scultured air intakes running the same game only at 1024x768 and still skipping the occasional frame and looking rather jerky? Maybe your Mac looks better while it is just sitting there turned off (like a piece of furniture) but the boring beige box will be the eye catcher when it is running and doing the stuff it was supposed to do (i.e. not be a piece of furniture)
This has nothing to do with whether it is a PC or not, it is a problem with MS Windows not the PC. PC != Windows OS.
Speaking as someone with a moderate amount of technical knowledge, when it comes to cases beauty is only skin deep. But when you can wrap performance, functionality and price into a pretty package - that’s just goodness.
Standard PC cases are ugly, boring, mundane, blah… A good looking case just makes you like your computer more. It’s an intangible that can’t be easily measured yet still exists.
Well, this happens to be the best case I have ever seen:
Geez, DreadCthulhu, if I had a computer that looked like that, I’d be frightened to turn it on exect for when the planets are in alignment.
As for my slurs against Mac products:
Sorry if I came off as disdainful, the above truly was my prevailing sentiment when I started writing that comment, but, of course, I had to shoot myself in the foot and tack on a thinly veiled insult at Macs to the end.
Honestly, tough, I agree that Macs do have many good features, and for some, they may very well be worth it. But, I, personally find the “Mac club” to not be worth the price of admission.
The car analogy is actually a very good one. I prefer the versatility of Jeeps, SUVs, and pick-ups even though they are unattractive and flawed. Therefore, I may sometimes disparage sports and luxury car owners, but I have no right to say they made a poor decision.
Same thing with computers. Forgive me if I come off as dubious towards Mac products. They are fine machines, but contrary of what I look for in a computer. Besides, I’m biased because my primary use for computers is gaming; owning a Mac would be a downright pain for me.
I think that is true. If I were a gamer I would want a PC, too.
(The list of computer games I’ve played more than 3 times is very short: Harry Potter’s Chamber of Secrets, Jeopardy, You Don’t Know Jack, The Uninvited, and Mouse Stampede).
