Enclosure -- Engadget

Mission-style PC casemod easily slides into your La-Z-Boy collection

by Darren Murph posted Sep 18th 2009 at 2:08AM

Jeffrey Stephenson is to case mods what Benjamin Heckendorn is to console mods. There, we said it. After watching the former pump out wood-grained mod after wood-grained mod, Sir Jeff has issued yet another -- wait for it -- wood-grained mod. The black walnut mission-style side table is actually a full-blown PC in disguise, with a standard ATX mid-tower within that's equipped with an Intel Core i7 CPU, NVIDIA graphics and dual stage temperature-controlled exhaust fans. He notes that it'll be available next Spring for those with fine tastes, though we're sure he'd customize it to fit your living room suite for the right price.

Ask Engadget: Best dual-drive external enclosure?

by Darren Murph posted Jul 16th 2009 at 9:03PM

We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Robert, who is sick and tired of using two power supplies, two I/O cables and too much time to accomplish what should be a simple task.

"I commonly need to boot a system from an external disc and take a snapshot of the host system. I also then need to burn a copy of the image to a DVD. While I can do it with two separate external devices, and two power supplies, and two I/O cables, it'd be nice to find a small dual-drive enclosure. It would need to have USB, eSATA, and FireWire. Either slim-line or half-height bay for the optical burner would be fine, and space for either a 2.5- or 3.5-inch hard disc. Any ideas?"

Robert here is outfitting an entire school for a 1:1 laptop program, so needless to say this request is urgent. Any storage junkies out there know of the perfect solution? No short-changin', alright?

Translucent XCM Eye Candy case encourages licking of DSi

by Darren Murph posted Jul 9th 2009 at 12:57PM

Oh sure, the DSi was the definite hotness when it sprung onto the scene earlier this year, but if you're growing somewhat bored of the same old camera + touchscreen action, why not spruce things up with an all new exterior? The case you're looking at above does require the disassembly of your console, and thus, you can kiss your remaining warranty goodbye. Frankly, we view the sacrifice as thoroughly worth it, as XCM's Eye Candy shell is practically guaranteed to get more eyes, fingers and tongues on your machine. And really, who wouldn't want that?

[Via Boing Boing]

Ask Engadget: Best external hard drive enclosure?

by Darren Murph posted Mar 26th 2009 at 10:41PM

No need to check your LCDs, folks -- this is happening. This is this week's rendition of Ask Engadget, and if you'd rather your own question be in this space next week, shoot us a good one at ask at engadget dawt com.

"Like any good geek, I have upgraded my MacBook's hard disk many times, and have all the old 2.5-inch SATA disks sitting in a pile. I'd like to put them in a case, but the enclosures I see are either very expensive or look hideous and unreliable. I'd love to get some recommendations for dependable, fairly-priced portable enclosures; USB's a must, but FireWire 400, then FireWire 800 then eSATA would be bonuses, as would any extra features."

So, HDD upgraders -- what kind of case (or cases) did you procure in order to keep using those displaced drives? Any great stories of success / failure? Let us know, would ya?

Aliens PS3 case mod is staggeringly ugly to non-fans

by Darren Murph posted Mar 8th 2009 at 10:52PM

Adding even more credibility to the whole "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" mantra is this... masterpiece / abomination. Inspired by the iconic Aliens films, this completely over the top PlayStation 3 case mod is about as ridiculous as it gets. We're not really told how the modder went about crafting this lovely interpretation, but we are given a few more snapshots to gawk at in the read link -- which you won't visit unless you too are an Aliens freak, but hey, that's cool.

[Thanks, Jeremiah]

Shuttle ships liquid-cooled SDXi Carbon SFF gaming PC

by Darren Murph posted Feb 17th 2009 at 8:57AM

Got a hankering for an all new gaming rig, preferably one that could fit in your over-sized backpack should the need arise? Ready to spend boatloads of cash to make it happen? If you're eagerly nodding your head up and down, have a look at Shuttle's liquid-cooled SDXi Carbon, a fancily painted machine that checks in at 7.3- x 7.9- x 12.2-inches and gets powered by a 3GHz Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU. Other specs include 2/4/8GB of RAM, between 250GB and 2TB of hard drive space, an optional Blu-ray writer, your choice of NVIDIA GPU, gigabit Ethernet and optional WiFi. The starting price on this bugger is an amazing $2,599, and if you plan on customizing the base configuration whatsoever, you should probably plan on taking out yet another line of credit on what's left of your home.

[Via HotHardware]

Antec's open air Skeleton PC case is so breezy

by Darren Murph posted Sep 18th 2008 at 9:41AM

While the Acrylic Cowboy family of cases still has our hearts (okay, so maybe it's just the mascot that does it for us), Antec's latest offering is certainly worthy of praise. The aptly-dubbed Skeleton is wrongfully hailed as the "world's first open air case," but in reality, it is one of only a handful. Even with all that openness, there's still a 250mm fan up top along with a 92mm one up front, but we suppose there's no harm in being too careful. It also provides four drive bays, a layered tray design, seven expansion slots and a meager assortment of ports. You will have to provide your own power supply when the time comes, however, and you'll also have to wait a tick to find out a price and release date.

[Via BoingBoing, thanks Matt]

Mini ColecoVision hits eBay, finds a special place in our hearts

by Darren Murph posted Aug 20th 2008 at 6:56AM

Call us biased, but we still prefer Ben Heckendorn's portable ColecoVision over this one, but that's not to say we don't deeply respect the immense amount of work that went into the mini ColecoVision. The seller of the unit stripped a ColecoVision PCB from an original casing and got to modding; when all was said and done, the miniaturized version still operated fine and required a lot less floor space. 'Tis a shame the bidding just ended -- now you're stuck with Atarimax's oh-so-similar (but not nearly as satisfying) MulitCart as you embarrassingly attempt to relive the past.

[Via technabob]

Acrylic Cowboy cases artfully expose your components, are not childproof

by Darren Murph posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 10:41PM

Here's the thing about PC cases -- they spend a good bit of time showing off how fantastic the outside of component-filled boxes can look, but generally speaking, the innards are completely overlooked. Digital Cowboy is out to dramatically reverse the trend with its Acrylic Cowboy cases, which -- by and large -- place your hardware on the outside of the case. We can't exactly see a rhyme or reason (outside of the obvious cooling benefits) as to why these were created, but so long as it stays far, far away from sodas, children and family pets, we'd say it's the perfect way to showcase what's really important in your gaming rig.

[Via Engadget Deutschland]

Shuttle's SN78SH7 supports Hybrid SLI, launches Friday

by Darren Murph posted Jul 23rd 2008 at 9:04AM

Shuttle's SN78SH7 was briefly caught struttin' its stuff at CES this year, but after months on end of waiting, the thing is just about ready to start shipping to eager consumers. Hailed as the first small-form-factor PC to support NVIDIA's Hybrid SLI technology, this block can be equipped with AMD's Phenom X4 processor, 4GB of RAM and Windows Vista (among other things). No word on a price, but it should be quite apparent come Friday.

Lian-Li's Tyr X2000 HTPC / gaming chassis towers in black

by Darren Murph posted Jun 24th 2008 at 10:59AM

Whether this gem is as sexy as OrigenAE's LCD-equipped chassis is certainly debatable, but there's no denying at least some level of hotness here. The towering Tyr X2000 enclosure was designed to keep your gaming / HTPC components safe and net favorable glances from those privileged enough to enter your abode. The unique design enables owners to access optical / hard drives from the sides, and there's plenty of room to store those Family Guy re-runs with six hot-swappable RAID SATA bays. You'll also find a few more absurd specifications such as room for eight PCI cards, enough fans to cool a small dorm room and support for a water cooling system. Mum's the word on pricing, but c'mon, you can't look at this thing and honestly believe it'll be anything near cheap.

[Via HotHardware]

Gallery: Lian-Li's Tyr X2000 HTPC / gaming chassis towers in black

ACARD's dual 2.5-inch RAID enclosure is slim, hungry for power

by Joshua Topolsky posted May 1st 2008 at 4:16PM

If you're looking for an odd, yet usable storage solution, perhaps ACARD's Mirror Smart Mini is the thing for you. The device uses two 2.5-inch SATA drives side by side in a small enclosure; the drives can be mapped as a hardware-based RAID 1 array, or can be used as separate devices. The aluminum casing plugs into your system using USB 2.0, but unfortunately requires an AC adapter for power, thus making it slightly less awesome than we want it to be. Regardless, if you're moving around a lot and need a backup option, you might have found your $69 answer.

[Via Everything USB]

Iron Man case mod shows lots of dedication, is still ugly

by Darren Murph posted Apr 29th 2008 at 6:44AM

Let's go ahead and get this out of the way: we can't deny that the Iron Man Mark I case mod took some serious work (and skill). That being the case, it'd take a pretty hardcore fan of the character (or the new flick, we guess) to love this one with reckless abandon. Reportedly, the whole shebang was built in just three weeks, and while we're still waiting for the full work log, feel free to hit the read link for an array of angles.

Ryou PC collection crafted from Japanese Judas tree

by Darren Murph posted Mar 25th 2008 at 4:18PM

Another day, another round of PCs exquisitely built from woods farmed halfway across the globe. On the docket today, however, are a number of particularly drool-worthy rigs from Universal Roaming. The Ryou collection consists of a half dozen models constructed from Japanese Judas trees and accented with lacquer, silver / gold powders and other culturally-inspired designs. Each diminutive unit houses a 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 CPU, up to 2GB of RAM, an 80GB HDD, dual-layer DVD burner, WiFi adapter, 3-in-1 multicard reader and Windows Vista, but there's no telling how much you'll be asked to lay down in exchange for such elegance.

ST Electronics debuts DigiSAFE DCM200 smartcard-protected HDD enclosure

by Paul Miller posted Jan 9th 2008 at 10:06AM

ST Electronics is showing off a new drive case at CES, the DigiSAFE DiskCrypt Mobile DCM200, that's been touted as the world's first USB 2.0 external enclosure with smartcard protection. The drive offers "2-Factor" protection, requiring users to insert a smartcard and then enter a PIN before they can get at the hardware-encrypted data. Since everything is done by the hardware of the enclosure, the DCM200 is completely OS-independent and requires zero software installation on the host machine. The units will start shipping March 2008 for about ~~$999~~ $99.

Update: ST Electronics clarified with us that this price is actually $99, not $999 -- that's quite the relief!