Discussion: A computer case you can mount a monitor to.

[MarcellusCrow]

That makes it very similar to what ford was talking about with the thin clients then, especially once power, weight and heat have their say.
Wouldnt it be better to have the case support the weight of the monitor, than the other way around?

your 3x larger case for your personal PC probably has enough weight to support a full on HDTV if the mount was secure enough.

It is indeed the other way around, the case supports the monitor.
We're doing a lot of testing at the moment with regards the max weight for a monitor.

 

[MarcellusCrow]

Center of gravity is important. Too much torque and it will fall on its face.

@MarcellusCrow : Do you have any idea for a target maximum display weight and size you're looking at supporting?

We're definitely looking at supporting monitors up to a size that people will reasonably use, but it has been pointed out to us that people might like to use this as a HTPC, although this would require some clever engineering to support the weight.

 

[dorsetknob]

Not only do you need to test for what people use this for you have to bear in mind end user abuse / mis use.......... if its eventually going to "Come to Market "

"" Someone got to say it "" because it will happen

 

[OneMoar]

Hoping it's not since we're not selling a product or even crowdfunding, just looking for input and suggestions.

ignore caring1 he suffers from fragile x syndrome
I like this idea but the execution is everything
that much weight hanging off the back of the monitor looks like it would be very tip heavy unless the stand was made of solid lead and even then I am not sure there would be enough counter weight for a heavy gpu and cpu cooler

most enthusiast are not going to use the stock intel/amd cooler and gpu's are heavy
support for a water cooling rad might be the solution you could mount the rad on the bottom to get the center of gravity down maby integrate a pump and reservoir into the monitor stand its self to further lower the center of mass

 

[Toothless]

I could see this working, but if they hardware was more flat against the back of the monitor, and not as far out. The issue with that being I know quite a few people who like their monitors against the wall along with their desk, and with how err.. Deep that stand/case is, that can cause issues because where is your keyboard going to go?

Could pull it off using low-profile cooling, memory, and a PCI-E riser to have the GPU flat against the monitor. Not as deep and if you use glass, it would also look cool. ITX 970 anyone?

 

[Jetster]

It would look nice if the monitor was actually in the side panel or was the side panel of the case. Not just bolted to it. The side panel would hold a monitor within it

 

[OneMoar]

It would look nice if the monitor was actually in the side panel or was the side panel of the case. Not just bolted to it. The side panel would hold a monitor within it

there's been a few case mods like that over the years

 

[bubbleawsome]

While I'm sure I won't be able to afford the final product for a while, I'll subscribe for now.

 

[Mussels]

It would look nice if the monitor was actually in the side panel or was the side panel of the case. Not just bolted to it. The side panel would hold a monitor within it

while the most elegant solution, it means case + monitor have to be chosen as a bundle.

 

[PLAfiller]

First of all, I hope you do make it on the market. I am always happy for honest entrepreneurs that make it out there. Second, since you asked about feedback here some of things that cross my mind.

One, I am not sure I like the idea of a bundled monitor and case. I'd focus on a case that fits standard VESA mounts. What about people that want a curved monitor for LAN parties>? A Curved case to fit in ?

Next, I think you want to support too much storage in this thing. 4 drives in total seems a bit too much for me for an ultra-portable thing. If you have the patience on Sunday - 26.07/ Monday-27.07, I will be posting pictures and comments on another case that might give you some ideas for your project.

Third: ATX PSU is too big IMO. SFX or even Flex ATX/ 1U PSU should be the biggest it goes. I mean just have look at Fractal's Console Killer - Node 202:

They only need to throw in a proper stand/ handle and it's thin enough to be fair.

Not being adjustable could be a problem for taller people to get their viewing angle right? What about keeping a straight back when working/gaming for a prolonged amount of time?

If you want to keep the idea "to mount monitor to case" and not vise versa and pivot around this idea, may be the case should be bigger or have some "legs" or something. May be a U-shapped stand that allows the case and the monitor attached to it to move up and down. (similar to this speaker, but bigger in your case). On your website you have a different render than here on TPU.

Anyway, I hope I don't sound too aggrivating or negative.

Wish you the best guys.

 

[MarcellusCrow]

@IZKoce Thank you for all of that feedback! That's not aggrivating or negative at all and the input is much appreciated.

At the moment we do not intend to bundle it with a monitor; the render is a bit misleading. I'll post a render of the case without a monitor this week.
At the moment 4 drives is what fits in once room has been made for everything else, but we might be able to look at decreasing that to fit into something else.
That case is quite think, we'll certainly look into it, thanks for the reference!
Oliver, the engineer, reckons ATX PSU's are much more widely available but we'll consider smaller.
The stand will definitely be attached to the case, with the monitor mounting on it. But it is likely we'll increase the surface area of the stand. A U-shape could work well.

 

[MarcellusCrow]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback, you've given us a lot to work with and we look forward to returning with new ideas and renders

 

[Mussels]

I'd say 1-2 drives max and limited to 2.5" - remembering the popularity of SSD's - and focus more on room/space for graphics cards. You can throw an i7 into just about any case with a stock cooler and be ok, but graphics cards are space hogs.

 

[Aquinus]

To me, it doesn't seem like space will be a huge issue with this chassis. It has to support a display and has to keep the weight distributed properly, so I suspect that will mean more than enough room on the inside. I'm wondering how the problem of cabling will be solved. I like the concept because its basically a build your own AIO PC, however I'm worried about the display cable in particular. If a display is mounted to the chassis, the connections to the monitor still need to got to power (which I mentioned earlier and I think can be easily handled and hidden,) but there is the question of monitor connection, be it HDMI, DP, or DVI. I say this because judging from the renders, I can't really tell which direction the motherboard would be oriented, so I have a hard time picturing how the display cable is going to get routed without looking clumsy. What gets even more tricky is that different displays put ports in different spots at different angles. So while something like my S2340M might work well because of the down facing DVI port, a display with a back facing port might have much tougher restrictions on being able to wire it up because of size of the connector and the amount of room available. So it's something worth considering.

Beyond that, I think this sounds like a great idea and can't wait to see render version 2.

 

[Seymor Onion]

I've seen some 3'rd party HDMI adapters M/F in stores, that are angled. I'm not sure if such is also readily available for DVI, VGA or Display Port.
They could be something you include with the Case, or make and/or sell separately, yourselves, if so inclined.

I like the idea of USB 3 and 3.5" USB and Mic ports on the stand, but as others have said, putting them on the side of the stand would allow more room up front for a keyboard.

If you don't mind adding a bit of complexity to the case's stand, you could orient some of them like the cart slot on a Super NES.
Some sort of slide cover might need to be implemented, to keep dust and spills out as well, since Gravity Works. XD
Including some kind of silicone dummy plug-in thingies may work as well, but that kind of thing tends to get easily lost.

You could skip all that and just design the side panels of the case in such a way, so they could be on either side (as well as a reversible stand) to serve the needs of both right-handed and left-handed people. They could just plug their non-wireless peripherals into the mobo's rear ports from ether the right, or the left, of the case.

 

[Warrgarbl]

In my opinion, you should look at the following things:

1) I hate glossy finishes. They will only look like crap in a short while, and you can expect people to have their keyboards close to the base of the stand at all times, which WILL lead to scratches. I'd suggest a different surface texture or material.
2) Connectors at the front is a bad idea (see 1). Desk width is usually not an issue, but desk depth is. The connectors should be either at the sides of the base or at another more creative location.
3) I work in Digital Signage, and as some other poster has stated some screens tend to heat up quite a lot. Depending on your design heat transfer and therefore accumulation between case and screen COULD become an issue, especially when you're marketing for enthusiasts who will want the lowest temperatures possible. Having a review uncover a bad delta value for CPU temp could wreck your reputation right at the start.
4) Adjustment is necessary. Even if I personally could do with the current design there are many people with crazy preferences when it comes to monitors. Some people also like theirs very high - maybe some sort of telescoping mechanism could be implemented as long as it doesn't affect the center of gravity?
5) The foot stand design is currently very ugly for my tastes. Personally, I'd go for someting more angular, and I'd probably go for a loop instead of a split at the back.
6) Your case looks somewhat good, although a little unrefined, yet it seems to have sharp edges. Sharp edges attached to a customer's hardware do not mix, even more so since many screens tend to have glossy surfaces. You should at least include some kind of standoff.
7) Cable Management. If going for enthusiasts I suspect that people will want a way to route the cables that leave the box in some way or another, be it mouse or keyboard. Especially the keyboard cable will be very long - and it's all on the table. Maybe you could implement some kind of cable compartment in the base where excess cabling from, say, the keyboard can go? Would go well with the loop from 5).
8) Focus on one design theme. Currently, the case itself is very angular and has a brushed metal finish, yet the base looks like cheap glossy plastic and is all round. I'm absolutely no designer, but it's very disharmonic to me.

As a sidenote - don't rule out a business application. Intel NUCs sell very well for us because they are space saving, so a diminutive business class case with no space for a GPU could actually sell nicely as well.

So this got longer than I expected, and not everything that I wrote might be constructive, but best of luck to you with your project

 

[MarcellusCrow]

I'd say 1-2 drives max and limited to 2.5" - remembering the popularity of SSD's - and focus more on room/space for graphics cards. You can throw an i7 into just about any case with a stock cooler and be ok, but graphics cards are space hogs.

Thanks for that More room for graphics cards is always a good idea, given the wide variety of sizes they come in.

 

[MarcellusCrow]

I've seen some 3'rd party HDMI adapters M/F in stores, that are angled. I'm not sure if such is also readily available for DVI, VGA or Display Port.
They could be something you include with the Case, or make and/or sell separately, yourselves, if so inclined.

I like the idea of USB 3 and 3.5" USB and Mic ports on the stand, but as others have said, putting them on the side of the stand would allow more room up front for a keyboard.

If you don't mind adding a bit of complexity to the case's stand, you could orient some of them like the cart slot on a Super NES.
Some sort of slide cover might need to be implemented, to keep dust and spills out as well, since Gravity Works. XD
Including some kind of silicone dummy plug-in thingies may work as well, but that kind of thing tends to get easily lost.

You could skip all that and just design the side panels of the case in such a way, so they could be on either side (as well as a reversible stand) to serve the needs of both right-handed and left-handed people. They could just plug their non-wireless peripherals into the mobo's rear ports from ether the right, or the left, of the case.

Making and selling angled adapters for VGA.... now there's an idea
Gravity is proven to be quite an enemy so far
That's an excellent idea re the side panels, and I'll pass it onto our engineer!

 

[MarcellusCrow]

In my opinion, you should look at the following things:

1) I hate glossy finishes. They will only look like crap in a short while, and you can expect people to have their keyboards close to the base of the stand at all times, which WILL lead to scratches. I'd suggest a different surface texture or material.
2) Connectors at the front is a bad idea (see 1). Desk width is usually not an issue, but desk depth is. The connectors should be either at the sides of the base or at another more creative location.
3) I work in Digital Signage, and as some other poster has stated some screens tend to heat up quite a lot. Depending on your design heat transfer and therefore accumulation between case and screen COULD become an issue, especially when you're marketing for enthusiasts who will want the lowest temperatures possible. Having a review uncover a bad delta value for CPU temp could wreck your reputation right at the start.
4) Adjustment is necessary. Even if I personally could do with the current design there are many people with crazy preferences when it comes to monitors. Some people also like theirs very high - maybe some sort of telescoping mechanism could be implemented as long as it doesn't affect the center of gravity?
5) The foot stand design is currently very ugly for my tastes. Personally, I'd go for someting more angular, and I'd probably go for a loop instead of a split at the back.
6) Your case looks somewhat good, although a little unrefined, yet it seems to have sharp edges. Sharp edges attached to a customer's hardware do not mix, even more so since many screens tend to have glossy surfaces. You should at least include some kind of standoff.
7) Cable Management. If going for enthusiasts I suspect that people will want a way to route the cables that leave the box in some way or another, be it mouse or keyboard. Especially the keyboard cable will be very long - and it's all on the table. Maybe you could implement some kind of cable compartment in the base where excess cabling from, say, the keyboard can go? Would go well with the loop from 5).
8) Focus on one design theme. Currently, the case itself is very angular and has a brushed metal finish, yet the base looks like cheap glossy plastic and is all round. I'm absolutely no designer, but it's very disharmonic to me.

As a sidenote - don't rule out a business application. Intel NUCs sell very well for us because they are space saving, so a diminutive business class case with no space for a GPU could actually sell nicely as well.

So this got longer than I expected, and not everything that I wrote might be constructive, but best of luck to you with your project

Thanks for all of that feedback! We're giving serious thought to the front connectors, since people have mixed views about them. I'll pass all of these suggestions onto our engineer. The ideas on the aesthetics are also much appreciated, especially 8).

 

[MarcellusCrow]

We've gotten a lot of requests regarding product testing: Over the next few weeks we'll be opening up an application form for people to test and review the case

 

[Mussels]

Thanks for all of that feedback! We're giving serious thought to the front connectors, since people have mixed views about them. I'll pass all of these suggestions onto our engineer. The ideas on the aesthetics are also much appreciated, especially 8).

make any front connectors go vertical like a common USB hub. I've got a viewsonic monitor here with USB ports that stick straight forwards, and the desk i have it on they are impossible to use since a keyboard or mouse could hit them and damage the device or port. as already discussed gravity is kind of a problem here, so you really do need vertical cables for most of your purposes - and it makes the 'connected' system look a hell of a lot neater.

 

[n-ster]

We've gotten a lot of requests regarding product testing: Over the next few weeks we'll be opening up an application form for people to test and review the case

In terms of reviewers, I'd suggest looking at official TPU reviewers first like cmaris, cadaveca, Darksaber and the like. Darksaber is in Europe so you might want to try him first?

If I were to get something like this, I would want something fairly quiet and cool. Intake from bottom exhaust from top could be something to consider. Don't cheap out on fans. As said before, IMO 2x 2.5" drives should be fine, have one with rubber grommets for anti-vibration of the HDD. I would also put something rubber for anti-vibration of the fans. You can do behind the mobo mounting if it's more practical as well. Having 11" GPUs fit would be awesome (full-size GTX 970!), but this isn't very important as there are many other options as well

I like the ATX PSU idea, though probably don't need to support anything larger than 150mm x 86mm x 160mm (like the Corsair AX860i).

I'm guessing 5.25" bays are going to be absent? You could go with an optional slim drive somewhere, or just no ODD. How deep do you think the case will be?

 

[MarcellusCrow]

Hi guys, thanks again for all of the ideas and support!

Based on the feedback we'vre recieved, as well as our own testing, our first prototype has been completed. We aim to start an IndieGoGo to create several prototypes, and send them to reviewers, during August.

Renders:

 

[Mussels]

Ok so its a stand with attached case, and generic VESA mounts? that should work if you keep it within thermal limits.

The fan there sucking/blowing onto the monitor might be a mistake, the opposite side would have much easier access to fresh air.

Fan at the bottom sucking air in and blow blowing up and out some vents would be ideal, working with convection and blowing dust out the top while the system is running.

 

[MarcellusCrow]

Ok so its a stand with attached case, and generic VESA mounts? that should work if you keep it within thermal limits.

The fan there sucking/blowing onto the monitor might be a mistake, the opposite side would have much easier access to fresh air.

Fan at the bottom sucking air in and blow blowing up and out some vents would be ideal, working with convection and blowing dust out the top while the system is running.

Correct

That's the power supply, which is indented to allow it to draw air even if the monitor is flat, if the monitor is curved it's not a problem.
Having it the other side would compromise aesthetics.