Got my Coolermaster case through the mail yesterday and thinking about installing a window in it, but as the coolermaster is really a deluxe case i wanted the window to be as good. My problem with the actual window kits is the ugly black molding, i think these really suck with alu cases so i was wondering what other alternatives you guys had found. Also i had this really cool idea coming up when i was in a restaurant a couple of weeks ago: The toilets there had walls made of clear glass so you could actually see the inside when standing outside. The thing is when you entered the toilet the windows suddenly went opaque which formed a really cool effect. Now i was wondering if anybody here knew what kind of glass this was and if it would in theory be possible to apply this to the pc: immagine having a switch on your baybus to make your window see-trough or opaque, cool no? Anyway if anybody has any info on this type of glass please share
not sure if this is what u mean but check out macro black it does that.....when the pc is off the window is dark....when its on a light from the inside lights it up....also some people u chrom molding....some use no moulding....some use molding that u can get for around blowholes.....and then even some have found clear molding...
Thx for the tips, the Macro black is actually pretty cool but it's not what i meant, the light conditions in the toilets did not change at all, well not visibly at least, i really have no idea how this glass worked but it gave a really kick-ass effect
You can always go back and ask, see if they know. Sounds to me like it had some type of sensor, which would cause something to happen to form the effect, how, I do not know.
I saw one of these bathrooms on the Discovery Channel and they explained that it was like a glass sandwich with the center part being an opaque something or other that turns clear when the lock was flipped and the circuit completed. It seems like it would be a very expensive project to put in the computer. And personally, i don't think it would be all that cool (just opaque when off, just clear when on). Maybe if it got set up to flash opaque with HD activity or something like that...
bargz has it right. It is a specail glass sandwich and is very expensive (normal size window being over US$1000). It would be cool to have it strobe to hdd activity. Thats a good idea bargz.
It's a wicked cool idea, actually. It's just like a big LCD, with one big pixel. You could do the same thing with polarizers. You could definitely (this will work for sure, but it's a little crude) have two sheets of polarizing film in your window--rotating one 90° out of phase with the other will block almost all light. But lights off is approximately the same look. I'd like to see you try it actually.
As for mounting ure window just get some 1x1 mounting squares made from sticky tape and make the plexi/lexan/whatever be bigger than the hole. That way it allows for a small area for the mounting squares to stick to it with it and hold it up while being invisible. Bolts or rivets will work too. The mentioned glass is right, its very interesting and very expensive. Some types have adjustable darkness(desinged for adjustable tint in windows)which would be interesting. Perhaps when the HDD had activity it would spike up the tint and then let it slowly come back down.
W00t, thx for the cool info, 1000$ for normal size window?! I think that's a littlebit over my budget, maybe if i go back to that restaurant and ask nicely if they have some spare left?... Linear, how would that polarizing film work? would it be less expensive and do you think it's really feasable?
With the two sheets of polarized material, I'm pretty sure it has to physically rotate the 90 degrees to change from clear to dark or back again. It would be tons cheaper. Here's my idea: have a round outermost window layer mounted at vertical. Then have the inner layer be the same size, plus sprockets that you could use to gear down to a motor that would be controlled by HD activity. I'm pretty sure that will suck. Here's another idea: square windows with the inner layer attached at two places to arms that are controlled by some mechanical device where the off is the default (clear) setting, and on is the 90 degrees (dark) setting. Once again controlled by HD activity. I think I'll make up a drawing because i'm sure this wasn't a very good description.
Ok, here's a better idea. Both windows are round and mounted on an axle. At 12 o'clock on window 1, there is an arm. At 6 o'clock on window 2, another arm. At the end of the arms, there is a machine that has two positions. The machine rotates 45 degrees, pulling arm #1, pushing arm #2, thus making the 2 windows line up at 90 degrees and making them dark. That process could be quick enough that it could react in sync with the HD activity. Damn, I'm fired up. If you don't try this, I'm definitely going to.
I guess i'll leave it up to you then, i'm not really into building a loud mechanical arm into my case
just noticed u live in belgium too (where?) u can buy some from www.louis.nl (they ship to belgium for free if u buy for 50 euros) just search for 'profiel' and then it's on the bottom the red one is sold out (there is still purple tough ) i got blue, silver and black i like blue the best, than silver, the black isn't very special it's really beautifull in real life
Brussels, hey these seem pretty nice, i might just be able to brush the silver a bit to make it look like my aluminium, thx alot for the tip
francais or nederlands? i would brush it if i were you, it doesn't looks nice (experienced it here) u should buy the blue and a blue cathode or something like that i wouldn(t go for the silver, it has to stand out a little just my opinion
Hmm.. that toilet might be embarrasing if the power was to go out... "Quick!! Some chick's in the bog! Pull the fuse! Pull the fuse! Pull the FOOOOOOZZZZEE!" Damn I just realised it prolly defaults to fuzzed when there's no jooce going through it.
