Hi, i'm Rupert Ferder, 17yo, from the South of England Phase 1 of my Briefcase PC is COMPLETE. Still to go...Phase 2: Intergrated monitor, speakers and other mods Check out the pics and tell me what you think. Here are the specs: PCChips M848A Socket A Motherboard AMD Athlon XP (T-bred) 2100+ running at 1.8Ghz 1Gb DDR333 RAM ATI Radeon 9200SE Graphics (Low Profile) Firewire+USB cards DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive This project has ben plagued by mishaps, from faulty mobos, to overheating PSUs...but everything works beautifully now. I started this project a year ago, and have slowly built it, as and when i can get the parts i needed. Carbon fibre panels are attached to the sides. Clear acrylic sheet protects the components. The front LEDs give POST signals, to analyse problems etc.. from the Motherboard analysis PCI card that is underneath the firewire/USB card. I had to order a PCI card riser from the US to get the cards on that angle. All the PCBs are Red, and so are the cable ties and main cables. It is all fully portable Because it was an expandable briefcase, the bottom half had to be permanently expanded using metal X struts, it gave me more depth to work with. Here are some pics, please give me your honest opinion
Damn buddy, shrink those pics up. 640x480 will do nicely. Nice job though, looks just like the briefcase PC I built a few years ago (it actually may be the same case) except yours is much nicer.
I've been thinking of doing the same for quite a while but... ? Why no shielding on the PSU? (painted red) Also, I'd paint the drive tray red & sleeve that big mass of cables (several sleeves, all red of course, just in case you need to change a part) I really like the diagnostic lights by the handle and the all red theme (from PBCs to cable ties) The only negative thing I have to say is: It's a shame you didn't make a project log with a few construction details - problems & solutions can be quite helpful to others. Nice first post & welcome to the forums
answersanswersanswers Thanks for checking out my mod. "And how does it vent when closed? Of dose it just run open." At the rear of the case, between the Motherboard and PSU, a fan hole will be cut and a, yes you guessed it, RED fan will be mounted to help ventilation when closed. "Why no shielding on the PSU? (painted red)" When the PSU had it's metal casing intact, it was way too high, so it had to go, also i like the way you can see what's inside "It's a shame you didn't make a project log with a few construction details - problems & solutions can be quite helpful to others." Unfortunately, when i started the project, i was a complete n00b (i am not much better now lol), and i didn't think to create a log. On hindsight, i really should have. I did however take pictures of the project, in the early stages; if anyone's interested I'd paint the drive tray red & sleeve that big mass of cables (several sleeves, all red of course, just in case you need to change a part) Cool idea, i will bear that in mind. I was originally planning to use cable ties to "sleeve" the entire cable set, do you think it would look good? I.E, you woudn't be able to see the cables beneath, just cable ties! My brother said to me (after i had built the prject), that i should have painted the interior of the bottom half of the Briefcase Red/Covered in carbon fibre, i wish i had done that in the first place
Cable ties are really only suited to either hold cables together, or to hold cables up outta the way (in a tower case). You can buy proper cable sleeving - in a variety of colours, from any good mod shop (i.e. Kustom PCs, Fleetwood Computers etc etc). It'll look much more professional than using cable ties Nice idea though. A new take on carrying your PC in a briefcase
bought! Cheers for the idea mate, i just bought this: Sleeving Kit And this: Akasa 80mm Red Fan Check out the rear of the case...i have cut a vent hole ready for the new 80mm RED fan
looking good, couple of things though: 1. be careful with the ATF pin removal tool - very prone to breaking 2. a TFT mounted in the lid maybe?
I was sleeving my PSU and really didn't want to take off the 20-pin connector, and I was able to squeeze the connector through 1/2" sleeving. Saved me a lot of trouble. Although, I didn't use heatshrink on any of the wires, so it would probably be impossible to use heatshrink.
That will look much better That's a shame but not the end of the world - red tape & a zip tie at the ends. How close does the stuff at the bottom come to the ground when set upright? I agree with MrMacomouto, the bottom grill would look better painted. Other ideas would be to 1) invert it so it goes into the case rather than protruding & being prone to damage, 2) put it just inside the case so only the screws & washers are outside, 3) (my preferred option) replace the grill with a black air filter. The third option might also help with another concern: is that outer case coating going to peal around the holes? How about a closeup of the side with all the inputs & outputs?
Cheers for the heads up regarding th pin removal, i will try to be careful Phase 2 mainly involves mounting a TFT in the lid. but i only have 3 cms depth to work with! any ideas?! "How close does the stuff at the bottom come to the ground when set upright?" The standoffs on the bottom of the case give ample clearance so the fan grill doesn't get damaged "you could paint those bits on the bottom matt black to cover them up." Personally i like the look of the rivets coming through, i will post some detailed pics of the underside, and you can tell me what you think
Sleeving Complete I have added an Akasa Red LED Fan at the rear All of the connectors have been replaced with red ones... And I have sleeved/heatshrinked all of the cables. I am going to add a couple of UV Cold Cathodes to which all the sleeving/cables/heatshirnk/connectors will react and glow!
UV Cold Cathodes Installed! Here are the pics of the cold cathodes in action i have sleeved them to try and make them more RED! Although i think further reddening will be needed... Here is a movie of the Computer in action Movie Let me know what you think...
If you wanted it super SUPER red you could take out the case lining and dye it red, then put it back in.
looks pretty pink to me nice though, i had a red cathode and it glowed pink and my case was orange so i colored it with a orange sharpie and it worked great, i colored the actual cathde not the clear cover thing though
