Hello! First just an introduction, I started building my first PC last Autumn & discovered the wonderful world of modding. I was immediately drawn to it, not surprising really as I've been 'modding' everything I can get my hands on ever since I was a wee lass. Anyhoo, occasionally I just have really bizarre ideas & decided now would be a good time to share them! Idea#1: I have the JVC UX-A70MDR stereo shown here. It's not a great stereo, but it looks pretty & matches all the Source lighting in my room. The main feature on this that gives it the "kewl" factor is the motorised swing panel. Could something like that be implemented on a PC? I'd imagine it would take up about 3 drive bays. The middle one housing an LCD display & the panel sliding up & down to give access to the top & bottom drive bays? Just wondered if anyone had ever thought of trying it? Idea#2: I have a window in my case & if you're lucky enough to have the space, it seems a bit of a shame that there's not much you can do to the other side. How possible would it be to cut a round window & then insert one of those Luminglass things (like here? I don't know how hot they get? Anyway, those are the kind of things that haunt my over-active imagination. Thank you for listening.
Welcome to the boards, Hex. on the first, it's a much discussed topic. I haven't seen anyone pull it off yet though, so give it a shot and we'll help if we can. on the second, those type displays can throw a wicked electric field, I'd be a bit nervous with it next to the hardware, but people have done crazier things, that's for sure. Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done, there's always a way.
It'd be possible, but that's a damn expensive little toy right there. Plus, I don't know about how you have your box set up, but I can only see one side of mine. It'd be worthless for me, but YMMV, as always :--) Gordon
Those are both pretty sweet ideas. I REALLY like the Luminglass one! It does seem a little pricey, though. But I bet you could probably get one on clearance somewhere. We had a shop here called Natural Wonders that had all sorts of that stuff. It would look incredible with a good paint job on the case. Now THAT would really stand out at a LAN...
Go to a store that sells them and touch the screen with a metal object--if it reacts as it does with human touch, IMHO it may not be such a good idea to place one on a computer case. Would be cool though if it could be totally isolated from the components... A miniature one on the front of the case would look cool.
I suppose you could try to put one of those "electric ball" type things in the dull side of the case, to jazz it up. I would imagine if you pur some insulation between the mobo and the side panel you would be OK. would some of that AKASA sound deadening material not work as a good insulator. other wise, i have seen people put thin plexiglass tubs in, fill with water and have a little watter with bubbles blowing up it display. The ideas are endless, hmmm how about modding a ecth a sketh into the side so you can write quick notes down
Cheers for all your replies! I figured the Luminglass thing probably wouldn't be easy as I haven't seen anyone try it before, but, there must be ways to get it done & I thought bouncing ideas around here might be the way to work it out! I agree, a small one on the front bezel would look superb. Actually... that's just made me think of something equally kewl, but a LOT easier to do. There's a shop in London called CyberDog that do T-shirts with little lights on them... the Gadget Shop used to do a similar version with the light's on circles that velcro'd onto your T-shirt... they'd be just about the right size for the front of a case... hmmmm? I'd actually go for a Magna Doodle, rather than an Etch-A-Sketch
what about a mouse tablet modded to the font of your case, then you can write onto it and it would appear on screen
tit for tat, so what if ya HDD is knackered, the notice board mod would mean you can write word documents on there
Would drive me bonkers having running/chasing lights on the front that are 'on' all the time. (That issue was discussed in this thread). If you are adept with electronics, you can make a hard drive activity light (or get a kit and modify it slightly). Will "chase" only when the hard drive is accessed. I bought one of those kits and will try it with diffused blue LEDs. Figure I'll wire the LEDs (instead of mounting directly to the PCB), then put them into clear LED caps around the main HDD LED.
