[FormerLurker]

Dell Press Release

Way to innovate, Mikey...

[alphamatrix]

Ahhhhhh!!!
Help, Help Mike Dells monster computer is trying to eat me!!!!

[ThunderP]

but he did innovate, his design is nothing like the el capitan case design. See, his swings out like a door and apple's opens down

Very good innovation

[FormerLurker]

Originally posted by alphamatrix:
<STRONG>Ahhhhhh!!!
Help, Help Mike Dells monster computer is trying to eat me!!!!</STRONG>

I guess that would make it a real alphanumeric cruncher, huh?

[iCartman]

At least Dell was smart enough to put multiple drive bays in the system. Gotta wonder how that one slipped though Apple's brain-dead design team (twice even)!

p.s. look how tight that ide cable is!! I bet everytime you open the case it snaps the cable right off the drives! doh!

[- - e r i k - -]

I just wonder what took them this long. They claim innovation all the way. Much like when they claimed to be the first to include wireless networking in laptops.

But one can learn from eachother I guess, hope Apple picks up on this: "For convenience, Dell added two USB ports and a headphone jack to the front of the system -- no more reaching around to the back."

But then again...looking at my G4 tower on my desk here. It would look really ugly with cables coming out of the front of it... The side perhaps...

My company just purchased a ton of these and they are awful! They're impossible to open without wrenching on them, it's a complete mess inside the case, they've got screwy bezels on the front for the drives, and the panels flex like crazy.

The only similarity with Apple's case is that it's on a hinge. Granted, Apple's case hinges out 90 degrees - the Dell hinges about 40 degrees - any further, I think you have to take the IDE cables off the drives.

-s'fit

[Cipher13]

I don't see how it copies it.

Its nothing like it. Its on a hinge... thats just a logical progression. Its not a copy when it borrows one aspect like that.

And anyway... how dumb is that? You still have to get access to the back of the machine to do anything with it.

Oh well. I don't own one and I'm not going to.

[vega24]

It doesn't look anything like a G4 tower. Besides I've seen several different ATX towers that have several different ways to gain access inside for years.

G4 towers look nice, but the best looking cases I've ever seen are the solid aluminum cases. The catch is they're only for PC's and they cost from $150-$350.

[Millennium]

If that's a copy, it's a bad one.

You don't rip off Apple just by sticking a door on your case; give them some credit for using a good idea. Or, at least, starting with one. They've butchered the freakin' thing to the point where the case design isn't practical. The IDE cable is only one symptom of the problem.

All the same, I do wish Apple would make a bigger El Capitan case, with more drive bays and PCI slots. Maybe call it "Generalissimo"?

[maxelson]

I work with these things at work. GX150. They have simply moved away from what I call the "car hood" type of access as you can find in the GX400 and 300s. Actually, this case is nowhere near as convenient as the PowerMac's. You have to lay the thing down on its side and depress a panel on each end and pull up hard. It just is not that easy. The locking clips stick a lot and one has to close the box carefully to make sure everything is allighned properly. The cables inside are so nice and neatly tucked and clipped here and there that it is a royal pain in the ass to add pretty much anything- there is no give to any of the cables (I have the same complaint about the ribbons in the Quicksilvers). Not so bad when it is just you adding something, but I deal with 20 or so of these boxes a day- adding RAM, drives, whatever. I do like the green clips (you can see them mounted on the inside of the case above). These are just attached to whatever module you are adding and the clips slide and lock into the bays. I just think it is nice that they include a bunch of these.
And those damned bezels. My knuckles are so damned bruised and bloodied getting them out. No, I do not think we have anything to fear from dell on the design front.

[sebuchen]

Michael is just laying the ground-work so that 6 months from now, he'll try to tell the world that Dell was the first to offer the inovative "Hinge Open" case design. Michael, your a dick, get over it.

[ 09-18-2001: Message edited by: sebuchen ]

[OldManMac]

What a horrendous looking design! There's certainly nothing innovative in it, and, judging by some of the responses posted here, IMHO we don't have to worry about it! It does indeed look like a knuckle-buster! Mikey will probably crow about how he invented the easy access design, but anyone looking to buy these should be able to see what clunkers they are!!

[davesimondotcom]

Originally posted by Millennium:
<STRONG>If that's a copy, it's a bad one.
</STRONG>

Same could be said for Windows.
Or the colored translucent panels on the same old boxes by every PC maker.

Apple innovates. Everyone else seems to pick up on only one feature of Apple's good design.

Hey, if translucent plastic makes the iMac good, it'll make our PCs great! (Never mind the fact that the iMac was good for how simple to set up and use it was, even if it would have been in beige plastics.)

The G4 has a HINGE! Let's put a hinge on Dell PCs and they'll be even better!

Truth is, Mikey doesn't get it.

[iCartman]

ok, now the RDF bullsh*t is getting kinda think in this thread. Time to get out the silver-plated reality shovel;

Every SGI machine, since the days of the Indigo, has come with an easy-access case. Indigos, Indys, Indigo2s, Crimsons, Onyxs, O2s, Octanes, Origins, et al ad nauseum. The only exceptions are the "big-box" machines (including some Origins and Onyxs) which are easy-access, but taken in context of their case sizes, etc.

Sh*t, even my old IBM PS/2 model 50 had this design. No tools were required to replace any part in the system including the logic board (try to top that).

There is nothing innovative about Apple & Dell choosing an easy-access case design. It's a good choice, but it sure as hell isn't innovative. Innovative would be something better than what IBM had (god knows what that would be). At least Dell is moving forward with it's case design (granted they are only beginning to catch up to where Apple was years ago). They could have been lazy and used the same old case with a new color.

[maxelson]

Originally posted by iCartman:
<STRONG>ok, now the RDF bullsh*t is getting kinda think in this thread. Time to get out the silver-plated reality shovel;

Every SGI machine, since the days of the Indigo, has come with an easy-access case. Indigos, Indys, Indigo2s, Crimsons, Onyxs, O2s, Octanes, Origins, et al ad nauseum. The only exceptions are the "big-box" machines (including some Origins and Onyxs) which are easy-access, but taken in context of their case sizes, etc.

Sh*t, even my old IBM PS/2 model 50 had this design. No tools were required to replace any part in the system including the logic board (try to top that).
</STRONG>

OK, so I'm just picking at nits, here, but I'm just poking around one of those Indys and this case is hardly what I'd call hinged. Works more like the pizza box form factor than anything else. Press (or pull) the tabs and peel the cover back.
You also seem to be talking more about that particular pizza box form factor. I don't see towers as having come that way until relatively recently.
Again, details, details.
And my knuckles are here to tell you, the dell box is not exactly technician friendly. Better than they used to be, but still knuckle rippers. The only real technician bruiser in the G3-G4 cases is the power supply. Nip this, tuck that, squeeze here (careful not to rip the ribbon on that cage), gently guide this through that... a simple job that takes an hour to perform.

[micha schraven]

hey, we have one of those at work ! It has 2 P-xeons in it.

AND It has a firewireport