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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > which case design do you perfer?

which case design do you perfer?
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bbt
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Feb 26, 2003, 03:14 PM
 
the older quicksilver or the dual mirror doors? and why?
     
jcadam
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Feb 26, 2003, 03:45 PM
 
Originally posted by bbt:
the older quicksilver or the dual mirror doors? and why?
The dual mirror doors.

I don't think they LOOK as nice as the Quicksilver, but they can hold a second optical drive, and I'm not sure the Quicksilver could hold 4 hard drives (correct me if I'm wrong).
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I'mDaMac
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Feb 26, 2003, 04:37 PM
 
The older quicksilver. The mirrored drive doors still look like an afterthought.

I would like to see an entirely different case design for the next-gen systems though. The current design was introduced back with the B&W G3's.
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iRebound
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Feb 26, 2003, 04:44 PM
 
Originally posted by I'mDaMac:
I would like to see an entirely different case design for the next-gen systems though. The current design was introduced back with the B&W G3's.
I'm sure they're thinking of a new case design.

Look at the Old PB Case. From WallStreet to Lombard to Pismo.
     
BrunoBruin
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Feb 26, 2003, 04:54 PM
 
I would like to see an entirely different case design for the next-gen systems though.
I wouldn't mind a new case if it's as practical as the current one. It will be hard to improve on El Capitan. They could be sleeker and more square, in keeping with Apple's current industrial design, but I hope they're just as functional.

I like the Quicksilver and MDD cases about the same. Both are better than the previous blue-grey (Yikes/Sawtooth) models; they're slicker and look better-integrated.
     
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Feb 26, 2003, 06:08 PM
 
I'd say the Yosemites looked the best... if apple took the Quick Silver case, threw in two bay doors, and gave it a bluey silver tinge I think that'd be pretty sweet.
     
derekn
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Feb 26, 2003, 06:48 PM
 
I like the MDD since it's the one I have now. Yes it's an old case design but look how versatile it is with all the revisions. From the B&W's to now, room for 4 hard drives, 2 5.25 inch drives etc. Nice work. I like the metal finish and the power button though, I'd sort of like to have the optical drives at the top but it's cool where they are now too.
     
xyber233
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Feb 26, 2003, 06:48 PM
 
I like quicksilver a lot. It just pleasees the eye better .
     
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Feb 26, 2003, 07:01 PM
 
My school lab has four QuickSilver PowerMac, the case is good overall speaking. I do have the QS poster hanging on my wall. Now, I have the MDD sitting next to me. I would say the MDD is better interms of design. Remember the speaker on the QS? All the speakers I saw in my school lab were somehow damaged. Students were poking around and now they(Apple) correct it with a free speaker grill inside the box. Second, adding a front headphone jack.. Nice over the QS.. Removed the "restart" and "programming" buttoms off the front panel. Since they added the "mirrored" drive doors, the new case seens wider than QS.

For older cases (Yosemite, Yikes/Sawtooth), they look kind of weird to me now.
     
bbt  (op)
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Feb 26, 2003, 08:08 PM
 
apple had the speaker grill before quicksilver but took it out, now its back in, what gives?

i like the quicksilvers look better with the rom on top
     
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Feb 26, 2003, 10:16 PM
 
The problem with the mirrored doors is fingerprints! I hope they have an update design soon!

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lordwizard
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Feb 27, 2003, 05:36 PM
 
My new MDD FW800 Dual 1.25 has just shipped

I recognize the better design and ease of use of the latest model but to be frank, i like the Quicksilver...

:-)
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Feb 27, 2003, 06:52 PM
 
The Cube.
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keywest
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Feb 27, 2003, 07:01 PM
 
Everyone seems to be discussing only the front panel of the MDD, but for my money, it's the proportions of the case design that is perfect. The width and bulge of the case is ideal for my eyes.
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Feb 27, 2003, 08:21 PM
 
The quicksilver was beautiful. The MDD is slightly more functional, but has a few pieces of bad design. Things that come to mind are the way the optical drives are in the middle of the case and how the power supply is a proprietary fit instead of atx, and the lack of restart button, and the way the plugs in the back aren't recessed, and etc, etc, etc, how you have to change the entire MDD thing for zip drives, geez the list goes on and on.

I still prefer the quicksilver. The MDD has a much more robust motherboard but overall they both are on the same level as far as overall score goes.

The quicksilver, btw, was designed to look like the cube if I'm not mistaken. Good design. IMHO it was soooo sexy. The MDD looks kinda slutsy :sigh:

Johnathan Ive went too far with those cosmetic vents IMHO.
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Feb 28, 2003, 12:42 AM
 
hell i still think the original design of my dual 500 kicks ass, the white light power button tops it off.

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Feb 28, 2003, 06:01 AM
 
Looks wise = The Quicksilver by a long way.

Practicality wise = The MDD.

Marc
     
davesim
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Feb 28, 2003, 03:20 PM
 
I would like to something out of this world for the next installment of the PowerMac. I can't wait to see what Apple comes up with no matter what the design I'm sure it'll be sweet.
     
Eugene Fields
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Feb 28, 2003, 03:57 PM
 
I can't believe at this thread this has never come up!
Why In the Hell Does Apple go to such Great Trouble to make the FW800 & MDD Pictures look so sweet with Brushed Aluminum or Anodized Aluminum and then Produce the UGLY Mirrored Doors? WTF is That??

I Just ordered a 1.42 and I fired sentiment off to Apple as Well. Its as if they KNOW the design SUCKS and took great pains to hide it, representing the Tower as Satin Aluminum front End? So WIERD

The ONLY photos of the Tower without an anodized Aluminum front os the Close-Up of the SuperDrive when they were sort of PUSHED into showing it fr real. Highly annoying to me as I So prefer the Adds. LOL I wish they would get it together. The Cube was so Outrageous I have loved it so. Im hopeing I'll love the Tower's power enough to overcome the rest of it..

I mean I ordered the Tower. Its not gonna break the Deal. But I wish It would have an Anodized front panel when it arrives..Im not holding my breath... LOL

Maybe a good Opertunity for some Casting House to cast the part custom and sell it in MacWorld..Big Market? I bet many would buy at the right price!
( Last edited by Eugene Fields; Feb 28, 2003 at 04:05 PM. )
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Feb 28, 2003, 05:16 PM
 
I kinda like the mirrored doors.

I hate my D800 Quicksilver case because it's soooooo darn LOUD! I mean louder than the MDDs!!! :rant rant rant:

When you turn mine on it doens't sound like a jet, no, it sounds like a fleet of 747s starting.
In a realm beyond site, the sky shines gold, not blue, there the Triforce's might makes mortal dreams come true.
     
Eugene Fields
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Feb 28, 2003, 05:30 PM
 
Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
I kinda like the mirrored doors.

I hate my D800 Quicksilver case because it's soooooo darn LOUD! I mean louder than the MDDs!!! :rant rant rant:

When you turn mine on it doens't sound like a jet, no, it sounds like a fleet of 747s starting.
Allrighty Then At Least Start Showing those 'Beautifull Mirrored Doors' in all thier Promo Material

LOL
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Feb 28, 2003, 05:31 PM
 
lol. With a flash cam? I don't think so.

Even without flash you'd see the camera lol.
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Mar 1, 2003, 04:55 AM
 
I was recently showing a friend around our school's Mac Lab, she remarked at how cool the Power Mac (Yosemite) handles were...
I hope they keep the handels on it in some form or another... perhaps side handels?
haha put wheels on the bottom!
hahahaha
Acctually you know what would REALLY be cool? A Power Mac case on a spinning drum! Like where you could piviot it kinda like the iMac's screen moves, like if you didn't have any power cords connected you could spin it 360, but with the cord in it simply allows you to spin it so you don't have to hunch over the machine to get the ports, just spin your machine so the ports are easier to get to. And then have a handle on top.
I think a kinda curved out front power mac would be pretty spiffy looking!
     
bradoesch
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Mar 1, 2003, 09:47 AM
 
Originally posted by Superchic[k]en:
I'd say the Yosemites looked the best...
Same here. Although I'm still stuck in the "flavour" era, with my iMac DV and all. I guess I still like blueberry better than white. And platinum better than aqua...
     
Corinthian
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Mar 1, 2003, 10:11 AM
 
No doubt, the original design looks the best! The later cases are just weird, QS is still okay, but for MDD...urgh urgh......
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Cipher13
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Mar 3, 2003, 08:32 AM
 


If only it had a second 5.25" bay.
     
G4ME
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Mar 3, 2003, 09:26 AM
 

I GOT WASTED WITH PHIL SHERRY!!!
     
GORDYmac
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Mar 3, 2003, 11:52 AM
 
Quicksilver.

I use my second bay for 4 USB ports. Looks sweet. I like the Digital Audio's Graphite design too.
     
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Mar 3, 2003, 04:12 PM
 
     
finalfantasy
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Mar 3, 2003, 05:04 PM
 
the new quicksilver looks like it has nostrels.
     
Simon
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Mar 4, 2003, 05:07 AM
 
For the eye I think the QS is the nicest, but when it comes to functionality the MDDs are much better. I think Apple shopuld take a QS, make the doors a bit larger, and silver. But,

- The case is too small for the internals. Either cut the internal expansion possibilities (and make a larger companion for the 4 PCI & 4 drives cracks) or make the case bigger. It's ridiculous to see how small the space for the power supply is in the MDD thus making it harder to cool and thus the noisy little 60mm crap fans.

- The optical drives should be on the top of the case and not in the middle like on the MDDs. It looks kind of strange and since most people have their towers on the ground and need to reach down to use their optical drives the distance should be minimized - i.e. drives on top.

- Three doors leading to two full size drive bays like on the MDD. The third door hides two USB and two FireWire ports. Open this third door by pushing it slightly inward, it will then pop open. If it however is opened/closed by hand it can't be mirrored because ofthe finger prints. Aluminium a la PowerBook maybe?

- No programmer's button, no reset button. Looks ugly and there's no need. Pressing the power button for 3secs to shut down is good enough.

- One audio out and one audio in should be available on the front.

- Remove the front speaker and have only a internal mono speaker that can't be poked (and doesn't look so ugly). In turn bundle the Pro Speakers with every PowerMac.

OK, that proably isn't feasible, but it's how my dream PowerMac would look...
     
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Mar 4, 2003, 09:38 AM
 
Those shiny MDD doors look really el cheapo. But the case design (ever since the BW G3s) is superb. I don't see how they will improve on that. But, no doubt, they will. I hope the designer got paid VERY well for that. The whole thing is brilliant, especially the whole way it opens up from the side. Handles that double as legs. etc. Very nice piece of industrial design, functional too. But those MDD shiny bits look decidedly odd.
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gadster
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Mar 4, 2003, 09:40 AM
 
Originally posted by Vanquish:
That is just a shocker. Did they forget a bit?
e-gads
     
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Mar 4, 2003, 10:59 AM
 

Sexiest case I have ever seen ( and owned )
     
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Mar 4, 2003, 10:25 PM
 
The quicksilvers are the easiest to hump, though.

Have you ever tried it? I mean, aftre all that hard work the computer does for you, don't you think you should show it you love it?

But I'd never do this without clothing on, tho. General hygeine, if ya know what I mean.
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Cipher13
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Mar 5, 2003, 08:10 AM
 
Originally posted by Vanquish:
It'd have my vote if it weren't for ONE thing - the side door of el-capitan. Though that design is easy to open too, I must say... and better in many some ways.
     
baglunch
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Mar 5, 2003, 11:23 AM
 
Originally posted by bbt:
the older quicksilver or the dual mirror doors? and why?
For full towers, the quicksilver is my choice. Clean lines all around. Although I'd switch the side panels out for something more interesting, like wood.. and somehow replace the front face plate.

For all around design, i'd have to the cube was a design marvel. Although they should have included 2 pci slots, and 1 agp..
     
G4ME
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Mar 5, 2003, 04:08 PM
 
Originally posted by baglunch:
For full towers, the quicksilver is my choice. Clean lines all around. Although I'd switch the side panels out for something more interesting, like wood.. and somehow replace the front face plate.

For all around design, i'd have to the cube was a design marvel. Although they should have included 2 pci slots, and 1 agp..

let see you fit that in an 8 inch cube with no fan,

although that would be sweet to see, or if they made a Cube DV

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clarkgoble
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Mar 5, 2003, 09:03 PM
 
I really like the case for the XServe.



Make it maybe 4x as thick for better cooling and I'd *love* it. Better yet follow the case for the XServe Raid, only with some of those open for DVD drives.



I must admit though that I hope they have some new design for the 970 systems. While the PowerMac design is very nice (better than any PC) I would like something else. Plus I'd *really* like open/close buttons on the case so you don't have to use the keyboard. (A hassle if you use a non-Apple keyboard) A clearer reset configuration would be nice as well. With the single power button it is often confusing for newbies to figure out how to reset things. (Something like ctrl-alt-del built into OSX that brings up Process Viewer ala XP would be much welcomed as well)

A nice combination of the XServe with the PowerMac cases was put on spymac last fall as the purported dual G4.

( Last edited by clarkgoble; Mar 5, 2003 at 09:13 PM. )
     
Simon
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Mar 6, 2003, 08:57 AM
 
Originally posted by clarkgoble:
Not bad at all, but it needs some improvement:

- Ports need to be behind the third drive door, so they aren't visible. Make that 2FW and 2 USB btw.

- The speaker shouldn't be visible either, put it inside

- No reset button necessary

- Audio in should be next to audio out

- Where are the handles...? That's probably one of the best design aspects the PowerMacs ever had

Otherwise quite sexy! Would go well together with the Al PowerBook and the Xserve to show that these are pro machines. On the other hand, white for the iMac, iBook and eBook.
     
booboo
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Mar 7, 2003, 11:14 AM
 
I prefer the look of the Quicksilver.

I'd like to be able to put 2 CDRW's in my Digital Audio G4, but I can't. This is the one advantage of the MDD case.

On the other hand, the MDD's look tacky, fry PCI cards, add their own noise to my audio, and kick up a din.

I'll stick with my G4 digital Audio.

I just need to swap my Zip bezel for a blank one.

Any offers?
     
booboo
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Mar 7, 2003, 11:21 AM
 
Originally posted by clarkgoble:

A nice combination of the XServe with the PowerMac cases was put on spymac last fall as the purported dual G4.
I like your aluminium tower.

I'd like at least 1 FireWire and one USB on the front, and not behind a door, as someone else suggested.

I like the speaker on the front, putting it inside would only degrade the sound even further. How about a speaker that actually sounds OK-ish?

I'd like the CD eject button to return (and I'd like 'power' back on the keyboard...)

I would, however, like to retain the current design's handles, and I'd like the case to be designed to aid with cooling, so reducing the need for the current fan-geist...
     
baglunch
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Mar 7, 2003, 04:51 PM
 
Originally posted by G4ME:
let see you fit that in an 8 inch cube with no fan,

although that would be sweet to see, or if they made a Cube DV
Well, I wouldn't hate them if they put a fan in if it helped cool it down a bit, and they could definitely at least put in 1 PCI, 1 AGP, and 2 hard drive slots. If Shuttle could do it for PC's, then Apple could definitely do it for the cube.
     
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Mar 7, 2003, 04:59 PM
 
quicksilver design. the new design its like .... I dont know, like a second step to evolution case. dont you think?
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Mar 7, 2003, 06:00 PM
 
I think all macs should look like this:



And with beige drives! Oh yeah, might wanna pull that USB cover off too!
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booboo
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Mar 7, 2003, 09:12 PM
 
Originally posted by Mac Zealot:
I think all macs should look like this:



And with beige drives! Oh yeah, might wanna pull that USB cover off too!
Wow! That just oooozes quality.

I can just imagine how it feels, how that side door snaps into place... yummy...

NOT!
     
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Mar 7, 2003, 09:17 PM
 
I really like the graphite G4 case. That's my alltime favorite.
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Phil Quinney
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Mar 8, 2003, 11:38 AM
 
If I had to pick between the Quicksilver and MDD I would probably pick the Quicksilver, despite owning a MDD.

The design of the MDD has grown on me since having mine, but I still think my Sawtooth's case is the best of the G4's.

Phil.
     
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Mar 9, 2003, 03:48 PM
 
     
Mac Zealot
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Mar 9, 2003, 09:55 PM
 
Good god.

The old one was bad enough.
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