Alternatives to Lanboy Air?

[wasabi]

Looking round for an all-mesh ATX case (without PSU) that is similar to the Lanboy Air but hopefully a LOT cheaper. Casual snooping round hasn't found anything. Anyone know of a product i might have missed? In an ideal world it would have multiple 2.5 inch drive bays too as I use a bunch of SSDs and laptop drives.

[Pob255]

Mechano and modders mesh

Seriously your best bet is modding, Get a case that you like with a mesh front bezel then cut out holes in the sides and top and put mesh in there.

[wasabi]

Mechano and modders mesh

Seriously your best bet is modding, Get a case that you like with a mesh front bezel then cut out holes in the sides and top and put mesh in there.

Maybe. I'd seen sheets of mesh advertised at B and Q which might be suitable. I've even considered modifying my old Thermaltake tsunami dream, although I hate the front door. Biggest gotcha would be that I've nothing to make long straight cuts in sheets of metal. I've cut short bits of metal before with an angle grinder, and i've got a pillar drill - it is doing neat edges when cutting that i'm not sure about. then attaching the mesh itself (superglue?)

Wondering if i should maybe just build a 'post-industrial' looking matt black mesh cage and put it around the old chassis? Main aim is to stop me accidentally knocking components and the cat from getting at the PC innards and wrecking stuff. Otherwise I'd just leave the sides off.

[kmac]

Has this got enough mesh in it?

http://www.freshtechsolutions.co.uk/...fan-black.html

Its also available on ebay

This also looks interesting

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Midi...8837%26ps%3D54

[wasabi]

Has this got enough mesh in it?

http://www.freshtechsolutions.co.uk/...fan-black.html

Its also available on ebay

This also looks interesting

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Midi...8837%26ps%3D54

Thanks for links. not come across that supplier (Freshtec)before. They also have this one which tempts me a bit with the holes on top, even though I might have to cut some of the side out and replace with mesh.

http://www.freshtechsolutions.co.uk/...sb3-black.html

[Pob255]

Aero cool tends to be overpriced

never used that e-tailer so no advice there.

That on on ebay is an old galaxy case, not great.


For cutting holes in cases, most modders recommend a jigsaw, with a high tooth count metal cutting blade (18 teeth per inch or more) make sure you turn off pendulum action (it's good for helping keep cuts straight on soft materials like wood, not on steel)
For mounting a window/mesh I still like nuts and bolts, drill holes around the edge, put the bolts through threads inwards, then a washer and nut on the inside.
Use U channel to line the cut edge to help hide wobbliness. I don't do large or square windows so a rotary tool is fine for me (also I'm not that good with a jigsaw)

Alternately remove the side panels all together, drill holes in the frame, tap them with a thread tap then just bolt the mesh on instead of a panel.

Modding is often just limited by you imagination, a pc case is just a box with a few fittings in standard specifications (things like motherboard standoff spacing, pci slots, drive bays)

SSD's can be mounted almost anywhere with simple double sided velco tape, no moving parts + minimal heat means they don't really need anything special in the way of mounting.
If you really want standard mounting then you can get simple 2.5" to 3.5" adaptors so they can be put in any normal 3.5" hard drive bay http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa...rnal-drive-bay

[kmac]

Saw this today - not sure if its available in the Uk though

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/08/o...unnies-at-bay/

[wasabi]

Saw this today - not sure if its available in the Uk though

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/08/o...unnies-at-bay/

That was the article I first saw - that led me to the LANboy Air - which led me to look at my bank account - which led me here

[wasabi]

Aero cool tends to be overpriced

...

For cutting holes in cases, most modders recommend a jigsaw, with a high tooth count metal cutting blade (18 teeth per inch or more) make sure you turn off pendulum action (it's good for helping keep cuts straight on soft materials like wood, not on steel)
For mounting a window/mesh I still like nuts and bolts, drill holes around the edge, put the bolts through threads inwards, then a washer and nut on the inside.
Use U channel to line the cut edge to help hide wobbliness. I don't do large or square windows so a rotary tool is fine for me (also I'm not that good with a jigsaw)

Alternately remove the side panels all together, drill holes in the frame, tap them with a thread tap then just bolt the mesh on instead of a panel.

Modding is often just limited by you imagination, a pc case is just a box with a few fittings in standard specifications (things like motherboard standoff spacing, pci slots, drive bays)

SSD's can be mounted almost anywhere with simple double sided velco tape, no moving parts + minimal heat means they don't really need anything special in the way of mounting.
If you really want standard mounting then you can get simple 2.5" to 3.5" adaptors so they can be put in any normal 3.5" hard drive bay http://www.scan.co.uk/products/akasa...rnal-drive-bay

£40 for the Aerocool doesn't seem TOO bad for mainstream case territory - it is the magic dust £150 cases I ususally end up scratching my head about and thinking 'why?'

2.5 inch drives - the 3 I currently have a just loosely arranged around the bottom of my case, most of them at funny angles depending which way the cables twist - not pretty.Not hugely keen on adapters as they tend to be fiddly to access. Not a dealbreaker either way.

How do you get a straight line with a jigsaw?. I've got a jigsaw and a (more tempting due to power/speed) a sabresaw - I've only used both for cutting wood though.

[Dottorrent]

The only thing that comes close is the InWin H-frame.

[wasabi]

The only thing that comes close is the InWin H-frame.

True. But it is butt-ugly (IMO) and makes the Lanboy Air look cheap. I might just rip all the doors and panels off my current case and tuck it away so hopefully bits inside won't get damaged.

[scaryjim]

Put it out as a project on one of those freelancer sites? I'd offer but I'm not exactly endowed with spare time at the minute!

But since you're after something relatively custom, I'd've thought finding someone who'll do a custom case at a reasonable price would be the way to go

[kmac]

How do you get a straight line with a jigsaw?. I've got a jigsaw and a (more tempting due to power/speed) a sabresaw - I've only used both for cutting wood though.

Short answer - with great difficulty. You need a jigsaw guide rail (or fashion one out of a straight piece of wood or metal.

Google "jigsaw guide rail" and you'll get the idea

[wasabi]

Short answer - with great difficulty. You need a jigsaw guide rail (or fashion one out of a straight piece of wood or metal.

Google "jigsaw guide rail" and you'll get the idea

Sounds fiddly and beyond my skillset. I'm beginning to think just building a wooden frame, painting it black then attaching wire mesh is going to be my best bet. I can just take my old case, remove all the panels and put it inside.

[Pob255]

??? I'm not sure where you're coming from here.

Modding is not a quick simple fix, not if you want goo results, you need to be prepared to put some time and work in, how much will depend on any existing diy/woodwork/metal work experience you have.
You can cut straight line free hand if you have the skill with a jigsaw, a guide is the easier way to get reasonable results. you need to know the distance from the blade to the edge of the jigsaw foot, then you clamp (with G clamps) a straight length of wood or similar that distance away from your cut line, then as you're cutting with the jig saw keep the edge of the foot pressed up against the side of the wood, you might drift off and under cut in places, but that can be filed out.
Bill Owen did a nice tutorial for case windows a while back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpZoE-zj0-k he uses a rotary tool to make the initial cut, but another way is to use a drill cut a hole inside the are you're cutting out, then jigsaw out from that hole to the edge in a curved line.

Expensive cases are not "magic dust" it's economy of scale, design time and materials. Cheap case use thinner metals and lower density plastic, the designs are quicker as they are often slight revisions, changes and manufacturing simplifications of existing case designs, and they tend to be made in far larger quantities.

ps that mesh case is an old picture I'm pretty sure I saw that a couple of years ago, the motherboard shows it, that's ether an Asus p5b or p5k series.
pretty sure it was an idea that someone was trying to market but never got off the ground.