Life Is Too Short…

is the beginning of a long list of many complaints people have about life and their surroundings. It can apply to so many things, but today I have been thinking about just one.

Life is too short to deal with crappy computer cases. Apparently, not enough of the rest of America agrees with me, because so many cases are foisted upon an unsuspecting public today based on what the outside of the case looks like, or tales of how many drive bays there are.

These cases are sold in many ways, but I imagine the best way [from the retailer's standpoint] is by mail order. There are so many cases that are so incredibly flimsy that they rely upon the optical drive[s] to keep the case from being bent in the middle like some model trying to lose that last 5 pounds. The gauge of metal is not quoted, because if it was, no one would purchase these things. The power supplies in these cases could not deliver their rated power unless there was a lightning strike on the input line, and then the protection is either so bad, or absent, that the pieces inside give up the ghost with a final puff of smoke. [You know that the smoke can never be put back , don't you?]

Worse still, the cases today, for the most part, will not allow you to keep the outer hull, and replace those things that make them so bad. There are no replaceable motherboard trays, as there has never been a standard. So getting rid of the motherboard mounting tray, that flexes more than the motherboard, is impossible. When trying to replace the power supply with something to power that nice new dual core processor, motherboard, and  just one decent video card, it quickly becomes apparent that putting a hefty power supply is nearly impossible, unless you are handy with a torch, and don’t mind the results of the ‘modifications’.

On this last item, no manufacturer can be quickly given a thumbs up on clearance for a large PSU, as other things in the case, designed to make your life easier, like a blowhole on the top with that really quiet 120 mm fan, seem to be put in places that aggravate any installation.

With so many things going modular in the computer realm, it would be nice to be able to choose the outer case, and then SNAP in, drive bays, fans, water cooling reservoirs, motherboard trays, and power supplies, with faceplates in an array wide enough to satisfy almost any buyer.

Oh, if life weren’t so short…

[tags] computer cases, power supplies, quality parts, non-flexing metal [/tags]