Nice Idea to use cardboard but a bad design! It looks to me like whole concept evolved around soemone realising theres holes in corrugated card! and then trying to use that principle as little chimineys hence you get a massive stack of cardboard about 500 layers thick with a tonne of glue. and a tonne of waste cut outs from each internal sheet.

Just use a NORMAL folderd box with some holes in.. Just remember to take the tortoise out first!

Erm, cardboard is somewhat less recyclable than the conventional steel cases - it takes a lot less contamination for cardboard to become un-recyclable than with steel. That's before you even start thinking about EMC and CE requirements!

I really want one! More specifically I want the case... this thing is very cool.

(1) the prospect of the thing going up in flames

(2) that some well-meaning soul cleaning your house will throw away the pile of cardboard sitting on your desk

(3) that the dog or cat will chew on your cardboard PC

(4) that the first time you spill coffee on your desk you will need a new case

The "This end up" icons on the last picture imply that it it were set in it's "vertical configuration", the narrow end of the base would be at the bottom, with the heaviest component (Power Supply) at the very top of the case ... seems rather precarious.

Paris: She can go bottom's up with me any time.

Great idea, but I've seen a few power supplies fail in my time and smoke and melt, all it would take would be 1 hot ember to potentially set the thing on fire! That said though it's a neat idea and I like it.

Why aren't hifi and TV cases still made of wood I wonder?

Flame Icon ofr obvious reasons!

You could very easily turn a PC like this into a firewall!

Of the fire extinguisher that would have to be kept handy. PC hardware occasionally makes smoke, but in a standard steel case it hardly ever makes fire. Maybe this thing could be fitted with an automatic extinguishing system, as used in aircraft and racing cars, but the cost (financial and envronmental) would be higher than than the old tin box. Also, the thing can't be robust enough to stand much in the way of cleaning, maintenance or upgrading. I wouldnt want to open it up too often or wipe it down with a damp cloth.

Chances are it would be scrapped earlier than a standard PC, just because it was starting to look a bit ratty. Not green.

If you want to be green, stick new kit in your old box 8-)

... er, no. Where do the PCI, AGP or PCIe cards go? I don't see any holes to get at stuff you've installed. Then again, a bit of modding with a stout pair of scissors might just do the trick. Probably not covered under the warranty, though. :)

Surely anyone who is this tight-fisted will have considered the option of reusing a free cardboard box from the recycling bin instead?

I also found this on Engadget, with a slew of other supposedly "Green" gadgets.

My problem with the majority of them is the underlying power consumption of the devices themselves. For example, the "Power Hog" will pull power when idle. The "Power Plugs" will as well.

The later would be more problematic as its popularity grows. There is already much concern over the 9W of power my entire entertainment system uses when "off" -- 32" CRT, DVD player, VCR, and amp -- I can imagine the concern when we essentially put a few "wall warts" in each and every new home.

Just some thoughts.

Paris, became more problematic as her popularity grew.

I like the concept, but if he could make it look like a pizza box it'd be cooler :-)

That actually looks cool, and isn't such a bad idea either in terms of recycling.

Though if something goes wrong, you may just literally get smoked. :)

Flame, well.. paper and heat.

Unfortunately, the "this way up" logo is correct for is in desktop configuration, but would render it upside down when in tower configuration...

And when your CPU gets a little warm it burns your house down ?

To meet FCC/CE regs the cardboard is going to have to have a metal film stuck on it, so it isn't going to be recyclable. And the metal case of a PC isn't exactly the hardest bit to recycle anyway.

So we have a PC that isn't going to last as long (soon as someone knocks over a coffee) has the same toxic parts on the MB and replaces the only currently recyclable part!

As someone who has thrown way too many old PC cases into the metal scrap bin, it's a nice idea, but it would almost certainly have to be lined with tinfoil to get theough electromagnetic emissions requirements.

"Ooh, four... I mean five... I mean fire! "

My first home built PC was incased in a cardboard box, all parts scavenged from old PC's, eventually I felt it would be better to use something less flammable. :)

After all cardboard is quite fragile so it will need a big reinforced box to prevent it getting squashed by the postman. I know, you could use the metal box you're not using for the PC.

So if you spill your drink over your desk your nice new cardbaord pc will happily absorb the liquid.

Then once the Card has enough i am pretty sure the electricity wuld be more then happy to travel around teh card thus makeing the thing live. lol

Are those USB memory sticks sticking out of the top, or highlighter pens?

It is a nice idea but I doubt it would pass EM emmision restrictions to be commercialy used

Unfold, refold and drink 'till she's pretty.

Might be green, might catch fire, but without an apple logo I can't see it catching on.

... the old atari consoles in wood!

WANT!

So corrugated cardboard will help with ventillation? Only in the same way double glazing does - it's a few mm of air trapped in a long rough-sided tube. Go ask a tramp what they prefer for a winter night's doss: plastic sheeting or sturdy corrugated cardboard box.

And by the time you've dosed it with enough fire retardent & stiffening it'll probably be 100% unrecyclable too.

I daresay it's well thought through, but what happens when some component or another goes wrong? I've had a PSU go bang in the middle of the night (interesting to be awoken by a blue flash and a smell of burning), not sure I'd have wanted it in a cardboard case. As Basil Fawlty might say "Fire........ffffffire........FIRE!!!!"

And how would a cardboard PC meet EM emissions regs?