Unless you’re a PC gamer, you most likely want to hide your desktop PC’s tall chassis from sight. Either that or you have opted for more recent desktops that are embracing modern, sometimes minimalist designs that you’d actually want to flaunt on your desk. People’s tastes vary, of course, and some computer users might not be so taken by the smooth and polished bodies of these elegant towers. Fortunately, you don’t have to feel stuck between flashy and bare with this new variant of teenage engineering’s unique and head-turning computer case, designed to be simple yet also expressive, now with an almost brutalist character that makes it feel like a post-apocalyptic computer of the future.
Designer: teenage engineering
teenage engineering designs have always been notable for their unorthodox nature and artistic personalities. Almost like a teen, there is a certain rebelliousness to its products, going against the status quo and thinking outside the box. Nowhere is that more evident than in the computer-1 desktop PC case that is like a nod to the days when computer users had to assemble every part of the PC in their garages or rooms.
The computer-1 case isn’t distinctive only because of its pure orange RAL 2004 powder-coated finish, which is definitely the most unexpected color for a desktop PC. Its claim to fame is that, unlike the chassis you’d buy from computer stores, this one has to be assembled even before you can cram in a mini ITX motherboard and other components. Flat-packed as sheets of metal with a few other parts, this makes the computer-1 more efficient to make and ship, not to mention giving owners a little adventure in piecing everything together.
teenage engineering is now offering this one-of-a-kind computer case in a new color, embracing a more “normal” raw anodized aluminum finish. It isn’t as shiny as, say, an Apple Mac Pro, and it really emphasizes that raw appearance. On the one hand, the overall design looks like something you might have cobbled up on your own due to a lack of materials available. On the other hand, that unfinished appearance does give it a distinctive personality, like a computer that’s built to be able to rough it out, regardless of what load you throw at it.
In all other aspects, it’s exactly the same computer-1 case that the brand launched quite a while back, meaning it has the same space-saving footprint and accessible price tag. And, of course, that means you’ll also have to do that nerve-wracking bending step when putting it together, but that’s pretty much part of the appeal of this rather quirky desktop PC box.
