So, my partner Cathy has a Grape iMac G3 that was playing up a while back and got replaced by my old Mac Mini.
It was too nice to throw away, not worth selling as it would probably have only fetched a tenner, and not really (just my opinion) not worth putting another PC into as the screen size of 14″ is just not really worthwhile. Especially as it is the old 4:3 format and LCDs of that size tend to have awful resolution. So for probably three years now it has sat unloved on the top of my cupboard.
The other day though I saw an interesting project case that Lian Li has started making – here it is:
New Lian Li Mini-ITX case
and you can buy that for the price of £93.30 without power supply.
To be perfectly honest though, while I like the concept of showing off the hardware through a sudo TV screen (sad person that I am), I do not actually like the look of the Lian Li product.
I do though like the look of the iMac G3, so after locking myself and the iMac in the room for 45 minutes with a pair of insulated wire cutters (CRTs need to be discharged as even after a couple of years they could give you a shock), a Leatherman and a bin bag I came up with this:
mATX iMac display case
The insides of the naked iMac
What you see has been stripped of the original hardware and then re-assembled (so I don’t forget where the screws go!). Personally I think it would look great as a show case. My thoughts are: a grape (purple) motherboard tray of mATX size, with a PSU underneath it to invisibly pass all the cables upwardly, the iMac speakers would be re-used, a USB sound card powering them, the DVD swapped out for a modern slot loader and with all storage underneath the tray out of sight. The tray itself will be angled along the line of the translucent grape top and where the handle is at the top will be a case fan. The front window will be perspex (clear or a two way mirror is possible) which around the perimeter will also have laser cut vents so that airflow is in through the front window and out through the top vent. All you will see through the window is the motherboard and graphics cards etc with all the other hardware out of sight…
The original side IO area can be re-used and the regular rear IO from the mATX board plus a video output could be placed there (via extension leads routed from the IO and under the tray). This way the exterior shape integrity is kept and you have a nice little mATX (or ITX if you prefer) case that could be as bling as you like – imagine lighting effects behind a two-way purple mirrored finish which become visible at the flick of a switch…..
I’ll be playing with this case in the coming weeks to design some interior perspex parts for the mod and then have them on the web-site to sell. It could be anything from using the imac as a simple but stylish bench rig through to a fully tricked out gaming rig or HTPC media centre.
What do you think????
Van Loggins
July 22, 2013 5:18 pmsounds awesome to me, I can’t wait to see the pictures. Maybe you could use some of those lighted fans or some glow wire to make the colored parts of the case light up?
TheHive
July 22, 2013 5:29 pmYeah, it can be as bling (or not) as you want it. I reason why would you want to look at a terrible little 14″ monitor when you can look at some great hardware instead!
Tom Graham
July 22, 2013 11:16 pmThis would be awesome, ive got two old G3’s sitting in a shelf collecting dust 😀
TheHive
July 23, 2013 9:30 amThey are great little cases!
Next jobs:
1 Create a slide in 5mm tray,
2. Make a fan mount that will also retain the white perforated handle and blend with it without changing the exterior design- I think it will take a 180mm fan!
3. Design a neat front “screen”.
Van Loggins
July 23, 2013 12:33 pmI notice the imac shown is a slot loader, will you be working on conversions for tray loader models as well. It would be awesome if we can reuse the tray and convert it to a laptop DVD burner to use with the new build.
TheHive
July 23, 2013 12:56 pmHi Doctor Evil ( I must change my own Avatar!),
The G3 slot loader would essentially be the same to convert as a tray loader. Except that to keep the iMac look I would advise to remove the front tray panel from the iMAc and attach it to the replacement laptop DVD burner. The holder in the iMac is a nice one and I am sure that for the conversion it will be easy to find a way to vary the front to back position of the replacement burner so that even if the old tray front needs to be glued to a new burner it can be done in a way that is not obvious at all and fits in well.
After completing the run through for this slot loader I will probably get hold of a tray loading model and run through that one as well, just to make sure it all works as it should.