The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Really good hardware design.
GeneralMonoxide
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'd like to know what hardware that the Penny Arcade forum-ers think has a very good design. There are many items that I think that has a really good design but for the first post I'm just going to pick one.
Mac Pro
To me the Mac Pro is the best of Apple's designs. I think the iMacs probably 'look better' but the the iMac does a no where near as good as a job as the Mac Pro does in terms of combining beautiful design and powerful hardware. The iMac is sleeker, but it not only lacks the power of the Mac Pro, but the Mac Pro not just has the form, it has the function. Not only is the outside of the Mac Pro beautiful, but the inside is too. The internals of the Mac Pro are easily the best designed out of any desktop computer.
Simply stunning to me. Thanks to the custom motherboard, the design is incredibly neat. Most things are hidden, but not inaccessible. In fact, in most cases parts easier to access than a traditional powerful desktop PC. To access the hard-drives, just slide the trays out. No cables in sight.
So, what are your favorite designs for technology hardware?
Mac Pro
To me the Mac Pro is the best of Apple's designs. I think the iMacs probably 'look better' but the the iMac does a no where near as good as a job as the Mac Pro does in terms of combining beautiful design and powerful hardware. The iMac is sleeker, but it not only lacks the power of the Mac Pro, but the Mac Pro not just has the form, it has the function. Not only is the outside of the Mac Pro beautiful, but the inside is too. The internals of the Mac Pro are easily the best designed out of any desktop computer.
Simply stunning to me. Thanks to the custom motherboard, the design is incredibly neat. Most things are hidden, but not inaccessible. In fact, in most cases parts easier to access than a traditional powerful desktop PC. To access the hard-drives, just slide the trays out. No cables in sight.
So, what are your favorite designs for technology hardware?
GeneralMonoxide on
0
Posts
The Gamecube was designed to be rotated over any axis while the disc was spinning without damaging the disc. Go ahead, test it with a demo disc or something.
What always amazes me is the lack of dust. I don't know how Dell does it, but this is a very dusty household, and you'd never know it from looking inside their computers.
Plus there's that old video of guys dragging a Gamecube behind a truck for a while and bouncing it off curbs, then bringing it back inside and playing a game on it.
And personally the iphone/ipod touch. Love them or hate them, the hardware designs of these machines are very beautiful, and so simple to use.
I'll give you the bit about them doing a decent job at keeping dust out but in my experience any home built desktop is easier to work inside of that any dell desktop.
These are about 6 years old. Maybe they got harder to work with over the years?
The Mac Pro has a stupid design changed from the G5s... the G5s didn't require screws for the hard drive, the mac pro does.
Another design problem... there are two perfectly good sata ports that aren't being used. Just reading the instructions on how to get them accessible sounds like a nightmare! I bought a raid card for my "server" macpro partly because i didn't want to screw with trying to get those ports working as ESATA.
They should have just added them from the start.
Another SATA problem, I don't know on the current Mac Pros... but the first two gens (i have one of each) have IDE optical drives with no real way to route SATA up into the drive cave. I had to get a stick on sata to ide adaptor for my bluray drive.
And I think the ipod wheel is just about the neatest interface anyone's ever made for such a small device.
Really the thing this has over something like an optiplex is that you have space to work in... the optiplex as alot of the same quick-access features it's just that they are layered on top of one another.
The old one has a "hip but odd" shape like an extruded parallelogram, and one of the primary faces is super shiny and thus prone to scratches and fingerprints. The mini-USB port is covered by a rubber stopper thing that is firmly attached to the base unit, leading to me ripping it out because it's annoying and always gets in the way, so the connector always gets plugged with lint. It uses a super-bright blue LED that can light up my whole apartment at night. The cable it comes with is designed to be used with a laptop, so it's short, but it's just a touch too short. The soft case that comes with it has a little pocket on the outside for the cable, but it's just small enough that the cable likes to work its way out all the time.
Enter the new Passport. A matte-finished little block with rounded edges. The cover over the connector slides on a little track and locks on each side, and is permanently attached. On the slider are four tiny white lights that glow in sequence to indicate activity, replacing the blue light. The cord is a few inches longer, making it the perfect length. The cord pocked is now on the inside of the case, and the pocket flap is almost as wide as the case itself, so you'll never lose it and it will never poke out the side and scratch the unit.
Ah, I see there are multiple editions. The one I'm referring to is the My Passport Elite. See here for multiple views and a 3d-interactive: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=517. Looks like the Passport Essential comes in bigger capacities but is more expensive.
The main reason I got an Elite was because I saw the 500GB at Costco for $120, so I picked up a pair at my local Costco with a $20 off per-unit coupon. $100 for a 500 GB self-powered 2.5" WD-branded disk with Costco's return policy? Not bad. http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11318289&search=passport&Mo=3&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=passport&Ntt=passport&No=2&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1
I do consulting work so the portability is crucial for me. I'd rather have 500 GB in a self-powered 2.5" drive like this than a terabyte in a big clunker that needs wall power.
If they do anything short of laugh at you, then you got lucky.
Good aesthetics, horrible functional design.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
This thing is a fucking tank. I wish all electronics and appliances were built like this.
True, but I much preferred the "bowl lift" design over the newer "bendy neck" design in the picture.
It depends on the model. The less expensive, slightly smaller versions have the bendy neck, while the pricier "professional" models have the bowl-lift crank dealie.
Oh god, the power supply. I performed that operation on a G5. I needed to go on a hardware store scavenger hunt before I could even begin and I ended up welding together a custom long-handled hex key to unlock the processor and liquid cooling system. It took more than two hours start to finish and I was so nervous I'd break something or forget a screw or tighten one too much... Getting the proper cables wrapped and not pinched was a huge pain in the ass too.
Like the white iBook G4 hard drive replacement, never again.
And I marveled at how awesome the Gamecube's innards are. Such an intelligent desing. Air flows from right to left, going under the disk drive and through a huge heatsink. Works really well.
I personally preferred the second gen postage-stamp shuffles. Built-in clip to attach to your clothes, the colors rocked, and the device was only as big as the controls.
The env, it looked stupid but was actually a really good phone. It makes and receives calls is text capable and even have a keyboard! I got mine for free but it does everything I need a phone to do and more. The phone is a brick, I have abused it so much and I never actually got it to break. I have thrown it at the ground, walls, pounded large bolts out with it and it never stopped working.
There's a key lock on the front panel's keys that disable them from doing anything until the ok button is pressed. I never once had it unlock in my pocket.
Mine actually died recently died but while it lasted it was absolutely brilliant, the keyboard is probably the best phone keyboard that has ever existed, the rubberish coating made it both comfortable to use and hard to drop. I know its ancient but the phones that followed it all have pretty much the same design.
100% agreed. The second Shuffle was just perfect for the job.
I remember once when I tripped over a controller cable, yanking my friend's GC off the shelf while someone was playing Smash Bros. I caught it before it hit the floor, so it didn't have a sharp impact, but it continued playing just fine. The only problems I've ever seen with the Cubes was the open tray button on pretty much all of them got flaky. And on the one I mentioned above it had a weird graphical problem where certain effects would tear badly. Smash Bros Melee was the only game where it was frequently noticeable, and I've never seen it on any other system.
Probably part of the design - make it able to withstand a direct hit from an errant Wiimote and keep going.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
Nothing's forgotten, nothing is ever forgotten
The 2nd gen matchbook ipod shuffle is my most used piece of electronics, I rock it whenever I'm doing yard work or working in my shop, my only complaint is the ring buttons are too easy to press on accident and I listen to longer podcasts so it can be a bitch to scan back to the middle or end of a track. It's strong, stays clipped wherever I put it, works in semi-hazardous environments, the battery charges fast and lasts forever.
Hold down the play button for a couple of seconds to lock/unlock the buttons.