Lian Li announces PC-888 - Wild Case!

[Neutronbeam]

Don't know if I'd buy it, but it sure is purty... http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2009/01/06/lian-li-announces-crazy-pc-888/1

[UberGerbil]

It's a nice color. Beyond that... "purty"? Eye of the beholder, I guess. (And I say that as someone who actually likes the Burj Al Arab).

More generally, I wonder if this heralds a wave of "architectural" case designs inspired by actual buildings. If so, I look forward to the insanity that will be the Gehry...

[SpotTheCat]

That seems out of lian-li's normal decor. I don't actually like Lian Li cases very much. They have awful airflow characteristics.

[Captain Ned]

Well, with all the mesh and fans she'll vent well, but she looks like she'll dust up faster than an Antec 900. Not for homes with cats that like warm breezes.

[Airmantharp]

It's ugly and uselessly tall; I really don't see the point. I like Lian Li because they make sturdy light cases; I dislike them because they have horrible acoustic and airflow characteristics, and I gave mine to my sister because I wanted a quiet, powerful computer instead of a powerful, mobile computer because I have sworn off lanparties.

[edh]

Oh, jeez -- that's just nasty! And I'm normally a major Lian Li fan.

[Coran Fixx]

I liked it, but I would most likely dismiss it when I found out the price.

[ModernPrimitive]

Well----- I have the HAF 932 which usually gets ugly awards and I find that thing.... undescribable.... lol. I don't care for it but it's probably functional and if someone else wants one then go for it.

[crimsonjax]

ehh... nice color? That's about all I took from looking at the case.

[Hance]

Cool color is the only nice thing I can come up with. Personally I wouldn't use that case if you gave it to me. *hugs his P180*

[SnowboardingTobi]

Wow.... that's just fugly.

[drsauced]

A princely case inspired by the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. I think the fine print states, "Charges $1300-$10000 a night for CDROMS or Blu-Ray discs." Or at least we can now confidently guess where the Lian-Li CEO's spent their holidays.

[michael_d]

Looks like they ran out of design ideas what is going to be next a pyramid?

[SpotTheCat]

Lian-Li cases were good like 6 years ago. They really haven't done much innovating since then.

[Krogoth]

To be honest, there has never been much innovation in the chassis department for years. There are only so many ways to work with (x)ATX form factor.

[SpotTheCat]

To be honest, there has never been much innovation in the chassis department for years. There are only so many ways to work with (x)ATX form factor.

Oh, I disagree. There have been a lot of things to change in cases over the years. HDD mounting systems, removable motherboard trays, 120mm fans, doors, separated power supply spaces, tool-less, etc.

Lian-Li was one of the first companies to have a quality case on the market. They used rubber grommets on the HDD bays early. You'd never cut yourself on a Lian-Li. For a while they were better than any other manufacturers.

However, I've always considered Lian-Li waaaaaaaaaaaaay behind in the cooling department. Back in the day everybody modded the Lian-Li because it was a very slick case, but needed modification to have decent cooling. The most common mod was to either add fans on the side or cut out the dumb stamped holes in the front.

I love what antec has done with the P180. When that case came out it was a substantial move away from other cases on the market. The way the double hinged door has cooling slots on the side is great. For years, Lian-Li practically sealed off the front of their case, making cooling and dust a huge problem. Lian-Li cases are (except for this one...) very slick, but functionally they're crap IMHO and IME. This case seems to solve the functionality problem, but does so at the cost of the slick, simpleness of Lian-Li cases of the past. I'd take a P180/P182 over any ATX Lian-Li case, and cooler master has the best eATX cases I've seen.

[Faceless Clock]

If I was **** rich, I'd build a museum of Lian-Li cases. They're not all pretty, but they're all worth looking at.

[mattsteg]

Lian-Li cases were good like 6 years ago. They really haven't done much innovating since then.

Yeah, when they first came out they had a lot of really nice functionality. They were light+stiff, cooled decently well for the standards of the day, had really nice build quality - like you say, no cutting yourself on one, nice removable drive trays, thumbscrews everywhere. When I got mine (damn, like 8 years ago now I think! time flies) there was scarcely any similar competition - coolermaster I guess but they were really pricey.

[just brew it!]

Egads, that's a bizarre looking case. Looks like a prop from a cheesy sci-fi movie or something.

[Tamale]

To be honest, there has never been much innovation in the chassis department for years. There are only so many ways to work with (x)ATX form factor.

Oh, I disagree. There have been a lot of things to change in cases over the years. HDD mounting systems, removable motherboard trays, 120mm fans, doors, separated power supply spaces, tool-less, etc.

Agreed. I recently pulled the guts out of a dell optiplex circa 1998 and I thought to myself.. "wow, cases have improved so much in just over a decade".

The sheer difficulty of working in some of these older cases is mind-boggling. Ribbon cables were folded away under layers of skin-slicing steel. Dust was everywhere. Fans died early and often and heatsinks weren't adequately designed to work on their own.

We've come a very long way. I was putting some equipment in the new Thermaltake Spedo again today and I couldn't help but appreciate the 100% tool-less aspect. It's so nice to have complete access to everything without having to line up screws or even worry about where the screwdriver is