A simple idea, very eco-friendly, funny, customizable with a worldwide potentials. Congratulations.

bad idea. hot electronics sensitive to dust and vibration in a flamable, dusty non-rigid material? flame retardants impact recyclablility. far better to get a standard metal case and replace/refurbish components than to fiddle with rigid attachmen

Very interesting approach! The only issue I see would be the strength of the cardboard (as many components are screwed in and things can get heavy). Overall though I like it!

Problem with a cardboard case, is that the case is the most reusable one of all the components in a PC.

wont it start on fire?

Bad Idea. Think of overheating, stability and the amount of protection that the case would have against things like humidity, water damage and whether the case would deteriorate before that 5 year mark.

Not a good idea. Fire hazards aside, a computer case does more than contain the computer parts, it also helps dissipate heat and promote air flow. A cardboard case will only insulate the already very hot components and air flow will be difficult to

fabulous, make the components reusable, get a new outer shell every year and recycle the old one.

One other down-side missed: The METAL case of your desktop helps block EMF radiation. It's probably not the issue it was 5-10 years ago but a cardboard computer case may lead to more inteference with TV, radio, cordless phones, etc.

Hey Guys, the idea is a concept, issues like fire risk,cooling, support and emr can all be mitigated. Cardboard can be fire resistant treated. Cardboard can be compressed for strength. Cooling can be addressed by design. e.g. BTX EMR can be shield at the component level or film applied. Great idea....make mine a red one.

In the end chemically treated cardboard can be worse then metal, if anything thin metal with good structure... much like you would see in a new car. All you have to do is press creases into the thing or add structure. Plus, recycling paper is worse for the environment then if you just grow a crap load of trees... much like what there all ready doing.

The heat in a computer gets exhausted more so than is conducted through the case. So long as you have good cooling channels, the cardboard should be fine. After all, paper will ignite at a much higher temperature (~450F) than it would take for all of the plastics in your case to melt first (~ 250F). Also seeing how the hottest parts of the PC are directly underneath heat sinks and not directly on the paper itself would serve to alleviate fears of ignition as well. No flame retardant needed!

Great idea. As long as you can mitigate the fire risk this has real potential.

This should have been thought of a long time ago.

its the best method to conserve the environment. its pollution free methods.

ES JUSTO PENSAR A UNA FORMA MAS FACIL DE DESTRUIR EL P.C. QUE NO UTILIZAMOS MAS YA QUE SON TANTOS POR LAS CALLES DE TANTAS CIUDADES DE ESTA MUNDO DEMASIADO SUCIO

Excellent idea. Certainly my computers are plastic cases, definitely not biodegradable. Certainly does NOT get hot enough to burn cardboard (point re plastic melt point lower than paper burn is taken). Humidity? Water damage? The actual electronics would be done in before a properly compressed hard cardboard case. Cardboard can be very dense, hard and resistent. They make furniture out of it.

Not sure how you'd fasten down all the elements- how does the fan attach at the back? screws won't hold in the cardboard I don't imagine. Has this been tested? Do you need nutted bolts everywhere? Joints would have to pretty clever. In all, there is so much detail needed I don't see this being a DIY approach, and thus its manufactured... plastics can be recycled and are much more durable, as is metal. I'd rather see more people rebuilding their CPUs for sure, but this doesn't seem durable. C

Also, there are biodegradable plastics.

Interesting idea. The mentions of shifting, weight, and heat all ring true. The mention of the box being <i>the</i> most reusable part of a pc also rings true. An old family friend used cardboard wonderfully by creating shelves for my parents' small office. He cold-joined them using reclaimed, and often colorful, telephone wire. With proper layering of the cardboard, and limiting the width of each shelf, I believe making cardboard shelves should be something I revisit now as

The thing they seem to overlook is the fact that ALL motherboards use the metal case for grounding purposes - not only is this a bad idea it is very very hazardous. I would not recommend this for anyone. Also since there are hundreds of recycling centers around it's easy to get rid of old equipment at no cost - your next PC is where you pay for the recycling centers.

I like this, although technically there might be some problems to solve. As an Italian, I am happy to see it in the final 50 entries.

FCC would need to approve the case for radio interference. Radio interference is not good with wireless communication devices such as your WI FI, Ham Radio, Home Stereo, Radio, etc..... I blew out a hair dryer with a defective Ham Radio, Keyed the mic, the blow dryer buzzed loudly and hasn't worked since. My 2 Meter radio in the car will buzz the solenoid used with door locks. Line it one side with foil might resolve that issue.

Bad idea...not vetted out from an engineering standpoint, thermally, saftety, fire enclosure...etc.