MaximumPC 2005 03

Rig of the Month

96 MAXIMUMPC MARCH 2005

THIS MONTH: Dan Kane’s Toolbox PC

D

an Kane knew precisely

what he wanted from a PC.

He wanted something por-

table to accompany him to LAN

parties, long stays away from

home, and even camping trips.

He wanted that portability in a

single self-contained unit—key-

board, mouse, speakers, etc., all

included. He wanted something

with the muscle to match today’s

games. And he wanted some-

thing upgradeable. Such was the

thinking that went into his Toolbox

PC. That the rig seems able to

weather a tour of duty in Fallujah

is just icing on the cake.

Kane’s biggest challenge

was coming up with a suit-

able enclosure. Ultimately, he

decided to cut, grind, and bolt

together two Sear’s diamond

plate toolboxes. The resulting

case not only holds everything

Kane needs for power-user

computing on the go, but it

looks pretty darn cool to boot.

OK, so at 9.25x24x19.5 inches

and a weight of 50 pounds,

the Toolbox PC isn’t some-

thing you’d take on a long

hike, but Kane is able to eas-

ily transport the rig by its

handle with just one hand.

In transportation mode, the

keyboard and mouse pad are

conveniently stored behind

the monitor, the mouse is

Velcro’d to the top of one

speaker, and the wireless

transmitter for the mouse

and keyboard is Velcro’d atop

the other speaker.

In the image above, you can

see how a piece of diamond

plate conceals the PC’s

innards and serves as a work

surface for the keyboard. L-

brackets inside the case keep

the cover in place and away

from internal components.

When the cover is on, the

two fans bolted to it fit snugly

between the drive rack and

the PCI/AGP-card mount,

managing the case’s climate.

To the right is a glimpse

of the internals beneath the

cover plate from the oppo-

site side.

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