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The present state of Pc desktop layout is horrendous. Virtually everyone’s Pc — gaming or not — appears to be like like gaudy rainbow vomit.
Blame YouTubers or Twitch streamers or the infinite desk setup shots on Instagram that provide as inspiration for everyone’s aesthetic. Instead of using other peoples’ Personal computer layouts as a jumping-off level, every person just copies — they purchase the same minimalist NZXT towers and configure the RGBs accordingly. Seem, me uWu!
The computer system-1, intended by Teenage Engineering, shuns this RGB conformity. The mini-ITX Pc situation (you gotta provide all the Computer parts oneself) is distinctly Teenage Engineering — Swedish, Bauhaus, and utilitarian.
Just about every corner, curve, perforation, and feels Dieter Rams-ian in its restraint.
Its compact aluminum chassis arrives in flat-pack form, necessitating you to bend the steel sheets into condition the Pc-1 reminds me of Ikea’s Helmer drawer device, such as the handles for transport. It looks and feels mechanical, engineered, and showy (but not way too significantly). The vivid powder RAL 2004 orange (aka “pure orange”) paint position is visually tantalizing, and a a lot-needed breath of refreshing air from the dystopian white, black, and silver Computer system instances less than everyone’s desks. Each individual corner, curve, perforation, and feels Dieter Rams-ian in its restraint.
The pc-1 is also expensive ($195) — and bought out. We were being blessed plenty of to seize just one prior to it offered out inside the 1st 20 minutes. Evidently, there’s pent-up desire for a Personal computer situation that is essentially stunning.
By the time you browse this, we’ll be knee-deep bending and transforming this mini-ITX case into the most effective gaming Personal computer its dimensions — and our wallets and the offer chain of readily available factors — will permit us to piece jointly. (We’ll have a separate tutorial on the Pc construct system quickly with all the Computer areas we went with.) So this isn’t a evaluation of the laptop-1’s features as a ray-tracing-able gaming Pc, as it is an unboxing and appreciation of pretty packaging — both equally the cardboard and the metal frame. It is all so pleasant.
Clean packing containers
I was to some degree anxious when the laptop or computer-1 arrived. The packaging is so slender and so light-weight I considered for absolutely sure something was missing. Nope — everything you want to create the laptop or computer-1 will come in a one minimalist bundle that incorporates three boxes within.
Bits and bobs
You won’t will need a screwdriver. There’s a hex vital incorporated in the box (which is the yellow point in clear packaging in the earlier mentioned photo.)
The frame
At initially, I didn’t notice there was a smaller instruction handbook stuffed into one of the bins. Even if you pass up it, you can obtain the laptop or computer-1 guide on Teenage Engineering’s site.
The aluminum sheet steel is shockingly thin. The manual cautions people “think two times, bend once!” which suggests to us that the metallic is fragile. Bend much too considerably and you may possibly crack the items. So make absolutely sure you have read the guidance accurately and bend diligently. You may not get a do-more than.
You just can’t see it in these photographs, but there are some quite slight dents in the metallic panels, probably from bruising during shipment. Although the brown shipping box the laptop-1 will come in is about 5 occasions as huge, it could have applied additional bubble wrap or packing paper to secure it for the duration of transportation.
Gaming Pc?
The laptop-1’s mini-ITX type factor boundaries the total of raw ability (examine: GPU) that can be stuffed inside of of its cramped insides. When Teenage Engineering did not design the pc-1 for gaming, we’re heading to build a gaming Computer out of it in any case. For the reason that why not? A Computer system circumstance with this variety of showstopping style deserves the pretty finest it can tackle (once again, and what we can procure looking at the ongoing provide chain issues and GPU price gouging).
Can the personal computer-1 take care of the amount of money of functionality we’re gonna throw at it? Or will it actually flame out? Teenage Engineering better have tested this detail, mainly because we’re about to drive it to its limits to uncover out if mini-ITX was the way to go or possibly it should have absent bigger with ATX.
Oh, and indeed we acquired the brilliant 1:1 square pc watch (1,920 x 1,920) that Teenage Engineering utilizes in its product or service photos to match the computer-1. We experienced to. It wasn’t low-cost.