Help Maingear pick a new desktop design

You know how a vendor will "leak" product info ahead of time to drum up interest in a conspiratorial kind of way? We have a feeling that's what's going on with these Maingear desktop concepts that conveniently found their way to our in-box this morning. We'll bite though, because they're so weird-looking (and heck, if Dell can do it, why not Maingear?). From what we gather, Maingear is trying to narrow down a design for Q1 2009.

(Credit: Maingear)

All we have are external shots, so we have no idea what's going on inside. The exterior of this first one is pretty straightforward though. We like the slot-loading front panel optical drives, as well as what looks like the glossy black face. And as HP did with BlackBird 002 and Voodoo will do with its new Omen, the elevated chassis leaves room for underbody airflow. We'll go ahead and call that a trend now.

(Credit: Maingear)

This next idea embraces its elevation even more. The body of the case seems to float inside that outer band. The vertical frontside slots and inputs are interesting, although we've come to love top-side USB inputs recently. We're also intrigued by the fat beer-bottle silhouette. Maybe the bottom needs to be wider because Nvidia's next-gen 3D cards will be twice as tall? With that band in the way, we presume Maingear has come up with a way to get inside other than the traditional removable side panel. Seems like a lot of brushed aluminum.

(Credit: Maingear)

This last idea is similar to the one above, but a little more space age. Based on the render, the support material seems to be some kind of finished metal. Again, we wonder about internal access, but it looks like there's a seam on the back edge, like you might be able to pull out the whole motherboard tray. But then how do you connect the IDE and SATA drive cables?

Call us traditionalists, but we like the first design the best. Maybe it's because the USB ports are higher up. Our hunch is that Maingear would love to hear your thoughts as well.

[scifidaddyo]

My case is hidden behind a desk door. So the case could look like a Ford Pinto, and as long as the guts of the think function like a Saleen S7 and not a Pinto, I'd still buy it. As for the three options, I like option 3. Maybe then, my case can see daylight again.

[c|net Reader]

If the latter two designs permit better control of interior airflow they might be valuable. Otherwise, I dislike the wasteful appearance of the exterior support. It looks to me like the latter two designs simply slip the case into the support, so access would involve slipping the case out of the support and then opening it. If that's the case, I'd be concerned with the case slipping when inserting and removing connectors.

I think a better design would be for the elevating base to be integral to the bottom of the case. It can still be elegant looking without wasting material wrapping the entire case. That also permits adding ventilation to the sides, if warranted.

I like the first design as it improves on the normal box. The elevated case helps not only with cooling but should keep dust at bay longer. I like the slot loading optical drives, too. Whether USB/FireWire ports should be top or bottom depends upon the relative location of the box. If it is under the desk, the top position is better because USB devices are probably attached and removed more than optical disks are inserted and removed. If the box sits on the desk, or is otherwise elevated, putting the ports midway down the front or even nearer the bottom is fine.