Craigslist is good for cheap throwaway gear you can repurpose. Flea markets too.

What cases on newegg did you find that were "retro"? (URLs?)

There are two, though they are just different colors of the same model:

White
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16811121011

Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16811121010

There might be another one or two that have a retro feel to them, but for the most part, they are all hideous. Everytime I build up a modern system for myself or someone else I tend to go for the plainer looking cases that evoke an older feel. I built up a home media/file server with this guy:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?It … N82E16811147112

It was the plainest looking mATX case I could find. I really only needed an ITX case but good luck finding one with lots of drive bays that doesn't cost an arm and a leg or look stupid since they are mostly made for HTPC builds.

I nabbed one of those Rosewill cases a while back, but it came with curved/bulbous 5.25" bay covers (not shown in the product images) -- looks pretty stupid, like something Packard Bell would have done in 1996. I was going to return it, but shipping back to Newegg was going to cost half as much as the case itself. Bah!

The closest thing to plain/retro cases that I found on Newegg were the Chenbro workstation/server chassis, but those have evidently disappeared. I still like the Chenbro SR20969.

I've been trying to find one of these cases for my "Voodoo Rocket" project rig. It's based on an old GlobalWIN server/workstation case from 2001-2002.

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option= … =1&limitstart=0

It's pretty much the same case as this, sans side window and a spiffy nice black paintjob.

This seller seems to have some retro models for sale:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221123747001

These sell new for $15.99 + $18.99 shipping.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/221058801591

The case has a very clean appeal to me. The only thing I don't really care for is the offset grill on the side panel. Apparently, the ones that eBayer is selling are all like that. I don't know why his photo shows otherwise. You also need to snap off the front cover to remove the side panels.

This seller has the mother load of NIB AT cases:

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/salesatcomputerclo … 14.l1513&_pgn=1

Man it's hard to see this stuff when you live on the other side of the world, postage is double the price of the cases.

I was about to say you probably just gave that guy a whole load of business, that is, until I looked at his asking prices. Does anyone know what his breaking price is for "Best Offer"?

Interesting... how is it that it costs $70 to ship his cases to Canada using the governmental postal service, e.g.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/390480964100

whereas the guy in Canada with similar-sized cases charges only $26 to ship to the USA, also using the gov. postal service, e.g.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221058801591

I suppose the near bankruptcy of the American postal service could have caused such a price divergence. Or that guy is gouging on shipping. Most non-US based buyers are will be shut out. $15-25 for shipping pretty much anywhere in the US.

What is it with the gouging on shipping? I see it happening way more on the US ebay than in Canada and especially Europe. Maybe it's different from me that needs to have it shipped internationally from the US, but I know the cheapest USPS options and I get pissed everytime they try and rip me off on shipping. It seems to me that it is the established Ebay sellers that is the biggest sinners on this, the regular joe selling stuff on Ebay are often very accommodating.

What is it that makes these "retro", exactly? The height?

Colour, style, and AT backpanel configuration. This guy seems to have some cases NIB which were common in 1993-1996. Unfortunately, at over $100 per case (shipped), it just isn't worth it.

It's not really a retro case unless it has a turbo button.

For me, retro means style and construction.

My dad had a 386 in a massive desktop case that felt like it was made out of recycled battleships. The cheap mATX case I bought for my home server feels like it was made from recycled beer cans.

Retro styling means clean lines, not neccessarily sharp edges and corners, but clean, simple design. Cases these days tend to have faceplates and outer panels that look like they were designed by an impatient 8 year old on speed; ribbing and puffed out contours, fan blisters that look like they were taken off of a Star Destroyer and glued onto the shitty thin rolled steel sheet it calls a side.

Granted, most of the well engineered ugly modern cases make their forms functional for airflow and such, but still...hideous.

The Englight case I picked up is almost identical to the one a few posts above, except that the space where the USB ports on the bottom are, are blank on mine.

feipoa wrote:

I was about to say you probably just gave that guy a whole load of business, that is, until I looked at his asking prices. Does anyone know what his breaking price is for "Best Offer"?

I am leery of eBay's Make Offer policies -- if I understand correctly, you don't get to choose shipping options when you do this. If you make an offer, I think it just chooses the maximum shipping price (even if there are options on the item's page, if you bid). At least, that's what I gather. So making an offer leaves you stuck with the ridiculously overpriced shipping option.

I made an offer on one of this seller's cases a while back, adjusting for the insane $45 shipping price I would be stuck with, and they just declined and sent me a rude response...

Stull wrote:

feipoa wrote:

I was about to say you probably just gave that guy a whole load of business, that is, until I looked at his asking prices. Does anyone know what his breaking price is for "Best Offer"?

I am leery of eBay's Make Offer policies -- if I understand correctly, you don't get to choose shipping options when you do this. If you make an offer, I think it just chooses the maximum shipping price (even if there are options on the item's page, if you bid). At least, that's what I gather. So making an offer leaves you stuck with the ridiculously overpriced shipping option.

I made an offer on one of this seller's cases a while back, adjusting for the insane $45 shipping price I would be stuck with, and they just declined and sent me a rude response...

You get a box to add in conditions you want attached to the sale when you make on offer. Incidentally I got a good deal recently, seller had a bunch of items for £22 each but I saw he last sold one in 2009. I offered to buy 4 at £7 each and he accepted. Beyond a certain point some people at least will just be happy to get shot of slow-moving stock. Of course I now wish I'd offered less.

I completely agree with vetz on shipping, too many US sellers gouge on international shipping.

ratfink wrote:

I completely agree with vetz on shipping, too many US sellers gouge on international shipping.

USPS FLAT RATE international boxes. love them. I do all my ebay shipping with them. No muss, no fuss, most importantly, no surprises at the cashier.