I get the impression that most people get their AT cases from picking up old computers others have tossed / are going to toss, and these are probably a majority of local pickups instead of online purchases (eBay, etc).

I of course would love to be wrong and be told that there is some magical source for these online somewhere. 😜 (I also am looking for a mini-tower AT case, similar to the one my family had for our 386 when I was younger). It does really feel like AT cases are much more uncommon nowadays.

I get most of my stuff from garage sales and local craiglists. Sometimes other users from other forums are selling/giving me stuff so that's cool 😀

This is probably the best way to find old cases as you won't have to pay expensive shiping fees, and people locally are often not overpricing retro parts (at least they do for me)

I don't know what you guys are talking about by finding AT cases locally, because at least around my area (Va Bch/Newport News) there are absolutely none around. I've posted ads in town, on Craigslist, frequent thrift stores, and even ask friends but the oldest thing I have ever found was an old Celeron 400 in an ATX midi tower (which I still have.) I've yet to find an AT case, or anything older than PII, locally. I have a few AT cases, yes, but I got gouged on shipping as all of them were from eBay.

I've made friends with the one ( 🤣 ) retro collector I know in my area, and he has his fair share of AT stuff too, but like me he isn't selling it or anything.

Oh by the way those really expensive NOS AT cases on ebay can be found on http://www.movesurplus.com/products?search=computer+case for cheap, like $50 to 60 for a new case. Pretty good deal in my opinion.

There are some for sale over at Amibay 😎

kixs wrote:

There are some for sale over at Amibay 😎

I have most definitely salivated over the cases you and some others have for sale, but me being in USA and you guys being in places like Slovenia, the shipping just kills me. Sometimes I've payed more in shipping than for the actual item (like a cyrix PC from eBay, $50 plus $60 shipping)

Well it looks like in the country "Hauts de france" there were many people that owned computers or even had a shop as I met 2-3 people that did have this job in the 90's in less than a year so I encounter old PCs sometimes (I'm not finding old computers that often, but it's already almost more than I can store at home 🤣 I prefer finding old parts as I already have more cases than I'd need)

Its a shame shipping is so crazy expensive. Also old solid AT cases are heavy so thats a minus when dealing with shipping. I would probably sell or give away some of my redundant cases instead of recycling them if shipping didnt cost a fortune.
Two weeks ago i scrapped two of three heavy Copam AT desktop cases with XT style power. Kept the best one and a spare front bezel and a psu. The case covers were scratchy, but not anything that couldnt be fixed.

Most cases should only cost 30-40$ to ship tops.
I ship a lot of AT cases for around 20-25$. Its call parcel select. and not some pricy 2 or 3 day service or UPS/FedEx.

Its getting it to your door in one peace that's the problem.

Jade Falcon wrote:

Most cases should only cost 30-40$ to ship tops.
I ship a lot of AT cases for around 20-25$. Its call parcel select. and not some pricy 2 or 3 day service or UPS/FedEx.

Its getting it to your door in one peace that's the problem.

Rates from Norway with snail mail would start at $50-60. No wonder you dont see many sellers from Norway on eBay.

cj_reha wrote:

Oh by the way those really expensive NOS AT cases on ebay can be found on http://www.movesurplus.com/products?search=computer+case for cheap, like $50 to 60 for a new case. Pretty good deal in my opinion.

This made me really sad, as I found the exact case I want on there and they apparently will only ship within the US. 🙁
EDIT: Nevermind, seems to vary based on the case. Some will ship internationally (limited still, but have seen a couple which mention Canada specifically).

Scraphoarder wrote:

Jade Falcon wrote:

Most cases should only cost 30-40$ to ship tops.
I ship a lot of AT cases for around 20-25$. Its call parcel select. and not some pricy 2 or 3 day service or UPS/FedEx.

Its getting it to your door in one peace that's the problem.

Rates from Norway with snail mail would start at $50-60. No wonder you dont see many sellers from Norway on eBay.

Well internality shipping will always be pricey for just about anything bigger or heavier. Your more or less shipping the item twice. Once out of the county via the sellers mail and once to the buyer via the buyers mail service.

p24t wrote:

Anyone have a source for good AT computers cases? I'd love to find a nice AT mini tower, but all I've found so far is one guy on ebay selling mostly full and mid tower cases for around $150+ and his feedback isn't that great.

If you just want a AT tower, you could perhaps find one locally. If you're picky about what you want, then you could expect to have to pay a higher price because of this. Personally I'd try to find something locally and basically accept any I could get my hands on.

cj_reha wrote:

kixs wrote:

There are some for sale over at Amibay 😎

I have most definitely salivated over the cases you and some others have for sale, but me being in USA and you guys being in places like Slovenia, the shipping just kills me. Sometimes I've payed more in shipping than for the actual item (like a cyrix PC from eBay, $50 plus $60 shipping)

Yes, shipping cost is quite a killer (about double of inside EU)... On the other hand I've sold about 1/4 of my cases to USA.

cj_reha wrote:

Oh by the way those really expensive NOS AT cases on ebay can be found on http://www.movesurplus.com/products?search=computer+case for cheap, like $50 to 60 for a new case. Pretty good deal in my opinion.

Thanks for the tip!

I saw some of these listed on eBay, but the seller refused to drop his prices- especially the outrageous shipping charges from US to US. Like $70 - And the cases were also inflated - $80 - I understand they need to make some profit- but wow- the guy is basically drop shipping. 😒

@cj_reha, have you checked local electronics, pc/tv recyclers? This is where I get the vast majority of my retro parts, and I've picked up tons of AT cases and systems (basically as many as I want) whenever I want them. Maybe different towns/regions are different though? I'm in WA state, so not sure how things are recycled over there or if they even resell to the public...

Worth checking out though for sure.

Erik765 wrote:

I've picked up tons of AT cases and systems (basically as many as I want) whenever I want them. Maybe different towns/regions are different though? I'm in WA state, so not sure how things are recycled over there or if they even resell to the public...

Worth checking out though for sure.

Man, thank god I've already bought a good case for my P1 build otherwise I would've bugged you for an AT case if you'd made this post a few months ago. 😊

Now, as a last resort I guess you could always use a generic full ATX case for your AT build since most ATX cases have holes for AT stand-offs (you can drill some if you end up with a case not having holes on the AT area), the main problems involve finding the AT backplate and wiring the power supply, the backplate can be homemade (works best if you have a 3D printer, otherwise you can cut some cardboard to make one), and there are ATX-to-AT adapters if you want to use an ATX supply but it might not be necessary if you're targeting a Socket 7 or newer system because some late AT boards have ATX connectors on them.

Erik765 wrote:

@cj_reha, have you checked local electronics, pc/tv recyclers? This is where I get the vast majority of my retro parts, and I've picked up tons of AT cases and systems (basically as many as I want) whenever I want them. Maybe different towns/regions are different though? I'm in WA state, so not sure how things are recycled over there or if they even resell to the public...

Worth checking out though for sure.

I have deals with a local computer shop that takes computers for recycling, a junkyard, and a local thrift store to buy up/take old computers they get. So far it's yielded two really beaten up clamshell Dells (one was gutted anyway), and two destroyed laptops which I didn't even take.

I think, honestly, this area has already tossed their PC stuff long ago. A lot of European countries seem to still be overflowing with it though. I really don't know.

Also the lady that runs the thrift store said if she gets any old PCs she would take the CPU and keep it for "gold recycling" (even though in some cases selling the CPU would being her more value than scrap, but, you know...) This would render the PC useless unless I have a random CPU that the board would theoretically support. A minor gripe, really, though.

*I forgot to mention a lot of the Goodwills and CHKDs around me (or even non-chain thrift stores) flat out will either NOT accept old PCs, or will send them straight to recycling where I legally cannot get them. One single CHKD around 45 minutes from me has gotten me some luck, such as a beige tower with a 1ghz Thunderbird in it, but nothing near Pentium or 486.

...or will send them straight to recycling where I legally cannot get them.

Maybe the laws are different in VA, but the only 'legal' issue I could think of would be the HDD data. As long as the recycler takes the drive out (at least here), there would be no other issue I could think of. Hell, my recyclers I pick from will even wipe old drives for me so I at least have good, working retro drives for my builds.

Not to make you jealous or anything, but it may be something you consider double-checking on.

Hope that helps.

Erik765 wrote:

Maybe the laws are different in VA, but the only 'legal' issue I could think of would be the HDD data. As long as the recycler t […]
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...or will send them straight to recycling where I legally cannot get them.

Maybe the laws are different in VA, but the only 'legal' issue I could think of would be the HDD data. As long as the recycler takes the drive out (at least here), there would be no other issue I could think of. Hell, my recyclers I pick from will even wipe old drives for me so I at least have good, working retro drives for my builds.

Not to make you jealous or anything, but it may be something you consider double-checking on.

Hope that helps.

Besides a scrapyard I mentioned, there really arent that many e-recyclers near me. There's one about 30 mins from me I might check out though.