Open air PCs aren’t a new phenomenon, but this product from Japanese manufacturer Nagao Seisakusho (opens in new tab) (first spotted by our colleagues at Tom’s Hardware (opens in new tab)) does something pretty unique: it offers a monitor mount for Nagao Seisakusho’s pre-existing open air PC cases, allowing you to build an all-in-one rig in the style.
It certainly looks striking, and would make quite the statement piece at a LAN party, but there’s the rub for me with this design: transport. Nagao Seisakusho’s easy carry handle on its N-Frame cases helps with picking up and handling your rig, but what if this thing got jostled around in your car and tipped over? Graphics cards may finally be abundant again (opens in new tab), but I still don’t want mine to meet an early death.
I’m also a bit skeptical of the monitor mount’s aesthetic value in most situations. I don’t know about you, but I have my desk shoved right into the wall in my office. With my sort of setup, which I have to imagine is pretty common, those shiny RGB components you’re presumably trying to show off with the open case would get sandwiched between your monitor and your wall.
Not to mention, Nagao Seisakusho’s style of case typically boasts an advantage regarding component size and compatibility—hard for a bigass GPU not to fit if there’s no tempered glass or metal brackets to squeeze it past—but any convenience you pick up there is effectively negated by having to consider your monitor’s size and weight in your build now.
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But what are my nebbish and nerdy complaints in the face of something pretty neat that we haven’t exactly seen before? The form factor reminds me of those tiny flip-up TVs (opens in new tab) you could attach to a PS1 and that no one you knew seemed to have or even know how to buy.
Just like trying to build a sleek small form factor PC, the realities of building and using such a rig may be rather hard to swallow, but you can always enjoy the aesthetic triumph of a nice, weird PC. The monitor mount itself is slated for release on July 7 according to @momomo_us on Twitter (opens in new tab), and Nagao Seisakusho’s open air cases are available for purchase on Amazon Japan (opens in new tab).