Teenage Engineering Has a New PC Case. As Ordinary, You Will not Consider the Value

Teenage Engineering, makers of high quality and enjoyable units like the favored OP-1 field synthesizer and Pocket Operator music mixers, dropped a brand new PC case yesterday, and it instantly offered out. However not like gear just like the OP-1 area or TP-7 audio recorder that promote for eye-watering costs of $2,000 and $1,500, respectively, the translucent and plastic Laptop-2 desktop PC case was given away free of charge. Effectively, kind of—you simply must pay for delivery. “The pc case you possibly can’t purchase,” reads the Computer-2’s product page. “Trigger it’s free.”

The Laptop-2 is the successor to Teenage Engineering’s first PC case, the Laptop-1, which was launched in October 2021. The Laptop-1’s entire gimmick was its IKEA-esque, flat-pack design, which required bending its distinctive orange-colored sheets of aluminum right into a mini-ITX desktop PC. The brand new Laptop-2 remains to be a mini-ITX construct, however replaces the metallic with “semi-transparent PP-plastic” that Teenage Engineering says is “molded in a single plastic sheet.” It additionally options “dwelling hinges and snap hooks.” You’ll be able to take a look at the assembly guide here.

As an proprietor of Laptop 1, I can let you know firsthand that entering into the PC case is an especially inconvenient and time-consuming course of that requires eradicating too many rattling screws each time you need to open up its aspect panel. And you’ll have to crack the Laptop-1 open actually because each part is packed in so tightly, the slightest motion from grabbing the PC by its handles can knock the delicate wiring for important stuff like the facility swap connection or the Wi-Fi module misplaced.

The Laptop-2 no less than seems to be simpler to get into. Teenage Engineering even says a suitable motherboard could be push-clicked into the case with out requiring any screws.

It being an SFF PC case that’s roughly 9.2L if the scale are much like the Laptop-1, the Laptop-2 nonetheless helps restricted PC {hardware}. Along with the mini-ITX motherboard and an SFX energy provide, the SFF PC solely works with dual-slot GPUs which might be 180mm in size. These quick GPUs severely restrict the facility—particularly for gaming or AI workflows—that many individuals now demand from a desktop PC. You gained’t be slotting in an Nvidia RTX 5090 or an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT graphics card into the Laptop-2, that’s for certain.

One of many greatest issues I’ve—and proceed to have—with the Laptop 1 is its air circulation, or lack thereof. With so little room, even with a slim 80mm fan mounted on its aspect panel, the inside of the SFF PC is such a rat’s nest of wires that, even if you happen to tried, you might not have the ability to cable handle or have sufficient area for higher cooling. It’s unlikely the Laptop-2 may have enhancements, however I gained’t know till I get one, will I? You’re going to get higher airflow if you happen to don’t set up a discrete GPU, although; it’s simply physics when there’s nothing the place the graphics card sits.

Nonetheless, you possibly can’t argue that Teenage Engineering’s second stab at an SFF PC case isn’t a looker. It’s a press release piece PC case that trades perform for type. Clear and translucent devices like Nothing’s Headphone 1 are again, child, and I hope they by no means part out ever once more.

The unhealthy information is that the Laptop-2 is “offered out” as a result of it was given away free of charge. Teenage Engineering’s web site now factors clients to enter their e-mail tackle to be notified when it’s again in inventory. I do know I’m not the one one who would love for Teenage Engineering to launch 3D-printable information for the Laptop-2. Why the hell not, because it’s already “free,” anyway?