The end of an era
Little do people know I'm one of those custom computer builders. While I don't often delve into the building world or interact at all with it's community, I do share the love of computers and keep up with the latest and greatest tech. In fact, over the years I've assembled my masterpiece, a $10k computer nicknamed "Sinuous Simi" for it's yellow and black theme and curvy design. To top it off, I'm still not done building it yet as I'm waiting on an updated motherboard (the now obsolete Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z as right now I have the normal Crosshair V Formula in this beast.) After the motherboard is in place, it's all custom standoffs, fan grills, and decals galore!
"Almost every high end PC builder has touched a Caselabs product at least once."
Now where was I before I went off on a tangent about my toys? Oh yeah...*tears swelling up* Caselabs is DEAD!...or to more aptly put it, they are permanently shutting their doors. Caselabs has over the years garnered a reputation as the top brand if not one of the top for PC cases. Almost every high end PC builder has touched a Caselabs product at least once.
Their reputation isn't without merit. Caselabs' cases are made of the high quality aluminum. The entire cases are metal, no plastic here. On their website they offer an array of customization on every case from different size radiator grills to dual power supplies, etc. You can even choose whether you want solid, ventilated, or windows on pretty much any side of the case. Adding on to that they offer literally hundreds of colors in custom paints that you can buy, with an additonal service fee for having them paint the case for you. It's a PC builder's wet dream, they offer almost everything except for water cooling kits directly on the site (you're better off just going to water-cooling specialists anyway.)
"Caselabs being a manufacturer that relies heavily on metal and on top of that being rather niche, made Caselabs very perceptible to any changes in trade."
A few weeks ago I noticed a very sad post on their Facebook page. They broke the news that they were closing permanently. Apparently they had become a casualty of the tariffs brought on by the trade war between Trump and China. Caselabs being a manufacturer that relies heavily on metal and on top of that being rather niche, made Caselabs very perceptible to any changes in trade. I grew sad as I've always wanted to own a Magnum TH10 so that I can build another masterpiece. Look like I'll never get that chance...more importantly the PC building community is taking a significant blow. Caselabs perfected the simple design and put it on the builders & their imagination to bring to reality machines that most people only dream about.
My heart goes out to everyone at Caselabs as well. Losing your job, especially in an unexpected way is never good, but I'm sure the talented people there will be able to pick up the pieces. I'd like to think the Caselabs team nobly chose pride and craftsmanship over incorporating more plastic into their cases in an effort to save the company as well.
While they've stopped all sales, you can still visit them at the link below. I wish everyone there the best in all their future endeavors. I'm sure people are scrambling to online resellers to pick up the last bits and pieces at exorbitant prices.
http://www.caselabs-store.com
