Evolution of design: The Foenix A2560K 3d Case

Objectively, the A2560K is a work of art. Steve Job’s NeXT never dreamed of offering an integrated keyboard based machine but had he, this may have been the result.

3D printed on the 400mm Voron, the 7-piece A2560K case is an exercise in fit, function, and ruggedness. Left and right top panels are carriers for the hard disk and floppy drive respectively, interlock with each other, and can be removed independently. The keyboard bezel (below) hosts the ‘K’ custom keyboard with impressively tight tolerances.

The wiring you see (left to right) includes:

  • Headphone jack
  • Left speaker (the same ‘robot eyes’ speakers used on the GEN X Cube and Lunch Box except with a yellow honeycomb cover in this case).
  • Volume control (yellow, fader style control that moves right to left)
  • Right speaker
  • 40mm Noctua low-noise fan
  • Wiring for front (on diagonal) right hand side power LED

The keyboard itself features an RGB addressable (each of the 79 keys is memory mapped), mechanical keyboard which you can have built with your choice of red, blue (clickety goodness shown here), brown, or black key-switches.

The translucent indicator bezel on the left-hand side is for CAPS Lock; on the right is access lights for the HD, Floppy, and SD card.

Every panel and every port, socket, and jack is expertly engineered and integrated including a dedicated mouse port. ‘Yes’, there is a reset button (right side), yes there are accessible DIP switches (left side), and on the back, a full array of ports including two DVI-I, serial, and a pair of ATARI-style 9-pin game ports that can also host analog paddles or a break-out box that permits the use of NES or SNES controllers.

Beneath, the multi-part base ties it all together and the result brings varying textures and a matte finish that is as home in a humvee as it is on your desktop.

It resembles one of the ruggedized laptops you see in police cruisers, but of course there is no LCD screen here and no battery. What there “is, is” (depending on your definition : ) a transportable, all-in-one new-retro powerhouse that requires but two cables:

  • power adapter plug
  • one monitor attachment

… and you are up and working (or playing).