I have to hand it to the designers of cheap ATX cases. They are geniuses. They must be holdovers from Chinese puzzle factories which have been converted to Chinese ATX case factories with a minimum of re-tooling.

The designers of the more expensive cases I've seen appear to be rational and focussed. They come up with methods for opening and closing the boxes which are straight-forward and intuitive. One looks at the box, and opens it. One picks up the pieces of the case, looks at them, and closes it. Simple, fast, smooth.

The folks who build the boxes I use to save a lousy $25 or so seem to try to see who can figure out the best way to design something with will go together ONCE. At the factory. How it comes apart is cleverly disguised, though there may be a tantalizing screw-head or two showing.

Taking it apart is a challenge. After all the screws in sight come out, and the poor soul has tested every lousy joint, something shows a bit of give. A weakness, a clue, a possibility.
Then it's pried apart. And some sheet metal bends.

However, without factory tolerances it won't go back together again, because the little, teeny-tiny things that mesh or ride together won't fit.

After straightening everything, pushing, shoving, straightening some more, thinking that if only my very talented, do-everything-right-the-first-time brother-in-law didn't come over I could get away with duct tape, sliding, jamming and hitting, it looks a bit OK. In go the screws real fast, and the thing is gingerly put back into place.

It seems much harder to design and build a box like that than the good ones. I gotta hand it to them, it seems to me that they put almost as much thought into these cases as goes into the CPU at much less cost.

And I have to kick myself. Why do I sell out my precious peace-of-mind, such as it is, and normal frantic serenity for a lousy $25?

Grr-arf