Desktop PC cases come in all shapes and sizes, from tiny ones you can hide behind the TV to large ones doubling as a functional desk. The Wood Kubb offers a unique take, housing computer guts inside an all-wood enclosure.
Made by French outfit Bleujour, the unique housing makes the mini-PC look like a random wooden box. You know, something you’re keeping on your desk as a place to hold office supplies, hide a stash of chocolate bars, or serve as a platform for your favorite desktop toys. Or a wooden decorative object, if a wooden cube passes off for a decorative object where you’re from (yes, they are very decorative in my home planet, too).
The Wood Kubb measures 4.9 inches on all sides, with the top, front, and two sides covered in blank slabs of wood. Peek around the back, though, and the computer function is betrayed, with vent cutouts along the upper third and a host of connectors occupying the rest of the side. Same with the bottom, which turns out even more vents to help keep the hardware cool.
Specs for the PCs include Intel CPUs (i3 to i5), up to 16GB of RAM, integrated Intel graphics (HD 4400 to 5500), up to 1TB of storage, three wireless radios (WiFi, Bluetooth, WiDi), and an assortment of ports (Ethernet, mini-HDMI, mini-DisplayPort, four USB slots). There’s an integrated fan to help keep things from overheating, so it probably won’t be all that quiet, but it sure looks damn more presentable than many computers I’ve seen, making it ideal for use in home theater setups and similar shared areas of the house.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for Wood Kubb. Pledges to reserve a unit starts at €459.