Putting Privacy Film on Acrylic Side Panel?

[Awakening]

An idea came to me and although I've never seen anyone do it before, it might just make enough sense that it not only works but looks great and gives my build a lot of personality at the same time. The idea came to me because I really wanted the Phantecs Enthoo Evolv tempered glass edition over the non-tempered glass one, but hated the fact that it had a glass panel on the cable management side too (WHY?) and it dissuaded me from making up my mind on which one to get. Well, after months of my subconscious processing it, the idea popped into my head that maybe it would be a good idea to use privacy film on the side panel that covers up the cable management. After all, it's flat, tempered glass so why not? I think it would give it a really interesting and possibly even sexy look. What are your thoughts on doing something like that? I've never seen anyone do it before so I have no idea what it might look like.

 

 

That's about the best I could do, but I don't think it's very representative of how it would look in real life. It'd be extremely difficult, at least for me, to photoshop a realistic representation of it. I mean, if someone else could do it, that would be awesome. I got the base image from the images of the case on Amazon if anyone wants to have a go at it.

 

Here are a few styles I was looking:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Artscape-36-in-x-72-in-Etched-Glass-Decorative-Window-Film-01-0122/100616371 (most likely)

https://smile.amazon.com/Fancy-fix-Glass-Mosaic-Decorative-Window/dp/B00ODS5UNM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473613287&sr=8-5&keywords=privacy+glass+film

http://www.lowes.com/pd/Brewster-Wallcovering-17-75-in-W-x-13-ft-1-5-in-L-Crackled-Glass-Privacy-Decorative-Adhesive-Window-Film/3687606

http://www.lowes.com/pd/GILA-36-in-W-x-78-in-L-Translucent-Mosaic-Privacy-Decorative-Static-Cling-Window-Film/50303947

 

I'm not sure something other than a simple etched style would look right. I don't want someone or even myself to look at it and instantly think bathroom when it's all said and done, you know?

[Corrupt_Liberty]

I'd say try it!  It's tempered glass so you can always peel it off and try again if you don't like the look of one.  

[zMeul]

I was thinking of UV film, way easier to remove if doesn't "fit"

[Awakening]

Just now, Corrupt_Liberty said:

I'd say try it!  It's tempered glass so you can always peel it off and try again if you don't like the look of one.  

That's true. The only thing I'd really lose is the money I paid for the film. Hopefully I'll be able to go to Home Depot or something and they'll be able to get me a smaller piece for less money.

[RollinLower]

i think all those patterned films won't look all that good. The case has a very sleek and elegant design, so you should take that design language into consideration when doing something like this. 

the plain white one would look pretty good though i think!

[Awakening]

1 minute ago, zMeul said:

I was thinking of UV film, way easier to remove if doesn't "fit"

I don't think that would adequately hide the cable management.

[zMeul]

Just now, Awakening said:

I don't think that would adequately hide the cable management.

the reflective ones are hard to see trough

[Awakening]

5 minutes ago, RollinLower said:

i think all those patterned films won't look all that good. The case has a very sleek and elegant design, so you should take that design language into consideration when doing something like this. 

the plain white one would look pretty good though i think!

 

 

 

Exactly what I was thinking. It'll either turn out great or look ugly depending on the film style.

 

the reflective ones are hard to see trough

 

Too risky.

[zMeul]

4 minutes ago, Awakening said:

Too risky.

risky?!!?

they're extremely easy to apply and peel them off - the process requires soapy water for application process

they're not adhesive

[Awakening]

6 hours ago, zMeul said:

the reflective ones are hard to see trough

Too risky as in I don't want to waste my money for nothing. If it's not dark or reflective enough it'll have been for nothing. Maybe some kind of reflective film exists almost like a mirror, I think that might work.

[Curufinwe_wins]

3 hours ago, Awakening said:

Too risky as in I don't want to waste my money for nothing. If it's not dark or reflective enough it'll have been for nothing. Maybe some kind of reflective film exists almost like a mirror, I think that might work.

Why not just buy the regular one and make your own glass panel? It's not hard or expensive...

[Awakening]

20 minutes ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

Why not just buy the regular one and make your own glass panel? It's not hard or expensive...

Four thumbscrews and a sheet of smoked tempered glass and neoprene for $20? Ehh, good luck with that.

 

I don't have any experience with metal or glass work either, so that'd be a decent amount of money to waste on me failing at my first attempt and chances are it wouldn't look nearly as good as Phantecs' implementation.

Also take note of this: (front left of case for reference)

 

 

I have neither the tools nor experience to do a cut like that on glass and it would ruin the look going with a shorter piece of glass and filling in that space with something else.

 

In my opinion, privacy film is a lot easier and will arguably look better (although I'll have to wait and see on that one). If you care to know what I'm going with, it's most likely going to be this https://amzn.com/B01EJG55KK 

 

With all that said, I appreciate your feedback.

[Curufinwe_wins]

1 minute ago, Awakening said:

snip

Tempered glass is legitimately worse for a pc side panel than float glass. Just saying...

 

Anyways fair enough. In general, I am very apathetic to 190 dollar cases. 

[Awakening]

19 minutes ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

Tempered glass is legitimately worse for a pc side panel than float glass. Just saying...

 

Anyways fair enough. In general, I am very apathetic to 190 dollar cases. 

1

 

 

Ehh, it's nearly perfect for an enthusiast case. While I agree it's expensive, at least you get what you pay for. There are much more cases out there that are more expensive with fewer features and worse build quality.

 

"Tempered glass is legitimately worse for a pc side panel than float glass. Just saying..."

 

Also, why do you say that? What's wrong with using tempered glass as a side panel? Tempered glass is legitimately worse for a pc side panel than float glass. Just saying...

[Curufinwe_wins]

9 minutes ago, Awakening said:

Ehh, it's nearly perfect for an enthusiast case. While I agree it's expensive, at least you get what you pay for. There are much more cases out there that are more expensive with fewer features and worse build quality.

 

"Tempered glass is legitimately worse for a pc side panel than float glass. Just saying..."

 

Also, why do you say that? What's wrong with using tempered glass as a side panel? Tempered glass is legitimately worse for a pc side panel than float glass. Just saying...

Tempered glass is less shock resistant on the parts that matter most with a side panel (the edges). Tempered glass can and does blow up without warning or intervention.

 

Who cares if the bulk strength is higher? Do any of us plan on throwing crap at the face of the panel (unlike a glass table... A side panel is non-load bearing by design.)

 

Don't get me wrong, most break cases in TG are also break cases in float glass, but I'd rather have shards than pieces flying everywhere (and potentially ruining components in their flight).

 

 

[Awakening]

9 minutes ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

Tempered glass is less shock resistant on the parts that matter most with a side panel (the edges). Tempered glass can and does blow up without warning or intervention.

 

Who cares if the bulk strength is higher? Do any of us plan on throwing crap at the face of the panel (unlike a glass table... A side panel is non-load bearing by design.)

 

Don't get me wrong, most break cases in TG are also break cases in float glass, but I'd rather have shards than pieces flying everywhere (and potentially ruining components in their flight).

 

 

 

I guess it's just a glass thing in general then. If you're going with a glass side panel, be careful with it. Unless there's a manufacturing defect, it's likely it'll never break if you don't expose it to any excessive or sudden forces. I just hope I'll never have to experience cleaning up tempered glass. I don't hear good things about it.

[W-L]

15 hours ago, Awakening said:

-SNIP-

Using privacy or one way film will work but if you have light going through you can see through privacy film. An interesting way of setting this up is having the one way film on the front where the system off and having a mirror where you can see through it when the system is on with interior case lighting. 

[Awakening]

1 hour ago, W-L said:

Using privacy or one way film will work but if you have light going through you can see through privacy film. An interesting way of setting this up is having the one way film on the front where the system off and having a mirror where you can see through it when the system is on with interior case lighting. 

 

 

 

 

I understand that light still passes through privacy film and that's what I'm going for. It allows light through but not detail. I'm hoping for an interesting effect with that and it's definitely opaque enough to hide cables just so long as there aren't any cables directly between the light source and glass which should be easy enough to accomplish.

 

I'm not sure what you meant by your suggestion. If you linked a product I'm sure that would help me understand better.

 

Also, since the glass on the other side is pretty dark and hard to see through, I'll most likely have some form of lighting inside the case.

[W-L]

5 minutes ago, Awakening said:

I understand that light still passes through privacy film and that's what I'm going for. It allows light through but not detail. I'm hoping for an interesting effect with that and it's definitely opaque enough to hide cables just so long as there aren't any cables directly between the light source and glass which should be easy enough to accomplish.

 

I'm not sure what you meant by your suggestion. If you linked a product I'm sure that would help me understand better.

Yeah it should work as intended but what I was talking about in the second part was something like this if you wanted to give ti a bit of a different look.

[Awakening]

1 minute ago, W-L said:

Yeah it should work as intended but what I was talking about in the second part was something like this if you wanted to give ti a bit of a different look.

 

Looks nice, but I don't think that would work, at least not for the side panel that with cables behind it. As soon as any light would be present in the case, the cables would be visible. Kind of defeats the purpose.

[W-L]

11 minutes ago, Awakening said:

Looks nice, but I don't think that would work, at least not for the side panel that with cables behind it. As soon as any light would be present in the case, the cables would be visible. Kind of defeats the purpose.

True I was thinking if you wanted to keep things consistent on both ides of the case so you could have it on both front and back. 

[Awakening]

Just now, W-L said:

True I was thinking if you wanted to keep things consistent on both ides of the case so you could have it on both front and back. 

 

Yeah, I get it, but I'm okay with both sides being different. After all, if only one side had a glass panel like I wanted they'd be considerably different anyways. I'd say this at least makes them a bit more consistent that a metal side panel as well as hides the cables.

 

Now if only a decent mount could be designed for tempered glass side panels.