3D Print This Rad ‘80s Home Computer-Style Raspberry Pi Case

The older you get, the more often you find yourself saying the phrase “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” I’ll spare you my thoughts about how that phrase applies to the automotive and power tool industries, because we’re talking computers in this article. Today’s computers all have the same minimalist aluminum and glass aesthetic that would look at home in a Scandinavian art museum. They all look nice, but, like modern car styling, it all blends together. The early home computer era, on the other hand, was full of designs that were at least unique — even if kids today would call them ugly. If that’s your style, you can 3D print this rad Raspberry Pi case that was inspired by ‘80s home computers.

The HALWOP Raspberry Pi case was designed by Maz_Baz, the same person behind the sweet HALGRID P-1 cyberdeck we just featured here on Hackster. The aesthetics of this case were inspired by iconic computers like the Apple Lisa and the IBM XT PC. But purchasing a real original Apple Lisa, if you can even find one, would cost you some serious cash, and the IBM XT was garbage that you probably don’t want anyway. With the HALWOP case, you get those gnarly ‘80s aesthetics with all of the functionality of a modern single-board computer. The case is divided up into four individual parts that you should be able to fabricate on just about any 3D printer.

Unlike most of the Raspberry Pi cases out there, this one is designed for an all-in-one setup that includes the screen and keyboard. The display is an official Raspberry Pi 7” touchscreen, which should work well with either a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ or a Pi 4 Model B. The keyboard is a Keychron K2 Bluetooth mechanical keyboard, which can connect to your Raspberry Pi wirelessly instead of requiring a USB cable. You can either use a standard USB power supply, or follow Maz_Baz’s lead and use Anker 26800 PowerCore battery pack. That has enough capacity for 12+ hours of life, though this case isn’t really intended for portable use. This is obviously a matter of personal taste, but we think this is one of the coolest Raspberry Pi cases we’ve seen and it proves that some people do still make ‘em like they used to.