Black Cases, Beige Drives...

So I am planning on revamping my gaming rig and am looking to get a new case. I found a pretty sweet Thermaltake, but it is black. And my DVD and floppy drives are standard computer beige. This case doesn't have a door that can close and hide them...

So what have you guys done in that situation? Do you spend more money to buy black drives? Or is there another way? I know some people take the faceplates off the drives and spray paint them black, but I don't want to do all that... Any ideas? Am I just screwed?

Spray paint the outside? shrug

I don't know, I'd buy a black one. (that would be just me though)

[quotea6551579c6="PsychoAU"] I know some people take the faceplates off the drives and spray paint them black, but I don't want to do all that... [/quotea6551579c6]

BAN TFOAF YOU IGNORANT FOOL!!!

I'd say buy different drives. What model/place are you getting them from? I'll try to find some identical ones for less.

O_O.

Woah. G-d dammit it happened again. I didn't completely see what he wrote, which is why I said to spray paint it, rofl.

It's pretty easy to spray paint them though, so I don't see what's so scary about it. You could also stealth the drives. No painting involved.
http//www.techtastic.ca/articles/stealthdrive.html

Well after looking around a bit, it seems that I can order a black bezel from Plextor for one of my drives. The other is a toshiba and I am still looking into that one. That just leaves the floppy which I am sure is a standard bezel shape that I can find on ebay or something... making some progress...

Actually, it seems like the easiest way is to just spray paint them. Much better than trying to track down faceplates that fit. Cheaper too. Thanks anyway, guys. )

Yeah, a lot of drives will either come with or allow you to order black bezels. Me, I've always spraypainted old drives, but fortunately I've gradually gotten rid of my old beige stuff. Now all the systems in the house but one have black or silver cases and black drives.

They are very easy to spraypaint, though. I've even done it quick & dirty without removing the bezel first, you just have to use masking tape to mask whatever you don't want painted. But you get best results by taking your time and removing the bezel and tray "lip."

One time I spray painted an entire beige case + drives for an HTPC (many years ago, before black cases were so common).

Black vinyl stickers?

Black electrical tape. XD

[quote4740239e0c="Psyc"]Black electrical tape. XD[/quote4740239e0c]

I actually thought of that. That would work if I put it on there so it went on smoothly. I may have to MacGyver something together when the time comes.

Sharpie. (Not kidding) lol

I never spraypainted anything. I'm guessing a can doesn't exactly run a buck or two, so I never bought any. I did have a beige Jaz drive that I wanted to put into my black case (beige bezeled versiosn were cheaper, of course), so I took a black sharpie to it. Turned out ok, although it's gotten a touch up on occassion. )

As for spraypainting bezels in general, there [b2af744576d]is[/b2af744576d] a drawback to it, especially in dealing with PCs with multiple optical drives. I have BenQ and BTC DVD-RW drives. Thankfully, the BenQ came with black and beige bezels, but the BTC had just the beige. If I spraypainted or sharpied the BTC, I wouldn't be able to as easily differentiate it from the other, due to the markings/logos being obscured. Yeah, you might remember which is which by which is on top of the other, but you can more easily forget if they look exactly alike. So, I went a nd found a black bezel for it. (Was on sale too)

[quoteb391b18c5e="Tholek"]Sharpie. (Not kidding) lol[/quoteb391b18c5e]

Wow, I never thought of that. That is a good idea, too. I will have to try that out on an old drive and see how it turns out.

Make sure it's an enamel maker at least.

Sharpie's tend to get a purple sheen after a while. Or at least that's what it looks like to me. I just say pop the bezels off and spray paint then with a silver sharpie, write what drive it is or whatever.

This is what I did. Since I got my case at a yard sale, it was missing some of the drive cover things. So I cut a piece of acrylic to the size of the drive and then spray painted it the same color I painted my case. Then I stuck some velcro circles to the back and then stuck it on to the drive.
I'll put up a picture later if you need me to.

[quote7dfc493fbf="Psyc"]Sharpie's tend to get a purple sheen after a while. Or at least that's what it looks like to me.[/quote7dfc493fbf]

No, not with the good ones, although I know what you mean. (Seen that with cheap markers)

Yeah, I've used jiffy markers before, no problem. Mostly on floppies, though, not cd/dvd.