9 amazing Raspberry Pi case mods (including one that looks like a raspberry!)

Raspberry Pi, the $25 Linux PC that fits in your hand and runs off AA batteries, is finally shipping in bulk today. One of the most amazing things about this little baby is the case mods: innovative, interesting cases that hobbyists and tinkerers are creating for the tiny credit-card-sized computer.

Here are a few that we’ve found that would make you the coolest computer user since Linus Torvalds created Linux.

The cigarette computer

Alas, this case already sold on eBay. But it was made from recycled materials (!) and included a special “foil backed paper lining” which may or may not “stop your weirdly small computer from bursting in to flames.”

Suggestion: don’t give this to your smoker friends.

The Lego computer

Not everyone can say they have a computer built by a 12-year-old kid.

Biz is a young German girl with mad computer skillz and serious Lego talent.

She’s even provided the instructions so that you can make your Raspberry Pi computer actually … look … like … a Raspberry.

Far, far too cool.

Going very, very pro

If lego is not your style and the cigarette case is just a little too James Dean … you can hardly beat this Apple-esque case by Marco Alici.

Alici made this virtual prototype with design tools Blender and Yafaray, and is getting a prototype 3D-printed by Shapeways … after which he intends to make it available to others.

Alici is an Italian design engineer, and it shows.

All fruity colors of the rainbow

ModMyPi has come out with a colorful array of cases that users can mix and match.

The case comes in two parts that snap together, and they’re both fully tested and fully shipping … unlike some of the other cases in this gallery.

ModMyPi touts that they are “made of highly robust, drop and splash resistant ABS plastic.”

Not quite (Product) RED

This case, featured by Wired magazine, looks both sleek and functional … even professional.

There’s no cost or ordering information, or any sourcing of the image itself, so it’s possible this image exists only in the mind of Wired designers … and you.

Until you 3D print it, of course.

The original gumdrop iMac see-through version

This case mod by AdaFruit reminds me of the the original iMacs.

But instead of Bondi blue, these are clear as ice, revealing the hardware beneath in all its gorgeous electronic complexity.

The top opens and snaps back into place, and — a bit of a shocker in the case mod world — the ports are actually labelled.

Uber-industrial chic

Looking like a filing cabinet or a mini rack-mounted server, this Built to Spec laser-cut acrylic case looks like serious business.

You can order the components for only $12.50, and the same case is available in translucent purple for a few dollars more.

Some assembly will be required, but it’s an incredibe looking case.

Poetry in wood

This might be the most beautiful of all the cases.

Stephen at Single Lens Reflections hand-crafted this wooden case  from 3 millimeter layers of plywood sandwiched together and trimmed with a scroll saw.

The Pi fits neatly inside the sandwich, and the ports peek out the sides. This case makes the Pi almost look like a miniaturized concert grand piano.

Honorable mention: ugly but geektastic

This is ugly but it is also undeniably cool: modding the brains of the PC right into its fingers, in a sense.

Ben Heck took a Raspberry Pi home from a Maker Faire and decided to create this: an all-in-one computer (well, minus the screen).

More details on how to do it here.