I have been thinking inside a box

In which Randy stated, amongst other things, that "Ian Williams doesn't have a clue when it comes to product reviews but thinks the pretty boxes that the hardware come in are nice."

Here at the INQ we strongly believe in playing to our strengths and that you, the readers, are the source of our power and hence we must do what we can to keep you happy. With all this in mind we took a look around the labs and picked out the five most interesting boxes we could find.

First off has to be the Sapphire X1950XT Toxic box which simply exudes drool factor.

Sapphire X1950XT Toxic

If you're walking into a store with a wad of cash to spend on a new graphics card this will certainly catch your eye. The sleek, translucent box design in which the card seems to float just calls out to you, whispering 'buy me' in your ear.

Next up is the Tagan Power Supply box, which is noteworthy for its sheer innovation.

Tagan 1100W PSU

As necessary as they are, power supplies aren't the most exciting component in a PC, but when you receive one that come in a case that looks like something from an Indiana Jones movie you have to tip your hat to the marketing team.

For being possibly the most understated container in the lab we have to mention the Sony Bravia 40" HD ready LCD TV box.

Sony Bravia 40" LCD TV

For an item that costs around £1500 the box is completely unremarkable. it contains, arguably, some of the most advanced commercially available consumer electronics around today, and arrives not with a bang of colour but with a rather dull two tone whimper.

On the opposite end of the scale the box housing Asus X1950XTX graphics card is also worthy of mention, in fact a wide range of Asus graphics cards come similarly packaged.

Asus X1950XTX

Despite being able to probably fit probably around a dozen cards, this enormous box contains just a single one. Although once you add in all the accompanying bits and bobs the space does fill up fairly fast. The surface is a splash of action and colour and in case that's not enough for you there is even a lid that opens up to reveal even more excitement and surface area.

Finally we have the WTF entrant containing only the upper echelons know what.

Access Denied

I found this box lying invitingly in a corner of the lab and the fact that this box was so completely covered in security tape naturally piqued my journalistic interest but when I tried to take a gander at what it contained, several heavily armed security guards came rappelling down from the ceiling and escorted me out the door. Sadly I doubt I will ever know what mysteries it holds.

Industry insider, Randolph de Boite, likens selling hardware to fine cuisine where presentation is as important as the content. Many a fine product has been relegated to the sidelines due to lacklustre packaging.

In Short
Too often we skip past the carefully constructed and designed outer wrappings in the haste to reach the prize within. We hope this review helps to….. ooooh shiny.

The Good
Boxes are pretty

The Bad
Paper cuts

The Ugly
Heat sealed plastic wrapping ?