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Cooler Master's Latest High-End Case Reviewed
Hubert writes "Cooler Master, pioneer of the aluminum cases, overhauled one of their most popular models, and released something enthusiasts should consider when shopping for a new case." Cooler Master has also come out with some cases which might meet the often-expressed demand for PC enclosures which would look at home in an A/V rack. Pricey, though.
! note: all the specification subject should be changed without prior notice !
it's really a matchbox
An ulimate multinedia PC in intel website
I just can't get by without my daily dose of ulimate multinedia
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>>Taking a cue from home audio equipment, there's a nice gold trim around the 4 feet on the bottom of the case. I do question the colour choice though, as being a silver case, a silver trim would be a better colour match for the rest of the case.
Yeah, one should care about how the case's feet look when they're beneath their desk retreiving a dropped pen, or reseating a network cable.
"Mmm. Where's my pen? It's sure dusty down here, oh there's the potato chip I dropped last week. Whoa! check out the feet on the Cooler Master! Nice. Too bad they're not silver though"
Huh?
It seems their webserver is running cold enough to stop electrons dead in their tracks....
Those AV styled cases are even more expensive due to the fact that you'd have to buy new hardware to fit inside it. My multimedia box next to my TV is ready to go into a new, nicer looking case, except that it uses a full ATX motherboard. I'm willing to spend some coin on a new case, but I'm not willing to change the hardware configuration from a known-good setup just to fit into a new case. If I'm going to do that, I might as well buy a prebuilt or bare-bones setup like those nice little shuttle mini systems.
I ordered a rounded SCSI cable from these guys a few weeks ago. It took about a week and a half to get her, but that's very acceptable considering it was right around the holidays. I think most of that was UPS's fault anyways. These guys are very professional and they answered all my questions promptly and shipped my item the next day. Man I feel like I'm leaving feedback on ebay now.
getting confused by the way the article has been posted.
Please note that there are *two* cases linked to, one of which is a standard tower, and *one* of which is an AV style case.
Please read the article carefully and follow both links if you expect your comments to make sense.
KFG
The faceplates on most components are very easily removed. Add to that a can of spray paint in a matching color for your case, and there's no longer a problem. Be sure to mask off the holes for status lights, though.
I'm trying to read the article and all you Slashdoters are making the web-site unresponsive. Could you please wait for me to finish? I was there first after all.
Of course, and I highly suspect it, I may be talking out of my ass. -oqti
Why not build a PC into your stereo? That's exactly the route I'm taking. A Mini-ITX motherboard for 100-200$ (Builtin everything), an old stereo to test it on from the Goodwill, a few other pieces and you have an all in one multi-media box.
In fact, Im setting it up with a wireless NIC and will be able to use my IPAQ to control BrowseAMP to change mp3s anywhere in the house.
Add to that an IR controller and the IR stuff for Winamp and it's an all-in-one solution for a lot less then one of these.
Now, granted, it's not going to handle everything you throw at it, it's only an 800 to 933Mhz Via CPU, but it's all I need.
They had a similar case like this on The Screensavers 2 days ago, and the case alone is 200$.
Thats the price for everything in my setup, including the stereo.
It's nothing special, as it's a test to see if ti works, but hell, I got the idea here at slashdot from another poster.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
I am not a case modder but here are a few comments on that...
The article actually mentions (if you got to it before the slashdotting) that CoolerMaster sells bezels that match. That would be useful for the mid-tower case.
The desktop case (which looks like an AV component) doesn't need it because there is a very attractive door in front of the drive bays, making the whole thing look like a laserdisk player or a 7 disk CD changer or something. You only see the drives when the door is opened.
This bears mentioning though because I helped someone get a computer that ended up coming with an ATC-600 (IIRC). This is a desktop with a transparent door in front of the drive bays. Very attractive case, actually had Mac people ooo-ing and aww-ing (unpromted even). The case is really solid, put a 19" CRT on top of it with no complaints (which ordinarily might be a stupid thing to do). The door is attractive and well built. Unfortunaely the door is also a completely stupid idea if you actually plan on using the computer. There are two optical drives on the front, not surprisingly you often want to get in and out of them fairly often. The door is on some sort of smooth opening device, which means it opens slowly. Frequently you'll eject a CD or DVD and the drive slides right into the stupid little door. You can try to frantically open the door as the drive comes out but it goes way too slowly.
The result is that I tend to just leave the door open all the time when I'm using it, have almost brought myself to remove it (which looks pretty easy). I'm guessing that the new case has a similar problem with the door. If you're planning on using this in an AV system, be aware that this will be an issue (minor as it is, but these are rather expensive cases). The door is a liability and to some extent negates the 'don't need matching face plates' comment that started all this off in the first place.
I have a 700 MHz celeron and when people look at the case they just shut up and think that this can blow theirs away. Even though their computers may be more powerful than mines.