Technology analysis of the latest gadgets, consoles, and computer architectures.

Thursday, June 10, 2004

I let time fly a little too quickly sometimes...if only I had the Dagger of Time. Anyways, I was browsing PC cases today and found a couple that struck my eye. Keep in mind that I am avoiding anything bland, too flashy (like all of those "gaming" cases), and huge. I only got as far as the $60 cases at ewiz.com, so I apologize if I miseed any of the expensive beauties out there.


Evercase ECE1290 Slim Case - This case has one of the coolest form factors and most slick look I've seen for a PC. This mid-size tower is so slim it could pose as a desktop PC. If the power supply maximum wasn't so low (240 W) and space weren't so limiting (1 - 5.25 drive, 1 - hidden 3.25 drive bay) this case would definately be an option. Maybe one day this will make a great auxilary LAN PC when power consumption is lower and I have money to spend on slim components. This case is available at ewiz.com for around $45.

Evercase ECE4292 ATX Tower - Here is an Evercase tower I would seriously consider purchasing. I found this while looking at the other cases Evercase had to offer. It has plenty of space for my devices, a detachable cage for the hard drives, has an easy to remove side door, and is designed to provide proper ventilation for the latest computers. The webpage also includes an extensive list of options for the case, including a side-window and FPIO board for USB/audio ports. For black, this case costs around $50 at ewiz.com.

Codegen 6065/6066 ATX Mid Tower - This case struck my attention because it was one of the best looking cases for its price (around $30 at ewiz.com). The primary features I like about this case is that it has a nice looking side-window and I love the fact that the "front" usb ports were placed at the side of the front panel; it makes for even easier access than the normal bottom-of-the-front-panel configuration. It is a nice and roomy case, but even the manufacturer's site doesn't give too many details concerning the design, and it doesn't seem as optimized for thermal situations as it could be.

There were another few Codegen cases that seemed pretty cool; in particular, take a look at these 3 cases.


The third case, even with only one 5.25 drive bay, has a cool style, fitting that drive bay vertically and having an LCD read-out display on the other side.

Chenbro PC61319 Mid Tower Case - Finally, this was one of the first cases that really caught my attention and brought me to visiting the manufacturer's site. (Although at this point, after having seen the other Codegen and Evercase cases, I'm not sure what I'll go with yet.) I really like the style of the front panel, and the case itself looks pretty cool. There isn't a side-window, but I've already emailed the company asking if such an option exists. It has a detachable drive cage and seems to have a good thermal management system; it also seems to have plenty of room for expandability. This case was priced around $40 at ewiz.com.

Considering I would like to purchase the parts for my computer within the next two weeks, deciding on a case, although not nearly as important as internal components, will take me quite a while. I was impressed with the options Evercase provided me, but Codegen and Chenbro have some good looking cases that I will have to consider. Feel free to provide comments below on any of these cases or links to cases that may fit my tastes.