Customer Reviews

Apevia X-Plorer Mid-Tower Case

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

But unfortunately each time I screw in the motherboard into the case the PC will NOT turn on.. however if I take it out of the case it will.

It's some kind of an electricity issue and because the case does NOT come with any manuals my experience is somewhat negative. I do not know whether it's the case's fault or my motherboard's fault. Either way, a manual would be nice.

But yea.. it glows blue and has nice fans. It will fit 8800GTX, so if you're a gamer this case is OK-ed for you.

The Apevia X-plorer is a beautiful case with a side window ( to see all your hardware stuffs) and nice 80 mm blue led fans. The weight of this case is very light from being a metal one, also the blue temperature lcd on the front is a nice touch ( too bad is in farenheit). The interior is quite spacious, you can build a high end machine inside, even a 8800 GTX can fit ( just make sure you accomodate the Hard drives somewhere else)

As i'm using a high end machine, i found something that disappointed me, Inside Temps!!!, they are way hotter than my room temps, i think that the problem is the fans position designs, and the fact that there is no good airflow in front of the case. For a common gamer with a mid-range computer, it will be great; but for me, say hello to Full tower!!!...

Another good point of the case is that it has a solid construction and that it looks great...

Good space, ample amount of bays. Both light covers on the bottom were gone after a month, front panel cheaply built, and one little impact on the front gave it a good crack. Again, has plenty of space, but if you have kids keep them away!

I have had this tower for over a year and I love it! It looks awesome and it stays cool even staying on all night and day! Awesome!

Very good product. Most features work as advertised (although thermometer sometimes works/doesn't work). My only complaint is it came with no documentation - found it on the Internet. Otherwise I highly recommend the product!

Case looks great, feels great and THUS FAR has fit all my essentials in - this is my first build and everything has gone to plan, have had no problems hooking it all up myself BUT the manual that you can download online is HORRIBLE. The pictures look like they were taken on a polaroid and it includes sentences similar to "just plug the wire into the other wire which connects altogether" with very little detailed explanation.

The only thing I havent been able to get working so far is the temperature gage, fan speed and LED control works ok. I'm not done the build so I'll keep updating.

Also - my motherboard is in correctly and I've noticed that the PCIE slots do NOT line up with the PCI openings in the rear of the case, it looks like I may have to cut them out with some metal cutters - the motherboard is aligned properly as the I/O is in the right spot ... just can't figure this one out, but I'll wait till my vid card comes in.

Wish the manual was better but so far, so good - Happy with the buy.

Apevia Xplorer Case
Intel Core i7 920
Asus p6t Motherboard
12 GB Corsair Ram
Hitachi 1 tb HD
Samsung DVDRW
EVGA NVidia GTX 285 2 GB (Waiting on it)
Kingwin 800 W Modular Power Supply

UPDATE 2/6/2010
I discovered that the motherboard is aligned properly and the PCIE slots DO line up. It's a VERY tight fit but nothing that hinders the case or the components in any way. The Case itself, all hooked up and good to go looks stunning. I absolutely love the blue on blue and my power supply glows blue as well so it looks beautiful. I still, after all this time, have not been able to get the temp gauge to work and there are no further updates on the HORRIBLE manual. All in all, after this test drive I give this case TWO thumbs up.

The case itself looks nice but i could never get the fan speed control to work. Other than that is just an average case.

I am in the process of building a whole new rig and decided to go with this tower rather than a more expensive full sized tower. All items are not in yet so I cannot tell you how cool the tower keeps the system or how loud its fans run, so I will update accordingly.

Initial reaction: Wow, this looks slick. This is my first gaming rig, so I've never owned my own "gaming" case.

Heat Dissipation: --/--
O.K., so I feel that this is the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to towers. If the tower looks great, thats fine, and if its easy to install, thats nice too, but if my chips fry inside of the box then the aforementioned goodies don't mean anything.
However, as I've mentioned, the last bits haven't come in so I don't have results for this section. I'll update this when the verdict comes in.

Spacial Considerations: 10/10
I'm not sure why they call it mid-sized -- its quite large. I imagine the full-sized cases must be bigger still, or the label wouldn't make any sense. For those of you that might worry about whether card X will fit into the case: don't. Two KFA GeForce 8600 GT graphics cards fit in no sweat, and they're on the larger side. The only foreseeable problem I can see considering space is that theres a nifty heat vent right above the processor (more later) that comes down onto the unit several inches. Those with colossal fans and heat-sink rigs might have to remove some of this vent, but its only a couple screws, so its not a big problem.
The tower has five slots for internal (not for show) and six slots for other internal (for show, like CD-DVD drives) drives, including two for floppy-disk drives (what's that? :-P).
All in all, there were no issues here.

Installation issues: 8/10
No significant problems here either. Everything fit in the way it was supposed to (with the exception of a wireless network card, but I believe that is the fault of the card and not the case) and screwed in snuggly. Several bolts could have been better placed. For example, some bolts lie on the back of the case, right above where PCI cards would end, making it a little more challenging (though not by much) to insert those kinds of cards. With a little work around, however, this was not a big issue.
Additionally, this same area includes metal strips (to hide the inside if a PCI card is not inserted) that are not held on by a screw. Instead, these are meant to be removed once and for good, so make sure that you really need that slot free before you remove the metal backing. It doesn't go back on. The same is true for the four CD-DVD slots. Once its off, its off.
Lastly, all of the wiring included for the front lights and fans work and are of proper length.

Additional Features/Drawbacks: 8/10
Again, I'm no hardcore gamer. This is my first rig. That said, I am very impressed with the features included with the case. The part of the case that houses CD-DVD drives is covered by a front grating that swings open. The front looks sophisticated and high-tech, especially when lit up (the blue LED lighting is a nice touch). There is ample ventilation all around, and a mostly-clear sliding side door that is held on by two pegs that screw off by hand. The neatest feature for me though is a vent and tube that runs right above the processor, which should act just like a heat duct and siphon heat away from the rest of my parts. A very neat idea, lets hope it works.
The reason I nicked two points from this section is that the case (as mentioned in other reviews) does not come with instructions. You have to figure everything out yourself, and at some places it brought the installation to a quick albeit unnecessary halt. This however is the only other complaint I have about it.

Visual Appeal: 5/5

The case looks nice. You can see the pictures of it yourself, so I won't elaborate.

Material Quality: 5/5

Nothing has fallen apart on me or been of noticeably low quality. I will update this section after running the computer for some time.

Delivery Time: 2/2

I ordered this with standard delivery and it arrived in two days. This is exceptional delivery time, and this has been my experience with all TigerDirect products. I will shop from them exclusively for my next rig.

Personal Rating: 5/5

I like it. It does what I need to do, and since I am a big fan of value, I love the high quality and neat features for the affordable price.

Overall Rating: 9/10 -> 5/5

Final Thoughts: This case should be a nice fit for computer enthusiasts and casual computer shoppers alike; I highly recommend this case for anyone.

I always wanted to build a dream computer. I carefully selected the best intel motherboard, dual core processor, etc., etc. I intended to digitalize vhs film. The problem came with this tower. I arrived with two problems on the front usb/ firewire connections. There was only one usb cable (Advertisement on Amazon claimed there were 2) which was not connected to the port. The same thing applies to the firewire. I cannot exchange the tower for a new one because the final destination of this order is outside of the USA. There is no way I can get it back to the seller. Looking for the best way to resolve this issue I asked Aspire to send me by e-mail instructions on how to open the front of the case and connect the usb and firewire ports two days ago. So far they have not responded.