Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is a great case, August 28, 2008
... if you know what you get.
1. Officially, it is designed for AOpen i945G (expensive) motherboards, that have power plug ON THE BOARD, and an EXTERNAL (brick type) power supply. So, when you use a different mini-ITX board you have to buy your own power supply, like picoPSU-120, drill a hole to mount it, then get an external brick for it. Add about $70 for 120W power if you buy this case.
2. Aopen sells add-on boxes (cards) for this case, where you add DVD drive, HDD, pci/agp card, those are about $20-$25 each. You can stick 2-3 of those on top when you need extra space (part number 91.97L20.B020 or S120A-3CM for storage card - full sized HDD or slim DVD drive with cables included; and a very rare part 91.97L20.B030, system bus extender, for PCI (AGP?) card - I don't know much about that one). You still can attach your card using 91.97L20.B020, it has the right openings, but it's tricky and you need your own riser cable, plus bolt and nut to lock the card on place (you will need riser cable for PCI/agp since your card will be moved on top of the box at 90 degree angle).
Aopen also makes front memory card reader for the case, but I don't have much info about it. It has 2 front USB ports by default.
3. Interesting, but there is no AOpen logo on the case. I didn't mind at all since it's too big IMHO.
When you know what you are getting, it is a nice item - very small and neat. Just prepare yourself to pay extra for power supply and extra space, and do some (sometimes very creative) work.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very tiny, useful ITX case, D945GCLF fits., September 4, 2008
I, like others, bought this hoping that this would have a power supply like the title implies. It does not. It does include a laptop hard drive IDE adapter, and 2x3 pin fan connector to a pass through four pin molex connector. This case is smaller than the box that my D945GCLF came in. Feels solid when it's assembled with all components.
The hard drive mounts to the bottom of the case, and while it may look like a slim optical drive fits in front- it does not. The front panel next to the front USB ports is for another accessory that has different dimensions (width and depth wise). Even if you tried to open the front up, your optical drive will hit either motherboard or hard drive. This is a one drive case-period. Odd since they include a laptop interface ide cable with a standard size ide plug at the opposite end. This case includes a pair of what looks like 60mm fans, inside a filtered vents-nice touch.
Oh, there are no instructions to this. If you have no mechanical inclinations, your hosed!
Jk, it's pretty easy to open and access this case. Here's some high lights-please bear with me, I'm mildly tired.
First there are two tabs on the top cover in back that must be lifted, then slide the top cover back and lift up. flip the case upside down, and there is a screw in each corner that must be removed.
There is a plate under the top cover thats secured with 4 small screws, remove them and you have access to the interior finally.
Again, flip the case over and remove the two screws holding the hard drive plate in. Lastly if your installing or removing the motherboard-this is a must, as the previous reviewer stated: You must remove the switch for the front button. This is simply removing the single screw holding it in at the top of the case, and letting it fall into the case.
Installing your hardware into this case is now easy. Install the data and power cables to your hard drive, or if your using a IDE drive, install the ribbon cable with adapter thats included with this case. Since this is a single drive case, you can cut off the unused IDE ribbon(Just make absolutely sure your cutting off the correct end-you've been warned). Now if your like me using the Intel D945GCLF Atom board, and the PicoPSU power supply, I encourage you to do this now and make your hole where you intend to route the power to the case now while the case is empty. If you drill this case, make sure you don't leave any shavings inside. I put mine on the I/O shield.
When installing the hard drive put your cabling thru the bottom then insert the drive plate, and install your two screws.
Now install your I/O shield, and board. Secure the board down with the included four screws. Now install your RAM, connect the front panel wiring for the power and led's(which btw are nicely labeled). I only have one fan header on the Atom's motherboard, so I just used the included adapter, and plugged my drive in also. The wiring was a little loose, not not terribly so, except for the fans. So be prepared to cable tie off loose wires.
I had a build time of roughly 45-50 minutes. I used a #1 apex-long shanked phillips screwdriver, for all the screws, and didn't strip any heads or threads. I also used a small flashlight, and mini pliers for dropping the motherboard screws into place before screwing them down. This wasn't the hardest build I've had, not the tightest, but this will be a cramped case. You will have air flow on your board, and your drive, so I wouldn't worry, since this is has more room to breath than a laptop. Feels solid when assembled.
There are minor nitpicks here though, this isn't a perfect case. First: no instructions. Next, the ide drive cable is one-but some of you may be using a sata interface. This will be a fingerprint magnet. The plastic scratches easy- so leave the protective film on the top cover and front, till your done with the install. The case feet are just stick on type, and they cover the screw holes in the bottom of the case. Oh, all the specs on this case are correct, if you read all the specs(not to flame anyone...). I do wish that the title description was adjusted. Now, where to put the Atom case sticker...
Hope this helps.
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
What adaptor, July 9, 2007
I'm not sure what the adaptor ("with Adaptor") they are talking about because it sure doesn't come with a power adaptor or instructions for that matter but it is a nice looking case
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