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I'm
not going to wax lyrical about the box on this occasion
as it was your usual, white cardboard industrial affair,
functional but nothing to look at. Out of the box
however things get a lot more promising.
First
reactions are that the Galaxy is a good looking case
with plenty of appeal. The plexi front fascia isn't
exactly a unique feature any more but it still looks
good which probably explains why manufacturers still
make cases this way. The side window is always a big
selling point and the fact that we're now moving away
from those boring rectangular holes makes the feature
all the more effective.
I've seen so many God awful cases using shiny chrome
effect plastic detail on them that as soon as I see
a case that features it I immediately think "cheap"
but let's not jump to conclusions, there's a way to
go yet!
One
of the big features of the Galaxy is that it comes
with twin, seven colour "Bubble lamps".
If you've not caught up to the Bubble Lamp concept
yet these are basically clear plastic tubes with stationary
bubbles molded into them. No, the bubbles don't move,
there's no liquid in them and no air pump. There's
no reason that couldn't be done, it'd just be fiddly
and probably expensive too.
The
tubes are lit at one end by LED lamps, the light from
which travels the length of the tubes being refracted
by the small air bubbles before hitting a reflective
surface at the other end. By using a combination of
LEDs the colour of the tubes can be varied to some
extent. The biggest difficulty with bubble lamps is
integrating them into your case if you've bought them
separately. Locate them wrongly and they stand out
like a sore thumb, in fact I don't think I've ever
seen them look good on a case that didn't come designed
specially for them.
Hopefully
you can see that the Plexi (or Perspex to fellow Brits)
on the front fascia has a pale blue tint to it which
is a seemingly minor point but it makes it seem a
bit classier than using clear for some reason. My
only real concern is that the matt silver parts of
the front fascia are created using a surface finish
that in time can wear away or get scratched and scuffed
to reveal the light coloured plastic beneath, and
we all know how bad that can look.
And
here';s those shiny chrome effect bits I moaned about
earlier. Actually if I come clean it doesn't look
anywhere near as bad with a case badge slapped on
there, it kind of breaks it up a bit. Both the power
and reset buttons feel responsive and have a nice
action and the reset button can be pressed without
tools but isn't too easy to press accidentally. The
power and HDD activity lights are the traditional
green and red.
The
Galaxy comes with four small plastic feet which hadn't
been fitted at the time this picture was taken.
Then
to finish off our tour of the front panel comes the
front connectors which nestle behind a door that in
all honesty doesn't feel like it'll take a whole lot
of abuse. The spring catch works nicely and it doesn't
look out of place, it just doesn't feel like it was
designed with a hard life in mind. That button I've
arrowed by the way is to change the mode of the Bubble
Lamps from cycle mode, where they cycle though all
the colours changing approximately every 2 seconds,
to static mode where you stop them cycling on your
chosen colour. So where are those FireWire ports then?
If
the pic below hasn't already given the game away then
I'll inform you that the Galaxy comes sans power supply,
though CCB
have a bit of a deal going where if you buy the Galaxy
you can also pick up Q Tec 400Watt Dual Fan PSU For
£20!
Those
fan grills on the back are great for airflow even
if they are a little open to obstructions entering
and if you're extremely careless, to fingertips entering
too. Both side panels are secured using a pair of
small thumb screws for each and although on our case
the panels were very easy to remove there are plastic
grab loops on each just to be safe. An unusual feature
these days are the push-out pre-cut holes for COM
and game port which might be handy for nForce2 IGP
users where these are often supplied on a separate
bracket.
I
suppose it could be argued either that the side window
is too small, or alternatively that it's in the wrong
place. Quite why they chose to have the window offset
to the right displaying the side of the drive cages
rather than central or offset to the left to show
the motherboard isn't clear. Apart from this the design
is very effective and the hole is very cleanly cut
with smooth, burr free edges. The silver fan guard
looks good and I must admit I was secretly hoping
that rather than just being clear the fan would turn
out to be a blue LED job.......unfortunately it wasn't!
Time
to venture inside.......
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