3DVelocity would like to thank Antec Europe BV , and in particular Willem Waasdorp, for their invaluable help and generosity in supplying this case for review.

The case :

The first noteworthy feature is that this case is large. It sits somewhere between a mid ATX and full tower in height, and with its heavy duty 1mm all steel enclosure (the front panels are plastic) it is also heavy. If your plans are to hump this thing round to the next LAN party, I'd seriously consider a good insurance policy that covers hernias. All that weight however brings peace of mind as this thing is built like the proverbial brick outhouse. As you can see from the image above, Antech have given the case a pretty agressive look, but with enough curves to make it appeal to the less military individual. Antec also market a black version of their 1030 model, but demand is so high it regularly becomes rarer than rocking horse manure. There are no cut-outs for extra front mounted USB ports, but as this isn't a just released model, I don't see how points can be deducted for that.
Because of the height, it was good to see Antec had fitted their now familiar twist out feet which add greatly to stability when deployed. Because of its size though, wheels might have been a nice option.

What appears to be a nice design feature also serves a purpose. That molded column at the front is actually a large intake vent with ample capacity to suck through massive volumes of air.

And a feature that always scores point with me is the ability to hide that ugly, discoloured and all too square floppy behind a much more stylish slot.

Externally this case is very nicely done. It's all metal enclosure has a quality satin effect finish that adds to its look, and the side sports a feature that almost everybody will appreciate, A spring loaded quick release handle.

These really are must-have for anyone who regularly digs around inside their case, and also looks cool too. Before you go tearing the door off, you will need to remove two screws in the back of the side panel. These are there to keep everything safe during transit, and once removed can be relegated to that place all case screws should be, the bin.The latch can be locked with the supplied key, thus keeping unwanted interest away from your valuable components, but in my oppinion, the Antec's design has a simple yet irritating flaw.

This flaw is actually a fairly minor one in the scale of things, but my duty as a reviewer is to find the things I think could be improved upon, and in my view this could. Let me explain. One of my rather wacky testing routines when I review a case is to see how easily I can dismantle and reassemble it with one hand. I don't mean fitting the components, just the actual case itself. The flaw is that the door fastens on the left, and locates and pivots on the right, meaning it tends to drop down if opened with one hand, and is awkward to locate again because it needs to be raised about an inch to seat the pivoting edge before closing. It may seem churlish, but I would have preferred it to latch at the top and locate and pivot about its lower edge, meaning the side panel could be popped open and lifted clear without any problems.
Ok, I know some of you are moaning that I'm being too picky, but I'm sure if you had only one arm you'd be miffed about this too.

 

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