Introduction:

    With the holiday season quickly coming upon us, the talk of gift ideas is becoming a daily occurrence. If you are reading this review, then the talk must be including computer ideas and projects. What better way to say you love someone than with a HTPC enclosure from GlacialTech? I know this isn't a full blown HTPC system, but it's a start to something you can custom build. The GlacialTech Altair A380 is an aluminum HTPC enclosure that can be found in silver or black. The side, top, and rear panels have been slotted for maximum cooling and it includes a power supply, which not too many enclosures include these days. The front panel of the A380 has a very clean look going for it, with a front panel card reader and I/O powers, power/reset buttons, a single 5.25" opening, IR port for the included remote control, and of course those wonderful LED's.

About the Company:

    GlacialTech Inc. was established in June 2001 by a team of 8 world-class researchers (PHDs) and three factory owners. Its technological areas of expertise include specialized thermal theory, soldering and mounting technologies, mechanism design, test and verification environment build-up and advanced conduct material development.

    As a total thermal solution provider, GlacialTech is committed to using lighter weight materials, lower noise and lower manufacturing cost to deliver superior cooling solutions. All this has brought about the increased value for our customers with lighter system board loading, quiet working environment and optimal price performance. Price performance, noise performance and weight performance are our three cooling design philosophy. Having acquired ISO 9001 and 14001, GlacialTech commits itself to using green materials for its products designs and to perfecting green manufacturing processes in manufacturing its products.

Specifications:

Package:

Retail front

Side panel

Protection

Contents box

    The A380 arrived in its retail box and the delivery service did a good job, as there were no signs of damage. The retail box is all black with ALTAIR A380 splashed across the top. Two side panels show a picture of the enclosure and its features, while the other two sides have the specifications. The contents included with the A380 are in a small brown box. In this box are IR receiver hardware, a MCE-style remote control, and an optical drive door cover.

Exterior:

Front	Power button	Front I/O
Card reader	Optical opening	Name badge

    The exterior of the A380 enclosure is made up of aluminum that has been coated black. As is the norm for me, I'm starting off with the front bezel. Actually, I feel it's more of a panel and not a bezel. Here it's kept rather clean with only a few features up front. On the right side, we find a single 5.25" bay is present. Below that are two circles: the upper circle is the power button with a LED ring around it, and below that is a mirror-like circle and that has the HDD LED behind it. Just under the optical opening are the front panel I/O connections with two USB ports and audio connections. Just about in the center and to the bottom is the card reader, which can handle CF/MD, XD/SM, SD/MMC and MS cards.

3/4 right

3/4 left

Top vents

Rear panel

The side panels and the rear of the top panel have small slots cut into them to allow for maximum airflow. The rear panel also has rear vent openings and two PCI expansion slot openings, but these openings are horizontal - thus not allowing for a PCI card to be installed since the card would be vertical. On the bottom are four aluminum feet which enhance that component-look to the enclosure.

Interior:

Interior	PSU	HDD Cage
Optical cage	Front I/O	Card reader
60mm fan	IR gear	Optical door cover

    To gain access to the interior, a single screw is removed from the back and the top panel slides off. The interior is rather simple with no major components on the inside. Up front is a removable bracket that will hold two hard drives; next to that is the bracket that will hold the optical drive. Under those brackets are the circuit boards for the front panel connections. On each side of the A380 is a single, 60mm blue LED fan for cooling, and last, but not least, is the 270w power supply. The connections on the supply are a 20pin motherboard power plug, 4pin 12v ATX plug, four Molex and one FDD plug.

Installation:

HDD installed	Optical installed	Mobo installed
Too short	Gear installed	Powered on

    Since this HTPC is rather low-profile, a standard PCI card will not work. Instead, right-angle adapters are needed, so if you don't have any on hand, make sure you get a motherboard with onboard video or pick up some adapters online. The interior can handle a full-size ATX motherboard as well as smaller mATX boards. The HDD and optical brackets are held in with thumbscrews for easy removal. Once removed, simply mount the drives in the cages and replace back into the A380. The Altair A380 comes with an IR receiver that can be used to control other devices like a TV or Amp. This can be installed next if needed; other than that, it's time to complete all the connections and fire up the computer. Ahh connections the cables on the power supply are short and the 12v ATX cable doesn't reach the connection on the motherboard.

Conclusion:

    The GlacialTech Altair A380 has some pros and cons. The main thing I didn't like was the lack of information in regards to the placement of the PCI expansion card. Not only wasn't it mentioned on the website, but a simple install manual wasn't even included. I reviewed an enclosure like this almost 2 years ago, and they included a right angle adapter for that very situation. Also the cables on the power supply are short and no extensions are included. The other issue is strictly my opinion: and that is only the option of having a single 5.25" bay. Here I would have liked to have had at least two 5.25" bays.

    One of the positive things that I liked was the built-in card reader; not too many companies do this on the HTPC enclosures. The same goes with the built-in power supply: this saves the hassle of finding a PSU small enough for such a tight space. Just keep in mind the PSU is only 270 watts and has short cables and no SATA plus, and no power-hungry hardware, OK? The included IR remote control is also one less thing that will need to be bought to get the HTPC up and running. Final thoughts: the Altair A380 is a sleek-looking, barebones HTPC that will look good in just about anyone's entertainment center. I would like to thank GlacialTech for sending this item out for VH to review.