A Closer Look:

   Further investigating the exterior of this case, you can see that all the panels that make up the exterior of this case are very thick 5mm Aluminum panels that are screwed together with allen bolts. You can also see that for some reason Zalman decided to go with two big bright silver thumbscrews to hold the left side panel secure. Why not black thumbscrews?

NOTE: One of the laser etched text words is misspelled! If you look closely at the "Back" picture above you'll see that "MINIMUN" right above the rear 120mm fan should be "MINIMUM"! Thanks to my buddy Shawn over at OCIA.net pointing it out to me. Let's just say he's reviewing this same case now and well....he's got my problems now.

   You can see that even the 5.25" drive bay covers are laser etched with 3 different logos pertaining to the theme of this case. Those are pretty until you remove them and throw them in a drawer so you can install a drive. Speaking of drive covers, the top 5.25" drive bay cover wasn't included at all so when you purchase this case, be sure to purchase a black faced optical drive too, or something to fill in the gapping hole.

   Once you remove the two thumbscrews for the side panel it is easily opened by sliding the lever with the finger ring.  

   Unfortunately just getting inside the case revealed another problem; the thumbscrews. As you can see from the first picture above, I just received this case brand new direct from Zalman and the thumbscrews are already starting to scratch up the anodized aluminum. What's it going to be like a year from now?

   Opening the door to get inside, I realized the door does not come off, nor does it open completely out of the way. What are they thinking? This is a gaming enthusiast case and gamers and enthusiasts are known for constantly upgrading their systems with bigger better hardware. If you can't remove the door easily, or even get it out of your way while tinkering inside, then it's just going to cause frustrations or worse, you'll end up snapping the hinges on the door.

   I hate to keep shooting down this case, but the ammo keeps coming. The side window perspex is disappointingly thin. The aluminum surrounding the window is so thick you could use it to reinforce your tornado shelter, yet the window feels cheap. That's just another thing that makes no sense.

   Speaking of making no sense, the I/O card slots have breakaway covers! OMFG! *shakes head*. If this was a $29.99 case then I probably wouldn't even mention it. However this is marketed as an enthusiast gamers case of the utmost quality and we already know it's selling price is in the area of $350. Are they serious? Why? Why? Why? They also didn't include any spare covers so once you snap them out, you've got a hole there.