Introduction:

   The Minuet is a case designed specifically to be out in the open in your Home Theater System. Either flat on top of other equipment, or on its side next to everything.

Features:

 Antec describes the Minuet as such:

• Minuet 300 slimline piano black Micro PC case with chrome accents

• 300Watt ATX 12V power supply, 24 pin main connector

• Internal 80mm TriCool fan with 3-speed switch control

• Low Profile, small form factor:

• - 3.8"(H) x 12.75(W) x 16.8"(D)

• - 9,4cm(H) x 31,9(W) x 43,9(D)

• Front Ports:

• - 2USB

• - 1 IEEE1394 (FireWire®, i.Link®)

• - 2 audio jacks

• 3 Drive bays in easy-to-install unified flip-out drive cage

• - 1 x 5.25" external

• - 1 x 3.5"external

• - 1 x 3.5"internal

• Motherboard: up to micro ATX (9.6"x9.6")

• Top panel with vents for maximum cooling of latest CPUs & VGA cards

• Gross weight: 6.4Kg/14.2 lbs.

• Net weight: 5.7 Kg/12.6 lbs.

• 2 stands included for upright positioning

• AQ3 - Antec Quality three-year Warranty

Shipping and packaging:

   Antec shipped the Minuet in what I think is some of the most entertaining air filled balloons. I gotta admit, whoever came up with the “Fill-air” system probably has way more money than I currently do. Even OOPS would have a hard time damaging the case. And it’s great fun to pop :P

Initial thoughts:

   I have never had a case as thin as the Minuet, and since I had been thinking of making a HTPC/PVR I liked the idea of using a case that would fit in with my other equipment. I did have a few parts I had to swap out from my previous ideas however. While it’s not really a limitation for an HTPC, you can only use half height PCI/AGP cards. I would also not recommend trying to use an optical drive that is very long, it can interfere with other components. On the plus side, most newer DVD burners are much smaller than older generation drives.

Power:

   The 300 Watt power supply included with the case, should be more than sufficient for any reasonable HTPC setup. I would have liked the cables to be a bit longer though, it would make for easier cable management, as well as lifting up the drive bays. Currently it’s a bit of a tight fit to remove the cables from the hard-drives so the bay can be set aside. Keeping the PSU small did not seem to hamper the power at all, there was no large fluctuations during testing. It’s also very quiet, almost any CPU cooler that will fit in the case will be louder.