Red Cherry
(Matrix Version shown)
Red Cherry
(Matrix Version shown)
CaseArts Company Info
Since the first personal computer (PC) was introduced in 1970's, the PC has existed as a plain or even ugly box. With the creations from CaseArts.com, a PC is no longer a boring box, but a form of high-tech art that reflects your style, taste, and environment. CaseArts.com is in the market to design, manufacture, and market innovative PC products with style and performance to forever change the image of a PC. Our products include enclosures, power supplies, and related accessories.
We call our PC cases high-performance machines with great styles. These are high-performance products because they represent the best cooling techniques for today's microprocessors and the most convenient and sturdy structure for easy assembling and long-time durability. We use a patent-pending process to produce the amazing look and feel of our cases. Besides cases, we also offer matching keyboards, mice, monitors, and other peripherals.
These stylish cases can be used to match your furniture, office, home, and gaming, creating an unmatched environment for professionalism and relaxation. They will add personality to your high-tech life - both at work and at home. Our products will also be excellent for shows, displays, and LAN parties.
We believe in bringing value to our customers and end-users. We always look for ways to reduce the total cost for our products and pass on the savings to our customers and end-users.
Our mission is to produce the highest-quality products with the coolest styles, best values, and excellent customer services.
We will listen to our customers' needs in designing and producing the products. We will continuously seek for ways to improve our existing products and bringing new ones to the market. We produce both standard and customized products.
We are committed to the distribution channel. Our products are sold only through authorized distributors, resellers, and system builders to end-users
CaseArts.com is headquartered in Houston, Texas, USA. Our manufacturer partners: Chieftec.com and Super-Flower
Introduction
When I first heard of CaseArts.com coming into existance, it was well before the product ever seen the publics eye. As I first heard of them selling "custom painted case" I thought " yea, great....but been done, not very popular. Usually costs way too much, etc,etc". Well, what I was not prepared for was the "Real Deal" behind the whole CaseArts.com philosophy. This was more than just a "fly-by-night" idea. This was more than the "a-typical" case painting shop. This was a whole new level of visually stunning case customization. This wasn't "just blue", or "just aluminum" or "just clear"...this was something different. Something that's never been done before. Especially on such a professional level.
From the very first "exclusive" pics that came before my eyes I thought " .............." . That's right, I was speechless. I had so many questions I couldn't spit anything out. The finish was truley like nothing I've ever seen before. So exotic, so fresh, I thought it had to be too good to be true. As thoughts rushed to mind, the first being that it's a chieftec/antec/cheming style case, which is extremely popular and well designed. Secondly, the finish was an amazing red tinted woodgrain ( red cherry ). Lastly that not only was the base case covered, it was ALL over including the faceplates, power and reset buttons, handles...everything! The pattern, or grain, was even consistant over all the bumps, curves, and crevasses of the unit. I though "how the....? I kinda just stared at the pics for awhile and really tried to find something that would make me go " ahh, now I see how it's done...nevermind, it's crap". Well, that didn't happen. Here's the very first pics of this unit that I've seen and can show you.....
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As you can plainly see, it's "appears" to be a beauty. But surely, it must cost $300- $400 right? Nope! Just $99 USD retail!! ( no power supply included ) Well, needless to say I couldn't wait to get my hands on this unit to really give this finish a look-see and try to figure out how the finish is applied, and to find all the mistakes :o). Well, that's my job isn't it? Find the mistakes before you do. I was almost afraid to see it up close and personal for fear it would totally disappoint, however, resistance was futile!
The CaseArts Case
So let's move on to the case I finally got in hands. Since Directron is the exclusive distributor of the CaseArts brand cases as of now, they asked me which one of the patterns I'd like from the available stock. After careful evaluation, I decided on the Red Cherry Matrix Case. Two reasons, 1) I thought it was appeal to the widest audience, and 2) I haven't had the "matrix" bezel yet. Well, Turns out the matrix bezel was on short supply when it was time for the review unit to be shipped, so I got the normal "dragon" bezel. However the most important factor to me wasn't the bezel design, but rather the red cherry finish, which I did receive. Let's take a closer look at this unique finish....
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I've shot this case in various lighting to get the clearest results. Natural lighting ( outside ) actually turned out the best. As you can see, this cases finish will fetch lots of attention from you , and your friends. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and first took out this case. Upon further exterior inspection, it was as good as described on the site. Every single exterior face on the case was finished in red cherry. The handles, the feet, the bezel, etc. Opening the bezel would also lacked any nasty surprises. It was entirely finished in red cherry with not an inch to spare....
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The front bezel of the case looks even better in person then in pics ( thanks to the flash ). You can plainly see however just how good the finish covers every inch of the exterior, including inside the door. The red cherry finish was so well done that the only thing even worth mentioning is the fact that , as you can see, the finish inside the square hole for the door retainer clip is lighter than the rest. It kinda looks like overspray in there, but you can't "spray" a woodgrain finish onto a case. So how the hell does the woodgrain finish get there? I have no idea!@#
In case you've just joined us, this case IS the infamous chieftec/antec/chenming entry level server case that is hugely popular today. 99% of you already know the great features of the case and I'm not gonna bore most of you to death with that stuff. Let's continue with the real focus, the finish....
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If you notice the pic above left, you'll see just how clean the finish is applied. You can tell it wasn't taped off for painting where you would have that tape line normally. It's perfectly clean just as a beige case would be. Also something I'll point out, notice the rivots are shiney silver and not painted over. That's a huge plus for me. Cleanliness is next to godliness :o)
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Here's some closeups of the side panel and handle feature. You'll notice two things here, 1) the finish, again, is fantastic...and 2) you can again see the lighter section, under the handle this time, where it would look like overspray. This gives clues to how the finish was created, but you can't "spray" a woodgrain finish on a case!! So, how is it done? I have no idea!$%!
Some Blemishes...
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I decided to throw a power supply in the case to give you a size comparison for fit. Remember the power supply is not included in the $99 price for this unit. Which is fine by me, for $99, you're lucky the whole case is painted and not about 1/3 of it......lol. As I was installing this power supply, I finally ran across the first "blemish" on the unit. If you look at the full size pic of the middle pic above, you'll see what looks to be a lonely brush stroke of red paint. It leaves no clues to where it originated except for it being red and the base color of the case is red. Why is it not anywhere else on the chassis though? Also, why in such an odd spot? I have no idea!#@! It's pretty harmless and could be removed with a tiny bit of sandpaper, just thought I'd share the clues with you as I found them :o)
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These next two pics ( above) show you some more clues as to how the incredible finish was applied. Now before you think "eew", just remember, these are internal blemishes, they're easily removed ( if they bother you that much ), and they're almost part of the character of the case....hehe. However, even with all clues, I still have NO IDEA how the woodgrain finish is applied. CaseArts says it's "transferred" on there....I'm gonna have to live with that explanation since that's all I'm getting...heh. Either way, it's extremely well done. The finish is as close to perfect as you can get , minus the few internal imperfections.
Now, it's time for the final clue...
Can you tell how
the woodgrain is applied? ...Me Either!!#@!#!@
So did that clue help you figure out the finish yet? No? Me either! It kinda looks like the base faceplate was grey in color ( and if you look at the feet bottom pic above, same grey color ) before it was painted. Judging by the fact that the paint color is barely spread around the side of the faceplate leads me to believe it was painted while fully assembled into the bezel as a whole. So clean, strong and smooth, it's a no brainer. Here's what CaseArts.com says about the finish....
How is the painting done?
--We use a patent-pending process. It goes through the following steps: (1) The surface is cleaned and polished. (2) It is painted with a primary coating for maximum adhesion. (3) The pattern/image is painted onto the primary coating via a transfer process. (4) The surface is coated with a clear coating for protection purposes. (5) The finish is baked and cured for maximum strength.
We use the highest quality materials for the entire process. We have also engineered innovative devices to ensure the quality of the final results for each steps.
For more answers, visit the CaseArts.com FAQ Page here.
Conclusion
This CaseArts "Red Cherry" Dragon case hits a grand slam with a fantastic package at an extraordinary price. With a finish so strong, smooth, and detailed, right down to the tiny reset button, the few minor internal blemishes almost don't deserve to be mentioned at all. That's just how much the good outweighs the bad. Also, before I forget, I want to mention that there was NO sticky buttons or doors anywhere on this case. If you've ever felt a homemade painted case, you've probably dealt with the typical sticky buttons and stuck doors because the paint is too think. That's not the case here, the finish was so thin and smooth , it feels absolutely factory done. Might be because.....IT IS factory done! Even the feet swing out smoothly and do NOT scratch the paint off. The finish is baked on and seems to be as strong as any typical factory finish. That's a great thing.
I highly recommend this paint package for anyone tired of the beige , or solid colored cases out there. The possibilities are truley endless as to what you can do with a CaseArts.com case. Match your entertainment center, match your desk, match your furniture , or just have an extraordinary finish on your case! There's thousands of finishes available on a variety of case styles, along with the increasing availability of additional matching accessories like mice, keyboards and monitors. CaseArts.com is fairly new to the market and already have an impressive product line with the intention of growing it much larger. Let's take a quick look at pros and cons, but keep in mind the focus is on the finish so I'm not gonna talk much about the case used since it can vary and , since it's the most popular case EVER, it would be pretty redundant. You can however check out this VH chieftec case review for a refresher since it's the exact same chassis.
Pros
Cons
I'd like to thank Directron.com and CaseArts.com for the chance to give you guys a much closer look at this fantastic value. If you've even thought of painting your own case, but have not the time, space, energy, or ability to do it yourself, then CaseArts.com is where you want to be heading to pick your next color or pattern. Even as a modder myself, I can't help but notice that this case would be much better than I could paint it myself. I'm bound to make mistakes, not to mention the extreme amount of time it would take getting such a thin, smooth finish on every inch of the case. That's not even to mention that fact that I don't think I could reproduce the intricate woodgrain pattern by hand :o)
Bottom line: This is quite possibly the best valued product I've not only reviewed, but EVER seen!! If this package tickles your fancy, you better get your order in quick before CaseArts or Directron realizes they could charge much more for this setup and raises the prices! That's no BS either. Just think about it....The cheapest I've EVER seen the basic chieftec case is around $50 without a PSU. It's usually about $60. So for about $40- $50 you're getting an incredible finish without stinking up the garage or spilling paint in the driveway! It's a no-brainer.
