Introduction

More and more PC users are building a Home Theater PC, or better known as HTPC. As the name implies, the rig is mainly used for DVD movie playbacks, Divx or XVid movies, MP3 jukebox and since it's connected to a TV set, it could also be used as a PC for the living room where couch surfing usually takes place. And the Mini-ITX motherboards, the brainchild of VIA, was the perfect candidate for the applications. Being so tiny in size (17cm by 17cm), the resulting chassis that you'll need will definitely have a small footprint and will blend in nicely with any current home entertainment system setups. There's quite a number of Mini-ITX cases available right now in the market and one of them is the Casetronic 2699R MiniITX Case which Directron was kind enough to provide us with a sample.

In building a HTPC, you probably want your end result to fit in nicely with your existing audio/video setups and not look out of place and the 2699R Case will do just that. It's slim so you'll know it will fit in tight spaces and with it's flat black appearance, it will go well with most Hifi or home entertainment setups. Coupled with a remote and wireless keyboard/mouse setup, it'll look at home amongst the amplifiers or other components you might have. Enough about that.. let's check out the specs, direct from Casetronics.

Features

• Special design for low power consumption motherboard
• Fanless chassis for silent PCs quiet running device
• Front USB, Audio and Firewire.
• Internal DC-DC power board built-in
• PCI riser card included
• PCI card installation manual

As you already know, the case only supports the VIA Mini-ITX Form Factor motherboards and this particular model supports only the M-model of the motherboards due to the Front USB 2.0 and Firewire ports. You can check the motherboard compatibility right here.

Specification

• Material: 1.0(mm) sheet metal cold rolled construction
• Finishing: Black color paint
• Front Access: 2xUSB ports, 1 Firewire port and 1 Audio port
• Dimension(WxHxD): 11 1/2" x 2 1/2" x 10 3/4"
• Cooling: 2-40mm cooling fans
• Main Board: Accept mini ITX form factor motherboard
• Drive Bays: 1-5.25"(slim) external, 1-3.5" (slim) external and 1 internal 3.5" drive bays
• InternalPower Supply: Built-in DC power board
• External AC Adapter: -- Input (AC 100~240 V) -- Output (DC 12V, 4.58A) 55W

Looking at the specs, you'll find that the case do not have the normal bulky Power Supply Unit like most case. It ultilizes a PCB-mounted DC power supply and it churns out just 60Watts! That's right folks! The Mini-ITX boards requires much less power than your typical board, an average of 50Watts during normal usage. This not only cuts down on the amount of space required for the PSU, it also helps to cut down the noise since there's no fan in the PSU. Here's a quick look at the PSU specs for those interested.

OK, let's take a closer look at the case shall we?

<< Back to Reviews Page | External >>

 

Got News? Send 'em in!