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Best viewed with IE 4.0 or later, 1024 X 768.
Introduction For quite some time now, we've all had the urge to add a window of some sort to our cases as a way of displaying the hardware that we so diligently worked for, or to maybe display the work of art that is the interior of one's computer. For whatever reason, the end result was clear: A windowed case added quite a bit to the overall "feeling" one got of a computer case. Lighting within the case also added to that feeling, and made your case stand out from the rest. It should only be reasonable that the next evolutionary step was the clear case: A case where the window is everywhere! Indeed, having only the components of your computer visible was quite the nifty idea! Many people have made their own successfully made their own clear cases, and had then been the envy of many others. But for those who don't have the time or know-how on just exactly how to put one together properly, The Upgrade Path may have a solution for you. Enter the ClearPC, a project of Franjo Goluza of The Upgrade Path.
Keeping up with its name, the ClearPC is indeed... clear. The material is not clouded in the slightest bit. The shipping weight is listed at 6.1kg or 13.4lbs, which makes it lighter than all the mid-towers I have used. There are no screws associated with putting the case together (I will go into more detail about this later), and this adds to the clear effect of the case. All the vinyl gripping feet are even clear in colour, and this indicates that The Upgrade Path went that extra mile to make sure that this case's clear ambience was projected properly. All the edges are rounded, giving a nice appearance and not creating a possibly dangerous edge. All of this creates a well-polished look that has certainly changed quite a bit since the earlier prototypes. The case went through a few prototype revisions, which I observed in the pictures on their site a while back, with the main change being noted as the addition of a second 80mm fan at the back, below the PSU for exhaust. This is now a standard feature. Specifications
The first thing you'll probably notice that is that this case does not come with a PSU. That is one unfortunate downside, but it was done to keep the price of the unit down. Also, most of the people that would consider buying one of these cases will usually have a PSU to begin with, as most people wouldn't buy this case as their single and only enclosure. The case, in size, is comparable to a regular ATX mid-tower with 4 x 5.25" drive bays. There is only a power button, and no reset switch, and two LEDs compliment the front bezel. One thing to note is that you will have to hook up the appropriate wires to the power switch yourself, before you can use it. Soldering is suggested, but I took the lazy way out and just twisted the wire ends onto the leads and then secured them with some heatshrink. Not a daunting procedure at all, but nonetheless, I wish the switch would have come wired and ready-to-use. Beyond that, the only other assemble required was putting the LEDs and the power switch in the placement holes in the front, and putting in your own PSU.
Lastly, you'll be interested to note that this case is being touted as a tool to display the PC's components for education or at a retail store for information by the creators at the ClearPC site. But for end-users such as you and I, a clear case is a definite eye-opener. I also want to apologize for the extremely awful quality of my camera, evident in the pictures. It is only half-decent under good conditions, and a clear case presents quite a problem for it. << Back to Reviews Page | Page 2 - Accessories and Getting Inside >>
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