Best Medium Value Case

I am about to upgrade my back up system, but I am a bit stuck on what case
to get.

I don't want an el cheapo one, but neither do I want to spend £100+.

A midi tower with a removable tray for mobo for around £50.00 to £60.00 ex
vat is what I am budgeting for. Is this realistic?

Anybody got suggestions/comments?

 

Chieftec do a small tower case now c/w a 300W Chieftec PSU for around £50,
AOpen also do some nice quality cases in that price range as do Enlight.

 

No removable motherboard tray, but on balance, I think the Antec SLK3700AMB
is excellent. It's available from Ebuyer (QF: 49275) for £51+VAT, more
details here:

http://www.antec-inc.com/us/pro_details_enclosure.php?ProdID=93700

I found plenty of reviews on the web before I bought it; here's a few
thoughts of my own/things worth pointing out:

- Solidly built; steel, so it's pretty heavy (13kg inc. PSU, IIRC).
- Neither supplied PSU or 120mm fan are particularly quiet (but not an
irritating sound either); the latter can be fixed with a soldering
iron. (Obviously this is just my very subjective opinion.)
- Rubber mountings for HDDs seem quite effective at killing the hum.
- The 120mm fans snap into brackets, so unless you want to put more
holes in the case, they had better be 25mm deep.
- Cooling for both hard drives and CPU is about the best I've seen.
(Probably mostly because of 120mm fans.)
- There's a removable filter attached to the (easily removable)
fascia.
- The fascia is a bit 'orrible and plasticky to touch; it feels a bit
out of place somehow.
- The power and reset buttons are hidden behind the door. (MoCD!)
- The door can be removed if desired, but IMO it looks odd with white
drives.
- Front USB has a single 10-way connector.
- The three orange LEDs have identical cables.
- The case finish is a fairly shiny enamel.

Alex

 

If you want a case such as you describe why don't you take a look at mine.
It has the features you want.

http://kamikaze.ebid.co.uk/upload_big/5/1079382682-12190-0.jpg

Asking a modest £20 for it, tho far from el cheapo.

 

C'mon he wants a back up. The Antec just seems money wasted and no tray - I
just don't know how I could settle for that.

 

Thanks, Alex and BigH2K. Some examples to look over.

 

The globalwin does all that, not pretty but very functional >gbp 40
Http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=600007

 

Didn't know these were still in production. Had one a few years back and was
well impressed and would recommend without hesitation.

 

Thanks for the link, Neil. As you say, not pretty, but could fit the bill.

 

I went for the Globalwin from Tekheads - mainly 'cos I wanted a mobile
XP2500 and Tekheads is one of the few places which have them in stock.
Thanks for the heads-up, Neil.

And thanks to the others for their input.

 

When I do my next machine ( I keep putting it off ) I'll probably go for
the black one and maybe a a better PSU.

 

I would have gone for a black one, but all my "spare" gear is in exciting
beige.

 

And it arrived a few minutes ago................

 

In message <c537k0$2o0539$-berlin.de>, Doug Ramage

Have fun