My future HTPC: searching for a perfect case
#1
Hi!
after 1 year of dealing with Popcorn C-200, I decided that this is enough for me of restarting, glitches, not able to play some formats, etc... and it is time to build my own HTPC.
so, that brought me to this forum, which I have read back and forth for the last week. I got basic ideas about the hardware and now I am working on creating my list of setup. But I runned into problem with case - it is hard to find the perfect one Smile so, maybe you guys could help me here.
The case I would love:
1. as small as possible
2. able to fit one 2.5"SSD and one 3.5"HDD
3. integrated IR (as I don't want to add an external one)
4. LED display
5. no optical drives needed

as you might guess, the issues are with nr. 4 and 5 - almost all cases hold plase for optical drives and there are not much small cases with LED.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, but especially those options that are available in Europe.

Thanx!
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#2
http://www.amazon.com/OrigenAE-M10-ND-Ri...E+HTPC+M10
The price-tag might be wrong but i got everything else.
Drop the internal 3,5 and just buy a e-sata case for it and hide it somewhere else - you wont need the extra heat or noise Tongue
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#3
The OrigenAE m10 is available in Europe but it will not hold a 3.5" HDD, only a 2.5" HDD.

http://www.origenae.co.kr/en/wtb_index.htm
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#4
Thanks guys, beautiful case, but the price tag scared me :-)
And I already have 2TB WD Green which I would like to reuse, HTPC will also act as NAS as I don't have any separate (at least for now)
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#5
As i said, just buy an external case for the 3,5" with e-sata and your good to go with that case..

If the price-tag scares you, you'll have to drop some items on your list:
1."as small as possible" - if you could push that to mATX your choice would more than quadruple
2."able to fit one 2.5"SSD and one 3.5"HDD" - most cases will do this but 3,5" hdds aren't really recommended in mITX
3."integrated IR" - very few cases in any size has one, and the ones that does aren't always that good
4."LED display" - usually wont work with other than the included app so gets quite pointless with external players like XBMC.
5. "no optical drives needed" - I only know of 5-6 cases that don't have the option so you'll probably have to have that option.
+ you're also not spending a lot (makes mITX harder to achieve)

I will now give you some compromised options:
12 any of these cases if you add an external e-sata case for the 3,5:
http://www.antec.com/product.php?Family=288

234 any of these cases:
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.ph...53&area=en
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.ph...61&area=en
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.ph...69&area=en
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.ph...38&area=en
http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704872&pid=5
http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704873&pid=5
http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704870&pid=5
http://www.antec.com/product.php?id=704871&pid=5
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.as...45&ID=1424
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.as...19&ID=1878
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.as...19&ID=1425
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.as...19&ID=1426
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.as...19&ID=1836
http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.as...19&ID=1837

23 any of these cases:
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pro...dex=68&g=f
http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pro...dex=68&g=f

2 and cheap:
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.ph...83&area=en

2345 (2 only if you improvise the placement of the SSD):
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.ph...33&area=en
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#6
Thanks and Takk Smile RaggSokk3n!

I think I could live without LED and a bigger size, but I definitely don't want to hang around my HTPC with external HDD's or IR receivers.
Lian Li PC-C39 looks promising...
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#7
(2013-01-06, 23:10)Kraxus Wrote: Thanks and Takk Smile RaggSokk3n!

I think I could live without LED and a bigger size, but I definitely don't want to hang around my HTPC with external HDD's or IR receivers.
Lian Li PC-C39 looks promising...

Excellent choice!
If you can't get it in your location the PC-C37B is pretty great to Smile
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#8
Really, just about anything Lian-Li = Smile Smile Smile. It'll have some weird little thing that's annoying when you build with it but once it's done, it's pure brushed aluminum heaven.

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#9
(2013-01-06, 23:22)RaggSokk3n Wrote: Excellent choice!
If you can't get it in your location the PC-C37B is pretty great to Smile

I can't find the "B" option on lian-li.com, there are only PC-C37 and PC-C37U on their site and both seems to be without a integrated IR/remote...
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#10
AFAIK, no Lian-Li case has a built-in remote.

How about these? http://www.ms-tech.de/eng/index.php/prod...s/pdcid/66
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#11
(2013-01-07, 17:02)Dougie Fresh Wrote: AFAIK, no Lian-Li case has a built-in remote.

How about these? http://www.ms-tech.de/eng/index.php/prod...s/pdcid/66

this one apparently has it http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pro...=68&g=spec
check photo and manual at the bottom of the page
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#12
I haven't seen that available here for a couple of years but maybe you can find it in Europe?

This one looks pretty similar:
http://www.ms-tech.de/eng/index.php/prod...6/pdid/163

Image
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