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My Review: ASPIRE Turbo Case X-Dreamer Black Mid-Tower Case with350W Power Supply, Model "ATXB3KLW/350W"
This is my review of the ASPIRE X-Dreamer case. I recently got it and
thought I'd share my thoughts with you. I've been in the market for a new case for a little bit. What I was looking for was decent room for upgrades, aesthetics, and decent price. The Dreamer has a good amount of slots for hard drives, looks really cool, and costs a lot less than I imagined I'd spend on something like this: $48 at NewEgg! http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...144-001&depa=0 Even at this low price, believe it or not, the case comes with a 350W power supply. I won't bother reviewing the power supply because I didn't use it; I took it out and replaced it with something better. Usually I would complain that I didn't have the option of getting a case without the power supply, but at $48, it's already so cheap anyway. The case itself is pretty solid. I read some reviews on NewEgg about people having problems with the case, i.e. it scratched easily, or wasn't sturdy enough, or whatever. I haven't experienced any of that so far. As long as you realize that it's painted black, and not solid metal, and take the appropriate precautions, you shouldn't experience any scratches. Usually when I'm working with cases I just put them side-down on the floor and install the components. Well since this guy is painted black, I laid it down on one of the styrofoam packing materials that the case came shipped in (to prevent sliding contact with the floor and possible scratching). That's just common sense really, and you shouldn't fault the case if it ends up getting scratched because it's probably your fault. The one problem I have with the case is that it didn't contain enough standoff screw holes on the motherboard metal sheet. It had six, but the other three were just non-screwed holes that you had to plug in some sort of little metal "adapter" to rise it to the height of the mobo. These guys feel pretty flimsy and, to me, aren't at nearly the same quality as the normal standoffs you use to secure the other 6 of 9 mobo holes. The plastic window on the side of the case seems pretty sturdy to me, and it comes with a built-in fan with a cool alien head design (seems like they ripped off Alienware?). The fans aren't anything to write home about, so I'd recommend replacing them with these guys: "CoolerMaster Blue 80mm Neon LED Fan, Model "TLF-R82-E1" -RETAIL" http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...999-051&depa=0 The LEDs in them are blue, but brighter than the fans the case comes with, and the fans pump a lot more air for the same amount of noise. I liked everything else about the case. It has a cool blue-backlit temperature gauge on the front near the power switches. It has six blue illuminated LEDs on the front that plug in quite easily to the power-supply via a standard ATA power 4-1 power cord. The case comes with two black optical drive covers (raising lids and button pass-throughs) that go on top of my nasty beige optical drives and work perfectly. It also comes with a black 3.5" floppy drive cover, which I don't suspect I'll be using very much, but it still works :-) The bottom of the front of the case has a nifty panel that swings up and out to reveal USB2, headphone, and mic ports. The case came included with a USB2 header that attached to my mobo. All in all I'm really satisfied with the case. For the low low price of $48, I got something that really surprised me in terms of quality and coolness factor. The case comes with a power supply and two case fans that you'll probably end up replacing with higher-quality components. My only complaint is the lack of enough screw-holes for stand-offs in the mobo backplane and as a result you have to use these flimsy adaptor thingies. Overall, I would give it a grade of A: definitely recommended! P.S. This review copyright 2004 by me and all rights are given to modify or re-distribute it so long as you credit me as the original author. |
#2
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On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 10:44:14 -0500, Cyde Weys wrote:
P.S. This review copyright 2004 by me and all rights are given to modify or re-distribute it so long as you credit me as the original author. I DO hope you're kidding? |
#3
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kony wrote:
P.S. This review copyright 2004 by me and all rights are given to modify or re-distribute it so long as you credit me as the original author. I DO hope you're kidding? Half-kidding, half-serious :-) |
#4
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Good info; thanks On Fri, 27 Feb 2004 10:44:14 -0500, Cyde Weys wrote: This is my review of the ASPIRE X-Dreamer case. I recently got it and thought I'd share my thoughts with you. I've been in the market for a new case for a little bit. What I was looking for was decent room for upgrades, aesthetics, and decent price. The Dreamer has a good amount of slots for hard drives, looks really cool, and costs a lot less than I imagined I'd spend on something like this: $48 at NewEgg! http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...144-001&depa=0 Even at this low price, believe it or not, the case comes with a 350W power supply. I won't bother reviewing the power supply because I didn't use it; I took it out and replaced it with something better. Usually I would complain that I didn't have the option of getting a case without the power supply, but at $48, it's already so cheap anyway. The case itself is pretty solid. I read some reviews on NewEgg about people having problems with the case, i.e. it scratched easily, or wasn't sturdy enough, or whatever. I haven't experienced any of that so far. As long as you realize that it's painted black, and not solid metal, and take the appropriate precautions, you shouldn't experience any scratches. Usually when I'm working with cases I just put them side-down on the floor and install the components. Well since this guy is painted black, I laid it down on one of the styrofoam packing materials that the case came shipped in (to prevent sliding contact with the floor and possible scratching). That's just common sense really, and you shouldn't fault the case if it ends up getting scratched because it's probably your fault. The one problem I have with the case is that it didn't contain enough standoff screw holes on the motherboard metal sheet. It had six, but the other three were just non-screwed holes that you had to plug in some sort of little metal "adapter" to rise it to the height of the mobo. These guys feel pretty flimsy and, to me, aren't at nearly the same quality as the normal standoffs you use to secure the other 6 of 9 mobo holes. The plastic window on the side of the case seems pretty sturdy to me, and it comes with a built-in fan with a cool alien head design (seems like they ripped off Alienware?). The fans aren't anything to write home about, so I'd recommend replacing them with these guys: "CoolerMaster Blue 80mm Neon LED Fan, Model "TLF-R82-E1" -RETAIL" http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...999-051&depa=0 The LEDs in them are blue, but brighter than the fans the case comes with, and the fans pump a lot more air for the same amount of noise. I liked everything else about the case. It has a cool blue-backlit temperature gauge on the front near the power switches. It has six blue illuminated LEDs on the front that plug in quite easily to the power-supply via a standard ATA power 4-1 power cord. The case comes with two black optical drive covers (raising lids and button pass-throughs) that go on top of my nasty beige optical drives and work perfectly. It also comes with a black 3.5" floppy drive cover, which I don't suspect I'll be using very much, but it still works :-) The bottom of the front of the case has a nifty panel that swings up and out to reveal USB2, headphone, and mic ports. The case came included with a USB2 header that attached to my mobo. All in all I'm really satisfied with the case. For the low low price of $48, I got something that really surprised me in terms of quality and coolness factor. The case comes with a power supply and two case fans that you'll probably end up replacing with higher-quality components. My only complaint is the lack of enough screw-holes for stand-offs in the mobo backplane and as a result you have to use these flimsy adaptor thingies. Overall, I would give it a grade of A: definitely recommended! P.S. This review copyright 2004 by me and all rights are given to modify or re-distribute it so long as you credit me as the original author. |
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