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Antec Super Lanboy Antec Super Lanboy: We take a look at Antec's latest revision of their Lanboy case. Sporting 120mm fans this time around, they also made some additional changes.
Date: January 7, 2004
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On the front bezel, there is a front door that cover your optical devices. This can cause a small problem with some readers. In my case, the MSI 48x24x48x+16x DVD drive I reviewed has swappable faceplates. When I used the stock drive mount position, the faceplate is not flush with the front of the front bezel. Therefore, there was a problem with the front door, as the faceplate prevented it from closing. To fix this, I ended up drilling a few holes into the chassis (giving me an extra 2mm) where the optical drive goes and all was well. "Normal" optical drives didn't cause any problems, but before laying the blame on MSI, Audigy Platinum users (who use the internal box), may have problems with the door as well.

There are only three 5.25" external bays available for expansion. They needed to drop down to three (the original Lanboy had four) because the old design wouldn't permit a 120mm fan intake.

Next to the two 3.5" external bay is a nice tool and screw holder. The older Lanboy had these in the rear, and the move to the front is a great idea as it makes getting to them much easier.

Removing the holder couldn't be any easier. Simply push gently on the front of it, and it'll pop right out. The door to the holder itself is a sliding door, and it's also a lot larger than the original screw holder, which is a plus.

There are two side panels for the Super Lanboy, and both are removable via thumbscrews. The windowed side panel is very nice, and is attached by 11 chrome coloured plastic rivets (I would say 12, but I believe I lost one in shipping). There's also a security latch where you can put a small padlock to prevent people from opening up your case and stealing your stuff.

Moving to the rear, you have an opening for a PSU. Unlike the original Lanboy, there is no PSU included. This can be a plus or minus for some, as many enthusiasts will probably have their own they'd like to use. Personally, we would have liked one to have been included anyway, as Antec makes some good PSUs.

There is a rear vent for the second 120mm fan, which Antec includes. For water cooling fans, such us myself, the Super Lanboy will accommodate many water cooling kits that require a 120mm radiator/fan mount. Our Asetek WaterChill fits without issue. Rounding things out are seven rear PCI slots available for expansion.

Internal Features

Like most of the exterior, aluminum is used throughout the interior. For the 5.25" drive bays, and thanks to both side panels being removable, you have access to both sides of the bays. This wasn't a feature present on the original Lanboy, although that case used drive rails. Some people like rails, but I'm not a fan of them.

Despite losing one external 5.25" bay, we now have four 3.5" internal bays for hard drives. What I found really nice is the orientation of the bays. They are set up so that you can place the front of the hard drive; i.e., the side without the connections, towards the side window. This will hide some of the wires from view, making for a much nicer view.

The case is quite easy to work with despite the small size. However, I did run into a small problem I experienced with the graphic card. I had a lot of trouble getting my MSI FX5700-Ultra 128 to fit as it was passing over my IDE cables in the configuration described in the last paragraph, though I did get it in eventually. Another issue I had, and consider this a polite request Antec... REMOVABLE TRAY FOR THE MOTHERBOARD!

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