Installation:

Mounting the motherboard to the motherboard tray was tricky at first, but after I got used to it (I move hardware around a lot during reviews), it became quite easy. Installing the motherboard tray back into the case with a motherboard on it is a bit more of a difficult task than taking it out. Simply enough there isn't anything to grab when reinstalling the motherboard tray with a motherboard mounted on it other than the green handle. It wasn't that big of a deal, but it did make the process a little bit more tricky.

The harddrives get mounted onto little brackets, and the screws that are used on the sides of said brackets act as a slider to fit into the railing system when used in conjunction with the rails inside the case. Mounting two harddrives next to each other was difficult, as there was virtually no space between, and if it were not for winter, I would fear the heat that the harddrives would buildup. Another problem is that only two harddrive brackets were supplied. It seems a little odd that CasEdge would give you four harddrive mounting locations and only two brackets, but that is the way it came. However because I noticed that really it's only the screws that hold the harddrives into the mounted locations, one can simply put the screws on either side of a harddrive and mount them without the bracket. However that makes removal more difficult. Removing the harddrives from the rail took a bit of force, and simply pulling the levers on the side, often wasn't enough.

Moving on, installation of a 5 ¼ drive is a little bit different then a harddrive. After figuring out how to remove the rails located underneath the harddrives (mentioned earlier), I attached the rail (singular) to my DVD-ROM drive. The rails for 5 ¼ devices only mount on one side of the device to my surprise and dismay.

Removal of the front bezel is a must with installing a 5 ¼ drive. It seems a shame that I had to remove the 5 ¼ face from the case, as it seems to add a lot aesthetically. If one was so inclined they could stealth mount their drives. That however would be very difficult, due to not being able to change the distance from the front of the drive to deeper inside the case, as the railing system would not allow it.

After the basic peripherals were all in, I installed my ram and my video card, which was nice. With the tooless design, all the AGP/PCI devices are installed simply by moving a lever that latches over all the AGP/PCI brackets.

Because I wanted to get a full overview of the case, I installed the included cold cathode which comes with a dual inverter, and is mounted to the back of the case with a mounting bracket, probably one of the best features of the case.

User Experience:

The case was generally pretty easy to work with, without using instructions as I mention at the beginning of the article. However, the case itself seemed pretty flimsy, and beyond that, a lot of edges inside the case were sharp. The general feel of the case seemed to be kind of plasticy, and sometimes the railing systems would get jammed, or be difficult to put in or take out. However there are some really good gems in this case. The included PSU (if you get it with a PSU) is very solid, and the included cold cathode was definitely a plus. The mounting system to the motherboard tray was hassle free, although installing the motherboard tray back into the case was a bit of a hassle.

The clamp for the AGP/PCI devices worked perfectly, but sadly I found that the rest of of the rails were flimsy, and could literally be bent in half with my hands without too much force.

The light up eyes on the front, and the light up power buttons that were included, was a welcome addition, but it begs the question, why isn't there a reset button? The included front ports on the case are useful, but just like all other front ports, one has to be willing to spend the time to install them.

The 120mm exhaust fan was a plus, but this is an enthusiast case! It has only 1 fan that comes with it, and only one location to mount a fan in! In other words, one would have to modify the case in order to make the cooling better.

Aesthetics? I'll leave that up to you, but personally the finish of the Antec Sonata is much better, and it's a shame that with such a shiny front bezel, that they decided to make the rest of the case a flat black. I'm personally not too much for the strange face on a case look. There are those who like Alienware cases for instance who might be more interested. The included window that goes a long with the theme is pretty good, but I find that its location doesn't really expose anything worth seeing on the inside.

As you can see only the bottom PCI slots are really visible. The RAM and the heatsink (usually a prize possession by modders) are not visible at all.

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