Thermaltake VF7001BNS Media PC Chassis

$10 off $100 coupon code HARVEST09 [Exp 11/30]

MWave Thermaltake VF7001BNS Media PC Chassis $197 Discuss (0)

Newegg Nippon Labs EN-25USB 2.5" USB 2.0 Enclosure $9 Discuss (2)

Surplus Computers Media-To-Go 2.5" USB 2.0 Enclosure $12 Discuss (0)

Newegg Sans Digital TR5M-B 5-Bay SATA Enclosure $175 Discuss (2)

I don't have one of these, but from the design I'd rate it half bad. The exhaust is one 120mm fan and two 60mm fans. When you're spending this much money on a HTPC case, I want QUIET, and two 60mm fans aren't. Even if you go out and buy the quietest 60mm fans on the market, you've got > 30db of noise which is more than I want -- and that's without counting any other fans.

(TT rates the 60mm fans at 19db each; if that were true it would be 25db for two, but I'm not buying that a 2500rpm 6cm fan is 19db.)

The media lab VFD does look cool, and unlike the case I got it appears to have decent driver support.

I have this one that I got last year for a LOT less. I have to agree with the fans: I disabled the front two, and put a speed control on the back one. The remote on this thing SUCKS ROCKS - the tv tuner card I got came with a Media Center remote which is much better.

I also bought this for a lot less over a year ago. Agree with previous comments. I replaced fans with corresponding yate loons and the thing is silent (also use a scythe zipang on the processor) I don't use the remote that came with it either. I don't think this case is that much better than others out there, but it just fit aesthetically with my set up.

35ft hdmi cable $20 bucks (x1)
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024005&p_id=2742&seq=1&format=2

16 ft USB Active Extension Cable $8 (x2)
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030304&p_id=2779&seq=1&format=2

A perfectly quite media center with less clutter in the living room.

For the HTPC market, looks is where it is at. And manufacturers know that people will pay a premium to get the look they want, even if the features aren't quite up to par. This is a perfect example. Though the construction is solid, they missed the mark on execution of the prime features of an HTPC. Oh well, at least it looks nice

Have these gone up in the last year? If you really like this, wait a few months - this is over priced!

To post comments, please Sign In or Register.       Forgot Password?

Registration takes seconds! Once registered you'll have members only access to a Favorites bookmark list, a fully customizable User Profile, and the ability to instantly add your thoughts to each discussion topic.