Showcase Exterior
Showcase Silverstone GD08 HTPC chassis
Alright, as always we start with packaging, so you know what to look for in the stores. Well, ehm... you guys do still visit stores, right?
Inside the box, the HTPC chassis. It is well packaged in Styrofoam and a plastic bag. Included is a small pouch with the following:
Next to the chassis you'll find some small extra's like a manual, screws, Molex to fan connector extender and USB 3.0 native to USB 2.0 motherboard connector. Also some binders and extra rubber cushions should you need them. Other items included are two keys for the front panel, six small adhesive rubber feet, five cable management ties. Overall, this is a basic set of accessories.
So here we have the GD06 itself after unpacking. The Grandia GD06 exposes itself to be an eye-catching piece of hardware. It is soft black with rounded aluminum feet and at first glance you might feel it is an of these expensive home theater receivers. As you can see, the DVD tray bezel is missing here and hey where is the front panel IO you might wonder. Well obviously it is all nicely hidden away behind that humongous door. What it does is make it a very stylish design, simplicity at its best really.
The chassis is made out of steel, yet the front side bezel is actually brushed aluminum, for downright great aesthetics. As you can see, everything is kept simple. And I cannot tell you how much I like that. No flashing lights and LEDs, VFDs, no chrome, everything is dark, the way it should be for an HTPC, in my honest opinion of course. The one minor point I could nag about is the security key protection.