SunBeamtech Acrylic HTPC chassis review - Final Words & Conclusion

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 01/25/2009 03:00 PM [ ] 0 comment(s)

The verdict

I think Sunbeamtech hit a sweet spot with this chassis. Though labeled as HTPC, it certainly could function really well as a desktop PC just fine as well, perhaps even better. The trick however is, you really need to like this kind of chassis in both design and aesthetics. I personally feel that the combo of an acrylic case with UV lighting bring you that nice X-Factor.

Some downsides I do have to mention though. The installation is a bit of a puzzle to be honest, especially starting can be a little frustrating. But once you get everything going, you get to play with easy to work with materials and well .. get that good old fashioned Lego feeling really. You'll easily be an hour at work to get it assembled. There is one other negative I have to mention though. The chassis is acrylic and thus much more susceptible to resonance from your HDD. So get yourself some rubber struts to prevent that from happening. Some sort of anti-vibration mechanisms for the hard disk drives is very desirable for HTPCs. Also a topic of discussion remains the fans, there are certainly not loud, no Sir, .. but aren't silent either. On a positive note, they move a very decent amount of air, which is great if you use somewhat high-end components.

On a positive note, there is plenty of space to work with. If you have the right components, this can become one hell of a cool looking PC. Once assembled, it's a sturdy case for sure as well. i also like the fact that you can house a standard ATX motherboard, your are not limited to a micro ATX solution.

As states, a chassis like shown today is not for everyone really. And so much UV light coming from a HTPC chassis might not be for everybody as well. But if you like to show off your lovely components, well it's an attractive product, be sure to give the Sunbeamtech Acrylic HTPC chassis a go. For 79 USD you just can not go wrong here. Hey, is anybody else getting Miami Vice flashbacks ? Thumbs up, great value.

SunBeamTech Acrylic HTPC chassis
Manufacturer: Sunbeamtech
Price: 79 USD (MSRP)

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SunBeamtech Acrylic HTPC chassis review
A review on the SunBeamtech Acrylic HTPC chassis. A fully functional HTPC chassis, with proper cooling, front panel, UV lit fans all at a very sharp price of just 79 USD. Sunbeamtech offers their Acrylic HTPC case in two versions: a clear non-UV reagent acrylic (HTPC-T) or using a blue UV-reagent acrylic (HTPC-HUVB), the model we reviewed.

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