Antec Lifestyle Solo Mini ATX Tower

Comment:
I have mixed emotions about this case. It looks big, but working on it was surprisingly cramped. I like the hard drive mounting system with the rubber grommets for silence, but the hard drive cage hangs too close the th MB, and some longer cards like the 8800gtx will not fit - and ones that do fit make the corresponding slot unusable. The cages should have been mounted perpendicular to the MB, giving more room, or case made longer. The front power switch feels like it's going to break every time I use it and the rubber feet are a joke. One peeled off after I slid it back inside my computer desk. And what's the deal with no speaker for post/post codes. Talk about cheap! These niggles aside, once up and running it is surprisingly cool, running the fan on medium and the quiet factor is also excellent. A little more thought on some issues and this case would have been perfect. This review was modfied by poster @ 02-03-08 08:55 AM

Comment:
It's a nice case, but for as much thought that went into it, I would liked to see a flashier case. The design is very conservative, but to be honest, the amount of bells and whistles on the inside just get in the way. I prefer working with the NSK4480 to this case as it doesnt try and do too much on the inside, and keeps it simple. Not to mention the 4480 comes with a 80+ P.S.Don't buy it as a "simple case" because it is not. But it definetly is an excellent quality.4 stars only because there is nothing really "wrong" with it. It just was not what I was expecting.

Comment:
This is an awesome case! The HDD strings are really cool, although the case also has silicon dampers for any HDD attachment. Installation was easy. The case is silent, but noise can still come out. I have an old noisy hard drive (spin noise) and this is the only thing I could hear. My older case's noise was probably hiding this drive's noise. When this drive spins down, the system is really silent (still has two other recent, silent drives spinning)

Comment:
This case is one of the best I've ever owned. It's built for silence. It features thick steal construction, elastic suspension system for reducing hard drive vibration, and acoustic dampening foam on the side panels. The front and side panels are accessible without tools (tabs and thumbscrews). It also comes with a pre-installed Antec Tricool fan with 3 speed settings. It's fairly quiet on the low setting. I transplanted my system out of an Antec P160W case and my temperatures went down by 2-3C.It can be a little cramped inside as there is no removable motherboard tray and it's not as large as other cases. In addition the glossy black paint on the side panel attracts fingerprints so be careful when handling it with your hands or wipe it down afterwards. Also the PSU can't be removed with the motherboard in the way.P.S. I ran into a couple of compatibility issues: 1. The Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme hit the support bar underneath the power supply so I had to orient it with the fan blowing upwards toward the power supply. 2. I couldn't install my internal card reader properly because the front two screw holes were absent in the cage. This review was modfied by poster @ 02-18-08 10:02 PM

Comment:
My recent build needed to provide both excellent gaming performance and low noise while doing other tasks such as surfing, writing, programming, etc. Those goals tend to conflict, so I tried to choose components designed to reduce noise. The Antec Solo case certainly formed a terrific basis for the build.I’m using the hard drive suspension system and the Seagate 7200.10 is almost inaudible, only the occasional click when seeking. I’m glad that the case came without a power supply, that let me use a Seasonic S12 which is also very quiet. The supplied TriCool case fan is not bad, but I needed to use it at the medium speed to keep temperatures down, and at that speed it was definitely noisier than the Scythe S-Flex fan on the CPU heat sink. I replaced the TriCool with another Scythe rated for the same airflow and it is noticeably quieter. No increase in temps either. The stock fan would probably be good enough for many folks, but I’ve got the system in a very quiet environment.I’m also one of those people who have squeezed an nVidia 8800GTX into the case. As mentioned elsewhere, this requires cutting a small notch in a drive bay support. If you’re curious, there are a couple of photos showing what needs to be done on this page of my site: http://www.designamatic.com/Sys-SystemOne02.htmlWhile performing that minor surgery I stripped the case down, removing both side panels, front fan & filter panel, and all drive bay trays. I was pleasantly surprised just how solid the case felt, even when stripped down to the bare minimum. Definitely very good construction.How do I think the Solo be improved? I wish it was just a touch bigger inside, maybe 2cm longer and taller. The Ultra-120 Extreme heat sink just barely fit below the case’s crossbar when used with an Asus P5K-E motherboard. The Antec P182 case would be a better size for my needs, but it has a door. Personally, I hate doors.I also wish the hard drive LED wires could be bundled up with the all the other ones used for the front panel (power, USB, etc) just to keep the wiring job a bit neater. But overall I am very happy with the Solo case and will likely use it again for my next build.

Comment:
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this case to any system builder who is looking for any of the strengths this case has, as it excels in each and every one of them. From a quality household desktop to an elaborate gaming rig, this case can hold it all and gets points for style while doing it. It really is everything you could look for in a medium tower case.Into the Solo I stuffed a gaming system using 3 hard drives, a couple of optical drives, an Intel 6600 Core Duo, a very large Scythe Ninja Plus Rev.B heatsink and an over-sized 8800 video card. The build was a bit akward as it was tight trying to organize the cables and get everything to fit originally, but the end result was great. Almost all of the cables are routed and organized behind the motherboard, so with a bit of work I ended up with a very open interior, allowing for very good airflow. Afterwards I added a pair of silent 92mm fans to the front intake and temperature has never been an issue, yet the case remains the most quiet I have built to date.I would also blame a significant amount of my building blues to my choice of hardware - normally a selection that would have gone into a full sized tower, I managed to squeeze it all into the Solo and end up with a very breathable case despite my efforts to fill every available spot inside.It is a bit expensive to recommend as a case for an average family desktop, but then this case comes with a list of features that wouldn't be taken advantage of by the average household anyway. The Antec Sonata(any revision) would be a better choice for less robust computer systems.On the other hand, if you want a very quiet preformance case and don't mind shelling out a few dollars more then this case would definitely meet and exceed your expectations!Despite it being six months after I originally built my Solo computer, I wanted to come back here and emphasize at how impressed I am by this case's quality construction and at how well all of it's features round it out to be the best case I have ever used.Cheers!

Comment:
Buying a "silent" case forced me to think about my cooling. I only had the PSU fan, rear 120mm set to low and the stock intel CPU fan. The temperatures in my case were quite high (45 for my HD for instance) so I had to add a 92mm front fan and look at getting some more air flow. This case takes some thinking, but it is worth it.

Comment:
its a very good case, however they could have made it a little bit bigger. It's a tight fit for those with big cpu heatsinks and long video cards (8800GTX won't fit without mod). Other than that it's great, love how quiet it is with the sound dampening.

Comment:
Cool temps, almost inaudible in a quiet room. I know this is not scientific, but I have to strain remove all noise from the room to hear a faint noise. Cable organizers . . . why haven't those come out till now? Beautiful piano black finish, well thought out. Plenty of room for raid, sli, and large heat sink, but not bulky. Can't wait to get another one.

Comment:
Ce boîter est de grande classe sa finition est plus qu'exemplaire et bien pensé. Sont seul défaut important à mon avis est qu'il faut avoir des doigts de fées pour travailler à l'intérieur parce on est pas mal à l'étroit si on utilise une carte mère ATX pleine grandeur. Par contre ce boitier a des crochets intérieur dans le bas du coté droit pour attacher les fils et cables trop long de façon à avoir une bonne gestion du filage. Du coté ventilation je dirais que si on installe 2 ventilateurs de 92mm à faible bruit en facade pour alimenter le boitier, la ventilation de tout les composants sera très bien.

Comment:
This is a great little case. Got a 8800 GTX and an Tuniq tower inside, so enough space for anything you could need.Noise seems to be kept down quite a lot with this case, only when fans are at tornado speed do you notice, haven't heard a hard drive once with this case.Waiting for 2 92mm fans to arrive, to help keep things cool on my hard drives and lower in the cage. The GTX has exhaust slots that dump heat into the bottom.

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Owned 20+ different cases from Lian Li, Antec, Zalman, Silverstone etc. Bought 4 of these so far for my company. Rather than repeat other comments, I'll identify additional, though small details for improvement:A better looking Front finish / accents would compliment the nice piano black finish, rather than exaggerate the cheapness. However, this might increase the somewhat competitive pricing.Two 92" front fans cover the 4 hard drive bays, but option of mounting holes that allow 120 MM fans would give more flexibility for quieter fans (critical at the front) for those who only use two bays. Notwithstanding, use SilentX 9db for front if you require a quiet PC.Back fan grill with diagonal holes to allow different size case fans would have been better. Maybe holes for liquid cooling.Suspension hard drive hardware interesting, but high caution while transporting. I would have had the money go to other options. I see why the hard drives are positioned that way, but an upright positioning like the Lian Li's is more space efficient and would have given a much needed 3-1/2" extra bay.Power button could be smoother. Also left side placement would have made it more balanced.Two 3-1/2" facia plates would have been preferred. Can't buy a matching. Existing also doesn't fit perfect and you have to adjust when you close the front door.A slight extended back lip at the top would have allowed for easy carrying given the slight front lip, particularly as this already heavy case may house heavy Zalman 9700 HSF (highly recommended!), multiple hard drives, etc. These criticisms are somewhat small for what is a highly recommended case that balances cost, looks, quietness and efficiency.

Comment:
The best case I've never bought. I though about buying the p-180 but hey! it is smaller (medium sized, not too small and absolutely not mini like the title said), cheaper, fits under my desk perfectly and it's amazingly efficient for this size! I got 4-5 degree Celcius less than my older medium case! The CPU FAN is so close to the rear 120mm fan that the heat cannot stay in the case for a second! I'm very suprised about the silence too. To me this case is perfect, no need for the double chambers system of the p-180. Also, reading the reviews you'll see many people tought it could have been added to the antec performance series instead, because of the good cooling performance. Very quiet too. Look at the reviews and you'll see.

Comment:
The computer case is very good. A very nice features. A very clean installation. I'm very satisfed my order.

Comment:
This is just a great case to work in. I have an absolutely clean install with no cable showing anywhere. They have a storage system that you'll love. (It might be a tight fit for a long Video Card like a GTX.)The drive racks are either suspended or mounted on silicone gaskets. It doesn't matter, it's real quiet. Intakes are 92mm and are setup to cool your drives. It would be better if you could use a 120, but I'm quibbling.The supplied tri-cool is alright, but I put a Noctua 1200 in it and I'll tell you straight up, it's real quiet.Did I mention it was real quiet?Edit - I added a GTS 8800 and it was running way too hot. I removed all the drive racks and tucked the original 120 in there. Dropped my GPU temps from 62C to 52C. Do it! This review was modfied by poster @ 03-06-07 06:38 PM

Comment:
Installing a system into this case was a breeze, and you can count me as a convert to their elastic-suspension method of mounting hard-drives. The case runs cool, and it's so quiet. With the 120mm fan set to low or medium, I can hardly hear it at all.I'm glad it didn't come with a PSU, so I could buy my own without spending extra on a product I didn't choose. The only problem I've had with the case is that the shiny black surface scratches easily- mine has got scratches on the top just from having CD cases sitting on it.

Comment:
This a a beautiful case. The layout is really nice, and the hard drive mounting options are cool. The case is sturdy, and for that reason heavy. But this is only bad if you go to lanparties often. The case is near perfect, theres not much else to say.

Comment:
First of all don't let the size of the case turn you away if your worried about temperatures. I have a x1900xt, Audigy sound card and wireless PCI card all connected to my mobo and temperatures are excellent. I also bought two 92mm SilenX fans for intake where the hard drives are installed for cooling. Keep in mind that I also have my rig overclocked and I want to assure you that temperatures are excellent. I am a fan of the smaller, sleeker, stealthier looking cases and this is definitely at the top of the pack. A VERY nice feature of this case is the wire hooks which are between the far panel and where the hard drives are placed. You can use this area to hook your extra length of wires and cables around to get them out of the way for better air flow (very impressive). Also there are dust filters for your two 92mm intake fans if you choose to buy fans. I have already cleaned these twice and have saved the internals of my computer from any dust (awesome!). This case is nice and heavy and therefore you know it isn't built with a bunch of cheap plastic. If your in the market for a very well built case, with sexy under the radar looks, excellent features, impressive cooling and quiet design this is the case for you hands down! This review was modfied by poster @ 11-05-06 01:39 AM

Comment:
This case is very good. It's attractive with a piano finish on the panels. The intake fan design is very innovative and easy to use. The door design is good and is not of the regular sliding variety. The case also has many noise dulling features such as elastic hdd holders. Also, drives are fit into removable bays through the front.

Comment:
This case is awesome, has plenty of room inside and is very silent. The material applied on the case's panels is great and is actually working to get rid of the anoying noise a computer generates. The straps to suspend the hard drives is also a great feature. No more vibrations and noise! Even with the insulator on the panels, my temps didnt go higher! The rear 120mm is set to medium and blows all the hot air outside. Just to give you an idea about the case performence in cooling and reducing noise, my system is:AMD X2 4200+ oc'd to 5000+ (2.2ghz to 2.6)OCZ XTC 2x1Gig dual channel kit Sapphire Radeon X1900XTSeagate Baracuda 250Gig SATA2 8.5ms hard driveFortron Blue Storm 500W PSUAudigy X-Fi Platinum

Comment:
I'm a fan of simple and elegant cases. The Antec Solo caught my eye because of its modest size, as I am not a fan of very large sized cases. There are lots of innovative little details about this case that one would not know about unless they read a review or used one for themselves. I will highlight them in the coming paragraphs.The elastic suspension mounting system for hard drives is a nice option if you are pushing the limits of silent computing. If you prefer, you can also use normal bracket-mounting of your hard drives instead.There are mounting clips that you can screw onto your 5.25" devices, which allow for an easy slide-and-click installation of your 5.25" drives. This was very useful I found, as I was able to easily remove my devices and put them back in without hassle (e.g., realizing you need to modify a jumper setting and can't easily access the jumper unless you remove the drive).Tucked away behind the drive cages on the right side of the case, is a nifty cable management system, where you can tuck away your excess cables and wires nicely. This is basically a series of hooks that you can neatly wrap your cables around on and keep in place. Great feature.It is these little things about the case that makes it worthwhile and a winner in my eyes. The case is pretty, silent, and efficient. This review was modfied by poster @ 09-02-06 02:12 PM