SILVERSTONE Black Lascala Series LC20B-M ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Comment:
I purchased about a dozen components from Newegg and received the whole order within 3 days, which includes some components that arrived the subsequent day. As for this product, it is exceptionally well built. The doors open and close really smoothly and the outside finish is flawless. The case feels extremely sturdy and all of the cut edges are rolled more than to shield your fingers. There is a lot of room to function inside the case and all of the cages remove simply. My power provide fit perfectly inside the case and the rubber dampening on the HDD cage is a good touch, but ... I was unable to secure my HDDs simply because the screw pack was missing. It appears I was given another consumer's RMA and that customer decided to maintain the screws. The standoffs for the MOBO were also missing. I chatted with a Newegg client service rep and explained the circumstance. She offered a credit to allow me to go out and acquire the missing screws or an RMA to exchange the unit. I opted for the RMA to avoid the possibility of shorting out my MOBO and voiding its warranty. The new case is being shipped overnight, so I'll post once more with how nicely the construct progresses when I have the hardware.

Comment:
excellent looking case for an HTPC, a lot of room for upgrades be careful of the VFD shorting out. VFD shorts out on case have not repaired mine but but hear looks like a non-conductive material will need to have to be placed among the VFD and the case.

Comment:
I didn't buy the case for the built-in display, but I tried it anyway and was very disappointed in the display + display software. The 2-line display hooks up via USB and it was putting crap over the USB with & without their software installed. It was causing phantom mouse-clicks, drags, etc. Drove me crazy until I traced the problem to the display USB. It's a great looking display when it's working but I don't have the time to work with some case manufacturer's non-standard crappy display firmware/software.Aside from the display, I liked the case; lots of flexibility in the front-panel area; wanted a horizontal ATX case. Well engineered case. This review was modfied by poster @ 10-19-11 10:50 PM

Comment:
This is an excellent case but do not count on the IR receiver working with a universal remote control. The coding is proprietary and even my expensive ($900) URC MX-980 remote could not learn most of the codes from the included remote.Internally, very well laid out. Easy to install and maintain.Beware that a large video card may block one or two of the 7 internal 3.5" drive slots.

Comment:
Very nice HTPC case with VFD and remote for a reasonable price. I paired this with a Silverstone Element ST50EF power supply and 5 low noise fans. The result is an outstanding case for a HTPC.

Comment:
I wanted a case that looked good in the living room. The face on this case is really clean. Brushed aluminum face with the VFD looks real sharp. Clean lines, no screws to see in the front or sides except in the back and nice attention to detail with a classy power button, posh looking footing with rubber bottoms.Drive bays are covered by a push open/close door. Same with usb ports and other I/O portsRegular atx boards fit no problem. I first had an Asus P4P800 deluxe in it and now I have an Asus P5B-E. The boards may fit but the case is definitely quite cramped once you start filling it up.Regular larger optical drives will cover over top of the ram on the two aforementioned motherboards, but newer shorter optical drives work well in this case. The optical drive bay is easily removed by only two screws. There are rails in the case for the drive bay to slide on and ensure proper placement.Harddrive bay is easily removed by four screws. It's also held in by four tabbed slots to ensure proper and solid installation. The bay can hold 6 harddrives with the HDDs on their side however I don't recommend actually putting that many drives in being how cramped the case already is. I currently have 2 sata drives in and might put one more.The drive bay is lined with sound/vibration dampening material. It's also used to hold two optional 92/80mm x 25mm intake fans. This will force you to push the harddrives further into the case as the fans take up some room in the drive bay. With this set up, you need to watch out for harddrives getting in the way of ports you may need (ide, sata, floppy etc).I like the four USB ports in the front. This is very useful whenever I want to play 4 player hockey with 4 gamepads.Good options for air cooling. The cpu has three 80mm spots. Two exhaust right out the rear and can fit 15mm, 25mm or 35mm thick fans depending on how big your cpu cooler is. there is one port on the side that can accomodate 80mm x 15mm fan too if you wanted an extra intake just for the cpu.After slowly upgrading some parts, I currently have this in the case:Seasonic M12 500W power supply (modular is a life saver for this case!)2x 92mm x 25mm Silenx Ixtrema Pro fans in the HDD bay2x 80mm x 25mm Silenx Ixtrema Pro fans in the rear exhaustASUS P5B-EIntel E6600 (currently w/stock cooling and fits no problem)Corsair 2gb kit ddr2-800 cl5Seagate 160gb 7200.9 sata2Seagate 320db 7200.10 sata2Plextor PX-760Asony 3.5" slot memory card readerHIS x1950 Pro ICEQ3 256 Meg Pro TurboATI TV Wonder EliteSB X-Fi PlatinumI want to fit a tuniq tower cpu cooler in there one day as well and I think it will be able to fit without much issue.IMON software for the VFD has some promise, remote integrates well with the OS, good mouse control but I haven't played with it much yet.