nMEDIAPC Black HTPC 5000B Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Comment:
Either this one or the mini-ITX Silverstone for my first DIY HTPC. I chose this one for the potential upgrade options. Having up to 4 hard drive bays is a plus, especially after discovering unsatisfactory wireless streaming performance.It looks nice, as long as there are no USB dongles plugged into the front, causing the entire front access panel to be open.You might accidentally hit the largish power button with your leg if you reach over to adjust something in the back.

Comment:
You have to plan ahead and have patience when installing the components. Its all about cable management so use a PSU with just the right amount of leads that your going to need,use SATA HD's and proper length cables, install a 2nd 120mm fan for better air flow across the HD's.How well the optical bay cover opens and closes will depend on the make of player you use, proper placement and adjustments in the player rack will be necessary. Again patience!!, my system runs clean and quiet

Comment:
An alright case for my first HTPC build. The front accessories cables long enough to reach the case. Hard to cable manage once you have everything in place though. I couldn't get some screws to fit in (yet the hole align properly). Lots of room for hard drives (but I think they will heat up as it will be tight). I don't really like the power button as it looks like a knob.

Comment:
Nice case, it's sitting on my desk. It looks like a DVD Player so anyone how wants it to sit in the home theater setup it's perfect. I had a hard time installing everything inside because I like clean setup so I usually do a cable management job in every setup but i just couldn't make it look good in this case for the lack of space. But we buy this to save space so I don't mind the cables.

Comment:
I bought this case to build a PC for someone here at work. He wanted something relatively small that he could put a monitor on so I suggested an HTPC case.The case's internals are pretty solid. It's easy to work with and there are no super-sharp corners. The case is full-height to most stock and after-market CPU coolers should work without a problem. The only drawback that I found was not being able to route the front panel wiring properly inside the case. Most cases have nooks and channels that you can use to tuck wiring into, but when I looked at routing the front panel wiring along the side, I found it was blocked at the front right corner. The only option was to run the cabling across the case and over top of the motherboard.All in all, a solid case and well worth the price.

Comment:
Bought this case for my media center pc. It worked out great. No issues building the PC. Even was able to fit a Zalman CPU cooler in the case. (Low Profile cooler). The only weakness is the LCD display is not included and must be bought seperately but is not necessary, just eye candy.

Comment:
This is an excellent HTPC case. It has lots of room, it looks like a home theatre component, it's pretty quiet using all 3 fans that are included, and it's easy to work with. It's about the same size as a typical AV Receiver. The front face is glossy black, and the overall quality is decent.It supports full height video cards which is nice. My Antec Minuet had half size, so your choice for video cards is limited.Overall, I highly recommend this for HTPC builds.

Comment:
I bought this for my home HTPC at a total cost of about $600. It fits in well with the other audio/video gear.The other components I used were:- ASUS P5QPL-VM EPU motherboard with HDMI out- Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz- CoolerMaster 500W Power Supply- 4GB RAM, LG22NS30 DVD, WD 1TB Green, Vista HP 32-bit- Diamond/ATI TV Wonder HD650 with RemoteThe case is pretty well built but could use a couple of solid channels for extra strength. It's not like it bends when you pick it up though, it's pretty tough. You're paying more for the looks though.The front panel is made from plastic which was unexpected, which was slightly bowed out at the VFD panel location. The drop-down access panel is metal though.Everything fit well into the case with plenty of room for cable management.The drives are mounted onto a removable metal cage. Keep in mind if you are planning on installing multiple 3.5" drives that two of them are mounted alongside the DVD and the other two are mounted sideways under those, leaving very little room for cabling at the front when all drives are mounted.You will require three internal USB connections on a motherboard for this, two for the front panel connections and one for the VFD. The motherboard I chose only has two, so one side of the front panel is not connected (not a big deal since there are way more connections than I need).The ability to install up to four 3.5" drives is great. With current WD 1TB Green drives that supplies enough storage space to get thousands of movies and tv episodes.Be sure to get a power supply that has a quiet fan. I have to modify my ps as it is by far the loudest component.nMedia's web site is pretty bad and most of the pages are written in poorly translated broken english. The installation information for the VFD is really bad and I have yet to get mine working with MC.Purchasing a motherboard with HDMI is a good idea if you are planning on using this HTPC with standard plasma and LCD TVs.The ATI Remote works great with Windows Vista HP Media Center. The system boots up right into MC and the remote lets me do pretty much anything I want.Overall I am very satisfied with the hardware and the entire experience, from installation to setup to watching videos.

Comment:
Bought this case for a friends build. Actually, he was the one that picked it out. The build went smoothly with no major issues. All the cables to the front ports are long enough to reach the base of the motherboard where all the usb and firewire ports are. I would personally like something a little more sturdy but for most people this case will work nicely.