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 Electronics : Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower ATX Case (Black) |
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Rating:  - Very near perfect
This case has a lot going for it. From its very stylish exterior with a front door for a clean look. To the compartmentalized PSU and main motherboard bay. As well as the removable HDD and 3.5" partitions. Add to that the little features like the silicon mounts (just imagine a silicon washer to deaden sound caused by vibrations from the platter spinning on a HDD), the ability to run wires through the back of the motherboard tray and the fairly handy snap-closed hidden box for screws and other tiny parts. I also appreciate that the top exterior section is plastic (I have a tendency to set stuff on there and the plastic is far more durable than paint on metal).
There are drawbacks though. The case is heavy, no getting around that. But unless you're a frequent LAN goer you'll probably only ever have to move the case a few times. The case for whatever reason doesn't come with a fan mounted to the front to draw air in(I'm picking up my own).
But easily the biggest drawback of all is that the neat little way they have you mount 5.25" drives isn't compatible with every drive. My Samsung Super-WriteMaster SH-S223Q - Disk drive - DVDRW (R DL) / DVD-RAM - 22x/22x/12x - Serial ATA - internal - 5.25" - black - LightScribe that I bought has 4 holes on each side of the drive. 2 middle-front, 2 middle-back. I was able to mount the rails to the drive as intended, but it sticks out about 3/4 of an inch from flush when pushed in. I managed a way around this problem that's less than ideal, but it works.
This is easily the best case I've ever owned. It's certainly not perfect. But it's getting there.
Rating: - Terrific Case
This is a fantastic, roomy, well cooled case. I bought it specifically to fit an EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 and could not be happier with this product.
The case is constructed with high quality materials and very well engineered to route your cables beneath the motherboard tray.
Great job Antec!
Rating: - Yet another fine Antec case
This is my second Antec P182 and my fourth Antec case over the years.
Without doubt the case is very well thought out. The composite sides make for a very quiet case and the recess behind the motherboard allows for "external" of the cables, helping to keep obstruction of the air flow to a minimum. I was concerned about the 8-pin/4-pin cable lengths of power supplies being able to be routed behind the board and then entering in to power the motherboard, but it was not a problem with the Corsair 620HX and 520 HX power supplies with which I have worked. (Those power supplies are also wonderful because of their quiet operation and the use of modular cables allows for unobstructed air flow and having to fiddle around with fixing extra cables out of the way.)
The design of the case keeps the power supply in its own tunnel at the bottom of the case, pulling air over up to 4 hard drives with the use of a fan, through the tunnel, around the power supply, and then out of the case. The upper compartment is roomy (with one concern I will mention below) with a second internal drive cage (which is the air tunnel entrance for two more drives), a 4 bay external drive cage, and two exhaust fans. I find the fans very quiet: they are essentially silent. (I have an EVGA 9600 video card which is the loudest fan in the case. When I did not power up the card as an experiment, I could BARELY hear the fans. I suppose I could replace them with even quieter fans, but I have seen no need.)
There is not a large amount of air flow around the four external bays, but one is occupied by an optical drive, which is used rarelly, and two are filled with mobile racks, each of which has its own fan. I mentioned a concern above about this set of bays and this is it: check out the placement of the video card on your motherboard and see if it will conflict with any of the equipment which you plan to place in any of the external bays. My potential problem came with placement of an older external mobile rack, which is almost nine inches in depth. Would fit only in the top external bay, leaving about 3 mm of clearance with a capacitor on the mother board. This older mobile rack depth is because of connectors for an internal tray and for connectors for IDE-to-SATA internal connector. My newer mobile rack is only 7" in depth, so one can dance in the extra clearance space.
The case is heavy/"substantial", so don't plan on taking it around to LAN parties. I like its solid, quiet qualities.
My first case had a problem with one of the fans; it would not start up on a low setting but worked just fine on medium and high settings. I called Antec and a fan was dispatched right away.
My overall experience with this case is top-notch. I would (and did) buy it again!
Rating:  - Great case for the money
The Antec P182 is an extremely versatile computer case that can be used for various types of computer use. When I was looking at for a new case I wanted to define what needs I expected a good case to fulfill. Overall I decided on reputation, build quality, versatility, cooling, weight, cable management, noise, and aesthetics. For the most part this computer case excels in these categories; however there are some instances where it falls short. However the $135 price tag you can't find a better case. This case's good qualities more than outweigh the bad and its one of the best cases I have ever used.
Antec, the case's manufacture, is one of the leading makers of computer cases in the industry and is known for making quality products. This was my second Antec case, my first being a p180, and through my experience Antec does not make cheap products. The First case I ever bought was an Aspire, now Apevia, case and in comparison both Antec cases have been vastly superior. My old Apevia case was very loud, made from flimsy materials, and did not cool that effectively. Antec offers a one year parts and labor warranty. The quality of the products I have received from them has been great and I wouldn't buy anything else.
The P182 is very well made and made with good solid materials. The case has a solid rolled steel frame and has a very sturdy support structure. The case's outer material is a thick hard plastic that is resistant to drops and rough use. I have dropped the case down a flight of stairs, except for a few scratches and a small dent the case and internal components survived. Unfortunately this wealth of sturdy building materials does have one drawback. This case is heavy! The case its self weighs somewhere around 40 pounds, when you add in the computer parts like the motherboard, video card, hard drives, it can weigh around 50 pounds. This does make portability somewhat of an issue so if you attend lan parties this case might not be for you. However if you plan to leave it in one spot for its lifetime or move it rarely it's a very good case.
The Antec P182 can adapt too many different types of use ranging from gaming, to server use, and pretty much any application a computer could be used for. One of the aspects that make this case so versatile is the size of it. The case has plenty of room on the inside for pretty much anything you can put into it. If you are going to use this case for gaming there are some things you will want to take into consideration before buying it. First of all the position of the upper hard drive bay, depending on the layout of your motherboard, could get in the way of a large graphics card like a Nvidia 8800gtx ultra. The hard drive bays are removable so if it's in the way it can be removed. However due to amount of hard drive slots in the lower bay this really shouldn't be a problem. A second problem you may run into relates to the Power supply (PSU). If you have a large PSU the lower chamber 120mm fan might be in the way of the PSU power cables. I have an 800watt PSU and I encountered this problem. I resolved it by removing the fan, making some simple modifications to it and remounted on the opposite side of the mounting bracket. This fixes the problem and has no negative effect on the cooling. The Case also comes with a noise damping device that fits around most PSU, however, if you have a large PSU this will not fit and will need to be removed. Personally I think this piece of metal and rubber is pointless and is no big loss.
Cooling is another major consideration a buyer should look at before buying a computer case. The Antec P182 has a decent air flow design and provides adequate cooling for gaming applications, which is one of the most heat intensive applications. It comes with three 120mm case fans all of which have fan speed controllers. The case also has a slot for an extra fan if you decide to add another. Cable management is very relevant to cooling because having random cables hanging around can disrupt air flow. The case allows you to route cables behind the motherboard to keep them out of the way, but you must have long cables to use this feature to its full effect. This also makes working on the computer easier because there isn't a mess of cables in your way. The P182 also has factory made slots for water cooling hoses on the back of the case. So if you decide to add an external water cooling system there is no need to drill holes into the back of the case. Like all air cooled computer cases, this case does generate noise. However, this case was made from noise damping materials and does keep the volume down a little. Some people in the past have said this case is silent and this simply isn't true. If you are playing a game, watching a movie, listing to music, or basically have anything in your room that makes noise, it's very hard to actually hear the case. If you have nothing running that makes noise you will hear the case so don't be shocked if you hear it.
Personally I believe in function over form, but ascetics are something that all people consider when buying a computer case. Personally I love how the case looks. It has a clean elegant look to it that can fit in any room of a house, office, or gaming event. Sure it doesn't have a see through window and bright L.E.D. lights that some gamers and other people enjoy, but that's what makes this case great. You can look at it like a blank canvas, there to fulfill all your case mod dreams.
I am very pleased with the P182 and have never had a bad experience with Antec. I am only going to give this case 4 stars due to the problems with weight, hard drive placement, and the placement of the lower chamber fan. However unless you want to pay more than $200 it's hard to find a better case then the Antec P182.
Rating: - Great computer case with lots of options and excellent cable management
I purchased this case on the recommendation of a friend. I'm glad I did. Antec makes some of the best computer cases out there, and this one is no exception.
Features:
1. Cable management features that allow you to run 90% of your cables behind the motherboard or under the main compartment. The case is designed so that the power supply and lower two hard drive bays are isolated from the main section of the case, allowing you to keep the power supply cooler, as well as better manage SATA cables.
2. Excellent, quiet fans on both front, back and top to keep things cool. While it doesn't have 120mm fans like some Coolmaster cases, I've never had heat issues, and I overclock my processor, and run a crossfire configuration with two ATI 3870s (soon to be 4870s!) I love how thick the removable panels on each side are. They provide good insulation for the case and give it a solid, well built feel.
3. Logical layout with many, many drive bays, including 4x hard drive and 3x 5.25" bays. All the screws you could ever want for installing everything come with the case.
4. Awesome looking case! I have the silver "gunmetal" case, and it is really cool looking. Rather understated without a bunch of gimicky LEDs flashing everywhere. Definitely subdued, but cool nonetheless.
A few dislikes:
Because of my particular motherboard and the way I ran 6-pin power cables up to feed my graphics cards, there is very little space between the bottom of graphics card #2 and the partition to the lower power supply/lower hard drive bays area of the case. To take out card #2, I have to also take out card #1, and my Auzentech Sound Card. This is more an inconvenience than anything else.
The power re-set button on the front of the case is rather small. I have to use my pinkie to press it. Again, more of an inconvenience than a real issue.
If you want a solid case with a logical layout that will keep things nice and cool without a lot of glitz, this is your case.
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