Antec Silver/ Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel/ Aluminum plate front bezel Veris Fusion 430 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with IR receiver

Pros: Nice look under my TV, good internal configuration and vibration damping, very quiet (Can't hear it at all). Great internal airflow for passive CPU cooling.

Cons: VFD display gets corrupted (infrequently, but it does happen) to correct you have to unplug the computer then sign in to the OS.

Other Thoughts: I have put my passive CPU heat sink to press directly against the side case fans (2x120mm).

EVGA 112-CK-NF77-A1
Intel Q6600
SILVERSTONE SST-NT01V2.0
SAMSUNG SH-S203N
Kingston KVR800D2N5/1G (x2)
(1TB drive that I recovered from another machine)

Pros: Nicely built, well thought out case.
Sturdy construction
Attractive design.
Case fans are nearly silent and move enough air. If they're not doing enough, you can increase the speed via a switch.
Antec really thought this one out; compartment separation handles heat dispersion and rubber mounts are a nice touch.

Cons: VFD is junk.
Have to use the included PSU to use the VFD (unless you want to buy an adapter from Antec)
PSU is not modular, cables aren't sheathed.

Other Thoughts: I've bought 5 Lian-Li cases in the past 5 years, and a Silverstone last year. This is just about as nice as those two brands, but not quite.

I bought this for my Core 2 Duo HTPC. I'm using a Scythe Ninja Mini heatsink and the included fans keep it cool enough. I wanted to use a nice SeaSonic modular PSU I had laying around, but you need a special plug to make the VFD work with any standard PSU.

Also, in order to be able to power on/off the unit with a VMC remote, you have to run the power switch lead to the VFD and then another lead from the VFD to the MB front panel connector. This was not shown in any documentation. By luck, I found it on the Antec website. All in all an adequate HTPC case that gets the job done.

Pros: -Great build quality.
-Very quiet fans.
-Pretty good hard drive mounts, quite quiet.
-Logical internal layout if you know what parts to buy.
-Built in IR!

Cons: -VFD takes a lot of labor to get right.
-USB and Firewire jacks on the front are ugly.
-Volume knob is beyond useless.
-IR is a little picky about off-axis operation.
-Black version front panel is very easily scratched.

Other Thoughts: This case has been the best HTPC case I've found. It doesn't have the size or the capacity to be a gaming rig, and the micro PS puts that idea right out. It really presents a nice factory made appearance when you're all done building the system.
I would highly suggest buying it in silver to prevent scratches and fingerprints on the fron bezel.

Pros: I read a lot of reviews so I knew what to expect, and I agree with all of the positives mentioned by others.
Considering the price of some other HTPC cases, this is a great deal. I agree that Antec thought this one out carefully, from the rubber washers to the 3 cavity design. It also wasn't as cramped as I expected it to be.
Most importantly for me, it looks MUCH better than a mid-tower did in my family room, blends well with my other equipment and is very quiet so far.
Button on my BluRay lined up perfectly with front of case.
I can use my MCE remote to turn the PC off and on, which I like a lot.
Despite the imperfect rating, I HIGHLY recommend this case if you are building an HTPC.

Cons: If we give it 5 eggs, they might never fix the 4 or 5 things that we all keep complaining about.
I was going to use a different PSU, and didn't realize that you can't use the VFD unless you have a special adapter that Antec includes on their PSU. I would have had to call Antec to order one, so I just went with their PSU. Wires on PSU not being sheathed is annoying after working with modular.
The HDD LED is distracting when watching a movie in a dark room, so I'm going to turn that off.
I was prepared for the VFD to stink, and it does, but it's not a deal breaker.
I had a SATA power adapter on hand, but I am surprised that they don't include one with the number of SATA optical drives out there today.
The wiring of the VFD wasn't explained very well in the manual. You have to attach the front panel power to the back of the VFD panel and the 2 single wires to the motherboard if you want the use your remote to power up or down.

Other Thoughts: I know "prices and availability can change very quickly on newegg.com", but less than 24 hours after I buy it drops $25 and 2 weeks later is down $40? Sigh, I still love Newegg though.

Setup: ASUS P5N7A-VM, Intel Q6600, 4GB Corsair, WD 500GB, Haupp 1800, LG Blu-ray GGC-H20L, Vista HP 64bit.

Pros: Solid construction, front volume knob for easy decibel management. Front facing USB and FireWire ports (great for plugging in a flash drive with movies, or an x360 controller, etc), front facing audio ports.
Hard drive cage allows for enough space to mount HDD cooling fans, easy to change and swap parts, great cooling, comes with parts to block fan bays, Video Display is the size of an optical drive bay, should you wish to force it out and get rid of it (Slight bay/drive cage modification necessary), plenty of Molex 4pin and Sata cables with the PSU, comes with rubber grommet caps for HDDs, so they're silent!
And most importantly... it fooled someone who sought to steal my computer gear and they left it alone, thinking it was a very plain stereo receiver.

Cons: Only 2 bays for HDDs (although that shouldn't be a problem if you buy two 1.5TB drives).
Video Display requires latest driver updates to run without troubles, as it seems doing this has solved ALL problems. Downloading it is a pain, as their website has a dreadfully slow upload speed.
No extra space in the front for a card reader bay.
Video Display is monochrome green only.

Other Thoughts: I've put a Blue Ray drive in this and it runs great. Unlike some, I've had NO PROBLEMS with the video screen. It does what it's SUPPOSED to do. You can change the settings using a provided application that will cause the display to TURN OFF when the machine is off or in sleep mode. Conversely, you can have it display any message you want (or the time, or anything else) while the system is off. (For example, you can have it say, "STAND BY MODE" or "MY HOME THEATER PC", if you like).
To combat having only 2 HDD bays, I've installed an external SCSI controller card for about $200 and connected an external SCSI drive array. I put the external array in a ventilated closet and store hundreds of movies I taped with my dual-processor winTV card. The VDU can also display drive capacity, new incoming email, latest news, hardware info, etc.
The chassis narrowly fit an Nvidia 9800, which is a rather long card.
I'm VERY happy with this case, I got it in March of 2008 and adore my HTPC!

Pros: The case is beautiful, fitting in the mATX was easy, and it is running quietly. Even comes with parts to cover up holes if wanted. I've never spent much effort on keep my motherboard's cabling but in this case I had no issues keeping the wires in the HD and PS section and keeping the motherboard area clear.

Cons: The display is useless, I would be ashamed selling something like that. The background is bright, the text is ugly, small, dim, and 80's LCD quality, and the whole things glows like crazy whether the device is on or off. Considering it is $100 premium (see Other thoughts), it should be considerably better than it is.

Other Thoughts: Newegg sells almost the exact same thing (w/o display, 1394a in front, and the knob but including a power supply) for less in the non HTPC section. Wish had seen it first, would have ended up with the same case w/ much better display and remote of my choice for about the same price

Pros: Nice solid case. Nothing hangs over the mother board so installation is easy.

Cons: none.

Other Thoughts: I bought this case to for my linux dream machine. I suggest buying a long IDE cable if installing a ATA CDROM, it's a stretch for my setup. I have not yet made the VOL, or LCD work the way I want yet. I did test that LCD does work from linux though.

Pros: Incredibly quiet case and fans! The DVD drive (when spinning) is the loudest part of the system. Hard drive bay with isulated washers is very nice. The front panel VFD is a cool gizmo but kind of useless (See below). Same with the giant volume knob. But the case looks great- clean design, fits in perfectly with the rest of my set-top devices.

Cons: VFD display text is too small to be read unless you are VERY close to the unit.

Pros: Beautiful case, very clean look.

Case is QUIET. With the fans on low, you can barely tell it's on in a silent room unless the optical drive is spinning.

COOL! Temps only 1-5C above ambient (HTPC=low demand)

VFD is sharp looking, not distracting.

Uses full height expansion cards, so you can put a real video card in it.

Cons: IR Receiver--would not work correctly with my Harmony 880 set up as a MCE remote with supplied drivers. I downloaded iMON software and used it instead of included VFD software, and fixed the problem.

Optical drive bay--external button did not line up with the button on my LiteOn BD-ROM. Had to superglue a small piece of plastic to the inside button to make it work.

Other minor issues--PSU has only 2 SATA connections. If you fill the case (2 x HDD + 1 x ODD) you need an adapter (included with my ODD). PSU wires are not sheathed.

Other Thoughts: My first HTPC build. Still working out software issues, I'm not an expert in that area, but love the case. It looks great in my entertainment center, and is virtually silent. Highly recommended.

Pros: Very well made, with thick front panel. Display is vibrant and responsive. Quiet, yet effectively removes the heat from my 4850. Antec seems to have finally figured out front USB ports.

Cons: Cables are very long. Each 120mm fan has a molex, and no vibration cushioing. Both Sata connectors are on the same cable; get an adapter if you want to use a Sata optical. The display's software sucks.

Other Thoughts: Power LED is VERY bright. I'm using as a PC case because I like the Silver Pioneer look.