Pros: Great layout if you are planning on using a fanless ATX power supply with generally low-power setup. This case takes the regular ATX PSU in what would be "front-bottom" portion when the case is standed vertically. Immediately above the PSU is 5.25 bays, so it does not cook the motherbaord. As for CPU, it would be in a spot where it is facing top vent and rear vent without being obstructed by PSU, so it is an ideal setuip for fanless CPU operation. For this reason I decided on this box, and bought multiples for ScaleIO Software-Defined SAN Clsuter I am building at home. Cable management is clever.

Cons: PSU is a joke. Purchased 4, some from newegg, some from others - they were all dead on arrival. By the look of other reviewers on this product, this is most definitely not an isolated incident; they WILL send you deal PSUs with this product so plan accordingly. In fact, if your PSU works - don't use it for your safety. Also, since I'm building a cluster looks don't matter to me, but if you are looking to put this in a living room - for some it might appear as "cheap". Definitely does not have the look and feel of high end audio equipment, let me put it that way.

Other Thoughts: This is one of those products that is difficult to recommend open-handed. For some particular use case this is great. If you are looking for a case that meets the following criteria, go for it. Otherwise, keep looking, as there are better choices for you.

* I plan on buying, or using existing, ATX PSU that I would like to use.
* I want to fit ATX, not Micro-ATX, board.
* I want to build a quiet low-power PC.
* I am not picky about the looks.
* I am considering passively cooling ( no fan ) the CPU
* I will use this case vertically, not horizontally. (you can use horizontal, it would not give you open vent over CPU so your ability to passibly cool the CPU is compromised in that scenario.)

Manufacturer Response:

The power supplies might not be DOA. It is possible that they might just be turned off by default. To check, just remove the front panel and look at the toggle switch and make sure that it's set to the "on" ( | ) position. If it isn't, then flip the switch. That might be your problem. If it still doesn't work, you can do an RMA through us for the power supply to get an exchange on it if you are still under our warranty period. You can contact Apevia's customer service at service@apevia.com or call at (909) 718-0789. We try to reply to all calls and e-mails as soon as we can.

As for fans, there are two spots on either (narrow) side that you can mount a 120mm fan.

Pros: Had two socket Socket 775 ATX motherboards, processors, and memory lying around that I wanted to turn into HTPC's. At 5.3" tall this was the only case I could find that would accept an ATX motherboard and fit into my TV stands. Can't vouch for the power supplies since I replaced both with Corsairs based on the issues others have experienced. One of the cases has been subsequently updated with an I3 Ivy Bridge setup with no issues. I have three hard drives in one of the cases utilizing one of the side mounts for the 3rd drive. One case has been in service 3 years and the other 2 years with the standard rear fans and a third fan on the opposite side from the 3rd hard drive. Have not experienced any overheating issues with either case. The stock fans are a little noisy, but with the sound on the TV at normal listening levels they do not present a problem for me.

Cons: No USB 3 on the front panel. No 2.5"' SSD mounting points. I knew these things going in so no reduction in rating based on these issues. Video cards with power plugs on top will interfere with the top cover. Reduction in rating for this since there is warning about this issue in the specifications.

Other Thoughts: Some units ship with power supply turned off. Remove front cover and you can turn it on. I utilized Nvidea GTS 450 video cards since my EP43T motherboards did not have onboard video. I had to plug in the power to the cards before inserting them into the motherboard. This case is designed for HTPC use. It is not designed for gaming or overclocking. If you plan on doing either of those things you would be better off utilizing something with a better power supply and more cooling options. The reason the case is so deep (17.8") is because it will accept ATX boards. If you are going to utilize a Micro ATX or ITX board this may not be the case for you.

Pros: Absolutely none.

Cons: Basically everything about it is horrible and I have to assume the people that rated this well haven't used many cases to know a junk case when they see one.

I literally decided, never mind! The case is USELESS. Its too cramped and because of that there is no air flow. The PSU is in the front which pushes hot air through the components vs bringing in cool air. The power supply sucks...

This is a second review because at the time of the first one I had not yet realized that this case simply isn't going to cut it. I completely threw money in the trash on this order and I'm very unhappy about it.

Pros: It's not broken yet, maybe.

Cons: This case design is terrible. Just leave the front and bottom off while you work on it to save yourself a lot of headaches. I wasted more time trying to figure out how to make things fit than I would normally spend putting a decent system together.
The routing of the cables through the tiny hole into 3.5" slot is just plain stupid because it makes it unusable for the most part. You can change the route put it through the "other" 3.5" slot and make it useless instead if you like but don't plan on using both 3.5" bays easily.
The power supply does not have an 8 pin ATX connector so plan on either replacing it immediately or purchasing an adapter.

Other Thoughts: I'm not returning it (at least yet) but I'm definitely not impressed and I'll spend the extra few bucks in the future vs purchase this one again. The headaches and lack of ability to upgrade due to space weren't worth the few dollars saved

Pros: Very nice case, but read the other reviews. My power supply was also non functional. Very frustrating. It does have a hidden power switch under the front panel that was turned off , but still does not power up even after turning it on. Obviously was not tested before shipping. Plan on swapping it out if you purchase this case. The power supply does look cheap, but I would at least expect it to function. The rest of the case looks very nice and was very easy to assemble. Hopefully Apevia will just send me a replacement power supply instead of returning the whole case. We will see.

Cons: Non functional power supply

Pros: Really nice for what you get...
1. full size atx motherboards supported
2. full/regular sized components (power supply, motherboards, ...)
3. pretty good air-flow
4. well layed-out design
5. Apevia has done a very good job

Cons: None, really. Anybody getting this should know the limitations of this design...
1. limited space (this is why you got this design in the first place)
2. POSSIBLY a lower quality power supply (don't complain, just spend $50 and get another power supply)

Pros: Fairly easy to fit into my television setup. It can be setup either vertically or horizontally. It comes with a 500W power supply.

Cons: There is hidden power supply switch behind the front panel. The front panel must be removed to access the switch and make the power available.

Pros: Roomy case, excellent front panel selection

Cons: This is NOT an HTPC case. It is way too big (deep, specifically). It just juts out about 3 inches on my TV stand. Maybe it works for some, but not me.

Other Thoughts: I used this case for about 2 years before scrapping my build into a server machine.

Pros: Decent size full ATX case for an HTPC, although it is important to plan out the installation ahead of time (like installing and connecting up the bottom HDD before installing the motherboard). I fit in 2 HDDs, a BDROM, and an SSD (had to get creative on that last one). Even has a little room for cable management. The included fans are pretty quiet for 80mm.

Cons: Comes with a really cheap and noisy power supply, which I swapped out. Mine did not come with any of the accessories like motherboard standoffs, screws, feet or drive rails. I had enough extras of most things to get by, but the drive rails are smaller than anything I had on hand and installing the BDROM was a bit challenging. Did not get any response from customer support through the Apevia website when I asked about getting replacements.

Other Thoughts: I installed a couple 120mm fans which gave it reasonable airflow. Blue power light on the front is pretty blinding if watching a movie in the dark, so I unplugged it. Ultimately, this was the cheapest case I could find that fit my needs, and I got what I paid for. Apevia customer support seems a bit lacking, or I might give an extra egg.

Manufacturer Response:

If you need help with the case, such as getting the missing screw bag, you can contact Apevia's customer service at service@apevia.com or call at (909) 718-0789. We try to reply to all calls and e-mails as soon as we can.

Pros: None.

Cons: Weird air flow arrangement. You'll need to get creative to keep component from overheating in this thing.

No cable management. Your cables will probably block your bays.

Power supply is terrible. Your machine will freeze/reset. Has a bizarre front exhaust and an extension power cable that runs to the back of the unit?!

This thing is huge. It's like a tower case on its side.

Loud. Rear fans are all you can hear.

Bottom line if you're looking for a nice HTPC case that is compact, quiet, cool, and reliable, this case is NONE of those things. Run away.