nMEDIAPC Red Wood Wood/Steel HTPC 8000 ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Pros: Had this about a year. This is a nice looking case. It hides our HTPC in plain sight, and has a very quiet rear fan. It comes with mounts for 2 std hard drives up top and a DVD drive that pushes through the front door easily. The fake speakers make good filtered air intakes, they need cleaning often.

Cons: Like others reported, mine arrived damaged - paint chipped away on the front base leading edge. It was fairly simple to mix up paint to fill this, but.....and the "wood" is basic pulp pack dyed and pressed with veneer like finish, so while fairly attractive, mods must be done with care.

Other Thoughts: I stuffed my ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3, GeForce 8800 GTS along with 5 hard drives that required me to make a bracket to mount 3 in the left rear corner and add an extra cooling fan to the left side of the case.
It still runs whisper quiet and nobody notices the computer in the front room. I like it, overall. My wife likes it. That's saying something.

Pros: Simply a great looking living room piece. Perfect for a HTPC case that can blend in. Well made exterior and the interior looks fine.

Cons: My PSU was a tight fit and only two of the screw holes lined up. However, two screws were enough to properly secure the PSU.

Other Thoughts: Think a little about the programmable LCD display. The backlight of the LCD emits a lot of light. If this will be a large distraction for you, don't purchase the LCD display. For me, the light is not a distraction

Pros: I give this 4 stars as in: Does everything as expected, but execution could have been better.

The old lady you are building this for will be so impressed.

For the price, I'm impressed they used solid wood. Case is spacious, easy to get large hands in.

Very visually 'fancy'

Cons: The only real con about this product is the design of the drive bay panel. What a chince. 2cents in materials 0.1mm thick flimsy bracket. My 2 year old daughter is strong enough to bend it into a 'U' I bet. Pay attention to the fact the CD drive (or 5.25 device) gets bolted into the bracket from underneath. Also the 'pre-installed' rubber washers for holding in hard drives into this flimsy bracket are insulting they are so useless. These aren't adhered to the metal bracket itself whatsoever and just come right out as your tightening screws/hard drives in place if you don't concentrate more than you should have to.

Other Thoughts: This will probably get my review a few thumbs downs because I know some of you will take this as a personal attack on your ego's but here is the straight honest goods.

I used this case in a build for a 90year old lady. The little old lady was amazed and LOVED it and couldn't believe it was a computer. It now sits discreetly in her cabinet with other old lady things such as Betty Boo figurines and crystal swans. I wouldn't even recommend this for my grandpa who wears knee socks and suspenders, let alone an HTPC build where the whole family can see it under your TV. Unless of course your grandma manages your networked media server.... then she'd be allowed to pick this case out. Just maybe.

Pros: I did not order from Newegg, but the case I received had no physical flaws inside or out.

This case looks awesome and fits a full ATX power supply just fine.

Cons: LED lights kindof break the feel of the case. Solution - Don't connect them.

Tight quarters for your power supply. I used a modular unit and have no problems with the cables.

Other Thoughts: Make sure to put your power supply in before mounting your motherboard.

Seriously though, this thing looks amazing and does everything it needs to.

Pros: Decently quiet, Looks great, Everything fits with just enough room for air.

Cons: DVD drive does not line up quite right. Blue light around the power button is distracting, It's more aesthetics, but blue LED does not look as good with this case. Should be yellow. I recommend unplugging the Power LED light.

Other Thoughts: I have basically a low wattage gaming computer: core 2 duo 8400, standard motherboard, 2 hard drives, nvidia 650 Ti. It might get a little warm after a few hours of intense graphics, but that depends on room temp and air flow. If you give this case a little space and keep the AC on in the summer, it can be an awesome media center/gaming computer.

Pros: Looks great in my Victorian era house. VERY roomy inside. Giant fan is super quiet and seems to keep everything nice and cool.
The case itself is rock-solid and not TOO heavy.

Cons: the led header plugs are somewhat mid-90s and can be tricky to place on the motherboard.
The manifold where one mounts the drives must be removed to access the motherboard and cards, but it is mounted with screws into wooden blocks. If the screw doesn't go in just right it will get stuck in the wood and strip. Also it seems like if one were to access the under-parts often, the screw holes would get too lose.

Other Thoughts: I think if they had screw anchors in the manifold mounts, this case would be perfect.
Looks best in a steampunk style room.
You should also probably spring for the led panel, which I did not and am now thinking of ordering.

Pros: I kept my high $$$ case for upgrading and took all that was in the 'big tower' and fit it into this thing to use as HTPC. I have ATX board, nvidia gtx 8800 vid. card, 2 Mechanical HDs, and DVD Burner. Yeah, it was a little tight but has been working great for a long while with no apparent heat issues.

Cons: While this thing is made of real wood, It looks like the builders get paid with production incentives. Some screws look like they were put in by a blind person. I had to shim up the DVD drive so that the tray would open and close smoothly, clearing the case.

Other Thoughts: The outside looks great, the inside looks like the builder was rushed. The style of this case would have to match the style of your living room. Overall, I'm happy I bought this case and would recommend it for its uniqueness and the amount of stuff you can surprisingly fit in it.

Pros: WOOD!!! - The inside of the case is HUGE and will accept pretty much any motherboard you want to put in it. - Takes standard power supply - Looks awesome in the right location - Memory card slots built into the faceplate - Did I mention that it's made of WOOD?

Cons: The plugs that the cover screws into can pop out if lifted by the top as opposed to the handles on the side - There are no speakers behind the grills to make it more authentic? - the cooling fan on the back of the case is HUGE!!!, I didn't bother plugging it in but I can't imagine it's silent.

Other Thoughts: I was in the process of purchasing mini-itx parts to build a HTPC for the Senior Center on the town network that I mange. I was planning on building the smallest PC possible so that it would just hide out of sight under their large-screen TV - That was until I started browsing for cases and this one popped up and I just had to get it.

After 20 years of working on computers, I don't get excited about too much as far as computers go, but I have to admit I was like a little kid at Christmas time waiting for this beauty to arrive.

For starters, it looks awesome and everyone that saw it wanted to know if they could get one.

Installing everything was extremely easy - but then again I was putting mini-itx and laptop-sized parts into it.

I agree with some of the other reviewers in saying that the screws holding the drive trays in would not hold up to being taken in and out too many times, but this is the kind of system that is meant to be built and enjoyed, not taken apart every other week. Besides - just use a larger screw if the hole gets stripped.

As I was contemplating putting a sticker on top of the unit warning people not to pick the case up by the cover, I stupidly picked the case up by the cover and it ripped 3 of the 4 anchors out - nothing a little wood glue couldn't fix though. - keep in mind that this thing is not light by any means, so don't expect a few little anchors to support that kind of weight.

If you are spending the extra $ for this case, spend the extra $ to get the LED screen too. It matches the color of the power light and the whole system perfectly.

Even though most people who use this case will probably be plugging in speakers or connecting to a stereo system, a set of GOOD USB speakers that fit behind the grills and can be controlled by the "volume knob" which currently only acts as the power button would probably make this the ultimate HTPC case for those people who like the antique look.

In the end, the people at the Senior Center loved the computer and I am trying to figure out where I just may "need" another one of these.

If you are even considering buying this thing.... just do it.

Pros: Looks great, real wood makes the case very strong and good looking.

Lots of space inside with drives on the top level and motherboard and power supply on the bottom.

The wood and includes fan make this super quite when running, rubber mounts for the drives meand there is no drive buzzing.

The components all run very cool, with all that air volume in the case there is no heat buildup.

I have it next to my TV with a wireless keyboard and mouse an my receiver and blu-ray player stacked on top.

This case is a great deal, compared to other HTPC cases, it costs a fraction of the others, looks great, everything works well.

I purchased the optional display, easy to install and adds a little bling when the PC is on, but I could have left it out.

It also makes a great conversation piece.

Cons: The Brass looking front and handles are just plastic, I'd pay for the real thing if it was available.

The big volume dial is just a power switch.

Other Thoughts: This is the ONLY wood HTPC case I have ever found. It is well designed, well built and good looking. Because it is made of wood can be refinished!

I spent over a year trying to find an HTPC case that is good looking, will run cool and is quiet AND doesn't cost a fortune.

This case was the best one I could find and having used it I can say it will probably be the only HTPC case I'll ever buy, I'll upgrade the components and power supply but I'll keep the case.

I will buy this case again when I setup another HTPC.

Pros: My review is too long so I'm spreading it across both the Pros and Cons section.

All the other reviewers have already stated how nice it looks, so I won't bother with that in my review. This is obviously a unique case, so I'm listing some build notes/observations for anyone considering buying this case.

-Before buying, go to the nmediapc website and download the manual for this case. This may help you in your decision on buying the case or not. Also, the pictures of the case at their website are more accurate, color-wise.

- If you haven't decided on a power supply yet, consider a modular one (My non-modular fits fine but there's not a lot of room inside the case, so the less wires, the better, and better airflow too). Install the power supply before the motherboard. Be gentle, and don't rush when you're trying to fit it under the hard drive frame support piece attached to the side wall. I saw a couple of reviewers say it won't fit a regular size power supply. They're wrong; a standard ATX power supply fits easily. Perhaps they have the elongated PSU's and don't know it.

-The directions recommend connecting the connectors for the power switch, reset switch, hard drive activity led, etc. to the motherboard before lowering the motherboard into the case. I can see that this is a good idea. I have the little "In-between" connector that Asus provides which makes it easy to plug all your wires into it first, then that little connector just pops onto the connector on the board. If you don't have that type of connector, then do what they recommend.

-Cable management is going to be a bit difficult, so take your time and make sure the air is going to be able to flow freely. My CPU cooler is a tall one and JUST fits underneath the hard drive frame. I thought they were going to collide at first but thankfully did not.

-Depending on how you orient your hard drives, you may not be able to use a right-angle SATA connector, so you may need a cable with the straight connector. In my pc, I have the SATA drive's bottom facing up, and when I plugged in the right-angle connector, I realized that when I was ready to attach the case lid to the rest of the chassis, the connector was going to prevent it from resting flush. So, I had to backtrack and remove the whole hard drive frame so I could replace the SATA cable (No, you can't just reach in to take out the old cable and pop in a new one, the case design prevents this although it might be technically possible). I didn't try it, but it looked like you could run into clearance issues with a drive that has it's bottom facing down, too. Nmediapc should have just made the case a little taller so we wouldn't have to worry about this. Not a huge deal, just a little pain in the neck.

Continued in the Cons section...

Cons: Continued from the Pros section:

-The optical/storage drive frame is attached to the chassis via one wood screw on each side. Over time, I'd think the screw holes would get worn out as you remove and reinstall the frame, so be ready to replace the wood screws with a bolt, washer and hex nut (Available at your local hardware store for a few cents).

-A couple of reviewers mentioned their optical drive issues, I'll reiterate that and recommend that you remove the two front bezel pieces on your drive before installing. By two pieces I mean
1) The thin piece that covers the front of the actual disc tray (Press the eject button on any desktop optical drive, and the tray that slides out has a thin rectangular piece at the front that comes off. That's the one I'm referring to). Be gentle, there's no standard construction, just take your time and examine it before attempting to remove it, optical drives are fragile. Do this before the second piece.
2) The second piece is the other piece that covers the whole front of the drive. Again, they're not all the same so take your time and examine before removing it. You should actually eject the disc tray before removing this piece, it may prevent bezel removal if not already ejected (I had to do this on mine).

-I noticed on the case that I got that the optical drive door was very sticky, and didn't swing open when the optical drive tries to eject a disc. It catches on itself somewhere along the bottom of the door. As of now, it's better after wearing in a little but I could definitely see others having the same problem.

To sum up, 4 eggs out of 5. I'm deducting one egg for two construction-related issues:
-Storage/Optical drive frame attaches to the chassis with wood screws. They should have a hole with a threaded metal thing which you can screw a metal screw into.
-Optical drive door sticks and doesn't always swing open when ejecting a disc. This will hopefully wear in over time and if it does not, I can probably modify it a little.

Other Thoughts: This is the case to get if your spouse doesn't want an ugly PC case in the living room.