Antec 30300 Three Hundred 5.25" to 3.5" Drive Bay Adapter Assembly

Pros: Well made, cheap where it doesn't matter to keep the price down, expensive where it counts.
Functions perfectly well and as intended.
Blends with the 300 series aesthetics like a needle in an ocean of needles.

Cons: It'd be hard to find a con of such a simple product.

Pros: None for me.

Cons: Should've read all reviews before placing the order; Bill on
8/3/2012 stated that this is not universal mount. Indeed, it is not, and so it doesn't work with cases (like mine) that don't utilize the standard "snap-in" drive bay front plates.

Other Thoughts: I was going to use it to mount a standard 3.5" floppy drive-sized USB 3.0 front-panel connector; had to get a standard "caddy" drive bay adapter elsewhere.

Pros: heavy sheet metal construction

Cons: hard to get mounting screws in

Other Thoughts: Mounting a card-reader (that is the form-factor of an old floppy) in a 5¼″ bay requires a suitable bracket that also allows it to be mounted forward so the panel is flush with the outer case. Looking at others that claimed to support card readers, I was dissuaded by reviews of poor quality. Then I found this one, and indeed it is well made, out of heavy gauge sheet metal and is in fact more robust that strictly necessary. It certainly won't tear apart from tugging on it when inserting/removing cards.

The "forward" mounting position needs to protrude from the bracket quite a bit, and only one pair of screws lines up. But the hole in front will act as a second point of support, so mounting is solid. It was rather difficult to get the screws in though; the access cut-aways could be better designed.

The included face plate is meant for a specific case. It does not match my actual case perfectly and it doesn't lock into place, but because the width is standard and the fingers on the sides are springy in general, it press-fit and stays just fine without needing to modify.

The mounting holes for the outer 5¼″ mounting did not line up very well; only one (of 4) pair of screws lined up, when the bracket was forward enough to line up as desired. More flexibility in positioning either the inner or outer mounting would be good. But everything worked well enough without drilling more holes myself.

I gave 4 instead of 3 stars (eggs) because it was hard to find anything quality made. I'd rather drill another hole in a quality metal bracket than have a shoddy plastic bracket that breaks. The product was not in fact sold as generic but for a specific case.

Pros: Matches perfectly with the 300's mesh, and makes my 3.5" fan controller look like it belongs with the case. No surprises here; The quality of steel and the coating that covers it are identical to what the Antec 300 case is made with.

Cons: It is tricky to line up your 3.5" bay device perfectly, as the Antec 300's mesh face is about 1.25 inches away from the inner sheet metal of the case. This makes it difficult to mount your 3.5" bay device flush to the face of the 300 case, but it is do-able. Low price prevents egg removal.

Other Thoughts: I bought this after making my own bay adapter by taking a Dremel® to one of the Antec 300's included 5" mesh bay covers, and this looks MUCH better. Wish I had just dropped the $12 when I bought my 300 in the first place!

Pros: This is a very near match for the bay panels in the Corsair 600T case. My motherboard came with a 3.5" bay equipped with (2) USB 3.0 ports. The 600T case doesn't have but (4) 5.25" bays, so my search led to this little gem.

However, work needed to be done to make it fit the Corsair, no fault of it's own being made for Antec cases and not Corsair.

Cons: None (at least of it's own accord... again, I'm using it for an application it wasn't meant for).

Other Thoughts: In order to make this fit the 600T case, I had to cut/file down the 4 little nubs/bump-stops on the corners to make them flush with the rest of the mounting plate.

I also had to remove the perforated metal mesh from the plastic plate so I could trim the 2 sides to remove the fold-over portion. I needed to cut then file so it wasn't any wider than the plastic face itself.

Since it's designed for Antec cases, it didn't have the depth stop to keep it from going too far into the case, so the tight fight that is left is good to keep it in place once installed.

It's not as good as an actual Corsair bay adapter (which evidently doesn't exist for the 600T), but it works great as an alternative with a little bit of patience and effort.

Pros: I wanted the look of mesh for my card reader. The bracket is designed for the 300 but I bought it for the elevenhundred. The mesh and bracket are both metal and of high quality. It feel really sturdy.

The front plate doesn't really fit to where it locks but it is snug to where it doesn't move unless you really poke it.

The tool less 5.25" bays for the elevenhundred do not play nice with the metal bracket. I had to drill some holes to match up with the locking clip to ensure a secure seating.

Cons: Wish there was one specificially designed for the elevenhundred but this is better than the plain plastic ones, but I can't call it a con because I didn't buy the part for the case it was designed for.

Other Thoughts: Tho not designed for elevenhundred. If you want the look and don't mind spending the time, you can make it fit and it looks great.

Pros: Fits super flush in my Antec 900.

Cons: No install notes, although none were needed for me. I wasn't sure if the cover was going to fit at first, but with a little extra force it snapped into place!

Pros: Matches the Antec Three Hundred case perfectly. It was extremely easy to install. I mounted a 3.5" USB 3.0 internal card reader. The mounting is solid and does not move around, push back, or tilt as you try insert cards or USB devices.

Too bad people have to knock off eggs because they purchased something not intended for their case. RTFS (Read the specifications). This is a good product.

Cons: None

Pros: Looks good

Cons: The black cover doesn't fit in my Azza 9000 case

Pros: - Fits snug in case and drive
- Looks good with the rest of the case

Cons: none