SILVERSTONE Black Aluminum / Steel Lascala Series LC10B-E ATX Media Center / HTPC Case

Pros: Case fits well with the rest of the equipment in the media center cabinet. Does not look like a computer from the front. Good air movement - at low noise level with 2 X 80mm exhaust fans. Can add another behind the HD stall to pull air in the front if needed. Sturdy, well braced. Compromises needed to get the required components into a small space were intelligently managed.

Cons: Not really a con, but assembly is a bit different that on other cases because the two hard drive stalls and DVD stall cover part of the motherboard - on mine, it was where the ATX cable and Sata cables connected. You have to pull these stalls to install the components anyway, need to attach cables before you put them back in. DVD drive installation a bit weird because of a large gap between the drive face and the front. The external DVD tray cover is a one time shot with a double sided sticky, and the external "open" button would not depress the botton on the LG GGW-H20L Blu-ray without some work with Xacto knife.

Overall Review: Very satisfied with the unit. Attached a Logitech diNovo Mini bluetooth keyboard that worked natively in Vista 64 prem. Radeon 3450 - crossfired with the on-board video chip, (darned if I can tell the difference here). Wireless with WMP110. GA-MA78GM-S2H Mobo - Phenom 9850, 4 gigs Kingston off the memory list - plugged up to a Sharp 52" Aquos. (At first, we had a little HDCP problem that appears to have been solved by turning things on in the right order, nuisance ).

Pros: It's a dashing case that looks very much the electronics component part. Appearance wise it fits very nicely in my entertainment system. Although large enough to hold all the hardware I would ever want in a HTPC it's no bigger than my Pioneer Elite receiver or 300 disc CD changer. It's big enough to hold an ATX motherboard and full height expansion cards. There are extra vent holes, tastefully designed on both sides near the rear of the case. I suggest choosing a modular P/S with a fan on the bottom. The bottom fan will line up with the side vent and provide fresh air to cool the P/S. I'd suggest the OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W (model #OCZ600MXSP) or similar.

Cons: True, the two front blue LEDs are wicked bright. The CD drive bay front bezel design is unnecessarily complicated and may result in frustration. True, there is no access to the emergency eject pin hole on the optical drive. True, the design forces you to use double sided tape to affix a metal “stealthing” faceplate to the optical drives door. A simple but cheesy solution to an unnecessary problem. True, that some DVD drives eject button may not align with the cases eject button. True, the drive bay below the optical bay is useless because it blocks the motherboard main power cable access. The 2 rear case fans are too loud for HTPC use. I suggest you replace them with Vantec Stealth fans. There are locations to place (2) 80mm or 90mmcase fans in front of the center and far side internal drive bays. If you use standard fans, they will be too thick to get a hard drive to align up and mount. It's a 100% screw in affair with zero use of rubber mounts or grommets to reduce noise and vibratio

Overall Review: It's an amazing deal for under a hundred bucks. There are a few design “oversights” that can be mitigated if you choose your components wisely.

Pros: Case is built very well overall. Construction seems sturdy for the most part. Comes with plenty of extra screws for assembly. Looks fantastic. It fits in very nicely with my other A/V components. Doesn't really look like a computer. Nice layout for front panel buttons and ports. Optical drive plate looks nice. Doesn't really look like a computer. Very nice glossy matte finish. Removable drive bays are a blessing and a must for proper installation in tight space. 2x80mm exhaust fans are quiet and strong. Good ventilation.

Cons: Optical drive panel attaches with double-sided tape. I would like to see a more thought out system. As well, the button for the optical drive seems a bit cheap and not well designed. There is also no notch or other access point for a paper-clip should you need to manually eject the drive. You could probably get a paper clip through the edges of the drive plate, but you would have to know exactly where the manual eject hole on the drive was.

Overall Review: Will probably add 1x92mm exhaust fan to the front to bring more air in. As mentioned in another review, I had to modify my LG GGW-H20L for the button to actually hit the button on the drive. Probably more the drives fault than the case, but I still felt the button could be designed better. This is a tight space! If you're using a full ATX board, the power supply will be right next to your on-board connectors such as USB, HD Audio, etc. I was still able to get mine connected with the power supply in place, but it was tight. Also be wary of RAM modules with large heat spreaders. I used the Patriot Viper DDR3 1600 (Model #PVS34G1600LLK) and the top of the heat spreader is only millimeters away from the back bottom corner of my optical drive. I had to remove one stick to install the drive bay and installing the SATA data and power was a delicate procedure. Overall I am very happy with the case. It fits the area I have to put it in and it fit all my components if only just barel

Pros: Great case with a fair amount of room inside. Well constructed. Good ventilation on the sides of the case. I like the simplistic look of it, this is something that I could throw into my entertainment center if I wanted to.

Cons: I wish there were air vents above the graphics cards area. I may add one at a later date. Not a lot of room for cables, I should have gone with a SATA DVD drive instead of IDE. The fans on the back are a bit noisy - may replace them with something from Noctua. The LEDs are really bright! This comp is in our bedroom, so it is very noticeable. I will probably unplug the lights.

Overall Review: I built a new system for the wife and she didn't want a tower. This case fit our needs very well. Simple design and fairly spacious. Removed the two drive bays and using that space for cable storage. MB: ASUS P5N-D CPU: C2D E7200 RAM: Corsair 4GB XMS2 HSF: Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Opt: Samsung 20X DVD Burner (IDE) HD: WD 160GB SATA II PSU: Corsair HX620W GPU: 2 9600 GSO in SLI

Pros: Beautiful looking case, minimalist design. Fits right in with all my other A/V components and does not stick out. I like the minimal design, no bright LED panels etc. I don't need any additional indicators besides power and HDD LEDs. I'm using this with Intel DG45ID motherboard and a quad core processor Q9350. Cooling is sufficient and reasonably quiet. It is quite remarkable that such a compact case can fit up to 6 HDDs (though I have only 2 right now)

Cons: Space inside is a little cramped so I would stick with only mATX motherboards even though it supports full ATX motherboards. Also you need to consider carefully if you plan to get a external graphics card as all the big-boy cards may not fit in this case.

Overall Review: It took me longer than usual to assemble this machine because of the case. You need some planning and patience to put it together, and ensure good cable management for best cooling.

Pros: This case is great to work with and integrates nicely into an existing component HT system. It cools well and has allowed me run a potentially hot setup with OCed CPU & GPU quite cool. With planning and a little common sense most of the complaints listed hear can be avoided. Building any system requires forethought and problem solving as the size and shape of components vary. (Any experienced system builder knows this.)

Cons: The rear fans are audible but not terribly loud. In my use of this system I never hear them because the sound system is in use simultaneously (After all this IS an HTPC not a library terminal). In the event that you find it louder than you like, quieter fans are available at a nominal price. This does not however constitute enough of a drawback to opt out of this case. It is far to good to be deterred by minimal fan noise.

Overall Review: The fit and finish of this case is fantastic! It is classy but unassuming in my formal living room, not unlike a Mercedes in the driveway of country club, it still looks nice but it blends into its surroundings. Unlike the Merc. however, it would have looked equally at ease in my old college dorm room (peeking out from under my laundry). This is the case for all occasions except where a compact solution is desired.

Pros: The case is very well constructed with heavy gauge steel and a very attractive glossy finish. The black fits almost perfectly with my amp, preamp and receiver. This is my fifth Silverstone HTPC case and the second LC108-E I have purchased... so you know I think highly of Silverstone quality.

Cons: You can't fit a BD/DVD-ROM into the (1) available slot if you have an ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard because the RAM is in the way if you use more than one stick. Other motherboards have similar issues because this case is large but still tight. Because of the design you don't have typical placement options for some components as you do with most cases (though this is true of many HTPC cases). The blue power indicator LED is BRIGHT.. so in a light controlled theater it can be a nuisance. I don't use the front display either becuase it throws too much light and really serves no useful purpose for me.

Overall Review: Despite it's cons it is one of the best cases out there. It's also very well priced for what you get so I give it the bang-for-buck heavyweight championship title.

Pros: This was my first build ever so take this for what it is. Paint Job is great. Fit and finish was nice as well. Comes with a lot of screws for different things. I should mention that this thing is huge! I have a old Compaq Tower that dwarfs in size comparison. I consider this a Pro for future upgrades!

Cons: I only had 2 difficulties during the whole thing. One was hooking up both power supplies to my Gigabyte Mother Board. One is right under the DVD drive and I had to bend the cable right behind the connector to make it fit. The other is the 12v power supply was barely able to reach. I dont know if this is the power supplies, motherboard or cases fault just something I figured I would mention.

Overall Review: If I had to do it again I would buy the same. The fit and finish is great an matches all my other HT components.