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Corey F.

Corey F.

Joined on 08/03/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 3
Most Favorable Review

PC-TU200

LIAN LI PC-TU200B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI PC-TU200B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case

Pros: Cool aluminum, good airflow as long as you manage your internal layout (wires, etc). Well constructed, well designed. Small by comparison to mini tower or micro atx, but larger than most mini-itx/htpc so there's room for standard atx psu and high-end video cards, even longer ones. You can pick this case up with the heavy-duty handle and just carry it anywhere. The drive drack has power and sata hookups at the back of each bay so you don't have to rig each drive separately. You just slide the drive into its slot and it plugs in automatically at the back. Love the pop-out side panels and many parts of the case are temporarily removeable while you assemble.

Cons: This could be a pro for some, but for me it was a con, hence 4 eggs. The drive bay is large, with 4 full slots for sata hdds. I would have liked it better if you could choose 2 or 4 bays, thereby opening up more airflow (the rack pretty much covers the large case fan in front).

Overall Review: Although this case will take most ATX PSU, do your homework on sizes to get a "shorter" one (not as deep - you will need that extra inch to comfortably route wires from the power supply), and absolutely DO choose a PSU with modular connectors or you will choke! I did not get a shorter PSU -- although the one I got fits, its backside and wires are crammed up against the drive rack.

11/20/2011

It works!

TRENDnet 2-Port DVI USB KVM Switch and Cable Kit with Audio, Manage Two PC's, USB 2.0, Hot-Plug, Auto-Scan, Hot-Keys, Windows/Linux/Mac Compliant, TK-214i
TRENDnet 2-Port DVI USB KVM Switch and Cable Kit with Audio, Manage Two PC's, USB 2.0, Hot-Plug, Auto-Scan, Hot-Keys, Windows/Linux/Mac Compliant, TK-214i

Pros: Perfect for two computers to one monitor, keyboard, mouse. My monitor is 1920x1080 and it's flawless on both computers.

Cons: Once in a while, usb gets confused and loses keyboard after switching -- I just redo the switch (2 sec) and it finds it the 2nd time.

Overall Review: This little puppy works exactly as I needed, and didn't require any special setup. In fact, I didn't do the setup the recommended way, and it worked anyway. Pretty much just hook it up and you're done.

Good case - with caveats

LIAN LI PC-TU200B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI PC-TU200B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case

Pros: Small when compared to mATX. Big when compared to miniITX. If you are looking to build a GAMING mini ITX, this is one good way to go. The usual Lian Li quality and design, with lots of clever solutions to working in small areas, topped off with the thing you always imagined you might do yourself: add a handle! You can put a full sized double-width graphics card in this, as well as full sized PSU (see cons) Room for 4 hdd's, but .... ( see cons ) .... Very smart looking case.

Cons: High price, but then it is Lian Li, so you're used to that. Drive bay cage: with more than 1 hard drive in it, airflow from your one big 140mm case fan is partially blocked -- enough to make a difference on core temps. You may end up entirely removing it, which is what I did. I modded up a single drive rack at the very top, just below the DVD drive so I just have one internal SATA. Fortunately there are eSATA ports on the case for additional hdds. One last minor complaint: on the floor of the case, there is a 120mm sized air inlet (passive), which is aimed at where the video card is. But the "feet" of the case are riveted in, so unless you're go Space for standard size PSU extremely limited, depthwise -- you should search for and buy a PSU that is "shorter", i.e. 140mm length, or it will be crammed up against the drive bay cage (if you don't take it out, heh). PSU directly over cpu forces you to find "low-profile" cpu heatsink/fan assemblies. Be aware of this, options are

Overall Review: If you plan to put in a powerful graphics card, be aware you WILL be struggling with heat -- there is no way around this unless you mod your case to have an additional inlet or exhaust hole somewhere, with smaller fans perhaps. Although your vid card heat can be controlled, it being just below the cpu, expect some of that radiating heat to get into the mix, causing the cpu, mainboard and mosfets temperatures to rise. Not catastrophic, but possibly enough to make you wish you had bought an mATX case. Repeat: plan to buy a "shorter" power supply if you intend to keep the drive bay in.