Question 1

Can I install an optical disc drive in this, or not? The spec sheet says no... but I see what looks like a slim optical bay cover on the front...

Accepted Answer

Yes you can install a slim optical drive.  I installed a slim tray based blue ray burner. It is a tight fit with the sata cable, but everything does fit nicely.  It is basically inside a small separate compartment below the motherboard.

Question 2

What is the form factor of the power supply? In case a want to upgrade

Accepted Answer

Look at the images; it doesnt' really have a standard psu; the part built into the case is similar to pico-psu (link removed due to newegg requirement). The external power supply is similar (or identical) to a laptop psu. I have two of these cases running pentinum; one is close to two  year old and no issues (used 24/7) and the other is nearing a year and is used once a week. Naturally your experience will differe; also this won't power an i7 or i5 and heat generation would be a real problem but for a clereon; pentinum and probably mobile processors it is fine. Easy case to workw ith.

Question 3

Are any adapters required to install a slim optical drive?

Accepted Answer

Not the drive itself.  Remove the sheetmetal bracket and invert it; then the drive will be in the correct orientation.  You will likely need a slimline SATA to SATA adaptor though for the cable.

Question 4

What is the tallest CPU cooler that will fit into this case?

Accepted Answer

If you don't mind the CPU cooler cutting into the space for the 5.25 bay about as tall as you want.  I7 for sure.

I didn't put anything in the 5.25 bay which hangs over the CPU and I have plenty of room for a 1 TB hard drive and a wireless card PCI-express card.

Question 5

what is the DC volts required to run this?

Accepted Answer

The output on the power adapter is 19 V DC 4.74 amps

Question 6

what power supplies work with this if the included one is not adequate?

Accepted Answer

I believe the default power brick is a fairly standard 12 volt adapter, like you'd expect to see on a bigger, older laptop. So presumably you could find such a device with more amps. That said, using the standard power supply mine gets quite warm to the touch during cpu intensive tasks. I'd be very worried about pumping more power in...

Question 7

Is it possible to add a pci/pcie low profile card or is there no actual punch-out?

Accepted Answer

No it is not possible to add a pci\pcie card with this case.  Due to the size of the case it is capable of a mini-itx mother board, laptop cd-rom/dvd, and a 2.5 hard drive.  We use these boxes with fanless motherboards and ssd drives which make the box completely quiet, no sound what so ever.

Question 8

Is it possible to remove the mesh on top AND the tool free clip? I am willing to cut with a dremmel if the tool free clip is not necessary.

Accepted Answer

Having worked in a sheet metal shop, I admire the precision of the case parts.  Now, if the case is just sitting pretty on a desktop, I suppose the tool-free clip is not necessary.  The mesh-top of not going anywhere.  However, I have hung it under a desk.  And right now it's on a wall and the mesh top would probably slide right off if it weren't for the tool-free clip.  Without disassembling it, I can not say how the tool-free clip is attached and how easy it is to remove.  Spot-welded?  Brazed?  Have no idea.  As to removing the mesh with a dremel, I'm sure that is possible.   However, the mesh is not a thin screen.  Pretty rugged material.  I really like this case.  CPU runs very cool, of course.

Question 9

Where can I get extra power cords for this case?

Accepted Answer

Any Dell or HP/Compaq compatible laptop power brick with 120w or more output will work.
A very light weight build may get away with a 95w brick, but don't try this without some serious confidence in your build.

Question 10

could I use laptop charger that is:

AC Input: 100 ~ 240V 50~ 60Hz
DC Output: 19.5V ~ 11.8A, 230W

?

Accepted Answer

If the adapter fits it, you can hook it up. But you would not expect to use the PC components that require the power more than 120W. This case has the circuit board that converts 19.5 V to 12, 5, 3.3 V for feeding the mobo etc and this board seems to be designed for handling only 120W.

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