| nMediaPC HTPC 8000 Wooden Media Center Case |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Thursday, 13 August 2009 | |
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Closer Look: nMediaPC HTPC 8000I'm a big fan of dark wood. Some like pine, with it's tan color and occasional shades of light green hues, but I'm more of a Mahogany guy. Dark mahogany, with a cheery stain. It's in my kitchen, bedroom, and throughout my home. I would like to think of it as a safe departure from the black laquer finish the majority of my comfort items had last decade. So when nMedia offered the HTPC 8000 for review, I leaped at the opportunity. Built from real wood, not cheap pressed particle board or flimsy high-density fiber board. I'm not a wood expert, but it appears that Beech wood was used for the panels and then stained with a lacquer. the nMedia HTPC-8000 delivers a handcrafted finish in the appearance of an dark cherry wooden antique radio. A very large antique radio at that, with more front-panel connectivity than most MCE-specific computers come equipped with.
The nMediaPC HTPC 8000 isn't your average Media Center Edition case; it offer more internal volume than most mid-tower computer cases can deliver. The outer dimensions are 19.3" wide, by 11" deep, and the case stands 14.3" tall. The entire package weighs a surprisingly light 15 lbs.
The front panel bezel is an injection-molded plastic component that passes for a bronze face plate. The optical drive tray door is spring loaded, and flips down when the tray is ejected. The power button resembles a large tuning wheel, except for it offers only a on/off pressure switch.
nMediaPC adds matching injection-molded plastic handles to each side of the HTPC 8000, which are a necessity more than a convenience with this large case. From this angle you can also see that nMediaPC didn't just use the wood panels to make a simple enclosure, they also used several routed pieces for trim and accents.
The only obvious connection between the nMediaPC HTPC 8000 and a standard computer case is the metal-reinforced back end. The steel component looks like the back side of most mid-tower computer cases, but a nicely positioned 140mm cooling fan and vented expansion bay slots helps to improve airflow.
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Comments
Good things:
1) Air Flow / Cooling - Amazing for what it is, high-end components with NOT overheat. Comes with a 140mm fan, you can also add 2x 92mm fans
2) Noise - Wooden case, plus lots of silicone/rubber gromments that come with it
3) Full ATX - allows for FULL ATX MB/Power Supply
4) Room - Roomy enough for all full-sized graphics cards
5) Price - easily competes with other HTPC cases. You can find this for under $100.
6) It's not PVC/Plywood. It's REAL FREAKIN WOOD.
7) It has STEEL. Not cheap aluminum.
Cons:
1) DVD drive alignment - Easily fixed with a 1/8" shim
2) DVD faceplate says DVD instead of Bluray
3) Power Knob doesn't act as a dual-purpose power/volume knob. Could be accomplished via USB volume controls. Sad that it's not.
If you are looking for a "retro" case for HTPC, this is your ready-made guy. You can build one yourself, but for it's price, just buy this one unless you have specific custom applications and hardware.
First time I read about this case I knew it's just what I needed for my new HTPC. The case should be here next week and I'm looking forward to building my new PC!