3R Mstation HT-1100
The first HTPC case that we’re going to look at is from a relatively obscure case manufacturer named 3R System. These first shots of the case already have a system installed in them.
Click to enlarge.
Right away, we have mixed feelings about the looks of the HT-1100. The display is a typical glossy glass black, which looks very nice, and along with the rest of the clean front bezel, this is for the most part the makings of a very attractive case. However, to stealthily concealing the optical drive, the system simply needs more work.
Despite trying a couple of different drives, we couldn’t get the included CD-drive bezel to line up properly. The design is simple; an included aluminum plate with double-sided tape is supposed to be placed on the front of the drive instead of the default tray cover, and then an eject button is held in place from inside the case after the drive is slid in from behind.
It fails, however, if any of the following conditions hold true:
- The tray height does not exactly correspond with the tray opening in the front of the case.
- The tray cover of the CD/DVD drive is permanently attached to the tray.
- The eject button of the drive itself is permanently attached.
- The eject button doesn’t exactly correspond with the button opening in the front.
- The user decides to forego the use of an optical drive at all. (There’s no clean way to secure the tray cover without a drive installed.)
Click to enlarge.
Normally we wouldn’t dwell on one particular design flaw to such a degree at the very beginning of a product’s inspection, but it is crucial in a HTPC that the front panel looks as nice as possible. Unless one chooses the same CD/DVD drive that 3R chose when designing this bezel, there’s a high probability that the front of your case will not look particularly right, as is the true for the pictures of the front of the case as we've taken them. In this shot, the cover has been applied, but as installed here, it didn't fit properly in the 5¼” drive bay.
This is not to discourage everyone from considering this case at all, however, because if one does have a proper optical drive or at least a black one that will look OK installed without the included tray cover, the front of the case will still look nice otherwise.
Click to enlarge.
A magnetically latched flip-down front panel covers the port cluster on the left side, and flash memory card reader bays on the right. Labels for the ports and bays have been painted over the brushed finish and look particularly nice.
Click to enlarge.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
26 Comments
View All Comments
Tamale - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - link
The 'POS' power supply happens to deliver steadier voltages to the highest-end gear I've gotten my hands on (and no, the P4 test bed isn't the most powerful thing I've tested it in) than anything else that's passed through my hands, and that includes over a dozen power supplies by high-end manufacturers. I'm no reviewer of power supplies yet, as we're still working on that, but I guarantee you that this is a fine unit, especially for the area of case reviews, because in quiet mode it does a fantastic job of staying silent enough to hear the case fans and still provides rock-solid voltages to a stressed-out system. It also gets warm when in quiet mode in the cases that don't ventilate the power supply well enough, which is another good measure of a case. Perhaps most important however is the modular nature of the unit, and even though I've tried other modular units none were as quiet as the MadDog.Secondly, the thermaltake golden orb II at full voltage is quieter than any of zalman's coolers at full voltage. While I understand that the zalman will probably get lower temperatures, It is absolutely essential that the CPU cooler in my test bed make as little noise as possible, and the golden orb II does just that.
The recurring theme in your post seems to me to be that you want 'the perfect HTPC', but the whole idea of a case review is to isolate everything but the case as much as possible, and sometimes hotter components do a better job of illustrating the deficiencies of units than the latest and greatest.
Trust me on this one, if we used the absolute best gear available the comparisons would be much muddier.
As for the subjective comment, my scale of 1-10 can be thought of as a scale of tolerance.. with 5 basically being the threshold... anything higher than that really is 'too loud for the given application' and anything lower than 4 is 'acceptable'. It's not meant to be a numerically accurate scale of any sort. I felt very comfortable with the final subject ratings I gave these cases, because the Tenor and PC-800B just barely passed my personal threshold test, and I believe most users will agree.
tayhimself - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - link
I hope you realize other PSUs are likely quieter and more efficient than "Mad Dog". Sure the may be quiet to your ears, but thats too subjective to really mean anything. Sadly, you rate the modular nature as being an important issue when it is not. The PSU getting warm in quiet mode may be a sign of a PSU not getting enough airflow.And you say "its silent enough to hear case fans". While that can be true, the PSU and Tt golden orb noise signatures can drown out subtler differences between the cases in terms of noise of the case fans. This is almost obvious from your review as you dont perceive the difference of 9 dB to be significant. Its better to use quality quiet components so you can tell what the case is contributing to the noise spectrum. Since this is about making case buying decisions, the other factors are best isolated.
Avalon - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - link
Get crackin'.mrgq912 - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - link
to tired to read the article but first post.mrgq912 - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - link
okay now that I have that out of my system. How come you guys never review stuff from alienware or voodoopc. Those guys make HTPC's aswell. I never every heard of the players in this review making HTPC's untill today. Well nice to know i have options.Would buy one if i could, untill then i will live with my ati tv wonder elite.
ksherman - Tuesday, November 22, 2005 - link
uh, cuz Alienware and Voodoo are over priced peices of DooDoo... and because this site is more geared around people that build their own machines...