ColorCase Yuri/Venus ATX Mid Tower

Design

ColorCase effectively took the case design from their C3 Knight mid tower and converted all the panels to translucent ones. This saves ColorCase quite a bit on R&D, while the tried and true design means most of the kinks should be worked out by now. In conjunction with plastic side panels, aluminum is now used throughout the case to cut down on weight, which in turn reduces shipping costs - a key factor for OEM's. Without the power supply, that weight is just 6 lbs (2.7 kg). The aluminum in the Venus has a slight gold tint to it to go along with the orange panels.

The front bezel features just two buttons - power and reset - to keep things nice and simple. Both buttons are large enough to be operated by even the largest of fingers and provide good tactile feedback when pressed. Keeping with the theme of simplicity, there are only two status LED's - power and hard drive activity.

The bezel features an integrated floppy drive slot that should be compatible with most 3.5" floppy drives on the market today. Potential problems may arise with older drives and it is, of course, useless for something like a Zip drive, tape backup, or most other non-floppy devices.

Opening the Yuri is extremely easy - just pinch two tabs to release the side panel, which slides back, then up to complete its removal. Reattaching the panel is equally easy - simply perform the same steps in reverse. The left side panel provides complete access to the case and is the only one that ever needs to be removed under normal circumstances. The inside of this panel is covered with with a thin sheet of metal for EMI shielding purposes.

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

The front bezel is a little tricky to remove, requiring you to simultaneous depress four tabs to set it free. Complicating matters further, the switches and LED's are permanently attached, along with their respective cables, to the bezel. Fortunately, there should be little need to remove that bezel in this case, as all drives can be installed without removing the bezel.

While the plastic panels all fit together very well, they do have the tendency to rub against each other. This produces a noticeable squeaking sound as the frame is flexed. This shouldn't be much of a problem in every day use, but it is nevertheless necessary to note.