bit-tech Shopping: Antec Skeleton Mini Tower

• Front Earphone Jack
• Front Firewire Port
• Front Microphone Jack
• Front eSATA Port
• Front USB Port

• 3.5"
• 5.25"

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1 Week

Strengths: Unique!Virtually no airflow restrictions.Quiet.Sturdy design yet light weight.Easy to carry. Stable platform.Easy access & clever design layout.Giant, quiet fan on top = great cooling!

Weaknesses: Some plastic pieces, while still rugged, are not for the ham-fisted brutes who might try to force-fit something.Suggest regular size PSU with modular cables. Not a lot of room to stow cabling.

Summary: I've been building my own computer systems since I started with Heath Kit computers back in 1979. Because of this, I've seen some serious steps in the evolution of the computer case. This is the kind of evolutionary design step that we rarely witness and one which I believe may lead to more designers being inspired to follow Antec's lead.The Skeleton case is truly unique amongst the off-the-shelf computer cases available today. Even the test bench styled cases with their open frame designs merely appear to be a standard ATX box built without the side panels being included. The Skeleton looks like something you might expect to see inside a wind tunnel test chamber or being used as a prop on the set of a science fiction movie shoot. With its streamlined appearance, oversized fan with its own light rigging, and balanced tones of graphite and black, the Skeleton looks like something drawn from a computer hacker's dreamscape.Going beyond just being another pretty face, this computer case provides ample cooling via its open framework and the previously mentioned oversized fan which sits in the top of the case. Panels for the motherboard and drives slide out and make connections and upgrades very simple and fast. Keep in mind that this is a better test bench case than a daily workstation unless your desk is in a dust-free room where pets and children (or other messy, sticky and wet things) never enter. This is not a computer case to put on the floor or under the desk. You do not want to put this anywhere that something could be knocked into an opening, poored through a hole, or small fingers (children, again) could reach inside. Remember, severed appendages can jam up a processor fan. If you use this computer case on your test bench so that you can quickly swap out parts and test components, then you're going to love it for what it is. If you think you're going to build your next LANParty custom rig out of this and take it around all those gamers with their 48 oz. Big Gulp Mountain Dews stumbling around and leaning over it, think again. Unless you plan on encasing it in glass or clear acrylic to keep it safe from harm, leave this one on the bench where you can show off your work area and have fun while making repairs.This would be an easy base platform to start an incredible computer mod. I was thinking of something along the lines of a semi-submerged system using the big fan at the top to cool some sort of large radiator and sealing off the lower half in lexan or something else clear. Then filling the bottom with non-conductive coolant. Hard drives could be mounted on the outside of the cabinet using the supplied brackets and then......but I digress. I'll leave it to your imagination. Basically, all I can say is that if you're looking at this case can even considering a 35% chance that you might buy it like I was, just save yourself a lot of inner dialog and order it now. Go on, do it! You know you want to!