My Review: ASPIRE Turbo Case X-Dreamer Black Mid-Tower Case with350W Power Supply, Model "ATXB3KLW/3

C

Cyde Weys

This is my review of the ASPIRE X-Dreamer case. I recently got it and
thought I'd share my thoughts with you.

I've been in the market for a new case for a little bit. What I was
looking for was decent room for upgrades, aesthetics, and decent price.
The Dreamer has a good amount of slots for hard drives, looks really
cool, and costs a lot less than I imagined I'd spend on something like
this: $48 at NewEgg!
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-144-001&depa=0

Even at this low price, believe it or not, the case comes with a 350W
power supply. I won't bother reviewing the power supply because I
didn't use it; I took it out and replaced it with something better.
Usually I would complain that I didn't have the option of getting a case
without the power supply, but at $48, it's already so cheap anyway.

The case itself is pretty solid. I read some reviews on NewEgg about
people having problems with the case, i.e. it scratched easily, or
wasn't sturdy enough, or whatever. I haven't experienced any of that so
far. As long as you realize that it's painted black, and not solid
metal, and take the appropriate precautions, you shouldn't experience
any scratches. Usually when I'm working with cases I just put them
side-down on the floor and install the components. Well since this guy
is painted black, I laid it down on one of the styrofoam packing
materials that the case came shipped in (to prevent sliding contact with
the floor and possible scratching). That's just common sense really,
and you shouldn't fault the case if it ends up getting scratched because
it's probably your fault.

The one problem I have with the case is that it didn't contain enough
standoff screw holes on the motherboard metal sheet. It had six, but
the other three were just non-screwed holes that you had to plug in some
sort of little metal "adapter" to rise it to the height of the mobo.
These guys feel pretty flimsy and, to me, aren't at nearly the same
quality as the normal standoffs you use to secure the other 6 of 9 mobo
holes.

The plastic window on the side of the case seems pretty sturdy to me,
and it comes with a built-in fan with a cool alien head design (seems
like they ripped off Alienware?). The fans aren't anything to write
home about, so I'd recommend replacing them with these guys:
"CoolerMaster Blue 80mm Neon LED Fan, Model "TLF-R82-E1" -RETAIL"
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-051&depa=0
The LEDs in them are blue, but brighter than the fans the case comes
with, and the fans pump a lot more air for the same amount of noise.

I liked everything else about the case. It has a cool blue-backlit
temperature gauge on the front near the power switches. It has six blue
illuminated LEDs on the front that plug in quite easily to the
power-supply via a standard ATA power 4-1 power cord. The case comes
with two black optical drive covers (raising lids and button
pass-throughs) that go on top of my nasty beige optical drives and work
perfectly. It also comes with a black 3.5" floppy drive cover, which I
don't suspect I'll be using very much, but it still works :)

The bottom of the front of the case has a nifty panel that swings up
and out to reveal USB2, headphone, and mic ports. The case came
included with a USB2 header that attached to my mobo.

All in all I'm really satisfied with the case. For the low low price
of $48, I got something that really surprised me in terms of quality and
coolness factor. The case comes with a power supply and two case fans
that you'll probably end up replacing with higher-quality components.
My only complaint is the lack of enough screw-holes for stand-offs in
the mobo backplane and as a result you have to use these flimsy adaptor
thingies. Overall, I would give it a grade of A: definitely recommended!


P.S. This review copyright 2004 by me and all rights are given to
modify or re-distribute it so long as you credit me as the original author.
 
K

kony

P.S. This review copyright 2004 by me and all rights are given to
modify or re-distribute it so long as you credit me as the original author.


I DO hope you're kidding?
 
A

Alan

Good info; thanks
This is my review of the ASPIRE X-Dreamer case. I recently got it and
thought I'd share my thoughts with you.

I've been in the market for a new case for a little bit. What I was
looking for was decent room for upgrades, aesthetics, and decent price.
The Dreamer has a good amount of slots for hard drives, looks really
cool, and costs a lot less than I imagined I'd spend on something like
this: $48 at NewEgg!
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-144-001&depa=0

Even at this low price, believe it or not, the case comes with a 350W
power supply. I won't bother reviewing the power supply because I
didn't use it; I took it out and replaced it with something better.
Usually I would complain that I didn't have the option of getting a case
without the power supply, but at $48, it's already so cheap anyway.

The case itself is pretty solid. I read some reviews on NewEgg about
people having problems with the case, i.e. it scratched easily, or
wasn't sturdy enough, or whatever. I haven't experienced any of that so
far. As long as you realize that it's painted black, and not solid
metal, and take the appropriate precautions, you shouldn't experience
any scratches. Usually when I'm working with cases I just put them
side-down on the floor and install the components. Well since this guy
is painted black, I laid it down on one of the styrofoam packing
materials that the case came shipped in (to prevent sliding contact with
the floor and possible scratching). That's just common sense really,
and you shouldn't fault the case if it ends up getting scratched because
it's probably your fault.

The one problem I have with the case is that it didn't contain enough
standoff screw holes on the motherboard metal sheet. It had six, but
the other three were just non-screwed holes that you had to plug in some
sort of little metal "adapter" to rise it to the height of the mobo.
These guys feel pretty flimsy and, to me, aren't at nearly the same
quality as the normal standoffs you use to secure the other 6 of 9 mobo
holes.

The plastic window on the side of the case seems pretty sturdy to me,
and it comes with a built-in fan with a cool alien head design (seems
like they ripped off Alienware?). The fans aren't anything to write
home about, so I'd recommend replacing them with these guys:
"CoolerMaster Blue 80mm Neon LED Fan, Model "TLF-R82-E1" -RETAIL"
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-051&depa=0
The LEDs in them are blue, but brighter than the fans the case comes
with, and the fans pump a lot more air for the same amount of noise.

I liked everything else about the case. It has a cool blue-backlit
temperature gauge on the front near the power switches. It has six blue
illuminated LEDs on the front that plug in quite easily to the
power-supply via a standard ATA power 4-1 power cord. The case comes
with two black optical drive covers (raising lids and button
pass-throughs) that go on top of my nasty beige optical drives and work
perfectly. It also comes with a black 3.5" floppy drive cover, which I
don't suspect I'll be using very much, but it still works :)

The bottom of the front of the case has a nifty panel that swings up
and out to reveal USB2, headphone, and mic ports. The case came
included with a USB2 header that attached to my mobo.

All in all I'm really satisfied with the case. For the low low price
of $48, I got something that really surprised me in terms of quality and
coolness factor. The case comes with a power supply and two case fans
that you'll probably end up replacing with higher-quality components.
My only complaint is the lack of enough screw-holes for stand-offs in
the mobo backplane and as a result you have to use these flimsy adaptor
thingies. Overall, I would give it a grade of A: definitely recommended!


P.S. This review copyright 2004 by me and all rights are given to
modify or re-distribute it so long as you credit me as the original author.
 

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