[grogi]

Zalman HD160XT Plus HTPC Chassis
"In the past two years we have seen a tremendous growth in computing power of PCs, part of that growth has a lot to do with the versatility and functionality of all that hard- and software combined. See this is the success of the PC, it's immense flexibility. You can upgrade, adapt and specifically design a PC to suit your needs.

Along these lines a year or two three ago a new trend picked up we started using the PC to playback music and videos. Obviously that resulted into a certain market demand that demand created new products and product segments. One of the most important developments next to the PC being a gaming platform has to be the slow adaptation of HTPCs. HTPC is short for "Home Theater PC", a PC that is dedicated to the function of recording and playback of media files.

Whether you guys like the software of not, but Windows Media Center set an all new trend. Most of my friends these days have some sort of PC in their living-room equipped with some sort of media center software. Yes, the PC has moved from that desktop towards the living room.

A PC in your living room however has to look nice, be silent and functional; and that's quite a challenge as today's computer parts are often noisy and create lot's of heat. Building a HTPC surely isn't an easy task as you need to carefully handpick all components used.

For optimal cooling and nice looks today we land at the premises of Zalman. They recently released their Zalman HD160XT Plus HTPC chassis. A seriously gorgeous looking HTPC chassis, made out of aluminum and with a small 7" Zero Defect LCD touch screen (no dead pixels).

This chassis is one of the most feature-rich HTPC cases on the market, and even includes a 7" touch screen on the front of the case. Zalman is renowned for producing some very high quality cases, let's see if the HD160XT Plus HTPC chassis is yet another product in their long line of winners."

Sunbeam Acrylic HTPC Case
"The Acrylic HTPC case comes in typical Sunbeam packaging, consisting of a black cardboard box with color images and specifications on the box. Like most acrylic cases, this one requires assembly, so the box is small and thin."

Thermaltake SwordM VD5000 Chassis Review
"It's hard to fathom that case manufacturers can continuously come up with new cases with new and innovative features. One might think by now that all the good ideas are gone and that there's nothing new they can offer. And every few months or so, we are all proven wrong. Heck, some of you may have some pretty sweet ideas bouncing around but have never tried suggesting it to your favorite maker or just building it yourself.

If you've been following some of the Thermaltake Press Releases , reading up on some of this years CES 2008 snips, or browsing their home page, then you may or may not have seen an aggressive looking black aluminum case that resembles a sports car or space ship with hydraulic doors and panels, plus spoilers.

Well, the good folks at Thermaltake wanted to answer those inquiries and questions by sending VH their new SwordM VD5000 Series Case. I've seen some pretty "tricked out" cases in my time, but nothing quite what I see on the test bench today. Check it out."