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So, I got an Antec Solo from Fry's because it was super cheap, and I thought it would be a nice step-up from my $30 eBay Coolermaster Cavalier. Turns out it was and it wasn't...read-on for moar...
First things first. Opening up the Solo I was very impressed wtih the fit & finish and the overall packing of the case. They didn't just throw the thing between some styrofoam blocks. It's wrapped in like a cotton feeling bag of some sort, that I'm actually keeping around. The case has got a nice highgloss look to it, and the frontpanel is laid out in a very classy looking sort of way. The panels are insulated with sound-deadening material which feels really nice, but I'm not sure how much noise it's actually dampened.
The info for the rest of the review is garnered during an actual buildout...
Opening her up:
The side panel is held on by two thumb-screws, which is nothing revolutionary. What I like however is that the screws are captive. So when you unscrew them, you don't have to worry about losing 'em. Nice little touch.
PSU:
I started by putting the PSU in, and unline most cases I'm used to, I couldn't just slide the PSU in and let it sit there while I screwed it in. The way it sat on the rails I actually had to hold it in position against the back of the case while I screwed it in. Luckily, the screw-holes lined up well with my Antec psu, as I feel like a fair amount of weight is being put on the screws and I'd definitely want all 4 in there, and tightly at that. I guess this weirdness could've been due to my psu choice, but it felt like it was a case issue.
Motherboard:
No removable tray, but a lot of cases don't have them these days, and it was expected. IO shield came out easily and my old one fit in without any problems. Motherboard stand-offs went in smoothly, and nothing stripped or got cross-threaded when installing hte mobo with the included screws & stand-offs. Not much to write home about here. No detractions, but nothing innvoative.
5.25" drives:
To install the drives, you have to pop off the front fascia, which is EXTREMELY easy on the Solo. My Cavalier, in comparision, was a royal fucking pain in the ass when removing the front. Even though the front comes off easily, it clips back into place pretty securely.
The Solo uses Antecs tried & true drive rail system. I think that Antecs drive rails are definitely preferable to screwing things into the case directly, but aren't nearly as handy as Coolermaster's screwless drive installation system. But if you use Antec cases a lot, it could actually be kinda nice to just pop a drive out of one machine and into another. There are no exposed 3.25" drives, but there is a very nice converter installed in the bottom 5.25" bay.
Which leads me to my next point..for a case about the same size as my old Cavalier, it seems the Antec fits a lot less drives. Maybe it's jsut because of the hard drive suspension system? Dunno.
3.25" drives:
To install drives using the anti-vibration drive suspension system, you have to pull off the fan filter and fan mounting panel and then slide the trays into the elastic bands from the front. Taking the fan filter & tray off was pretty easy, but Antec says that you should have at least 10mm between the drives and the front fants, and to me it seems like it's really tough to keep the drives suspended in both bands while maintaining the proper distance. Maybe my eye for 10mm is off, but I think they could've left a little more elbow room here. Other than that, drives slide in quite easily and are well supported. If you don't want to use the bands, there is a caddy system, which allows for more drives to be installed.
Fans:
Here's something I'm really not happy with. NO FAN SCREWS are included in the case. The case comes with one Tri-Cool 120mm fan mounted in the back, and space for two 90mms in the front, but comes with 0 screws to install them with. AND, the Tri-Cool fans I purchased for the front ALSO came with no screws! WTF do you expect me to do, Antec? Well, I'll tell you what I did do..I pulled two of the screws out of the 120 and used them to mount one 90 in the front.
PCI cards:
I think Antec really dropped the ball here. They didn't fuck anything up persay, but the expansion card mounting system is just a standard screw & hole. In this day and age, I think it's pretty reasonable to expect a decent tool-less system here. Even on my previous Coolermaster case, which is sold at a much cheaper price point, I got an excellent too-free card mounting system. At the very least, throw in some thumb screws Antec.
Overall:
The Solo is a good looking, good feeling, well-produced case. However, I don't find it to be particularly innovative or advanced. Besides the not-even-that-new hard drive mounting system, the internals of this case could've come out of a 6-year-old Performance Plus. Yes, Antec's made a couple of nice refinements here and there, such as the captive thumbscrews, and the fit & finish is definitely excellent, but I feel like they could've reached a little further for a case at this price-point. If you're somebody who doesn't constantly switch out components or rebuild your machine, you should be happy with this case. Even if you do do a lot of work on the insdie of your machine I don't think you'd regret the purchase, but I think you will sometimes finding yourself wishing that Antec had done a few things differently. Overall though, this is a solid case, and I would give it an 8 out of 10. With just a couple of minor upgrades from Antec though, this could've easily been a best-in-class case.
First things first. Opening up the Solo I was very impressed wtih the fit & finish and the overall packing of the case. They didn't just throw the thing between some styrofoam blocks. It's wrapped in like a cotton feeling bag of some sort, that I'm actually keeping around. The case has got a nice highgloss look to it, and the frontpanel is laid out in a very classy looking sort of way. The panels are insulated with sound-deadening material which feels really nice, but I'm not sure how much noise it's actually dampened.
The info for the rest of the review is garnered during an actual buildout...
Opening her up:
The side panel is held on by two thumb-screws, which is nothing revolutionary. What I like however is that the screws are captive. So when you unscrew them, you don't have to worry about losing 'em. Nice little touch.
PSU:
I started by putting the PSU in, and unline most cases I'm used to, I couldn't just slide the PSU in and let it sit there while I screwed it in. The way it sat on the rails I actually had to hold it in position against the back of the case while I screwed it in. Luckily, the screw-holes lined up well with my Antec psu, as I feel like a fair amount of weight is being put on the screws and I'd definitely want all 4 in there, and tightly at that. I guess this weirdness could've been due to my psu choice, but it felt like it was a case issue.
Motherboard:
No removable tray, but a lot of cases don't have them these days, and it was expected. IO shield came out easily and my old one fit in without any problems. Motherboard stand-offs went in smoothly, and nothing stripped or got cross-threaded when installing hte mobo with the included screws & stand-offs. Not much to write home about here. No detractions, but nothing innvoative.
5.25" drives:
To install the drives, you have to pop off the front fascia, which is EXTREMELY easy on the Solo. My Cavalier, in comparision, was a royal fucking pain in the ass when removing the front. Even though the front comes off easily, it clips back into place pretty securely.
The Solo uses Antecs tried & true drive rail system. I think that Antecs drive rails are definitely preferable to screwing things into the case directly, but aren't nearly as handy as Coolermaster's screwless drive installation system. But if you use Antec cases a lot, it could actually be kinda nice to just pop a drive out of one machine and into another. There are no exposed 3.25" drives, but there is a very nice converter installed in the bottom 5.25" bay.
Which leads me to my next point..for a case about the same size as my old Cavalier, it seems the Antec fits a lot less drives. Maybe it's jsut because of the hard drive suspension system? Dunno.
3.25" drives:
To install drives using the anti-vibration drive suspension system, you have to pull off the fan filter and fan mounting panel and then slide the trays into the elastic bands from the front. Taking the fan filter & tray off was pretty easy, but Antec says that you should have at least 10mm between the drives and the front fants, and to me it seems like it's really tough to keep the drives suspended in both bands while maintaining the proper distance. Maybe my eye for 10mm is off, but I think they could've left a little more elbow room here. Other than that, drives slide in quite easily and are well supported. If you don't want to use the bands, there is a caddy system, which allows for more drives to be installed.
Fans:
Here's something I'm really not happy with. NO FAN SCREWS are included in the case. The case comes with one Tri-Cool 120mm fan mounted in the back, and space for two 90mms in the front, but comes with 0 screws to install them with. AND, the Tri-Cool fans I purchased for the front ALSO came with no screws! WTF do you expect me to do, Antec? Well, I'll tell you what I did do..I pulled two of the screws out of the 120 and used them to mount one 90 in the front.
PCI cards:
I think Antec really dropped the ball here. They didn't fuck anything up persay, but the expansion card mounting system is just a standard screw & hole. In this day and age, I think it's pretty reasonable to expect a decent tool-less system here. Even on my previous Coolermaster case, which is sold at a much cheaper price point, I got an excellent too-free card mounting system. At the very least, throw in some thumb screws Antec.
Overall:
The Solo is a good looking, good feeling, well-produced case. However, I don't find it to be particularly innovative or advanced. Besides the not-even-that-new hard drive mounting system, the internals of this case could've come out of a 6-year-old Performance Plus. Yes, Antec's made a couple of nice refinements here and there, such as the captive thumbscrews, and the fit & finish is definitely excellent, but I feel like they could've reached a little further for a case at this price-point. If you're somebody who doesn't constantly switch out components or rebuild your machine, you should be happy with this case. Even if you do do a lot of work on the insdie of your machine I don't think you'd regret the purchase, but I think you will sometimes finding yourself wishing that Antec had done a few things differently. Overall though, this is a solid case, and I would give it an 8 out of 10. With just a couple of minor upgrades from Antec though, this could've easily been a best-in-class case.