Antec P280

Antec unveiled of its newest cases, the Antec P280. While still a prototype, the case already promises giant potential. As you may have intuitively noticed, the case is a successor to of Antec's lots of famous cases, the Antec P180. & for lovely reason, while the Antec P180 was of the best cases on the market in its time, it is not aged well & doesn't feature some of the more standard qualities of today's cases. Such as dust filters, numerous methods of cable management, effective intake & exposure of the PSU, & noise eliminating features.

Be forewarned, these types of cases provide a sleek & elegant look; delaying any aesthetics or design that provide a betting case perception. Its design is fundamentally what you'd see in office surroundings.

Due to the immense popularity of the aesthetics & design of the Antec P180 & Antec's failure to release a successor in due time, other companies have created their own imitations. However, these imitations are not up to par & have flaws. Take for example the Fractal Design R3; its appearance is an identical to the P180. It features a comparable air flow to the Antec P180, noise eliminating foam, dust filters, & unique cable management that will fit lots of different combinations of motherboards & parts. However, the inherent issue with this case is that it is built from aluminum & plastic. While having great features, it suffers from an overall flimsy feel & doesn't appear strong. Don't get me wrong though, for its cost, it is an excellent case, but there are minor flaws that the Antec P280 will pick up on.

Another imitator is the NZXT H2, although where the P180 excelled at positive features, this case suffered in those respective areas. This case lacks of the most important features, airflow. To put it fundamentally, this case is not good; the architecture of the case prevents stable airflow & requires further installation of additional fans inside the case to provide sufficient cooling. Longer video cards are not supported; the inside is cramped. Alone, it is not a pleasant case & not worth your funds. Positive, the cable management could be a small better than the P180, but overall it is not worth it & is a poor successor to the P180.

Unveiled at Computex 2011, the Antec P280 is expecting a $130 cost point with no officially announced release date. Judging from the progress & design of the prototype, I speculate that it will be released sometime in the 4th quarter of this year. The Antec P280, provides features such as:

* Noise eliminating plastic lined on the side & front panels.

* Convenient access to fans, dust filters, & hard drives without the necessity for screwdrivers.

* A sound proof grill engraved in to the case for the top exhaust fans.

* Clever dust filter placement for the PSU. Dust filter is fundamentally removed from the side of the case in lieu of the inconvenient back.

* Plenty of room & holes for cable management.

* Room for longer video cards.

It is a immense improvement over the Antec P180 to meet up with today's cases of moving away from requiring the use of screwdrivers to put in or remove hard drives, fans, & other hardware. They successfully implemented the effortless feel & added additional features to keep up with the pace of more modern cases. Like its predecessor, I think they will see another definitive case in the making. Still in its prototype, expect to see more features & adjustments made until its release date.