Hardware Secrets
Home | Camera | Case | CE | Cooling | CPU | Input | Memory | Mobile | Motherboard | Networking | Power | Storage | Video | Other
Content
Articles
Editorial
First Look
Gabriel’s Blog
News
Reviews
Tutorials
Main Menu
About Us
Awarded Products
Compare Prices
Datasheets
Dictionary
Download
Drivers
Facebook
Forums
Links
Manufacturer Finder
Newsletter
On The Web
RSS Feed
Test Your Skills
Twitter
Newsletter
Subscribe today!
Search



Recommended
Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies
Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies, by Mark L. Chambers (For Dummies), starting at $14.43
Home » Case
Antec Sonata Plus 550 Case Review
Author: Gabriel Torres
Type: Reviews Last Updated: November 29, 2007
Page: 10 of 10
Real-time pricing for Antec BP550PLUS.
Antec BP550 Plus 550W ATX12V V2.3 Modular Power Supply BA31527 Electronics Used and New Usually ships in 24 hours
Amazon: $54.99 Buy.com: $69.55
Newegg: $54.99

Conclusions
Hardware Secrets Golden Award

This is definitely a high-end case using top-notch finishing and features. In fact it has features that we’ve only seen before on bigger cases. Its size, by the way, is very much appreciated. Even though gamers don’t seem to mind owning big cases (especially when they want to impress their friends), usually average users and eventual gamers prefer cases that won’t take up a lot of their working space.

Noise was the main concern of Antec when developing this case, as it has a plastic layer attached to the side panels and a suspension mechanism for the hard disk drives in order to reduce the noise produced by the PC.

So even though this case may look small and not aggressive-looking to users used to big cases, don’t be fooled by its looks. It is indeed a high-end case with top-notch manufacturing quality.

Its black automotive painting is flawless and this is a heavy case (26 Lbs or 12 Kg). Just to put things into perspective, Sonata III 500 from Antec has the exact same size but weights 20 lbs (9 Kg).

Another thing that makes this case great is its power supply: it comes already with an Antec Neo HE 550 installed, which is a very good power supply that we personally recommend.

We could only find three negative points on this case. First is pricing. Costing around USD 180 it is definitely not an option to all users, but when you think that it comes already with a power supply that alone costs between USD 100-120 then you can see that this product is not as expensive as it seems, especially because we are talking about a high-end product here.

Second, we don’t like the fact that the motherboard tray is permanently attached to the case. A removable tray makes the motherboard and smaller components like CPU and memories easier to install. On the other hand this setup prevents noise: on cases where the tray can be unscrewed from the chassis the tray isn’t always perfectly fastened to the chassis, being a little bit loose, what generates noise.

And the third negative point in our opinion is the absence of an eSATA port on the frontal panel, especially on a case from this price range.

But we think that if you are looking for a high-quality case already coming with a very good power supply and fancy features – especially the way hard disk drives and optical drives are installed – and have USD 180 to spend you will love this case. It is by far one of the best cases we’ve seen to date, providing a good cost/benefit ratio to users that are looking for a true high-end case.

« Previous |  Page 10 of 10
Print Version | Send to Friend | Bookmark Article | Comments (0)

Related Content
  • Antec Sonata Elite Case Review
  • Antec Sonata Proto Case Review
  • Antec Kühler H2O 920 CPU Cooler Review
  • Thermal Compound Roundup - July 2011
  • Thermal Compound Roundup - August 2011

  • Recommended Deal.
    Otter APL2-I4SUN-E9-E4OTROtter APL2-I4SUN-E9-E4OTR

    Otterbox Defender Series for iPhone 4 & 4S 1 Pack Retail Packaging Peony Pink/Deep Plum OtterBox APL2-I4SUN-E9-E4OTR MB-OT-009993 Cell Phones Accessories Amaz

    Amazon: $32.61

    RSSLatest News
    Corsair Upgrades GS Series Power Supplies
    May 17, 2012 - 12:49 PM PST
    New 140 mm Case Fans from Arctic
    May 17, 2012 - 12:47 PM PST
    Intel Intros New Intel Xeon Processors
    May 15, 2012 - 5:04 PM PST
    Transcend Launches mSATA SSD Drives
    May 11, 2012 - 8:56 AM PST
    NVIDIA Launches GeForce GTX 670
    May 10, 2012 - 7:44 AM PST
    .:: More News ::.




    © 2004-12, Hardware Secrets, LLC. All rights reserved.
    Advertising | Legal Information | Privacy Policy
    All times are Pacific Standard Time (PST, GMT -08:00)