We announced our new Forums last week and when we did we told you we would be having a giveaway. We really want people to join the forums and be active and we will be rewarding members that contribute to the ThinkComputers community. Our good friends at Antec were nice enough to provide 3 great prizes for us to give away to new forum members
Well as you may have guessed we did not make the trip over to Taipei for Computex this year. We would have loved to make it, but it wasn’t in the cards for us this year.
Antec is a staple in the power supply market around the world. Its Earthwatts line was introduced last year to target the green computing market. This line is designed to be sans no-frills, aside from partial modularity and 80PLUS certification.
Antec may be known for their gaming cases, but what about for those people that don’t like all of the fans, LEDs and like a nice and quiet case? Well Antec has a case for you! Today we have the chance to review the Antec Sonata Elite Mid Tower Case today
Antec is a company I usually don’t associate with cooling products, when I think of Antec I think of quality cases and power supplies. This year at CES Antec showed us a lot of new cases, but they were very excited about a new notebook cooler that they had developed. The Notebook Cooler Designer is a notebook cooler made for laptops up to 15-inches and features a 110mm fan that blows at a quiet 800RPM. The notebook cooler also has a very stylish design hence the name designer. Let’s take a look and see if the Notebook Cooler Designer is perfect for your laptop. Special thanks to Antec for providing us with the Notebook Cooler Designer for review. Features & Specifications Air Flow – At rated voltage zero static pressure (minimal value) 0.13 m³ / min (4.5CFM) Static Pressure – At rated voltage At zero air flow 2.5 mm-H 2 O (0.10″-H 2 O) Speed (Max.) 800RPM±200% Acoustical Noise 23 dBA Life – Continuous operating under normal temperature (25 °C or 77 °F) 20,000 hours Suitable for all Mac and PC notebooks with screens up to 15″ Efficient 110mm blower quietly operates at 800 RPM Slimline design helps improve ergonomics Low power consumption USB connector has a minimal impact on the life of your notebook’s battery Stylish aesthetics and subtle coloring complement nearly any notebook design Unit Dimension – 42mm (H) x 330mm (W) x 280mm (D) – 1.7″ (H) x 13.0″ (W) x 11.0″ (D) Package Dimension – 283mm (H) x 345mm (W) x 45mm (D) – 11.1″ (H) x 13.6″ (W) x 1.8″ (D) Weight – Net : 1.1 lb / 0.5 kg – Gross : 1.5 lb / 0.7 kg Packaging The Notebook Cooler Designer comes in a nice retail package from Antec. On the front there is a picture of the cooler and on the back there is a list of features.
The Performance One series of cases from Antec have been extremely solid and have been around for quite a while now. If you go to a LAN party you are sure to see a P180, P182, or even a P183 somewhere. All of the cases offer great cooling and a lot of storage room. Today we will be looking at the “big boy” of the Performance Once series the P193. This massive case is designed much like the P183 except it is much larger so you can fit pretty much anything inside of it! Let’s take a look at the P193 and see if it is the perfect case for you! Special thanks to Antec for providing us with the P193 Advanced Super Mid Tower to review. Dual chamber design isolates heat and noise: the power supply resides in a separate chamber to isolate heat and reduce system noise Fits heatsink fans up to 140mm : the P193’s superior cooling eliminates the need for larger heatsinks No power supply included Power supply option : comes with a power supply mounting adapter to mount either a standard size power supply or Antec’s exclusive CP Series power supply Innovative two-layer , sound-deadening side panels (steel, polycarbonate) and three-layer front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum) dampen noise and ensure Quiet Computing™ 11 drive bays – External 4 x 5.25″; 1 x 3.5″ – Internal 6 x 3.5″ for HDD – Internal 2 x 2.5″ SSD bottom-mounted drive bays Cooling system: – 1 rear (standard) 120mm x 25mm exhaust TriCool™ fan – 2 top (standard) 140mm x 25mm exhaust TriCool™ fan – 1 lower front chamber (optional) 120mm fan for HDD – 1 side (standard) 200mm fan for dual graphics cards – 1 upper front (optional) 120mm fan for HDD – 1 middle (optional) 120mm fan for graphic cards CPU cut-out allows for easy installation of CPU coolers Cable organizers behind motherboard tray minimize cable clutter Front-mounted ports provide convenient connections: – 2 x USB 2.0 – 1 x eSATA – Audio In and Out (HDA and AC97 compatible) Double hinged door opens up to 270º 7 expansion slots 0.8mm cold rolled steel chassis for durability Maximum video card size : 19″/483mm (Note: some video cards may require removal of the adjacent hard drive cage) Compatible Motherboards : Mini-ITX, microATX, Standard ATX and Extended ATX Net weight : 35.8 lbs / 16.25 kg Gross weight : 41.7 lbs / 18.9 kg Case dimensions: – 20.25″ (H) x 8.1″ (W) x 23.25″ (D) – Actual clearance needed for width is 9.5″ due to the side panel fan – 51.4 cm (H) x 20.5 cm (W) x 59 cm (D) Package dimensions : – 13.25″ (H) x 25.8″ (W) x 28.75″ (D) – 33.7 cm (H) x 65.5 cm (W) x 73 cm (D) What ’ s new in the P193 : – Front door vents, as well as wider vents along the door frame, improve airflow into the chassis. – Filters and filter doors are integrated as one unit
Antec’s Truepower line of power supplies has been around for several years now. ThinkComputers really liked the Truepower Quattro 1000W and the 850W . The former was one of the first recipients of my Editor’s Choice Award
Silverstone announced at CES 2010 that it would consolidate its power supply lines into a single line, the Strider series. The Striders are 80PLUS certified, with the Strider Plus models at 80PLUS Silver certified (85% efficiency)
Antec has always been known for making very reliable power supplies. They have done something a little interesting with their CP-Series power supplies though. They are designed differently so they are larger than most power supplies, which means they will only fit in certain cases
Antec’s Performance One series cases have been a staple in the computer case industry for quite a while. I know quite a few people that have had their Antec P180 and P182 cases for years now. Antec has once improved their current Performance One cases with the new P183
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