Most custom-built PCs today have gaudy cases, with flashy blue neon lights, and LED fans. Antec is taking a different approach with the new minimalistic Mini P180 mini-tower case, which builds on top of their award winning P180 and P182 cases in a compact design, perfect for LAN parties. How does it perform? Is it worth the money? Find out after the jump.

Antec has had the “Perfomance One” series for a while now, with huge critical acclaim. The Mini P180 is the newest case in this superb lineup. This is the smaller version, but don’t kid yourself that it is a tiny case compared to most more expensive products.

While most cases seem to be made of cheap, thin steel, the Antec Mini P180 feels like the most solid case I have ever used. The side panels are coated with a three-layer system (Aluminum, Plastic, and Aluminum). This helps to substantially cut down on the sound. Also, there is a 200mm fan on the top of the case, which not only improves the air flow, but runs quietly, due to the size. The ratio of heat to sound can also be controlled by a fan controller on the back, with separate switches for the top 200mm fan and the rear 120mm fans.

The Mini P180 also features 8 drive bays, including two removable 3.5” sections with 5 slots in total. These can be moved around to accommodate full size ATX parts, such as a graphics card in a MicroATX case. The front of the case has a 270 degree swinging hinge door, which hides the optical drives, fan filters, and power buttons. This door does not seem nearly as intrusive or useless as other cases I have seen. The front of the case also features 2 USB ports, audio out and in ports, and an eSATA port. The eSATA port comes with a converter cable to just plug into your motherboard’s SATA port, without any specialized hardware.

The interior of this case is where the Antec design really shines. The interior is complete flat black (in the black edition, which we reviewed), which while it looks great, isn’t the main point of focus. All of the design that went into the functionality of this case is immense. The removable hard drive bays make it simple to change a hard drive, and don’t require any screws. The drives are mounted on removable trays, with silicon grommets to help reduce the vibration coming from hard drives to prevent wear on the drive, and sound coming from the case. The cable management system is also great if you are obsessive about obtaining maximum airflow and looks by routing every cable meticulously.

While this case does not include a power supply, Antec shipped us this case also with a NeoPower 650watt power supply. This is a great power supply from my testing. Unlike other manufactures that don’t deliver the labeled amount of power, Antec pulls through. There is a modular cable system that allows you to plug in only the cables you need, which also reduces clutter and improves airflow. This power supply is also nVidia SLI certified, so it will work with dual video card setups.

Overall, Antec really has a great thing on their hands with the entire “Perfomance One” P series line of cases. Between the simple and elegant look of the case, and the great internal design, I would recommend this case to anyone looking to build a MircoATX computer.

The Antec Mini P180 currently retails for $160 without a power supply, and comes in white or black. Find it at Amazon.com here.

Pros

• Excellent cable management.
• Nearly silent.
• Stylish black interior.

Cons

• Price.
• No included power supply.

The $99 Linux PC, also known as Zonbu, has arrived at the Connect HQ in all it’s “green” glory. The Zonbu has a 1.2GHz VIA processor, 512MB of RAM plus a 4GB of CompactFlash-based local storage. What’s interesting about the device is that it backs up all of your data, documents, and everything else on Amazon’s S3 backup service. Which means, if you have another Zonbu in the house, you can sign-on to your account and access all of your files. This does also mean you need a Broadband internet connection to use the Zonbu but almost every household in the US and Canada already does have this capability. Plans start at $12.95 a month for 25GB of online storage, all the way up to $19.95 a month for 100GB of online storage. The Zonbu is based off of Gentoo Linux which means it’s stable and can handle almost everything you throw at it.

It won’t replace your main PC, but the idea of having a second small PC around for guests is great. Full review of Zonbu coming soon!

This is one of our first reviews venturing into the computer mod market and enthusiast area and we thought we’d start with a case review by a well-known maker of computer enclosures, Antec. Today, I take a look at the Antec Nine Hundred.
The Antec Nine Hundred is geared at gamers who want the best out of the system with killer cooling. The case uses a huge 200mm fan at the top of the case to prevent overheating and pushing heat out of the case. Antec bills this case as the most versatile gaming case ever, and it truly is. The two hard drive cages and the full front of the case act as air ducts in order to take more air in and push it out the back. This makes for a excellently cooled case.

Now for some specs.

• Advanced cooling system:
  - 1 top 200mm TriCool fan with 3-speed switch control
  - 1 rear 120mm TriCool fan with 3-speed switch control
  - 2 front 120mm special black TriCool blue LED fans with 3-speed switch control to cool HDDs
  - 1 side (optional) 120mm fan to cool graphic cards
  - 1 middle (optional) 120mm fan to cool CPU or graphic cards
• 9 Drive Bays
  - External 3 x 5.25″; Internal 6 x 3.5″ for HDD, or
  - External 6 x 5.25″; Internal 3x 3.5″ for HDD, or
  - External 9 x 5.25″
• Motherboard: Fits micro and standard ATX
• 7 Expansion Slots
• Top I/O
  - Power & reset button with blue LED
  - 2 x USB 2.0
  - 1 x IEEE 1394
  - Audio In and Out

The Nine Hundred was easy to get everything installed in with plenty of room for expandability. The case’s two hard drive cages are removable for easy installation and have the ability to have fans added to them to keep them extra cool.

Now, one major thing that you may be worried about is the noise level of the fans. The case has adjustable fan speeds (low, medium or high) that keep the case cooler or less noisy. I found the medium setting kept the case cool without being excessively loud.

Gamers are known to like to add case lights, and while the Nine Hundred isn’t too flashy, which I personally like, it does have some lights. The two 120mm fans in the front have blue LEDs built into them. The lights are not optional and could not be turned off.

Overall, the Nine Hundred is surprisingly good at keeping things cool and has many options for expanding your PC. This one is in the record books. Besides being loud at times, this case is highly recommended. You can find the Antec Nine Hundred for $100-$110 depending on where you buy it.

Editor’s Note: I would also like to thank Antec for sending us in addition to the Nine Hundred.

Pros

• Extremely good at cooling.
• Huge 200mm fan on top of case.
• Cheap in price.
• Easy to expand.

Cons

• Noisy at times.

Final Verdict
5 out of 5 stars.

As I mentioned before, this microphone fits perfectly into the podcaster’s budget. Starting from $99 USD and up, depending on where you find it, you can start your own podcast or regular audio recordings easily. The Blue Snowball USB microphone comes with a tripod stand and USB cable, which allows you to start right out of the box with no drivers or software required. The Snowball works on Macs or PCs using GarageBand or Audacity, respectively, or any other available audio recording utility. Getting the Snowball to work is as simple as can be. Just screw on the stand, plug in the USB cable, and you’re good to go.

Recording with the Snowball was excellent and as flawless as possible. The Snowball microphone has a three-pattern switch on the back for cardioid, cardioid with -10dB pad and Omni-directional settings. We tested all three settings in our testing and they all worked like a charm. One small feature of the microphone is that it features a built-in pop filter for blocking out un-wanted noises.

Audio quality on this microphone is excellent; using an all-digital connection (USB) there was no extra work to be done with tweaking audio levels.

Overall the Snowball worked great in our audio tests and no flaws were shown in the testing of this device. The Blue Snowball USB microphone is available on online retailers today for as low as $99 USD. Check out Blue Microphones’ website for more information.

Editor’s Note: When we received the Blue Snowball USB microphone, we noticed that the recording levels were unrealistically low. Other customers were experiencing the same problem at the time of shipment. Blue Microphone later fixed this issue with a firmware update.

Pros
- Exceptional sound quality.
- Easy installation.

Cons
- None (read editor’s note for more information)

Spark’d Rating: 5-out-of-5 sparks – Editor’s Choice rating.