Exterior Inspection:
The first thing I noticed about this case is the unusual design of the front door. Where most cases have either a flat front, or a design attached to a flat door, the door on this case is made to look like a wave. This gives it a neo-professional, art-deco look. The door has a very high gloss finish, which reminds me of a piano.
Opening the door to the case you are able to see the various drive bays. There are four (4) 5.25 drive bays and two (2) 3.5 drive bays. You will also find the normal power and reset buttons. Below the drive bays are the openings for the 120mm front intake fan. This area has not been neglected with a dull finish, rather it has a gloss finish like the front of the case, but it is not as high of a gloss as the front.
Further opening the front panel you will find where to install your drives (or other drive bay accessories). This is done behind the panel as to give it a smooth look. Here you can also see the 120mm fan that rests behind a honeycomb opening. On the side of the panel you can see the three way locking mechanism. The first position locks the case, second position unlocks the front door, and the third position unlocks the final panel that gives you access to the drive bays.
One thing that has always annoyed me regarding intake fans is the amount of dust and small hair they suck into your case. Thermaltake has taken this little annoyance into consideration while designing this case. Behind the drive bay access panel, they have installed a removable filter in front of the 120mm fan!
For the side panel, they have installed a window in the shape of an X, two latches, an 80mm intake fan (which also includes a fan grill with very small holes that will minimize the intake of any small particles), and they have engraved their Thermaltake name and case name on the side panel. One of the latches also provides the security of a lock. One lock is sufficient, but a second one would have been a nice touch, especially since this case is designed to sit in a high traffic area, not tucked away in a corner. The included fan is a standard 80mm fan, which is replaceable if you prefer to put on a LED fan.
On the backside of the case you will find very little unusual. There are the normal expansion slots, standard power supply opening, and the rear 120mm exhaust. If you look closely, you can see the large thumbscrews used to screw the main side panel to the case. I really like these thumbscrews! Even though normal thumbscrews are easy to remove, these are even easier for those of us with large hands.
Instead of disturbing the flow of the front case door, Thermaltake has installed two (2) USB 2.0, one (1) Firewire 1394, and a headphone/microphone jack on the top of the case. These should be easily accessible in most installations.
 
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