Zap
Elite Member
I had bought the Chenming case (in black, 'cause as everyone knows black computers are faster) and it sat around for 2 weeks until I got time to mess with it. I knew that aluminum cases were lightweight but I was suprised at how lightweight this Chenming case was even compared to my other aluminum case (a Raidmax-style with X side window). I recalled reading reviews of the Antec LAN BOY case that exclaimed how lightweight the case felt. At the time I chalked it up to the reviewers being on their first aluminum case... until I got this case. Today I came across two different Antec LAN BOY case reviews and read them more carefully. Sure 'nuff, the underlying chassis is identical to my Chenming case. So, just as a service to everyone here, I'm going to list the similarities and differences, and give my mini-review focusing on things I have NOT seen mentioned in other reviews. I have come to the conclusion that both are good, but having a CHOICE is better. If you were considering a LAN BOY or similar case, this should be of interest. Note that I have not actually seen a LAN BOY in person, but am 99% sure that the chassis is identical to the Chenming that I own.
WHAT'S SIMILAR?
The basic aluminum chassis is identical. This is probably the thinnest and flimsiest sheet aluminum I've ever seen in a case. Next to these, LianLi and CoolerMaster cases are tanks. Thin and flimsy also means they'll be REALLY, REALLY easy to mod. The case is VERY small, meaning if you have a large motherboard that uses the last row of mounting holes on the motherboard tray, you WILL NOT be able to use the bottom two 5¼" drive bays for any normal sized optical drive. I don't recall any LAN BOY review mentioning this. This can be a definate problem if you need to use those bays for that purpose and have a large motherboard, but probably won't be an issue for most people's configurations. The case is also on the short side. My Epox 8RDA+ motherboard had to be angled and manouvered to get it into the case. One final thing to reduce the size of the case is how the expansion cards bolt in from the OUTSIDE of the case, covered by that long plastic wart which doubles as a spare screw holder. Overall this makes for a smaller case than most people are accustomed to seeing outside of the mATX form factor. The motherboard tray is non-removable. Not an issue for me, but I know some people like removable trays. The side of the case behind the motherboard is of one piece with the top, and which is riveted to the rest of the chassis. I think that this was necessary to help make such a flimsy case much more rigid. The mounting area for the power supply has two layers of metal, probably to keep the case from distorting** due to heavier power supplies. The second layer of metal is on the inside of the case and seems to be the regular sheet metal found in most cheap^H^H^Hinexpensive cases.
There is one 80mm case fan spot in the rear, with enough space to carve out a 92mm hole, or even go extreme with a 120MM hole. The fan grill is just punched out of the case but unlike most designs that block more air than lets through, this hardly impedes airflow. The holes are a hex design/pattern such as found on the Thermaltake Spark 7 HSF. The 5¼" drive bays use rails which are hidden on the punch-out behind the face plates. The front of the chassis has decent ventilation holes, including ones just in front of the 3½" hard drive bays. Below the removable 3½ bays is a plastic clip which doubles as a fan holder and a full-length interface card support. Minus power supply the bare case weighs about as much as the side cover to the Antec 1080AMG I used to have. The case does not have any extraneous holes to screw up airflow - a BIG PLUS in my mind. Air can only come in the front and can only exit the rear. The side panels do not have holes in them and the rear does not have holes in it except where fans are already forcing air out.
**Speaking of distorting, my Chenming case arrived with the bottom bulged in around two of the feet. The cardboard shipping box was undamaged and was double layer, with nice thick styrofoam, so I don't know how/why it became damaged. Perhaps someone pressed down on it too hard, LOL. Anyways, my case will forever lean drunkenly to the right about a degree.
WHAT'S DIFFERENT?
Color choice: Antec's offering is only available in silver while Chenming offers both silver and black.
Power supply: Antec bundles the SmartBlue 350 power supply with the LAN BOY. Chenming offers a "Foxconn Austin 380W" power supply, plus also sells the case without a power supply.
Side panel: The LAN BOY has a side window while the Chenming does not.
Front panel: Next to the side window this is probably the most externally visible difference between the two brands. The LAN BOY has a door covering the 5¼" drive bays while the Chenming does not. Personally I DO NOT LIKE those doors. The door on the 1080AMG case I used to have broke. Broke very easily. Additionally, I do not like having to open the door to access the drives. What if your CDR software ejects the tray? What if you have an LCD display or temperature guage that needs to be mounted there? I think the purpose of the door is to hide drives that do not match the case color, but my solution (besides buying the black Chenming and buying easily available black drives) is to stealth my drives. This is just a personal preference, however, and I've heard some people mention that they LIKE doors over the drives. Now, below all the external drive bays are the vents. Both cases have very good front airflow - something which seems to have slipped the mind of many case designers. [RANT] I don't know how many cases - too many - that I've seen with a place at the bottom front of the chassis to mount a fan, but the designer FORGOT TO PUT SUITABLE VENTS INTO THE FRONT PLASTIC FACE. Useless! [/RANT] Let me reiterate, these two cases have AWEsome front venting. I think the Chenming is a smidgen better, but could be wrong.
Included accessories: Chenming doesn't. Antec includes those carrying straps. Gotta admit that the straps are cool. For years I've played around with the idea of mounting a handle on the top of my computer. However, I've always nixed the idea because all of my computers can be carried under one arm - I just have to pick it up with both hands. Still, the carrying straps are a cool bonus.
Price: Pricing from Newegg.com on 4/4/03, using COST+SHIPPING format. The LAN BOY bundle runs $90+18. The Chenming w/o power supply runs $30+13 for either color. With power supply runs $47+10 for silver, $49+10 for black. Don't know why the price discrepancy between the colors. [RANT] Of course Newegg plays their shipping game. $13 to ship a 5 pound case while shipping the SAME case plus the added weight of a 380W power supply costs $3 less? C'mon, stop playing games with us and just price the damn thing at $35+8. Who ya foolin'? [/RANT]
WHICH CASE IS BEST?
Depends on your needs and your preferences. There is no "best" because these cases are the same. You're paying differently for different accessories bundled with the bare chassis, otherwise these are similar values. Decide if you want the carrying strap or the side window. What color case? Could you use the power supply or do you already have one? Make your choice based on those things.
I personally went with the black Chenming w/o power supply because I didn't need the power supply, carrying strap and side window, plus I'd rather have black (already had three silver cases and no black) and I really don't like the door over the external 5¼" drive bays.
WHAT'S SIMILAR?
The basic aluminum chassis is identical. This is probably the thinnest and flimsiest sheet aluminum I've ever seen in a case. Next to these, LianLi and CoolerMaster cases are tanks. Thin and flimsy also means they'll be REALLY, REALLY easy to mod. The case is VERY small, meaning if you have a large motherboard that uses the last row of mounting holes on the motherboard tray, you WILL NOT be able to use the bottom two 5¼" drive bays for any normal sized optical drive. I don't recall any LAN BOY review mentioning this. This can be a definate problem if you need to use those bays for that purpose and have a large motherboard, but probably won't be an issue for most people's configurations. The case is also on the short side. My Epox 8RDA+ motherboard had to be angled and manouvered to get it into the case. One final thing to reduce the size of the case is how the expansion cards bolt in from the OUTSIDE of the case, covered by that long plastic wart which doubles as a spare screw holder. Overall this makes for a smaller case than most people are accustomed to seeing outside of the mATX form factor. The motherboard tray is non-removable. Not an issue for me, but I know some people like removable trays. The side of the case behind the motherboard is of one piece with the top, and which is riveted to the rest of the chassis. I think that this was necessary to help make such a flimsy case much more rigid. The mounting area for the power supply has two layers of metal, probably to keep the case from distorting** due to heavier power supplies. The second layer of metal is on the inside of the case and seems to be the regular sheet metal found in most cheap^H^H^Hinexpensive cases.
There is one 80mm case fan spot in the rear, with enough space to carve out a 92mm hole, or even go extreme with a 120MM hole. The fan grill is just punched out of the case but unlike most designs that block more air than lets through, this hardly impedes airflow. The holes are a hex design/pattern such as found on the Thermaltake Spark 7 HSF. The 5¼" drive bays use rails which are hidden on the punch-out behind the face plates. The front of the chassis has decent ventilation holes, including ones just in front of the 3½" hard drive bays. Below the removable 3½ bays is a plastic clip which doubles as a fan holder and a full-length interface card support. Minus power supply the bare case weighs about as much as the side cover to the Antec 1080AMG I used to have. The case does not have any extraneous holes to screw up airflow - a BIG PLUS in my mind. Air can only come in the front and can only exit the rear. The side panels do not have holes in them and the rear does not have holes in it except where fans are already forcing air out.
**Speaking of distorting, my Chenming case arrived with the bottom bulged in around two of the feet. The cardboard shipping box was undamaged and was double layer, with nice thick styrofoam, so I don't know how/why it became damaged. Perhaps someone pressed down on it too hard, LOL. Anyways, my case will forever lean drunkenly to the right about a degree.
WHAT'S DIFFERENT?
Color choice: Antec's offering is only available in silver while Chenming offers both silver and black.
Power supply: Antec bundles the SmartBlue 350 power supply with the LAN BOY. Chenming offers a "Foxconn Austin 380W" power supply, plus also sells the case without a power supply.
Side panel: The LAN BOY has a side window while the Chenming does not.
Front panel: Next to the side window this is probably the most externally visible difference between the two brands. The LAN BOY has a door covering the 5¼" drive bays while the Chenming does not. Personally I DO NOT LIKE those doors. The door on the 1080AMG case I used to have broke. Broke very easily. Additionally, I do not like having to open the door to access the drives. What if your CDR software ejects the tray? What if you have an LCD display or temperature guage that needs to be mounted there? I think the purpose of the door is to hide drives that do not match the case color, but my solution (besides buying the black Chenming and buying easily available black drives) is to stealth my drives. This is just a personal preference, however, and I've heard some people mention that they LIKE doors over the drives. Now, below all the external drive bays are the vents. Both cases have very good front airflow - something which seems to have slipped the mind of many case designers. [RANT] I don't know how many cases - too many - that I've seen with a place at the bottom front of the chassis to mount a fan, but the designer FORGOT TO PUT SUITABLE VENTS INTO THE FRONT PLASTIC FACE. Useless! [/RANT] Let me reiterate, these two cases have AWEsome front venting. I think the Chenming is a smidgen better, but could be wrong.
Included accessories: Chenming doesn't. Antec includes those carrying straps. Gotta admit that the straps are cool. For years I've played around with the idea of mounting a handle on the top of my computer. However, I've always nixed the idea because all of my computers can be carried under one arm - I just have to pick it up with both hands. Still, the carrying straps are a cool bonus.
Price: Pricing from Newegg.com on 4/4/03, using COST+SHIPPING format. The LAN BOY bundle runs $90+18. The Chenming w/o power supply runs $30+13 for either color. With power supply runs $47+10 for silver, $49+10 for black. Don't know why the price discrepancy between the colors. [RANT] Of course Newegg plays their shipping game. $13 to ship a 5 pound case while shipping the SAME case plus the added weight of a 380W power supply costs $3 less? C'mon, stop playing games with us and just price the damn thing at $35+8. Who ya foolin'? [/RANT]
WHICH CASE IS BEST?
Depends on your needs and your preferences. There is no "best" because these cases are the same. You're paying differently for different accessories bundled with the bare chassis, otherwise these are similar values. Decide if you want the carrying strap or the side window. What color case? Could you use the power supply or do you already have one? Make your choice based on those things.
I personally went with the black Chenming w/o power supply because I didn't need the power supply, carrying strap and side window, plus I'd rather have black (already had three silver cases and no black) and I really don't like the door over the external 5¼" drive bays.
