Ladies_and_gentlemen,_i_give_you_coprolitic

title: Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Coprolitic date: 2004-09-24 07:06:30

Goddamn, but this is one god-awful case. Any time I'm asked why we use Shuttles, I'm gonna give 'em an earful.

1. The electrical outlet in the back of the case is not part of the power supply; instead, it's connected by a three-inch cable to the actual power supply. There are three bare pieces of metal coming out the back of the outlet, which have three leads with those metal sleeves attached. Think old AT power supply switches.
2. The power supply is held in place by screws that go into the ventilation holes in the power supply case. There's a small chance they might actually be dual-purpose by design, but mostly it looks like they're using very short screws in order to avoid hitting anything inside.
3. The disk basket (what the hell is the right term? the metal bit that holds the CD, hard drive and a floppy) can't be removed (as it can in Shuttles), so installing the motherboard or hard drive is a huge pain in the ass.
4. The disk basket has a bracket that hangs underneath that is meant to hold the hard drive. There is a flange at one end where it slides into place, and at the other there is ONE screw holding it in place. Needless to say, that does not inspire confidence.
5. The disk basket looks like the space for the floppy can hold a hard drive (like Shuttles). That's a lie. Because of the screws holding the front cover in place, it's about a quarter-inch too narrow for a hard drive.
6. The clearance on either side of the hard drive bracket is very narrow, so it's difficult to guess which end is meant to go in first. I tried one side only to find that the electrical connector wouldn't allow the case to close.
7. The disk basket is just a little off-center. (It was the office Apple guy who noticed this.) That means the hard drive must go in so the electrical connector goes on the wider side, right? Right -- but it still doesn't let the case close nicely. It'll do it, but it causes cringing when you think of the electrical connector being squished up like that.
8. Getting the IDE cable to go to the hard drive is a huge pain in the ass. The orientation of the motherboard (VIA 1000, I believe) put the first IDE connector on one side of the case, and the disk basket -- naturally -- put the hard drive connector at the other end. It'll go, but it causes cringing when you think of how much you had to crimp the IDE cable to get it to work.

I may put in more later as therapy brings back more memories. But for the love of everything you hold holy, stay away from this case. That's the Checkercube case, available at http://www.checkercube.com; it sucks ass through a straw. You got that, Google?