Date: |
April 04, 2005 8:49 AM |
Price: |
$93.50 |
Sponsors: |
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Author: |
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Editor: |
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Score: |
8/10 |
A-Top Technology Gladiator ATX Case Case Exterior The Front Bezel The front bezel of the Gladiator is home to the most obvious feature of this case, the raised aluminum shield with A-Top's XBlade logo very prominently displayed. When I first had the case out of the box, I thought this shield was made of plastic. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this distinctive feature was, in fact, aluminum. I know, you're probably saying to yourselves, "If you had gone to the A-Top website first and read the specs, you would have known the shield was aluminum before you even opened the box!" You're right, of course, but that would also have given me a set of expectations and possibly influenced my views of this case before I had reviewed it, which would be a disservice to both you and A-Top. That's why I don't visit the product pages before I've finished my evaluations of products I'm reviewing.   
One of the nice things A-Top did with the door that hides the drive bays is left a bit of space for the knobs on fan controllers and other add-in accessories. This won't accommodate all fan controllers, but it should be enough of a gap to handle the majority of them.Also, if you look behind the shield, you'll see a pair of cold cathodes tucked back there. You'll need to use the inverter that comes with the included UV cold cathode to power them.  
The bezel as a whole is easily removed, just give it a solid tug straight back from the bottom. Don't pull too hard or you'll yank some of the wiring loose for the front USB and audio ports! Unlike some other cases I've reviewed, A-Top chose not to add screws to hold the bezel in place, which aren't necessary and I always take out and put into my extra screw pile anyway. If you look at the claws at the bottom of the bezel, you'll notice something different. Instead of having solid plastic or plastic with an inadequate number of holes drilled through it for the front intake fan, A-Top has a wire mesh. The mesh serves two purposes. One, it looks really cool. Two, it allows the intake fan to do its job. I also happen to like the choice A-Top made to put the Power and Reset buttons below the door, so you don't have to open the door to turn your PC on or perform a warm boot of your system while testing overclocking settings. I also like the fact that the buttons are reasonably sized, not gigantic and not microscopic. Some Reset buttons can be extremely difficult to use because they're so small.
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