Antec P183 Case Review Comment Thread

[lemonlime]

Originally Posted by From the Review

Ever since it was first released, the Antec P-series of enclosures have been at the forefront of the enthusiast mindset. From the dimunitive P150 to the high end P190, these cases are designed with cooling performance meshing seamlessly with amazingly good looks. In this review, we take a look at the new P183; the next evolution of the Performance One series from Antec.

Read the full review here.

[CMetaphor]

Nice review as always. But I do have one somewhat obvious question: How truly different is this case to a P182?

I see a few tweaks, a moved fan, the little fan controller switches on the back, but all in all it seems shockingly similar to what's essentially an old school grey steel case with plastic accents... lol.

I wonder if Antec will ever jump onto the Alu case bandwagon or at least start making designs that aren't a rehash of something old. In all honest, when you look at this case you can pick out parts that are the same as they were opve 10 years ago. For example, look at the bottom of the case - I nearly broke down laughing... Its your run-of-the-mill, flat piece of grey steel with the el cheapo plastic or rubbized feet.

To me, it seems like Antec is still trying to get rid of these cases by making minor tweaks to them that don't cost alot of money then pushing out the door in the vain hopes to getting some return on their investments - they probably made far far too many of the originals and now are stuck with them, lol. Just my $0.02.

[TopDogZero]

Very good review, but (yes there is a but ) I don’t really see how it a negative not having a painted interior since the case has no window, and if you where to mod a window in you’ll just end up losing the sound damping of the side panel, and probably why Antec has no panel with window option. As for the case itself, it looks good with the door closed but ugly with a capital U with it open.

To CMetaphor, if those feet are the same ones on my case (which they look like) then there are not plastic or rubberized, there actually very soft silicone the same material that is used for the hard drive dampeners, very good anti- vibration.

[lcdguy]

excellent review. It's too bad i already ordered one before the review :)

[lemonlime]

Thanks, all.

As I mentioned in the review, the P183 is very similar to the P182. Only subtle changes were made and they could have just as easily called it the "P182 Rev.2" or something of the sort. I only wish they had implemented some of the features found in the Mini-P180, like a painted black interior and larger exhaust fan.

TopDogZero: you have some very good points. The triple-layer construction of the side panel definitely requires it to be solid, and a window option would not have the same sound properties. Also, a painted interior is not very important without a side window, so it is actually a bit of a positive thing that it's a solid panel. I suppose I just wished it had both options available, as this is becoming ever more common in the industry. Overall, this was a very minor subjective gripe.

[MpG]

Originally Posted by CMetaphor

I wonder if Antec will ever jump onto the Alu case bandwagon or at least start making designs that aren't a rehash of something old. In all honest, when you look at this case you can pick out parts that are the same as they were opve 10 years ago. For example, look at the bottom of the case - I nearly broke down laughing... Its your run-of-the-mill, flat piece of grey steel with the el cheapo plastic or rubbized feet.

Meh, the styling may be old, or at the very least reserved, but I'd still take a boring Antec case over quite a few of the newer "high-end" cases. When it comes to shutting up a computer, not much beats steel panels and rubber mountings, certainly not the lightweight Al + toolless mounting slots that a lot of manufacturers are offering (Shame about those godawful Tricools, of course). And I'd seriously kill for a supply of that silicone rubber that Antec uses for their case feet and HDD mounting - absolutely amazing at deadening vibrations.

[Eagle Eye]

Greart review lemonlime.

Any chance you might review the P193 in the near future?

Regards,

EE

[enaberif]

powerful tri-cool fans?

hmm no.

But nice to see the other small changes.

[Eagle Eye]

Yeah I especially like the bottom fan in the front of the case really helped to improve HDD temperatures.

EE

[TopDogZero]

I think Antec needs to start using 3 pin fans in there case's but still use the 3 speed switch in case you go with molex.