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At work I have an XPS 710 and I love the case. It did not look that impressive in pictures and I thought the lights look cheesy in pictures (not a big fan of extra / bright lights on cases) but this case is *beautiful* in person. The lights are controllable through software and in the BIOS, which is awesome! The new HP blackbird looks fantastic too. In addition the XPS case has very good ventilation AND is extremely quiet. And its very easy to work with.
I built an Antec P182 case build for someone else and I'm not impressed. Theres not enough room in this case in some dimensions despite being big enough. I had to take out one drive cage entirely to fit in a video card. The heatsink needed fins bent to avoid hitting the top fan. And it doesnt look anywhere near as nice and professional as a XPS case. It wasn't as quiet as an XPS either.
Don't like the current Lian Li cases - they are good quality but look aged and the front exposed bays look bad once you populate them with drives. They're not that quiet either. The one with the front door looks like an time traveller from 1997. I should know because I have a similar Lian Li case that I remember buying circa 1997.
I don't like the "fake mod" look (i.e. manufacturers trying to make a cheap case look like a mod, except failing badly with a gaudy design), or the cheap doo-dads and appendages sometimes bolted on aftermarket cases. They look like something Pontiac would have made. I don't like transparent or perforated side windows in most cases that use these (would prefer a quiet sound proofed door). When it comes to industrial design it looks like the big manufacturers still have an advantage - I wish Thermaltake, Lian Li, Antec, CoolerMaster and the less well known but large OEMs who make these cases would put out a case that can compete with the XPS and Blackbird (just guessing about the blackbird, never seen one in person) in both looks and practicality, quietness and ventilation. Many can compete in one of these areas but not all at the same time.
If I'm missing some obvious cases that can compete, please set me straight!
I built an Antec P182 case build for someone else and I'm not impressed. Theres not enough room in this case in some dimensions despite being big enough. I had to take out one drive cage entirely to fit in a video card. The heatsink needed fins bent to avoid hitting the top fan. And it doesnt look anywhere near as nice and professional as a XPS case. It wasn't as quiet as an XPS either.
Don't like the current Lian Li cases - they are good quality but look aged and the front exposed bays look bad once you populate them with drives. They're not that quiet either. The one with the front door looks like an time traveller from 1997. I should know because I have a similar Lian Li case that I remember buying circa 1997.
I don't like the "fake mod" look (i.e. manufacturers trying to make a cheap case look like a mod, except failing badly with a gaudy design), or the cheap doo-dads and appendages sometimes bolted on aftermarket cases. They look like something Pontiac would have made. I don't like transparent or perforated side windows in most cases that use these (would prefer a quiet sound proofed door). When it comes to industrial design it looks like the big manufacturers still have an advantage - I wish Thermaltake, Lian Li, Antec, CoolerMaster and the less well known but large OEMs who make these cases would put out a case that can compete with the XPS and Blackbird (just guessing about the blackbird, never seen one in person) in both looks and practicality, quietness and ventilation. Many can compete in one of these areas but not all at the same time.
If I'm missing some obvious cases that can compete, please set me straight!
