New from Antec: P280 and Solo II

the P280 got rid of the useless PSU section divider, thankfully.... it was even worse for the mATX P180m variant.

EDIT: I say useless, since it was of questionable cooling performance gain on the ATX version, and dead piss useless on the mATX version.
 
where they trying to make me mad or would antec not let them take a shot of the front bezel of the Solo II (besides from the F*cking back)?
 
Long live the p180!

Time to start buying old stock...
 
jeremyshaw said:
the P280 got rid of the useless PSU section divider, thankfully.... it was even worse for the mATX P180m variant.

EDIT: I say useless, since it was of questionable cooling performance gain on the ATX version, and dead piss useless on the mATX version.
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I think there is still some merit to the PSU section divider of the P180/2/3. For one, the main system components don't have to put up with the heat generated by the hard drives, and only receive cool outside air (provided you don't use more than 4 HDD's). The divider on the P180 Mini is completely useless though, since the HDD cages are all located on the top section.

But I'm liking this new P280, I guess Antec read enough comments about how fugly the holes on the P183 door are. :eek:

Hopefully more manufacturers take note of the PSU dust filter accessible from the side. There are many cases with filters accessible only from the back, well most people put the back of their cases up against a wall = fail.

Power button behind the door still? meh.
 
anyone here or have removed the divider in the antec mini p180? I have an Intel dp55sb motherboard that does xfire/sli, i bought 2 cards that i would like to do sli but the divider is taking up space so i cannot install the 2nd card unless i removed the divider. anyone here have done so?
 
Loved my P182, big and heavy but quiet.
IMHO $169 for the P280 is steep; for the price I'd rather buy a Fractal Define R3 for $100-110 and put the other $60 towards better fans or something else.
 
for me antec is like the slowest and most bad case company from the mid-upper rank.

I bought the 1200 and I will never buy stuff from them again. totally backwards design.
 
I really loved my Antec Solo. I'm already considering swapping my just purchased 650D for a Fractal case - I would consider the Solo 2 if they had made the power supply mount on the bottom of the chassis.
 
velocityx said:
for me antec is like the slowest and most bad case company from the mid-upper rank.

I bought the 1200 and I will never buy stuff from them again. totally backwards design.
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I have to agree the new cases(p280 for example) look cheap, look at the cheap plastic insides, the drive holders are flimsy plastic, the fans look cheap, hell the side panels arnt even the same metal as the front...
 
86 5.0L said:
I have to agree the new cases(p280 for example) look cheap, look at the cheap plastic insides, the drive holders are flimsy plastic, the fans look cheap, hell the side panels arnt even the same metal as the front...
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That's why it's called a prototype.
 
the front

antec03.jpg
 
Thanks for posting. Do my eyes deceive me? or, has Antec finally implemented provisions to support a PSU with an intake at the bottom of the case? (fan intake with supporting air inlet and filtering) It appears so! Wonder if the prototype will be at all like what is eventually produced for consumers.
 
roadiemike said:
Thanks for posting. Do my eyes deceive me? or, has Antec finally implemented provisions to support a PSU with an intake at the bottom of the case? (fan intake with supporting air inlet and filtering) It appears so! Wonder if the prototype will be at all like what is eventually produced for consumers.
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We're still a ways away from final tooling and there are features that we aren't quite ready to talk about yet but you're right - many of the changes you're seeing here have been a long time coming.
 
Antec has to step there game up. IMO. There not what they use to be.
 
Antec_Jessie said:
We're still a ways away from final tooling and there are features that we aren't quite ready to talk about yet but you're right - many of the changes you're seeing here have been a long time coming.
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If these prototypes are a indication where Antec goes, then it goes in the wrong way unfortunately. Side panel and front dampening is cool - but useless when you let all the noise escape through the top of the case. All other major manufacturers start to use removable covers for these, i hope Antec will as well (other=Fractal, Lian Li, NZXT).

Secondly, seriously, plastic hard drive bays ? I hope it is just because of the prototype stuff, otherwise i would be seriously dissapointed.

Third, which is a generic complaint not just at Antec, but why the hell the manufacturers use rivet mounted hard drive bays ??? Use thumbscrews, or at worst screws.

If these cases will phase out the older cases, then all quality stuff left from Antec will be the Fusion case series, the rest will be in the "meh" category.
 
I'm not too sure about the p280. I will have to see final production. Hopefully they will also come in all black. I must say the Solo II is looking quite sexy! Someone must have realized how much love fractal was getting for their line of cases which are very similar to the p180 with some improvements. Hopefully Antec price's will be competitive with Fractals.
 
Cable management in the Solo II doesn't look great, but overall, these designs look like a very big improvement over current Antec cases.
faugusztin said:
IThird, which is a generic complaint not just at Antec, but why the hell the manufacturers use rivet mounted hard drive bays ??? Use thumbscrews, or at worst screws.
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Because using rivets is a hell of a lot cheaper.
 
I do like that P280. That might be my new case :) When are they due out?
 
I thought these new cases were a step in the right direction, compared to that Dark Fleet BS they pumped out. Even if it is a rehash of old designs.
I love Antec, I own the 1200 and 300, and had a Sonata III (gave it to my sister). My brother and cousin both rock the 902. But we got them when Antec was still tip of the spear. Nowadays, we have wandering eyes lol. Corsair, HAF, NZXT, they've come out guns blazing in the last year or two.
 
I've moved away from my first gen P180 simply because of how big a PITA it was to work in and am now sitting in a antec 300. Cerrently looking for something a bit quieter the P280 looks about right :)
 
Hey guys, thanks for all the feedback. I've sent some of it back to the design team and hope to have some more information for you in the coming days as people get back from Taiwan.
 
The most glaring cosmetic change for the P280 is that I'd move the front I/O panel to the top of the case. It's sort of surprising watching how long its taken for Antec to adapt to the ever evolving trends in the case market.
 
A white Solo II would be awesome.

But I'll probably end up getting it either way.
 
Solo II looks great, Just move the PSU to the bottom, figure out how to work the HDD cage with that (does it have to be attached to the 5.25" bays?).
 
We're still a ways away from final tooling and there are features that we aren't quite ready to talk about yet but you're right - many of the changes you're seeing here have been a long time coming.
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Antec_Jessie, can you offer any speculation as to when the SOLO II may appear in the retail channel ? Thanks !
 
Isn't the P280 supposed to be September 2011? Would be expecting some review units by now? Leaning toward a Corsair 650D, curious if the P280 can sway me. Very happy with my P182 over the past four years.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dglaP1NO08A

saw this last night.

I'm fairly positive I will buy the Solo II once available and rip out the 3.5" cage + drill out holes to mount a second SSD. Either on top of the holes already provided or attached to the bottom of the 5.25" Bays.

Pictures would have taken less bandwidth then the video (mostly because I don't understand what he's saying)

EDIT: here's snapshots of the video.

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Solo 2 looks pretty good for a low-mid range case antec p280...looks terrible
 
That is pretty sweet looking, the Solo 2. From the prototype, the P280 is questionable for sure.

Re-thinking if I need a 650D/280 size case for my next build, since it will just be a mobo, CPU + heatsink, RAM, one VGA, one SSD, 2 HDD, 1 DVDRW and maybe sound card. Doubt I'll ever go SLI.
 
Any new case needs to have USB 3 on the front panel. I've purchased only Antec cases for all my builds, going back 10 years now. However, I'm in the midst of a new build (mATX) and right now the In Win BR655 is going to get my money.

Antec quality, styling, design, and cost are placing them out of the market.

(My last Antec was a P183. The front bezel did not fit in the case. The metal tabs and the plastic "snaps" did not fit. It took me 30 minutes with a Dremel and various pliers to get the bezel to snap into place. I wouldn't be pleased with that lack of quality in $20 Rosewill, let alone an Antec flagship case costing well north of $100.)

Good luck with this.

Edited to add: I see the Solo 2 has been released just hours ago. It has 2x USB 2.0 and 2x USB 3.0 ports on the front. Good. It has Antec soundproofing. Good. The bad? It only comes with one fan and needs at least one more for airflow. The price is ridiculous. It is listed at $130. Its competition is all around the $65 price point. (See the In Win BR655 I mentioned, above. Look at the many other mid tower ATX cases. I don't see double the quality in the Solo 2. Too bad. If it were even CLOSE, I probably would've forked over some cash. Shrug. The free market at work.)
 
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c3k said:
Edited to add: I see the Solo 2 has been released just hours ago. It has 2x USB 2.0 and 2x USB 3.0 ports on the front. Good. It has Antec soundproofing. Good. The bad? It only comes with one fan and needs at least one more for airflow. The price is ridiculous. It is listed at $130. Its competition is all around the $65 price point. (See the In Win BR655 I mentioned, above. Look at the many other mid tower ATX cases. I don't see double the quality in the Solo 2. Too bad. If it were even CLOSE, I probably would've forked over some cash. Shrug. The free market at work.)
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What store has the Solo II?

Thanks,
 
c3k said:
. Its competition is all around the $65 price point. (See the In Win BR655 I mentioned, above. Look at the many other mid tower ATX cases. I don't see double the quality in the Solo 2. Too bad. If it were even CLOSE, I probably would've forked over some cash. Shrug. The free market at work.)
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more like ~80 bucks(H2, fractals, ETC), but yeah, its priced a little high, at 100 it would be forgiveable, 130 is another tier of case entirely
 
If it was $100 it would be passable because then at least it could compete mildly with the R3.
@ $120 retail, sorry....no way I'd buy a Solo II over (another) $100 R3 with better cable management capabilities, better cooling, and more HD spots.
I don't know why anyone else would buy this over an R3 either (unless they're willing to pay extra for the brand name and deal with having a worse internal configuration).

Looks great, just not $120 great. If this would have taken the place of the Sonata Proto and it's price point (around $60-$70), it would be a huge winner.
 
I don't know why anyone else would buy this over an R3 either
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At least for me, the side vent and top mounted external connections of the R3 move it out of contention ...
 
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