The ThermalTake DH-102 Home Theater case should be on your short list if you are looking for an awe-inspiring drop-dead gorgeous case. The front LCD panel is one of the most jaw-droppingly spectacular features you can find on a home theter PC. The front panel looks very beefy and sturdy, and has all of the hard physical buttons you’d expect to find on any top-tier audio/video gear.
Unfortunately the other parts of the case are not as impressive. The internal layout does provide a lot of extra room in which to work, but isn’t much better than a standard desktop case. The “tooless” features of this case really aren’t that tooless, as you must still mount the right side of your DVD drive with screws, and a third hard drive can only be mounted with screws.
The LCD touchscreen functionality is awesome, but sometimes has some focusing issues. Sometimes iMedian and Media Center will switch places, and it can be a painful chore getting them back to their proper places. This really isn’t the fault of the hardware, but of the Operating System and video card drivers. I’ve found that nVidia cards are better at handling this, as ATI’s drivers try to be more intelligent than you are.
Once you get the unit built, then these installation issues really won’t matter. You can fit up to five hard drives in this unit (if you outfit two with 5.25″ cage mounts), so this ThermalTake case can easily become a Media Server. It is relatively quiet, slthough not completely silent. Overall the DH-102 is very impressive, has great functionality, and will be the star jewel of your entertainment rack.
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