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From: John@Smith.com on 23 Jan 2006 03:32
I just got this at compusa cause theyve been having sales on MGEs the
last two months or so. The recent one was an ugly looking one which is
more suitable for a PC in the Power Rangers HQ rather than an adults
home but if you like that sort of thing I guess its OK.

The one I got which was a raincheck item from way back on Black Friday
sales is all silver and looks really nice in the pics and from the
front and sells for 45-69 online with 400 watt PS.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?ref=froogle&pfp=froogle&product_code=335517&cm_ven=froogle&cm_cat=&cm_pla=&cm_ite=feed

Its pretty much the basic case you see now , super simple design which
is good but kind of cheapo feeling bare. Basically 4 x 5.25 on top and
a 3.5 long cage that extends from the bottm of the 5.25 cage all the
way to the bottom of the case like they all do now. Theres a fan mount
infront of the 3.5 cage at the bottom as usual.

The bad parts. Really flimsy feeling like all cases now its light and
really has a tin foil kind feel to it. Also has a kind of bare simple
feel which is both good and bad. Has a low price feel to it.
Everything looks obviously plastic and spray painted closeup.

It looks unusually clean for a PC case but it has a faux alum look vs
the LAN BOY I bought which is really alum. This one has paper thin
steel which is painted silver everywhere or has silver painted
plastic. Another thing Im surprised at. Even the Super Lanboy Alum
Antec case I bought uses plastic panels for some parts that are
painted silver mainly the drive bay covers.

Its the usual deep design -- slightly deeper to reduce clutter from
drives intruding into the motherboard space and to accomodate really
long graphics cards like the new nividias. I was surprised after
measuring it the ANTEC super lanboy ISNT extra deep as I thought. They
solve the problem of lack of space for HDs intruding into the MB space
by turing them sideways and making the case a bit wider than most.
Also I never thought about it but the new PCI express MBs at least
mine does --- has the graphics card a bit lower in the MB since the
two PC express 1x slots are ABOVE the graphics card slot. So in the
SUPER LAN boy case since the HDs are sideways theres more room for the
long graphics cards eventhough the case outer dimensions dont measure
deeper than the older cases.

The MGE is just slightly deeper to solve the problem since the HDs
mount the usual way.

Another ususual thing it has smaller fan mounts -- 80mm old size
mounts and comes with one fan in back none in front. Most of the newer
cases I think have LARGE fan mounts. I think the Antec Lanboy uses
120mm front and back and comes with both fans the front one lights up
with a blue light which you can see through the grille.

The MGE style wise looks mature in a techy way, nice looking but looks
sort of cheap and feels flimsy though not a big deal. However I was
surprised at the CHEAPO feeling Power Supply 400 watt. I took it out
and did the gross weight test. Its the lightest ever PS Ive felt but
ALL the PSes Ive bought recently have a hefty kind robust feel to them
and look robust. This one looks kind of cheapo and is way way way
lighter than all the other ones Ive got - Antec. Maddog (super
flowers) Ultra X -- and even a 350 watt COMPUSA one I got for free
recently after rebate and even a BESTEC 300 watt that was in my new
COMPAQ system. Its clearly a cheapo PS far lighter than all my PSes.

Comes with instructions and box of screws and hook ups for the usual
stuff with some extra front plugs for sound and USB ports.

I bought it to transfer my Compaq 754 socket AMD 64 3200 guts to the
better looking case. Another unusual thing - its uses these bumps ,
little hills in the base of the case to hold the motherboard up
instead of spacers you screw in. It has screw holes you screw the MB
into these bumps. They give you some plast inserts to put in the bumps
that you cant use that might touch some circuits underneath your board
to insulate it. You can put some tape on it too I guess to do the same
thing. Frankly I want get another nforce3 motherboard.

Two things about moving these prebuilt PCs over to other cases etc. A
lot of people hate them because of proprietary aspects. The compaq is
relatively free from really weird things but it uses a motherboard by
aSUS a SIS chipset thats not sold to the public. Its very similar to
another SIS chipset MB sold by ASUS but has a slightly different model
number. It also doesnt fit exactly in the case. Theres slightly too
much space between the ports in the rear and the rear of the case than
usual. The POWER LED plug also doesnt match the motherboard. Its a
three pin insert and the MB only has space for a 2pin.

So Id rate the MGEs as avg CHEAPO. The PS seems frankly suspect. You
would probably get a better one from COMPUSA, MADDOG, etc without even
going up to the ANTEC level. The build quality is avg cheapo though
theres nothing super negative about the layout except maybe the small
fans which are slightly unusual if you want a large lower rpm fan. I
really like the looks of the MGE silver I got which is rare in cheaper
case which tend to look old fashioned or tacky so I give it a big plus
for that but if you can get the Super Lan Boy etc for around the same
price ---- it was 49 with rebate last week , Id much rather get that.
The superlanboy is alum, no PS though, but the overall design is
slightly better and so is the build quality though its also simple.

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