Computex 2010 (Part 1) - PAGE 2

COMPUTEX

If I had only one word to describe Computex, it would be big. The main exhibition hall is the size of a large warehouse, and is multiple levels. There were two additional exhibition halls in addition to that. 

Pretty much every big name you'd expect in PC hardware was there. In addition to a host of other lesser known companies, and some software companies, such as a small Linux contingent.

It would take about an entire day just to walk around the whole expo, and see it all for yourself. So we focused on a few key booths we wanted to check out in depth to report on.

ANTEC

For many hardware enthusiasts, ANTEC has a good reputation. Perhaps they are most highly regarded for their staple case gamer-case products, such as the reliable and cost-effective ANTEC 300, ANTEC 900, and P180. Antec was a must-stop visit for myself.

For us, the most exciting and interesting product they had on display was the bright yellow resurrected LanBoy Air. This was the first big public showing of this interesting case. 

The name LanBoy has been used in prior products, but not for a few years now. But this Computex, ANTEC brought it back -- in bright yellow.

While the name might imply a small case to carry about, the LanBoy is a larger mid-tower ATX case. The drive bays options are cooling potential are both huge. For the drives, you are looking at space for six 3.5 HDDs, and three 5.25" HDDs. For the cooling system, you have the potential of a whopping 12 fans -- not too shabby! That's one rear 120mm Antec TriCool fan, two front 120mm fans, two more side TriCool 120mm's, and then optional (not included) space for two 120mm top fans, two 120mm's that can be mounted over the CPU, and up to three 120mm fans for the hard drive cage. 

This case certainly earns the 'Air' name.

The biggest feature of the LanBoy Air is the options you have for customization of the case. The frame is mostly modular: screws holes abound over the frame, so you can add or remove different mounts, bars, and housing of a radiator.

No word on the price of this case but it is due as soon as August.  It will also come in a blue trim, if yellow ain't your thing.

The other star of the ANTEC booth this year was the Dark Fleet series.

The larger, full-sized DF-85, and smaller, mid-tower DF-30, seem to be aimed at no-mess-around gamers, with a battle-ready look that is heavy on the sharp angles. The cases are uniformly black with the DF-85's front fans red, and the DF-30's running blue LEDs. 

I am not sure if I've ever met anyone with 14 drives before, but if you do, and he needs a case, tell him about the DF-85. Besides the nice addition of internal SSD drive bay (which, undoubtly, will become more common as time rolls on) you get three 5.25" drives, and up to nine 3.5" drive bays. In addition you get four "Fleet-Release" drive bays, which allow you to hot swap your hard drives. Hot swap drive bays (allowing you to remove and connect internal hard drives while your computer is on) are a great feature to see, and having four -- well, that is four times as good.  But wait -- there is actually another 2.5" hot-swap SATA drive baty at the top, which can be used for solid state drives. 

As for cooling, coming with the DF-85 is two top 140mm TwoCool (two speed) fans, two rear 120mm TwoCool fans, and three red LED 120mm's up front. You also have a mount for a side 120mm fan, and accomodation for water cooling.

The Antec DF-30 has the same feature set as the DF-85, but it can handle a few less drive bays (11), and two fans in the front instead of three.

The DF series cases, and the LanBoy Air were the stand-outs for us, but it wasn't all that ANTEC had by a long shot. Besides a personal favorite, the P183 (pictured above), there was just about the entire ANTEC arsenal, as you can see in the video below.