Intro

I have been through a lot of PC cases as of late, but none of them were designed to be a Home Theater PC (HTPC). PC's are proliferating into every day life, from out of the office into the living room, and even to the kitchen! Ahanix has seen this development and is meeting it head on with a large selection of products to encase the a full media center.

Since Microsoft developed the XP Media Center Edition OS, controlling your entertainment couldn't be any easier. Ahanix is leading the way with many peripherals in the HTPC market for the end user. No, they were not the first, but are definitely one of the current leaders. Ahanix had their line of HTPC cases out for a while now and have recently released there own media accessories that complement their HTPC line.

What Ahanix has bestowed upon PimpRig this time is a D.Vine 4 Home Theater PC case. This case is one of 6 in the D.Vine series all designed for the HTPC use. The spec sheet is as follows.

Specs

Features:
- Standard VFD Driver for Windows XP Media Center Edition
- Standard VFD Software for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
- Pre-Installed Vacuum Flourescent Display (VFD)
- Supports mATX & Standard ATX motherboards
- Pre-Installed Silent HTPC 350W Power Supply w/ SATA Connector Rear Fan Mount with 80mm included
- Pre-Installed Two Silent Fans
- Standard 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x Firewire Ports

Specs:
- Case Type/ Dimension: Desktop/ 17.13" W x 7.13" H x 16"
- Available Colors: Black, Silver
- Material: Aluminum
- M/B Type/ Dimension: mATX / Standard ATX (12" W x 10" D)
- PSU Type/ Dimension: Standard ATX 350W (5.88"W x 3.38" H x 6.32" D)
- VFD Type: Samsung VFD/ Parallel Port Connector
- Rear Fan(s): 2 x 60mm Pre-Installed/ 20mm Thick/ Ball/ 29CFM/16dBA
- External 5.25" Bay 2
- External 3.5" Bay 0
- Internal 3.5" Bay 2
- Expansion Slots 7
- Installation CD User's Manual, VFD Software, VFD Driver for Media Center Edition
- Case Height 7.13"(w/ feet), 6.44"(w/o feet)
- Compatible OS Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/XP Media Center Edition
- Weight 17.4 lbs (w/o Package) 20.6 lbs (w/ Heavy-Duty Package)

At the time of this review there wasn't an installation CD, I had to download all drivers from Ahanix.

Package

The first thing you always want to do upon receiving a package is examine the box. To this date I have been lucky enough to not have received an item too badly damaged (knock on wood). Taking a close look at the box I noticed a crushed corner, but the box had a label that read, "Double Box Required for UPS, FedEx, and USPS Shipping." so my worries were alleviated until I opened the box. The box was never double boxed, but the foam inserts were just barely enough to protect this case from the obvious smash to the corner from the FedEx Team. I remember the last package received from Ahanix was in mint condition because it was double boxed.

Inside there was a quick installation guide / instructions on how to acquire the drivers for the VFD, set up, and install everything for it to operate with each OS. Keep in mind that the retail package includes a driver CD, but its nice to know they are available on the net. Also included was a spec sheet for SATA HDDs that require 3.3 volts.

The foam that secures the case is 1½ inch thick and is shaped to support the case in the box.