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CES 2006 Main Show Floor - Part II
Introduction
Another year has come and gone, and our CES 2006 Coverage is almost coming to a close as well. So far we have covered CES: Unveiled, Lunch @ Pieros, Pepcom Digital Experience, the Car Audio Show Floor, and the first half of our Main Show Floor coverage. Today we bring you coverage of ten more companies including Antec, Cooler Master, COWON, SilverStone Technology, Microsoft, SanDisk, Dell, Samsung Camera, LG, and finally, BenQ. Antec is the only company in our coverage that wasn't actually on the showfloor, but we did meet with them in their private Bellagio suite where they were showing off their new products for 2006. I know the suspense must be killing you, so let's get to the good stuff. Antec You may recall that we met with Antec privately at the Bellagio last year, and this year's meeting was no different. Well, it was a little different. We quickly noticed that they had a much nicer view than last year.  The first case we saw when we entered the room was the Fusion HTPC case. This is the latest in the LifeStyle series of cases and it features a beautiful aluminum front bezel plate with built-in VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display), stealthed bottom 5.25" bay, Volume control which works with Media Center applications, front I/O ports (1 Firewire, 2 USB, Mic In, Audio Out), and a 430W power supply. The cases supports the Micro ATX form factor (9.6" x 9.6") and has 4 PCI slots and 3 drive bays (1 x 5.25" and 2 x internal 3.5"). The case uses a three-chamber thermal design to isolate the different components. One chamber houses the hard drives while another contains the power supply and optical drive leaving the third chamber for the motherboard, CPU, graphics card and everything else. Two Tri-Cool 120mm fans pull air through the back of the case and exhaust the air out the right side. There is a small extendable duct which Antec includes and recommends using so air doesn't just flow through the corner of the case, but actually gets to your CPU cooler and other components before exiting the case. This case would look great whether on a desk or in the entertainment center.       The next case we saw was the NSK 2400 from the Solution Series. It's basically the same design, but there are a few differences. The PSU is 380W, the front bezel is plastic, it has no VFD or volume control, and there is no Firewire port in the front.   Three more new cases were launched at CES in Antec's Solution Series: the NSK 6500, NSK 4400, and NSK 3300. These three cases are basically the same thing scaled down as you go from the 6500 model to the 3300. The NSK 6500 and 3300 both have a front I/O port with 1 x Firewire, 2 x USB, 1 x Mic In and 1 x Audio Out, while the NSK 400 only has 2 x USB ports. The NSK 6500 is equipped with a 430W power supply and there are 4 x 5.25" bays (there is an included 5.25" to 3.5" adapter for external 3.5" devices) and 5 x internal 3.5" bays. The internal 3.5" cage is removable and uses a side-facing rail system. There is a single 120mm exhaust fan and 2 x optional 92mm front intake fans. Air is brought into the case through the sides of the front panel, a CPU duct with optional 80mm fan, and a VGA vent.       The NSK 4400 comes with a 380W power supply, a single 120mm exhaust fan, 1 x optional 80mm fan, the same CPU duct and VGA vent, and has room for 3 x 5.25" devices, 2 x external 3.5" devices, and 3 x internal 3.5" devices. The internal 3.5" cage is removable, but does not use a railing system. Instead you must install drives with screws, and there are rubber grommets to reduce vibration.     The NSK 3300 is a MicroATX tower powered by a 300W PSU, has a dual-chamber thermal design (isolating PSU), has 1 rear 120mm exhaust fan and 2 x optional 92mm front intake fans, 2 x 5.25" (with one removable HDD bracket), 1 x external 3.5", and 1 x internal 3.5" (or 2 x 3.5" if one is installed in 5.25" bay with included bracket). This case does not have ducts on the side panel, but since it's a small case the installed fans should do an adequate job of cooling.   The P150 is not a brand new case, but it is relatively new, having been released in the final quarter of 2005. As the name suggests, the case shares some similarities with the P180, which I reviewed recently. The most obvious similarity is the style of the front panel, while the other most notable similarity is the sound-deadening side and top panels - though the construction is different. The front panel has I/O ports (1 Firewire, 2 USB, Mic In, Audio Out), power/reset buttons, and 2 of the 4 5.25" bays are stealthed. The thermal design of this case is somewhat ordinary, using a 120mm rear exhaust fan to pull air into and through the chassis. Air inlets are found on the sides of the front panel, so as to keep a stylish and sleek front panel. You can optionally install two 92mm intake fans behind the front panel on a removable fan cage with fan filters included.      One of the really interesting things about this case is the design of the internal 3.5" drive cage. Not only is there a forward-sliding rail system for installing hard drives, but there is also a sort of bungee-suspension option. This is a totally toolless method of drive installation, and unless you go to LAN parties there shouldn't be any issues with the drives not being secure enough. As far as I know this is the first time this sort of drive installation has been implemented, and I think it's a really cool idea.    The Atlas is a new server case and the BK640B is a BTX case which we saw last year. The BTX format hadn't really caught on in 2005 so Antec delayed the launch of the BK640B until 2006. The Atlas is powered by an Antec TruePower 2.0 550W PSU and it has 8 drive bays in total (4 x 5.25" with one 5.25" to 3.5" adapter and 4 x internal 3.5" removable HDD trays with rubber grommets. The front panel has I/O ports (1 x Firewire, 2 x USB, Mic In, and Audio Out), and there is also the traditional front intake design. The thermal design of this case consists of a single rear 120mm TriCool fan, two optional 92mm front intake fans, a CPU duct with optional 92mm fan, and a VGA vent with optional 80mm fan.   The BTK640B is a MicroBTX case powered by a 380W PSU, has 6 drive bays in total (2 x 5.25", 2 x external 3.5", 2 x internal 3.5"), comes with front I/O ports (1 x Firewire, 2 x USB, Audio In, Audio Out), and the thermal design consists of the BTX Support Retention Module (SRM) and 2 optional rear 92mm exhaust fans.  
Page 1: Introduction / Antec
Page 2: Cooler Master Page 3: SilverStone Technology Page 4: Microsoft Page 5: COWON / SanDisk Page 6: Dell / Samsung Camera Page 7: LG / BenQ / Monorail / Conclusion 
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