Hardware Moneual Moncaso 972 HTPC case review

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2009/08/27/moneual-moncaso972-htpc-case-review/1

Thinking of going to town on a top end home theatre PC? Then check out the Moncaso 972 case. With an all black anodised aluminium chassis, integrated 7 inch touch screen and space for full size ATX components we find out if this is the ultimate HTPC case.

 

I move into my house in the next few weeks and my first job is to build a decent HTPC.

The big question is what, in your opinion, is the best case to go for?

At the moment my personal preference is the Zalman HD160+ or the Antec Fusion MAX

Though I am also tempted just to buy a good looking premium case like the ACTS 840 and put it in the corner of the room. You seem to pay a premium for HTPC cases then need to make sacrifices with cooling/noise.

 

Are there any rack ears for it?

 

the problem is power use. Lately I am thinking more and more about ditching all my large wc rigs and other htpc stuff buy some good nas units connected to my xtreamer and one controller like a mini atx format pc with lot of cpu power and a gtx275 inside for the usual works like gaming and webbing and maybe a small sdd for speedy boots. My current htpc is sitting on his side in a corner somewhere eating dust...

 

That looks like a late 80's early 90s yamaha amp

 

Never heard of Moneual before. Any chance of a review of the Moncaso 312?

 

This company builds some of the best HTPC cases but as shown the price is really hard to swallow, my biggest issue with full HTPC is when you add Blu-Ray to the mix there is such little support for blu-ray that it makes things start get costly because there is so few companies offering the software so the prices are high >< I dont know maybe this has changed, is there any free blu-ray playback software yet?

 

I second this.

 

As far as I know, if you have any DVD playback software purchsed within the last 2 years or so it will already support Blu-Ray discs... I know mine do. eg... Cyberlink PowerDVD 9

I too like the Zalman 160+, however they are very hard to come by in silver which is the option I would go for. Black cases are soo.... well... FOREVER... lol. I've always gone for silver cases as the dust shows up a lot less. But as the general opinion in here seems to be, I think that HTPC cases are way over priced for the size/features/usability.

 

Only the Ultra support blu-ray completely, the other versions downmix the audio to 2ch and some blu-ray features are not supported if at all. at least thats what their sites says.

What Im talking about is how there is pretty much only two companies (as far as I know) offering bluray playback which means they can charge a ridiculous $80+ at times for the software so Im wondering if by now there is more companies offering software or better if their is any open source software.

 

@HourBeforeDawn

Yeah I see what you mean... I only just realised that my version is Ultra and was worth £80... although it can be found on amazon.co.uk for around £45inc Del. So I would say hit the etailers and see what you can find.

The next question would be, do none of the Blu-Ray drives come bundle with software? or is it only the more basic versions if they do?

...and they wonder why Blu-Ray isn't taking off.... lmao.

 

....
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/LiteOn-IHOS104-37-4xBlu-Ray-8x-DVD-Reader-OEM-inc-Software

Actually the above internal player comes with Cyberlinks TruTheatre software which does support all the latest sound technologies as can be seen listed here...

http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/bluray-dvd-playback-software_en_GB.html

Not bad really for a Drive with software for £50.

 

You don't need a high-end gpu to playback bluray content. A HD4550 with the correct encoded files will playback any bluray you through at it.

 

Is there such thing as a HTPC case that doesnt look like i bought it in the early 90's?

 

the oem powerdvd that comes with bluray drives is usually gimped down to 2 channel audio...

 

yes thats true, that was what my friends and I got who have blu-ray drives thats what sucks and then once they come out with a new number version you have go spend 80+ again so that you can keep watching blu-ray as they keep updating the security for it ><