Hardware Antec LanBoy Air Review

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2010/12/14/antec-lanboy-air-review/1

 

is this a case a construction work site?

 

It's like a Dark Fleet got dressed for a night out at the clubs

 

Wow... that thing is fugly.

 

What a horrible looking thing...

 

Seems Antec keeps dropping the ball of late...

 

Everybody knew allmost a year ago what this case looks like, so why there's so much surprised people?

 

ugly case and a lot of incredibly bad design flaws. Even if the case was a good performer, all this mesh is an instant FAIL!

Not because it would alter the fate of this case, but wouldn't it be better to turn the CPU fan around so it would blow in the same direction as the fan behind the motherboard?

 

love the look - but to make it non modular !!! crazy!!!

when will someone release the mechano of cases?

 

"A CPU delta T of 55C with the fans at maximum speed, and of 58C with fans blowing as hard as possible"

First paragraph of page 4.

I don't like it; but then, I like blank monolithic chunks of Al, so I think we can safely ignore me.

 

Some key things wrong here.

LAN environments are warmer than your average room. So having a mesh casing is abit silly.
LAN environments are full of people drinking coca cola and sweets, and the risk to getting your internals wet from a splash is very high with this sort of case...The only holes i want in my case should be fan intakes and outtakes.

not very practical is it..but an interesting case i suppose.

 

I disagree with a lot about the statements in this review, but then again, I suppose we're all different. For anyone actually interested in this case, however, I recommend reading some other reviews out there as well.

I really like the idea behind this case, but yeah, it comes with its flaws. I did come up with an idea to just replace the mesh panels with solid aluminum panels, keep the clever modular stuff, but get rid of the mesh and enhance (simplify) the outlooks and cooling. I didn't have time to make all that myself, but anyone feel free to take the idea (and credit me, damnit).

Also IMO in person the case doesn't look as mad as it does in pictures. I had the blue version around, and while it does look like something that came from Transformers, it isn't really that much crazier/tackier/what ever you want to call it/ than every other "gaming" case out there.

 

This.

My old case had a big massive vent on the top. My friend was clumsy with his beer at a LAN. Someone's G15 got soaked (survived, but stickyish to this day) and one of my RAM sticks was out of action until it had dried out enough to work again. We still give him crap.

Over the top ventilation where it isn't really doing anything is a BAD idea. Not to mention a nightmare for dust

 

I've read from other websites that with all the fans set to intake there's so much positive air pressure that dust doesn't stay in the case, can you confirm/deny this?

 

Sounds like nonsense to me; no one can seriously have done any "dust" testing. Dust will get drawn into case, and deposit itself regardless of whether the air is flowing straight out of the case. Even if this was the case you'd just end up with dusty mesh instead of dusty hardware. Antec tried this old chestnut with the original Skeleton too, but it still managed to get dusty.

Personally I don't dislike this case's looks and agree it looks better in blue. However, I think our concerns are still well founded and the result is neither practical, effective at cooling or good value.

 

Looks like a case for 13 year old Optimus Prime fans.

So, it isn't really any good for LAN parties- unless you want some git to splash his can of monster all over it.

But, it isn't much good for the home market either - all that mesh in an Air Cooling case? - it could be pretty noisey.

 

Very cool sporty looking case.


WARNING: This case is not for the "P180" crowd.

This case contains everything that the extremely vocal "P180" case lovers dislike.

This is definitely not a bland boring P180-style case.

This case may have its faults here and there, but if there is one single case that is the epitome of the word "fun", then the Lanboy Air would be that case.

From my experience of this, those photos don't do it justice. It really is impressive to see it once you unbox it. It looks a bit like a transformer or lego set. It looks very futuristic. The whole of the top is a dark tinted glass panel with cool looking mesh pattern cut outs. During the dark, the "alien style" patterned lights that radiate through the mesh upon the wall and ceiling looks cool. This is more of a gamer case, for sure.

However, like others, I also question the suitability of taking a case like this to a LAN party. I would question the risk of accidental liquid splashes from others. Also, the biggest of insects (even rodents) can easily get in and cause problems. Also, someone could drop a coin and it could somehow manage to kiss goodbye to the exposed motherboard rear and short it out. Also, how easy it is for people to play around with the case's thumbscrews. Now, although this is a fun case, it can indeed induce many negative thoughts.

Regarding dust, it doesn't get as dusty as many people would expect. This is due to the fact that in a regular enclosed case, the dust that is pulled into the case easily settles. In the Lanboy Air, that dust isn't "trapped" in the case, but can easily flow back out of the open air case. Dust can't even settle on the bottom of the Lanboy Air, due to its fully meshed floor. However, the mesh panel over the graphics card gets quite dusty on the outside.

This is one of the most innovative case designs out there, but not perfect. The review explains some of the flaws.

I would be more interested to see an update to the Antec 1200 (forget the silly looking Darkfleet), or to see what a future next release of Lanboy Air will look like. Antec may even have to consider reducing the amount of mesh on it. If the LanBoy Air does not cool as well as an Antec 1200, then that means most of the mesh is unnecessary, or even counterproductive. Also, for people like me who like to see their components via a side window, there may be a slight disappointment with the Lanboy Air. I mean that even though it is all meshed, it is not that easy to actually "see" the components you are staring at compared to cases with a window.

 

I thought the Bitfenix Colossus looked fun! This just looks...awkward. Still, can'#t really see anyone taking a colossus to a LAN party.

cough.

 

If you set it up as a positive pressure case, then i think this paragraph becomes moot for the most part.

 

This is what happens when you try too hard.