3 out of 5 for me (2.5 if I could!)... There is no doubt this is a nice case for the money; front facia is well finished, but.. IR feature and remote is useless IMO. Remote is not a MCE compatible, so many of the basic features are missing. The IR receiver in the case seems to be coded such that it will only accept a signal from the supplied remote. I cannot get anything else to work, weather connected to a USB socket or CIR header on motherboard. So if you want basic HTPC functionality, you need to buy a windows remote and add some sort of receiver into the case. For me, this is silly. PSU fan is noisy and PSU is inefficient - PSU fan does not seem to adjust itself to temperature. Replaced with 300 watt 80-plus unit and sleep power consumption is halved (to 5w) and in use power consumption is down by 10 - 20watt. My DVD drive (sometimes) catches the spring on the front flap and gets stuck. Very frustrating. Basically, you are just buying a 'case' - the remote and PSU are not up to the job. Factor this into your build.

Excellent value for price. Brushed aluminium looks lovely under a black TV but does scratch easily. My PSU was quiet. Switches on, from off state using remote control. For people struggling, the IR sensor needs the USB connection to be live after shutdown (usually a BIOS or jumper setting). The remote control works but is very cheap and flimsy. I recommend a universal remote that can be programmed. I use a One For All URC7140.

Got this in my lounge and although the power supply is a bit noisy its a nice looking case for £50. The case comes with an extension cable for the 20pin atx connector and if you use this you can power the front ir sensor so the remote will turn it on from cold and you can use the remote on xbmc. This is a great little feature as it makes it easy for the non technical wife to watch a film.

Excelent quality case regardless of price. only down side is that i find to power supply a bit noisy but then for the price i can accept this. Also a small note check the motherboards SATA connectors. I got a AsRock FM2A75 Pro4-M an I cannot use the three outer sata connectors as the DVD drive cage slightly hangs over the motherboard making it too tight to use the connectors.

Great case and the remote is OK. Looks very smart, but only 3, not 5 stars because of the PSU fan. The Fan. Oh dear. What a racket. Come on Novatech, why ruin a perfectly good product by including a PSU with a noisy sleeve-bearing fan, utterly ridiculous when a decent fan would surely cost a few only pence extra. I'll have to replace the PSU to make the noise bearable. Spoilt the product for a ha'porth of tra ...

Can anybody please tell me about the optical drive. Does it take a slim-line ODD or a standard ODD? Do you need to remove the bezel on the drive?

No room to fit a fan if you're fitting an ATX motherboard, also the buttons on case were loose, easy fix at home. The remote control is tacky and I will not be using it as XBMC has a remote control app for phones, and also will allow wake-on-LAN. Other than that it is a good case for the money, and when under the TV looks great.

Superb media centre case, quality build but gave it 4 stars cos i had to replace the MICRO-ATX PSU which was making a just audible ticking sound due to fan. It can only be fitted with a mATX PSU, the first one i purchase had short cables so had to get another one. Now happy cos my media centre is virtually silent.

good value for money, however the PSU fan is a tad too noisy for a HTOC and the integrated IR is not compatible with a standard RC6 media center remote - so unless you add a proper receiver, you are stuck with the included remote which is flimsy and has no proper media center functionality. Also first case came with a faulty remote, I had to disassemble and reassemble the PC in their shop myself as "they don't build PCs here" and they were very reluctant to let me do the task myself, they would rather have me sent home disassemble, come back, swap case drive home again test, fail and come back into the shop again...OK case, bad service, won't be buying there again.

To start with - great service from Novatech. The case looks very nice and looks inconspicuous when placed in a hifi rack or under a telly. Adequate space inside for a mATX MB, though cabling a bit tight as there isn't much space between PSU and rear of optical drive cage - thankfully it's removable. On the downside - cooling doesn't seem great, the power supply is noisy, the remote isn't that useful and the IR receiver only seems to work with the supplied remote. I've built 3 HTPC's with this case - one PSU has packed in and I blew up another (oops). Quality mATX power supplies are expensive and difficult to come by. If I were to be building again I would opt for a case that accepted an ATX supply.

Lovely overall design that looks great in my TVs' corner-unit, and was very easy to install components into. I had to upgrade the power supply to a 500W model to stop the system tripping out when my Dual DVB/S2 (double LNB input HD satellite) card tried to activate. One negative point relates to the Remote Control... the one supplied feels very cheap and its buttons are a bit small for my fingers. I had a more robust Remote from a previous system but found that the IR receiver built into the front panel seems to be coded to only accept signals from the supplied Remote. As a result I have to have an extra generic IR receiver plugged into a USB port. That minor usability issue aside, I'm very happy with the Case.

JUST THOUGHT I'D GIVE AN UPDATE AFTER MY PREVIOUS COMMENTS.STILL REALLY HAPPY WITH THE CASE. I DID HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE UNIT NOT TURNING ON. SPOKE TO AN ADVISOR ON CHAT (ALEX I THINK), THEY WERE REALLY HELPFULL, AND HELPED ME TO DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. TURNED OUT THAT THE POWER SUPPLY WAS AS FAULT, AND A REPLACEMENT WAS WITH ME FREE OF CHARGE NEXT DAY. FANTASTIC CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM NOVATECH :)

A good looking small format case, media buttons on the front and a low profile power supply, with (on mine) a very quiet PSU fan. The usual provisos: small cases need low profile coolers, and half-height expansion cards. If you need a graphics or wifi card, your standard size ones won't fit. Your large CPU coller won't fit either, but the standard Intel ones probably will. I fitted a standard LG DVD drive, it catches on the front DVD flap when it opens, and so has to be 'helped' open, then when it closes, it catches on the spring, and jams. Your drive may differ. The case is packed in a carry box, with a white box just inside the lid. This apparently should contain the remote control. Mine did not, but as I don't need it, I'm not worried. If you pick one up though, check it has the remote before you leave. Otherwise, the case has produced a quiet i5-2600/16 gig ram desktop workstation, and with that I'm very happy. There's also room for a 120mm fan if you have a smallish motherboard. All the bits in my computer have come from Novatech, and I've been very happy with it.

Very good value case. Removed the PSU and am using it with a 120W picoplug PSU (which is enough to run a G620 with a SSD, a BD drive and a HD Satellite tuner card). The only fan is the CPU cooler so it's almost silent. The only problem is the number of screws to take the cover off. Remote is cheap looking, but works with WMC.

Best value HTPC case. Running phenom2 955be 95w with xbmc setup. Needed a more powerfull psu went with silverstone 450w sfx which i thought was a bit on the noisy side. Stock cooler fits just! Will power on from remote, just use the cable provided and make sure you connect the plug to the ir pannel. As previous reviews stated remote is cheap but works out of the box with xbmc, and is quite responsive.

For the money, this is an absolute stinking bit of kit, it really looks the part and has a nice feel about it. My only complaint is the PSU fan is quite loud, this can be addressed of course. The remote is a little cheap feeling, but works well with XBMC live once installed, it can also power the unit on from switched off, which is unusual as most need to have the O/S running before they do anything. Despite what the spec sheet says you can fit a 120mm fan behind an m-ATX motherboard if the board isn't too long (front to back) I used an Asus P5G41T-M LX in case you'd like to compare board sizes.

Just got this case to replace the Novatech Opera case that I already have as a htpc. Much nicer case. I did'nt like the opera being so long or the plastic front pannel. The vision case looks much nicer - modern and classy. Note, another review said you can only fit in a 80mm fan, so thats what I bought. I will now be getting a 120mm fan as with the option for only 1 fan, the bigger the better.

So had this case now for 6 months or so, so thought I'd post my thoughts on it. Used for a HTPC, (Athlon II X2 240, 5450). First impressions were very positive. Despite it's very affordable price tag the brushed aluminium effect looks very good although being very sensivtive to being scratched. Cooling options are very limited, will only allow the installation of an 80mm fan with a mATX board. Would have be good to see grills on the sides or on the top to aid airflow. The PSU is very average at best (only has 15A on the 12V, hence 4*) and is quited loud. (Louder than the stock AMD AM2/AM3 CPU cooler). IR receiver works wel, although doesn't boot from cold with the remote. Works well in XBMC/Windows 7 MC. Overall a solid case for a budget, low powered HTPC.

Gret value for money, I bought this for a HTPC to replace an old HP that I had under my TV, lots of connectors from the suppied power supply and it appears to be well built, although the black finish seems easy to scratch if you place items on top. I haven't been able to get the built in IR working yet but still time to have a play. Overall I am very impressed and would recommend.

What value for the money! Running AMD LIano A6-3500 2.1GHz in it. During video play getting 35 degrees. Box is quiet.About the same as my 2006 Sky HD box. Only pain is the lack of instructions for remote. Wish the Novatech label was not circa 1985.

Superb Media Centre/HTPC. Build quality is so much more than you expect for the price. Got a low profile Radeon 6570 so it doubles up as a light weight game rig. Recommend you fit a quiet 120mm fan in pull mode to keep the temps down. Also recommend an SSD and or 2.5" hard drive to keep the temps down. Avoid anything more than a 95w CPU & be sure to get a decent low profile CPU cooler. The HD front audio leads could do with being about 3cm longer for boards where the connectors are on the far edge.

This is a nice looking and well built case, but choose your components carefully. I found that the PSU is a bit weedy if you want to run two satelite TV cards as part of a HTPC (as they have to power the LNB on your dish). Also, airflow is limited so it can get hot inside, even with an extra 80mm fan fitted. Could do with a 350 watt supply ideally.

This Case is fantastic for the money! the aluminium finish is great it really does look the part! i would buy another one in a heart beat! Novatech''s Service was great too! Also the psu is very quiet so perfect for its dedicated media centre use.

Brilliant little HTPC case, the PSU is silent and the supplied remote works a treat in XBMC.

Looks good and all mounting parts included.