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Ahanix dboX Computer Case Review
Author: Alan Wong
Date Posted: October 21st, 2003
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Bottom Line: The last few years have given rise to cases with modded windows – a practice previously unheard of. Now it’s a growing a trend to have a modded PC case with a side panel window. With so many options available which should you choose? We reviewed the Ahanix dboX and liked it although there were a few minor issues. Read on to find out what we found in our official review.......
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External Features
CD Bay Bezels:
One of the first things that caught my eye when I took the case out of the box was the silver CD Bay bezels. These bezels are used to stealth the optical drives and have a pop-out panel where your CD tray pops out. These are primarily used to ensure that the optical drives are covered from the exterior and did not distort the slick look of the silver front panel. Unlike many CD Bay Doors that usually come with tower cases, the bezels help users gain instant access to their drives, just by the press of a button. Although bay doors do cover up drives, they sometimes are inconvenient to open in tight spaces and sometimes even annoying when you constantly use your optical drives and have to open the door every time to do so. That is why bezels are more convenient than bay doors. However, the thing that ticked me off was the fact that I was not able to put my Memorex DVD Burner into the top first 5.25" Drive Bay. It got stuck in between while I was sliding it in, and I looked to see what the cause was, but couldn’t find out why, so I had to settle for the second spot (This may or may not happen for you). This doesn’t mean that the CD Bay Bezel is wasted, because you can rearrange the bezels to whichever 5.25" bay you want it to cover. Also, be sure that your optical drive tray does not have "ridges" under it. Otherwise, the bezels will make a "pull the chainsaw line" or "pull the lawnmower line" sound (the best way to describe it would be like someone pulling that line that starts up a chainsaw or lawnmower or whatever , except it would sound much softer). *Note: Most drives don’t make this sound (since most drives aren’t ridged under their tray) and will make very little noise. I just happened to use a Memorex DVD Burner, which did have ridges under the tray.
 
Side Panel Window:
The window design is excellent. It has a large area and almost all the components in the case is visible. This way, if you plan to add some cathode lights, the glow can be seen throughout the case, assuming that the Cathode Light is bright, as the window also has a slightly dark tint.
 
Stealth Floppy:
There isn’t anything special about the floppy. It doesn’t actually cover the floppy drive but helps camouflage/blend the floppy in, rather than just having it exposed totally like most cases do. There is also a small "bulb" so that when your floppy reads a disk, the light can illuminate through that "bulb."
 
Thumbscrews:
Whether you are a newbie who is not familiar with opening a case with a screwdriver or an expert PC junky, thumbscrews make opening this case a whole lot easier. In contrast to traditional screws, thumbscrews only require you to twist the knob to open and close the case. Traditional screws require screwdrivers to open a case but these thumbscrews prove to be a great improvement in convenience when opening your case. *TIP: When screwing, make sure to not overscrew. Otherwise, the case will make some rattling sounds.
 
Blue LED Light:
The Blue Oval LED light gives the case a nice touch, especially in the dark. It is located just above the highest 5.25" bay. It illuminates very well in the dark but looks very light in the light. It uses the HDD Activity light as a source of power. Suprisingly, the LED light does not blink even though it is technically a HDD Activity Light. The blue light is solid, which is a good thing. If such a large light was to blink constantly, it would be extremely annoying, but luckily it doesn’t.
 
Integrated Circuit Board (ICB):
The case has what Ahanix calls a Integrated Circuit Board, which is what controls the speed of the case fans as well as monitors the case temperature. The external part of the ICB is basically a display monitor that tells you how the case temperature. The ICB uses 3 sensors to detect the temperature and each is suppose to be placed near the CPU, Hard Drive, and GPU (Video Card). With the front panel buttons, you can switch to whichever sensor you want and can increase the case fan speeds in increments of up to 10 levels (If you hate the case fans, you can set it at level 1 and have the case fans off). The green lights indicate the fan speed and the orange light indicate which sensor it is on.
External USB:
The Front USB Ports are covered by a sort of flap. When I say flap, I don’t mean that it is loose. When you open it, the cover is positioned horizontally and is in a fixed position, ensuring that the flap does not come loose. Inside that covered compartment, there are 2 USB ports and one IrDA Port. The IrDA port uses wireless technology and is what receives signals that use IrDA techonolgy. It is used for relatively short-ranged use. Bluetooth is a good example of this. To enable this port, you must serperate the front panel from the case and plug the IrDA device in the back of the IrDA receiver.
 
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