Introduction

Chenming has been in the computer chassis manufacturing business since 1984 so they have a great deal of experience over some of the more recent chassis vendors out there today.  From conception and design to manufacturing and point of sales, this eternity of knowledge should automatically result in a high quality product such as the AL-301KEBL Mid-Tower Case that I shall review today.  I would like to thank ISI Technologies for sending us this fine specimen for an Extreme Review!

  

Here are some of the specifications as listed per the ISI Technologies sale page: 

Chenming AL-3O1KEBL with Large Side Window
- SPECIFICATIONS -
Case Type:	ATX Mid Tower Case
Case Color:	Blue
Case Dimensions:	8.2”W x 17”H x 16”D (205mm W x 425mm H x 400mm D)
Drive Bays:
Front Accessible:	4 x 5.25” bays and 2 x 3.5” bays
Internal:	2 x 3.5” HDD bays
Main Board Size:	ATX up to 12” x 9.6” or Micro ATX
Power Supply:	ATX, PS/2, or SFX
Expansion Slots:	7 Slots
Cooling System:	2 – 80mm slots on the side window, 1 – 80mm slot on the rear panel, 1 – 80mm slot on the bottom front bezel
- FEATURES -
Lightweight Aluminum Chassis
Sliding external drive assembly
Tool-free internal drive bay for convenient assembly
Ability to install up to 4 - 80mm case fans
2 - USB (v2.0 Compatible) & 1 - 1394 ports on the front bezel
One 11.25” x 13.25” Plexiglass window with 2 – 80mm fan holes (plus screw holes)
External hardware compartment on rear panel

What Does it All Mean?

What does a hardware reviewer look for in a case these days?  Well, first and foremost, I look for quality!  Quality to me is a case that has strong and sturdy features comprised with top shelf craftsmanship.  Since I have experience in the Mechanical Design field I tend to find myself looking for properly mating components as well as detailed or hemmed edges minus breakouts and spurs.  Since Aluminum is a softer metal, it is more apt to bend in places that a typical thin gauge sheet metal panel or rack wouldn’t.  These are the places that I like to check out on all the case’s that I consider for purchase.  This is just the frame for the chassis, this is not counting all the plastic that interacts with the chassis.  This would be the second check on my list of quality features.  I check to see that the front bezel doesn’t have any slop or wide gaps between the components.  If you were to kick or accidentally drop your case, the first thing that goes bye-bye are going to be the plastic parts and more accurately; the plastic fasteners that lock into the chassis frame.  The tighter the tolerance, the less jarring vibration these will have when that horrific day comes.  Subsequently for me comes the eye candy!  I love a bright shiny paint job as much as the next guy and all the bells and whistles can only add stock to your cases’ portfolio.  I especially like the non-traditional metallic colored paints that they use.  After all, when you pick the right color you have to match all the accessories accordingly.  For most, this would probably be on the top of their list but I have to be that one square peg in the land of round pegs, however this suits me perfectly.  The last thing that I would probably look for would be how everything would sit in relation to the airflow and restriction thereof.  Keeping that hard working toaster oven and waffle iron we call a processor and mainboard cool are critical to the rest of your hardware and the data that resides within your Operating System.

Visual Inspection

The case itself is so light, I thought there must be some of it missing when I first took it out of the box for preliminary inspection.  I lifted it up several times from all sides just to make sure my brain wasn’t playing tricks on me!  Is this it?  There has to be more of it?  This is just too light.  I wish I had a camera to capture the look on my face as I tried to figure that one out!

  

Click the images to display a larger picture! 

Of course the second thing that came to mind was “well, if it’s so light then it must not be that sturdy!”  Well believe me when I say that this case is rock solid and as sturdy as some of the older thin gauge sheet metal cases that I have lying around here.  The concept of heavier is not always stronger, rigid, or better in this case.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that most of you will attend LAN parties?  Most of us are proud to show off our hardware and much like owning a very nice car, you want to drive it around and show it off plain and simple.  For what other reason would you be interested in owning a beautiful pre-modded case?  You’re not going to pay a considerable amount of money for a top notch case just to have it sit under your desk collecting dust bunnies are you?  You want to get that case out around all your friends so you can compare them and pick up some ideas for your next visual upgrade.  Where ever gentlemen congregate, there will be competition between them and showing up with a very well groomed case will only stroke your ego when someone shares a compliment about your shell.  Since this case already has most of the work done for you with the fashionable front bezel and the pre-cut plexiglass window, all you have to do is drop your hardware inside; detangle the rat’s nest of cables you leave behind; and add some fans and cold cathode lights to complete the ensemble.

One thing that I did notice right away was that the door for the CD drives was packaged inside the case instead of in it’s proper place.  I suppose there is a reason that Chenming chooses to ship the cases out this way but when I was ready to assemble the door all I could do was think about the potential for someone that does not know how to place this kind of door on it’s tiny little hinges and properly swing it closed could break the plastic hinges with some mild force.  There were no instructions of any nature that came with this case so take your time and don’t force this door into place because I know a couple of people that were in such a hurry to get the door on and they wound up breaking off one or both of those tiny hinges.

Careful when closing your Bezel door! 

Front and Center

The front bezel of the AL-301KEBL has a lustrous navy blue metallic finish that is very pleasing to the eye.  This particular case has four 5.25” drive bays that have all four of the slide rails on the break away panels.  Make sure you remove these drive slide rails and store them in a safe place until you are ready to use them.  Since this case only has one removable side panel, you will not be able to get a screwdriver on the mainboard side of the 5.25” rack for securing your hardware.  You will definitely need to make use of these slide rails for locking down your favorite 5.25” devices.

   

The drive slide rails and where you need to use them on the 5.25" cage

There are also two visible 3.5” drive bays, a reset switch, and the power button in the middle of the front panel.  The AL-301 also has a tiny foldup door that hides two USB 2.0 ports as well as one 1394 (Firewire) port.  If you are a gamer you will appreciate the easy access to the USB ports for plugging in your gamepad or joystick.  If you have a digital video camera or something that uses 1394 you will more than likely make use of this port instead of having to spin your case around to plug you device into the rear panel of the case.  Of course this all depends on whether or not your mainboard has built-in 1394 or you have an adapter installed.

  

The convenient front panel USB and Firewire ports  

The Internals

The inside of this case comes pretty standard except for a couple of features that I want to discuss.  First of all, the mainboard tray is not removable but this is not a critical issue since this case is rather compact and the need for a removable tray would more than likely hinder you.  Since the rear of the 5.25” cage is perpendicular with the edge of the tray this means that most of the peripherals would more than likely protrude over that section of the mainboard making a removable tray useless anyway.  The feature that I am impressed with is the way that the 3.5” drive cage becomes removable.  On the top of the cage you will notice a small lever sticking out.  All you have to do to remove this component is to pull that lever backwards until it unlocks and then you can pull the cage towards the back and it will slide until it comes off the holding brackets.  I can appreciate how easy it is to remove the cage without the need for screws to lock it down, and replacing it is just as easy.  Since this case is made of polished Aluminum, the inside of the case is very reflective and that helps to enhance the lighting effects that you can use to display the contents of your personal confuser.

  

The 3.5" HDD Cage in place and removed 

Top view of the locking lever for the HDD Cage

On the Six!

The rear panel of this case is pretty much the standard except for the little vertical “Hardware” module that resides on the bottom right of the rear panel.  Once you remove the door, there will be a small cavity about 1/2” deep, 3-5/8” long, and 3/4” wide.  There really isn’t much you can do with this compartment except put some small screws or maybe some headphone adapters in there but then you would have to listen to the contents rattle around when you carry it.  I’m sure there are some other uses for this compartment so if you come across any then please let me know.

  

The Hardware storge compartment on the rear panel

There are seven (7) slots available for your PCI, AGP, or even ISA adapters.  In order for you to add any cards you will have to remove the “Hardware” module to expose the screws used for securing your adapters.  The power supply is located in the top center of the rear panel.  There is also a tab that protrudes from the right side of the case just under the power supply.  This tab allows you to use a small padlock on your case so that the five finger discount types will not be able to clean you out when you take an extended bathroom break at the local LAN party.  I thought I would mention this since one of my friends who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons didn’t have a clue as to why they would put that little ring there.  One last comment about the rear of the case.  I really like the rear fan mount for one simple reason, less airflow restriction!  Your 80mm fan will thank you for providing it with those huge honeycomb shaped holes for air to exit or enter at your choosing.  Less restriction means that the RPM’s of that fan will be used to it’s fullest extent.

  

Nothing really breath taking about the rear panel other than the Storage Compartment

Big honeycomb shaped air holes are just what the doctor ordered!

The Star of the Show!

Now we shall discuss the side panel and the pre-modded window.  The side panel has a rectangular cutout with the dimensions of: 11-1/4” wide by 13-1/4” tall.  The corners of the cut out have a radius of 1-1/2”.  The plexiglass is held in place with 12 white plastic pop rivets.  I really wish these rivets would have been the same color as the rest of the case since the white tends to pull your eyes towards them and somewhat detracts from the rest of the panel.  There are two (2) cutouts specifically for 80mm fans and these have the typical four hole pattern already drilled so you can tighten down your fans with screws or bolts.  This is the part that you will have to be very careful with since over tightening will result in a crack that will probably run the entire length of the plexiglass panel.  I would recommend going down to your local hardware store to pick up some clear soft plastic washers to use on both sides of your screws or bolts to help prevent this from happening.  You might have noticed that the two 80mm cutouts are not inline with each other?  This is because the top fan is made to blow air on the processor or close to it depending on what mainboard you have.  The lower cutout should blow air in on your AGP port and PCI slot 1 either of which could be your graphics card.  In any event, there should be enough air flowing on the mainboard from these two fans to keep your vital components running at a comfortable temperature.  I will not get into a debate about which is better, a majority of airflow into or out of the case since that is beyond the scope of this review.  It will ultimately be up to you to determine which is the best way to air cool your own hardware.

  

Two views of the window cut out as well as the two 80mm fan holes

The Conclusion

There are many reasons for you to go out on the web and do some research and comparisons when you are ready to purchase your next case.  After all, the case will be the first thing that most people will notice when they are checking out your pride and joy.  The color, the size; any modded features; components; whatever the “case” may be; it is important to have a great looking shell.  Some of the features that stand out for me would be: Quality craftsmanship, the overall weight of the case, the blue metallic paint job, the pre-modded window, the front USB and 1394 ports, and the locking mechanism of the internal 3.5” drive cage.  A few of the negatives although not necessarily a deal breaker would be: The fact that the swinging door did not come preinstalled, the lack of instructions or details about some of the features including the proper installation of the door, and the use of plastic for the hinges on the door.  In my opinion, the good far outweighs the bad for this particular case and I would gladly go out and spend my hard earned money on the AL-301KEBL case.  The price for this case from ISI Technologies is $84.00 without a power supply or any 80mm fans.  I think this is a fair price to pay for such quality in a Chenming case and I would recommend this case to anyone that is interested in a beautiful pre-modded chassis.  I give this product four solid X’s!