14 DAY TRIAL // We've seen many cases over the years, some launched on their own, some as part of a new product collection. Something along the lines of the latter situation has occurred right now, thanks to Aerocool.
The short version of the story, so to speak, is that Aerocool has released two new desktop cases, called QS-101 and QS-102.
The long version of the story involves many details pertaining to the interior and exterior design, and we're not just talking about aesthetics here.
There's much to go into and, fortunately, most of the features are the same all around. It's only the look of the front panels that sets the QS-101 and QS-102 apart. By extension, the I/O and power/reset button layout is different from one chassis to another.
The QS-101 is the simpler case, you could say, with two USB 3.0 ports, a vaguely triangular power button (lit by a blue LED) and audio jacks. The ports are lined along the right-hand vertical edge of the case.
The QS-102 is arguably a bit more stylish, with the power/reset buttons and rest of the I/O panel near the top, in a triangular facet, black-colored, of the front panel. There's a single USB 3.0 port there though, not two.
Anyway, that's it for the differences. The two cases are similar otherwise, down to the slim form factor. It won't allow you to use full-height graphics cards, but you should have room for up to four low-profile add-in boards of whatever kind.
Not that the lack of room for large video boards should be such a downer. It's not like Aerocool intended for the QS-101 or QS-102 to be used in a gaming PC or anything.
Instead, the cases are better suited for office work, or HTPCs (home-theater personal computers). The latter probably more often, given the look and feel.
Then again, the cases can sit flat, horizontally, in addition to staying upright and easily sliding out of sight between or behind tables and desks. And no one said that business PCs had to be drab and/or ugly.
Anyway, the newcomers have a 5.25-inch bay, two 2.5-inch bays, one 3.5-inch bay, a silent, pre-installed 80 mm axial-fan (1,600 RPM speed, 21.6 dBA noise, 28.40 CFM air flow), room for a small power supply, and pre-drilled cable routing holes inside.
The Aerocool QS-101 and QS-102 should be available for order through various retailers at a price of $21 / €21.
