My thoughts on the Antec Lanboy Air

Dangman

Dangman

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So after a few days dealing with some shipping issues, I've finally gotten my hands on the new Antec Lanboy Air case that was just announced yesterday:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1550259

Just a word of apology: Sorry for my photography skills:eek:

Anyway, onto the unboxing of the case and first thoughts:
The box itself:
IMG_7000.jpg


Front profile of the case:
IMG_7008.jpg


Side profile of the case:
IMG_7006.jpg

IMG_7010.jpg

IMG_7007.jpg


Rear profile of the case
IMG_7011.jpg


At stock, it takes six screws to remove the side panel of the case and another screw to open up the HDD bay portion of the case. (You can also see the screws as well on top of the case):
IMG_7012.jpg


Though it looks like you could get away with only 3 or 4 screws for the side panel.

Anyway, a deeper look into the inside of the case:
IMG_7018.jpg


A shot of the front bays:
IMG_7019.jpg


A top or "Myspace shot of the case:
IMG_7016.jpg


Random shot of the case:
IMG_7020.jpg


Anyway, that's it for the unboxing portion. I'll update this thread later on with an actual look at the case. But for now, here's my first impressions/thoughts of it:
  • So happy that I got the blue version. :)
  • A lot lighter than I expected but of course this will change once I put some hardware in it.
  • It might be a case that's gonna take some time getting use to. But I will say this: It's not as ugly as I thought it would be now that I've seen the case in person.
  • Really digging the case handles
  • Dust may be a problem with this case depending on how you setup the airflow in the case
  • I will never use the auto-resize feature of Photobucket again.

Thoughts, questions, concerns, comments, tips?
 
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Looks sweet. Can you work with it a bit and comment on how easy it is (or hard, or at all) to completely disassemble the frame?
 
Danny Bui,
Nice case!..How'd you get it so fast/ Who'd you go through. 1 request if possible: Can you show a pick of the bottom part of the case stripped to the frame? After the other post and Antec_Jesse said it was riveted at the bottom, I want to get an idea of what's going to be involved in dis-assembly so as to paint the colored parts. If not, maybe a description (e.g. how many rivets hold the frame together, etc.) Thanks dude...
 
I really like the blue also now that I've seen it.
I also still wish it would fit an SR-2 so I had an excuse to buy one. :D
 
dandapice said:
Danny Bui,
Nice case!..How'd you get it so fast/ Who'd you go through. 1 request if possible: Can you show a pick of the bottom part of the case stripped to the frame? After the other post and Antec_Jesse said it was riveted at the bottom, I want to get an idea of what's going to be involved in dis-assembly so as to paint the colored parts. If not, maybe a description (e.g. how many rivets hold the frame together, etc.) Thanks dude...
Click to expand...

There are six "feet" on the bottom of the LBA. Each foot has at least one rivet next to it. Here's one with four.

IMAG0015.jpg
 
dandapice said:
Danny Bui,
Nice case!..How'd you get it so fast/ Who'd you go through. 1 request if possible: Can you show a pick of the bottom part of the case stripped to the frame? After the other post and Antec_Jesse said it was riveted at the bottom, I want to get an idea of what's going to be involved in dis-assembly so as to paint the colored parts. If not, maybe a description (e.g. how many rivets hold the frame together, etc.) Thanks dude...
Click to expand...

if he got his where i got mine, (i think he did), you cant get one from there. i think some of the guys are either selling theirs on ebay or sold them last nite on ebay. which was not very smart or ethical.
 
it was released yesterday. and i have seen prices from $160 to $230. as for when it will actually be available and what the actual price will be, couldnt tell you.
 
catcherintherye said:
Looks sweet. Can you work with it a bit and comment on how easy it is (or hard, or at all) to completely disassemble the frame?
Click to expand...
Well so far, it is a bit more time consuming than traditional cases taking apart this case. But it's fairly easy to dissemable the case down to the frame. Here's a pic of the case about 80% stripped:
IMG_7031.jpg

dandapice said:
Danny Bui,
Nice case!..How'd you get it so fast/ Who'd you go through. 1 request if possible: Can you show a pick of the bottom part of the case stripped to the frame? After the other post and Antec_Jesse said it was riveted at the bottom, I want to get an idea of what's going to be involved in dis-assembly so as to paint the colored parts. If not, maybe a description (e.g. how many rivets hold the frame together, etc.) Thanks dude...
Click to expand...
There's a total of 14 rivets on the bottom of the case:
IMG_7026.png


IMG_7034.png

zero2dash said:
I really like the blue also now that I've seen it.
I also still wish it would fit an SR-2 so I had an excuse to buy one. :D
Click to expand...
Yeah the case is about the size of a standard ATX case
darknite said:
About your comment on dust..is there any type of filtering at all?
Click to expand...
There's no filtering at all. It's pretty much mesh only. BUt considering that the entire case is more or less open, shouldn't be too many places where dust can actually settle down or accumulate.

bloop said:
if he got his where i got mine, (i think he did), you cant get one from there. i think some of the guys are either selling theirs on ebay or sold them last nite on ebay. which was not very smart or ethical.
Click to expand...
Whoa, didn't know people were actually selling their cases already. Looks like a fun case so far.
aznever said:
how much is it? and when will it be released?
Click to expand...
As bloop noted, the MSRP is $220. But I've seen it on Froogle for less than that, roughly $170 or so.
 
Do you have any plans on attempting to water cool with that case? I'm interested in seeing how it fits since you can supposedly remove just about every piece in the case.
 
King Icewind said:
Do you have any plans on attempting to water cool with that case? I'm interested in seeing how it fits since you can supposedly remove just about every piece in the case.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I have no plans on attempting to water cool that case. Funds are a bit dry for that:(
 
Danny Bui,
Thanks for those picks, man. Seems pretty straight forward. Once the price stabilizes, I'll be jumping on one...Happy modding...
 
dandapice said:
Danny Bui,
Thanks for those picks, man. Seems pretty straight forward. Once the price stabilizes, I'll be jumping on one...Happy modding...
Click to expand...

No prob. Feel free to ask any more questions you have about the case.

Now I'm gonna see if I can get my hands on some additional 120mm fans. I really want to test out whether or not the case will get really dusty in a few days.

Another shot of the case slightly reconfigured:
IMG_7046.png
 
what do you think about flipping the mobo tray upside down? it seems from a shot of the back that the whole tray assembly piece mounting is symmetrical, at least from the back. would be pretty sweet if you can configure it as normal atx or inverted atx. :)
 
I'd go with the haf, looks better. You could always bolt on a handle on it and call it a lan boy haf.
 
ekuest said:
what do you think about flipping the mobo tray upside down? it seems from a shot of the back that the whole tray assembly piece mounting is symmetrical, at least from the back. would be pretty sweet if you can configure it as normal atx or inverted atx. :)
Click to expand...

Huh, I never thought about that actually. I'll see tomorrow if that's actually feasible.
 
I think I like it! how many other colors? sorry if that was mentioned, didn't see.
 
Xerack said:
I think I like it! how many other colors? sorry if that was mentioned, didn't see.
Click to expand...

For the U.S market, there's only two: Blue and Yellow. The Red version is coming to the states in December IIRC.

Some more pictures to tide some of y'all over:

Here's a few pictures illustrating the different ways to mount the hard drive:
IMG_7040.png

IMG_7041.jpg


With a test system in the case:
IMG_7059.png


A couple of notes here:

- The three main cables (Front Panel, USB, and HD Audio header) you see reaching up towards the mobo are only noticeable if you're using a mATX motherboard like I am. With a standard ATX motherboard, those cables would barely be visible. In addition, the P4 power cable is only noticeable due to the stupid placement of it away from any edges. Most normal ATX motherboards have the P4 power cable near the top of the motherboard or towards the edge of the motherboard. So basically, with a normal ATX motherboard, that setup would look much much cleaner.

- Cable management was a slight PITA. But definitely doable. Though for anyone who is going to buy this case: I highly HIGHLY recommend getting a modular PSU. As you can see in the photo, I have a semi-modular Antec Truepower New 750 in there. Even then it was somewhat of a pain dealing with the cables. So can't imagine the extra trouble a normal PSU would bring. So yes, I highly recommend getting a modular PSU for this case.

And a finally a comparison shot of the LBA next to an older Antec P180 case:
IMG_7065.png
 
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Well your photography skills aren't bad at all. Better than mine. And boy it sure is BLUE!
 
qdemn7 said:
Well your photography skills aren't bad at all. Better than mine. And boy it sure is BLUE!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment! Yeah it''s a pretty darkish blue, which happens to be my favorite color :)

Anyway a small update today:
Reverse ATX or flipping the motherboard is totally possible:
IMG_7069.jpg

IMG_7070.jpg


The problem is that the other side of the case does not have the necessary screw holes for the rails for the motherboard tray. But that would be an easy fix: Drill 4 holes, two on each of the support columns.

Besides that, flipping the motherboard upside down is totally feasible. The PSU can still be mounted on top or bottom in that configuration. In addition, the screw holes for the rear panel will work even with the panel upside down.

EDIT: If I can get another side door for the LBA, I would totally do this:
IMG_7075.jpg


I think the side door looks a whole lot better than the actual front panel.
 
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bloop said:
mine finally showed up. its a blue one!! it came packed in a p182 box. i almost shit. after all these months, they screw it up. but then i cut it open.

nice job ups.
Click to expand...
Wish I could have been there when the case was delivered, and you thought you had a 182. :p :D
 
bloop said:
mine finally showed up. its a blue one!! it came packed in a p182 box. i almost shit. after all these months, they screw it up. but then i cut it open.
Click to expand...
LOL!

Probably should have mentioned they did the same to me as well :)

Good luck with the build man! It's an interesting case to work with.
 
Damn this case looks pretty awesome. It's a huge breath of fresh air for the market and the whole concept of nearly 100% modularity is really cool. Chalk up another nice one by Antec...screw the horrible Dark Fleet series and just focus on this! I can already imagine some manic water cooling loops. The blue looks nice a rich...I wonder if they plan on releasing more than the three aforementioned colors and I had no idea there was an Antec rep that was on this forum. :eek:

Keep the pics coming!
 
fochkoph said:
Keep the pics coming!
Click to expand...

More pics you say? :D:
IMG_7086.png

IMG_7088.png

IMG_7088.png


Specs of the test system:
  • Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200
  • 2GB Kingston RAM
  • eVGA 7900GS 256MB PCI-E Video Card
  • Seagate 320GB SATA HDD
  • Antec Truepower New 750W PSU

I'm planning on leaving the system on all night with Orthos and Furmark on. See if the cooling on the case is enough to keep the system cool and running :)

Then again, it's really hot here right now in Southern California.
 
I transplanted my secondary rig into mine earlier tonight, and it was honestly a pain in the ass. There are a ton of minor issues with the case that when compounded made it really irritating to work in. I'll be switching back to my 590 once I have time, which will probably be on Saturday.

A few cliffs:

-If you have a tall heatsink, forget about it. The specs of the rig I put into the case are in my sig, and when I was sliding the motherboard tray into the case with the motherboard installed and the heatsink mounted, the tips of the heatpipes interfered with the frame of the case. I had to wiggle the heatsink around to get it in. Anything taller will simply not fit if you install it before sliding in the mobo tray.

-It's difficult if not impossible to install an optical drive in the top bay, since the wires for the front panel connectors come down directly above it.

-Too many screws. If you want to change anything around, you have to unscrew a ton of little screws. This is made worse by the fact that hardly any of them are thumbscrews, and many of them are different sizes as well. To provide some comparison, my Coolermaster ATCS 840 has a removable motherboard tray mounted with thumbscrews. In fact, the only things you need to screw in are the fans (if you install any extra ones), the motherboard, and the expansion cards. Everything else is either tool-less or uses thumbscrews.

-Cable management is awful. There is no place above the motherboard tray to route the 8-pin or 4-pin CPU power connector, so you aren't able to run it behind the tray and have to run it across instead. They include some cable ties on the back of the tray to hold cables, but there are no holes around the tray so that makes them kind of useless.

-The PSU cage is pointless. They should have just integrated the cage and cage mount into a single piece.

-Too much plastic. The side panels feel flimsy, and one of the tabs that prevent the forward doors from swinging freely actually broke off during shipping.

-The price is ridiculous. The build quality is pretty good, but this is a steel and plastic case, with a price tag that puts it in the range of Lian-Li cases and above other high-quality products like the Coolermaster HAF-X and ATCS 840, the NZXT Phantom, and even the full-tower Antec DF-85. If this case cost $100 then it might be somewhat worthwhile based on its unique design, but as it stands there is no way that anyone should lay down that kind of cash for it.

Some good points:

-Cooling is pretty good.

-The included fans are quiet, even on their highest speed settings. The case seems like it would be noisy from looking at it, but unless you add your own loud fans, it should be nearly silent.

-The AirMount system actually works pretty well.

-The modularity obviously is a really neat feature. I don't really care about the fact that the PSU can be mounted on top instead of on the bottom of the case, but the ability to change the direction in which drives are mounted is really nice, as well as the fact that you can position the front fans, HDs, and optical drives any way you want along the length of the front.

-The top piece of smoked plastic looks pretty slick.

- The handles are a useful feature and they are quite well-implemented.

-Antec has FINALLY designed a case where you can properly mount a PSU at the bottom so that it intakes air from underneath the case.
 
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Excellent write-up Zero82z. Pretty much my thoughts right there. Although:

- Personally not a fan of the smoked plastic.

- Don't really like the front 5.25" drive covers. I would prefer rectangular edges rather than the slant edges they're using
 
I'm pretty indifferent about the covers. Actually, another thing I like a lot is the ability to control the speed of all the fans the case comes with, although I'd prefer if they all had potentiometers like the front fans rather than high/low switches like the other ones have.

The summary of my thoughts on the case right now is basically that it seems like a lot of attention was paid to making the case modular, but there is hardly any attention to detail. It feels like a bunch of components slapped together without any real thought as to how they will actually interact. Each of the individual systems works pretty well, but when it comes to actually putting a computer together in the thing, it has a lot of issues.
 
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If only the case had come with screw holes from the start to mount the motherbaord on either side of the case. That would have made the case very modular to me.
 
That's another thing the case should definitely have, and it would have been easy to implement as well.
 
i havent statred a build yet, but the case seems pretty nice to me, except for screws and the fans. the only place where thumbscrews are used are the side panels, and there 6 thumbscrews of 2 different sizes are used for each side. everything else is phillips heads, many, many phillips heads. also the fans should have been re-thought. they should have 3 pin connectors, and the speed controls should me more than just a switch hanging in space on a wire. the fact that this case has been in developement over a year, and is several months late makes you wonder how they missed this stuff.
 
i cant believe they didnt make it easy to switch the mobo to inverted. i mean i could see from your pictures that they have everything right there, except for a hole or two that i couldnt tell if they had included or not. apparently they didnt. it would have been so simple and made the customizability (new word) of the case just so much better. i love the case, the ideas antec has come up with a so new and creative. i just wish they would have worked harder on using these amazing ideas to their full potential. hopefully a rev b or c will get some more of that stuff right and also lower the cost.
 
I'm glad that someone else stepped up and got this case. Because I would never have gotten it. I mean ok, you can mount your hard drives jenga style if you want, but does that really give you any benefit? The ideas are interesting but it sounds like the execution was lacking. Also jmo but it's an ugly looking case. (At least blue is a better color than yellow.) *shrugs* Now you want modular with style, go with a Level 10. Though that monstrosity has its own issues.
 
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