A view of the rear of the case, after assembly.
A view from the front, whilst powered up.
The USB 2.0 sockets will only work when an EPIA M motherboard is used.
We like the blue LED. We like it a lot. More
blue things please.
Mounted vertically,
the case looks rather natty. It would look even better
next to a 24" TFT, but you can't have everything.
The obligatory Mini-ITX.com-stylee coke can
size reference shot...
Did anyone notice the hidden additional photos? Click open an image and cycle
through them all using the image viewer.
Conclusion
We liked the 3688 a lot. Construction
is solid and appealing, and the case is very quiet when in
use. Due to the simple
design, it should only take about 30 minutes to put a system
together
using
this
case. The 3688 won't be suitable for everybody - the small
size means that no PCI expansion is possible, and a more
expensive 2.5" hard drive must be used. But this also
has an upside: 2.5" drives
are very quiet and don't get hot like 3.5" drives do,
and no nasty PCI cards can be fitted that can overheat the
case.
And if you can't afford a 2.5" hard drive - why not
remove it altogether and use PXE?
For many applications, the 3688 (and its close sibling the
3677) will be ideal. We're running
our
local development server on the machine you've
been looking
at,
and will probably
be doing the same in 6 months time. The blue LED has a soothing
effect in the wee hours...
*Shameless plug*
You
will be able to buy this case shortly from the Mini-ITX
Online Store!
