Lian Li PC-402A Review
Posted on January 4, 2003
Introduction
Lian Li Industrial Co., Ltd, based Taiwan
have been producing aluminum PC cases since 1983. With over
200 products in their range (according to their website)
they are an established world leader in aluminium case manufacture.
The PC-402A
can be considered to be a mini-version of the very popular
PC-6089A.
There is also a rather trendy all-black PC-402B
version of this case available (not pictured here).
Lian
Li's product page for the PC-402A
The Lian Li PC-402A
The PC-402A measures (WxHxD):
8.25"(210mm) x 9.45"(240mm) x 13.39"(340mm)
and weighs 6lbs. It has a removable smoked blue translucent
swing door, held in place by 4 rubber-covered magnetic stand-offs.
In this photo the door looks green, but it's blue. The door
can be fully removed with a firm tug, and just as easily snapped
back into place. The cutout at the base of the door allows
access to the Microphone and Earphone audio jacks and 2 x
USB (2.0 compatible) sockets.
The case is constructed in a very similar
way to the Chyang Fun MiniCube cases. An inverted 'U' shaped
aluminium cover wraps over an aluminium frame and is held
in place by thumb screws at the back. The frame holds the
power supply, motherboard and drives. Aluminium is an ideal
material for case manufacture - it is light, strong and conducts
heat better than steel, acting like a big heatsink.
At the rear of the case, there is a removable
I/O panel for the motherboard. The case is designed for "Mini-Flex
ATX" motherboards, i.e. anything up to 7"x7.5".
The vertical PCI cover plate can be seen on the right, giving
your PCI card somewhere to stick out of.
There is space for a floppy sized drive (useful
for the EPIA M) and 2 x 5.25" full size drives, e.g.
a CDROM and DVD drive. The drive plates can be removed and
replaced easily - don't throw them away!
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