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02-Feb-02 - Review by Manaz Many people know that Lian Li are the manufacturer of relatively affordable Aluminium computer cases. Quite a number of people have purchased Lian Li cases - they are available in a range of different colours and finishes, including beige, like my PC-10 (reviewed here), black and brushed aluminium.  Recently, putting a plexiglass window into the side of a computer case has become quite popular - while it doesn't tend to serve any real practical purpose, it does let a computer owner show off the inside of his/her system, and along with the use of neon, LEDs and other lighting systems, can be used to give a case an individual aesthetic appeal. While the Lian Li cases are, as I said, relatively affordable (compared to similar offerings, like the Coolermaster ATCS range), quite a lot of people are a little wary of hacking the side of a $400 mid-tower case in order to install a piece of plexiglass. So Lian Li have decided to do it themselves, and have released a case side panel window with a plexiglas window built into it in the factory. It's basically a drop-in replacement for your original side panel. You remove your original panel, put this one in its place, and that’s all you have to do to have a rather high quality window in the side of your case.  The back of the window, showing how it attaches to the case. The window itself is rectangular – there’s around 7cm of case metal on either side (top and bottom) of the plexiglass window itself, which is held in place by brackets which are pop riveted onto the inside of the panel. It doesn’t look as if any glue has been used – I don’t think it’s needed to be honest, as the 4 brackets hold the window itself very firmly in place. The whole panel is rather rigid – the brackets holding the plexiglass in would help here, as they are rather long and would add to the strength of the panel as a whole. The pop riveting, along with the brushed aluminium finish, gives the whole thing a rather “industrial” look. All in all, the panel is well made, I can’t fault the workmanship at all. Even the packaging is well done – the box it comes in is padded just enough to protect the panel from all but the most violent of accidents. I tried the window panel in my beige PC-10 – while the colour obviously doesn’t match, it certainly didn’t look appalling – especially with the case’s bezel taken off (I’m in the process of modifying it to allow better airflow into the front fans). Did it look good overall? I’m not a huge fan of windows myself, but yes, I think it did. It’s quite pleasing to be able to see my motherboard, rounded cables, CPU heatsink and the diagnostic lights on my video card – without the extra noise normally associated with me being able to see them (when I’ve got the case cover removed).  I did notice two small, niggling “problems” – one that I’m sure Lian Li can’t help, the other that they might want to look into. Plexiglass seems to attract dust. Which can be a bit unsightly – though as I said, this is hardly Lian Li’s fault. The other problem I think they could do something about. Removing this panel from your case can be a right pain – there’s no way to easily grip it. The beige side panels on my case fit snugly as well, but they have a recess of sorts on them, towards the back of the panel, which gives you grip when you want to remove them. The window panel has no such recess, and it's quite hard to get it off. The only reliable way I could find to remove the panel was to push it backwards, using the front edge, which is only accessible with the front bezel removed. To be fair, most people don’t spend a lot of time removing and replacing case panels, so this really is only a minor problem. If you’ve got a Lian Li mid-tower case (this window panel will only fit on Lian Li mid-towers), want to be able to show off the inside of your PC and are a bit unsure about making your own window, then I think this pre-made window panel is definitely worth checking out. Thanks to AusPCMarket for providing the review unit. Other Recent Reviews:
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