Zalman HD160 HTPC Enclosure

Conclusions

Did we like it?

Yes we liked it. We liked it a lot. Even with the few problems mentioned the HD160 was probably one of the best-built cases we have set our eyes on, and not just amongst HTPC cases. The build quality far exceeds anything we have seen for the HTPC market and the inclusion of the built in IR Receiver and good quality Media Center Remote add to the package well. I have no doubt that if Zalman were to iron out the few problems in the HD160 it would be worthy of acclaim from its users and jealous admiration from many other manufacturers.

Value: At £220 inc vat from QuietPC there is no doubt that this is an expensive product. The Silverstone LC16M is similar yet costs £185, a saving of £35. If you add the cost of the ZM460-APS PSU £80, the CNPS9500-AT CPU cooler £37 and the VF900-CU GPU cooler £28 you are looking at £365 before even putting your electronics in. Nevertheless, what you are getting for £365 is the ultimate in quiet HTPC Enclosure with good cooling and power to boot. You could, by all means, replace the PSU and coolers with non-Zalman equivalents to save a little, but as it would be a one-off purchase we would be happy to recommend the full Zalman setup as it works incredibly well.

Although a hardcore audiophile will probably cringe at the thought of listening to one of Paganini's violin masterpieces through an HTPC, he would probably not flinch at spending the cost of the HD160 on speaker cable and interconnects alone, so the cost vs. benefit comparison is well in favour of integration and high definition audio files and hardware.



To summarise:

Pros:
Finish
Build
Incredibly Low Noise

Cons:
Very Poor LCD/Remote Instructions
Price

Final thoughts

Zalman have produced yet another excellent product. From design through to implementation the HD160 is ideal for any home media centre application and its faults are far outweighed by its amazing aesthetic and acoustic performance. If the Zalman HD160 HTPC Enclosure is within your price range we wouldn't hesitate to say look no further.