Cooler Master Media 280

Conclusions

All in all, what can we say about the 280?

Well, it's certainly a novel concept. We've not come across a case that can work in both desktop and tower orientations, especially not with rotatable front bezel. Whilst the idea initially appears a novelty, it actually works quite well. I can imagine that, having built a gaming system in this case, perhaps a couple of years down the line the system gets retired to MCE duty upon the creation of a new über-rig, and all that has to be done is an install of MCE and a quick rotate of the bezel bays.

Perhaps that is too much of a niche interest. How does it fair just as a tower case? Well, we can't say it's ideal. The looks are a little odd for a tower case and, as a gamer, it's hard to see what this case is really offering that can't be had in a million other budget steel cases. The layout is pretty bland, the finish is average and whilst the front looks kinda snazzy, it's not exactly eye-catching.

As a media case, however, I think it works really well. Finding a media case that will take full size components - and still have enough cooling capacity to keep the system from dying - is a really hard job, especially at this price point. Yes, the case is rather big to sit underneath a lot of TVs, but at least the slick black front keeps it looking inconspicuous. It's a kind of bizarre look - big and black next to the HDTV, but also blending into the background. If you're looking to build a media PC out of full-size components, you could do a lot worse than pick up this case.

So what about the price? Well, the case isn't on sale in the UK yet, but the price is an estimated £80 including VAT for the case on its own. That's not a bad price for a decent tower / desktop case. Sure, the Zalman HTPC cases are some of the slickest, most awesome HTPC cases you can buy - but they'll set you back a few hundred quid.

Cooler Master also tells us that the case will be around £160 including a VFD and IR receiver, which is still cheaper than something like a Zalman, but then the build quality isn't quite up there. We'd probably recommend just getting the case on its own though, as you can pick up a VFD and IR receiver for less than the extra £80 Cooler Master is asking for them.

The Media 280 does a similar job to the high-end HTPC cases from the likes of Silverstone and Zalman. It also looks pretty good and inconspicuous from the front, while it's also more than capable of keeping your components cool. Don't bother getting it as a tower but, as a media case, it works pretty well.