Origen X15e HTPC case

Popping the top off is simply a case of undoing one screw on the back and two on either side.

Rather than being an awkward U-shaped piece of metal, the lid is simply that - the lid. The sides stay in place and the top comes straight off. You can see the layout of the case here. At the front left is a bay for slotting in the DVD drive. There is room for a 3.5" drive below to sit behind the exposed port on the front, and another 3.5" drive on top of the DVD. The front ports are also positioned front left.

At the front right is the LCD screen. The circuit board is protected by a metal backing plate which should stop you accidentally screwdrivering it. There's a drive cage which has room for three hard drives, meaning there should be plenty of storage capacity for your media machine. Thoughtfully, the cage has rubber dampeners to help combat drive vibration.

The LCD connects to a VGA input on the back of the case, so you can just run the secondary VGA output on your card straight into it. The small black PCB at the front also incorporates a Windows MCE compatible infra-red receiver, and the case ships with an MCE remote. This is a very handy feature, and allows you to avoid having to hook up an ugly USB dongle.

The front ports are connected to a PCB which connects up to the pin headers. You can also see here a back view of the VGA input for the screen.