P182 Special Edition - One of the best cases gets better
by Joshua Buss on April 12, 2007 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Introduction
Antec has been around a long time in the case industry, and as such they've learned how to do many things exceptionally well. If any sweeping statements could be made about their approach to product design, we would have to say that they always seem to aim right in the middle of marrying current demands for popular aesthetics with pushing the envelope implementing new ideas and features. This approach keeps their cases one step ahead of most of the competition - even at their competitive price points.
This balanced approach has been a great strategy for Antec and a few other case manufacturers for quite some time, but when Antec decided to be a little riskier than normal with their incredibly monolithic P180, they hit a sweet spot in the hearts of a lot of enthusiasts. With the themed and windowed cases that used to be so popular really just coming across as gimmicky to many PC builders, the P180's simplistic styling was a breath of fresh air. It was a bit of a stretch designing something so void of any character, but the design was combined with a few revolutionary yet fundamentally very simple functional characteristics. In the end, the case's fresh look helped it quickly rise to a level of popularity rarely seen in the computer case market.
Like any good manufacturer, Antec knew when they had something special on their hands. In addition to the regular silver P180, they released a black version of the case to a select few stores shortly after the original's release. Now as a follow up they have made an upgraded version of the case, coated it in a dark gunmetal gray finish, and dubbed it the P182. Additionally, they have simultaneously launched a Special Edition version which literally shines with a stunning mirror finish. Functionally, both P182 cases offer several compelling reasons to make them serious candidates for anyone's next desktop computer, either for their own unique look or their improvements in a few small areas. For our purposes Antec has sent us a Special Edition to review, but it only offers one more feature than the 'stock' P182 other than its shiny paint job, and that's just a special flexible interior spot light, so for all practical purposes this can be considered a review of the standard edition as well.
More information on the Antec P182 and P182SE can be found on Antec's website.
Antec has been around a long time in the case industry, and as such they've learned how to do many things exceptionally well. If any sweeping statements could be made about their approach to product design, we would have to say that they always seem to aim right in the middle of marrying current demands for popular aesthetics with pushing the envelope implementing new ideas and features. This approach keeps their cases one step ahead of most of the competition - even at their competitive price points.
This balanced approach has been a great strategy for Antec and a few other case manufacturers for quite some time, but when Antec decided to be a little riskier than normal with their incredibly monolithic P180, they hit a sweet spot in the hearts of a lot of enthusiasts. With the themed and windowed cases that used to be so popular really just coming across as gimmicky to many PC builders, the P180's simplistic styling was a breath of fresh air. It was a bit of a stretch designing something so void of any character, but the design was combined with a few revolutionary yet fundamentally very simple functional characteristics. In the end, the case's fresh look helped it quickly rise to a level of popularity rarely seen in the computer case market.
Like any good manufacturer, Antec knew when they had something special on their hands. In addition to the regular silver P180, they released a black version of the case to a select few stores shortly after the original's release. Now as a follow up they have made an upgraded version of the case, coated it in a dark gunmetal gray finish, and dubbed it the P182. Additionally, they have simultaneously launched a Special Edition version which literally shines with a stunning mirror finish. Functionally, both P182 cases offer several compelling reasons to make them serious candidates for anyone's next desktop computer, either for their own unique look or their improvements in a few small areas. For our purposes Antec has sent us a Special Edition to review, but it only offers one more feature than the 'stock' P182 other than its shiny paint job, and that's just a special flexible interior spot light, so for all practical purposes this can be considered a review of the standard edition as well.
More information on the Antec P182 and P182SE can be found on Antec's website.
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kellehair - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Anybody have a list of differences between the 180 and the 182? I have the 180 already but would consider upgrading, assuming it really is an upgrade.cbuchach - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Yes, I own a P180. The case is great except for the fact that all the cables from the bottom power supply/hard drive compartment route through the panel opening. The new cable routing features, instead of the mirror finish should have been the focus as in my opinion this is the best update to the case.Sunrise089 - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Did I miss the pricetag for this special finish model?Also, how many fans are being used? It looks like you have the top and rear fans installed, plus another 120mm between the lower HD cage and the power supply. But what about the two front fans, in the upper and lower compartments?
Richey02hg - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
yes you did, last page i believe it says 229 (yikes!)Sunrise089 - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Nope, that was added after the article was posted.JoshuaBuss - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
newegg has it for $230, as mentioned by someone else in the comments here.JarredWalton - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Not the SE version, but the standard P182 is a lot more readily available (and cheaper):http://www.atacom.com/program/print_html_new.cgi?c...">ATACOM $130 + shipping
http://www.etech4sale.com/ANTEC_PERFORMANCE_ONE_SE...">Etech4Sale $125 + shipping
http://www.excaliberpc.com/ANTEC_PERFORMANCE_ONE_S...">ExcaliburPC - $127 + shipping
http://www.computerbrain.com/applications/search/i...">Computer Brain - $132 + ship
No idea if these guys are safe or not, but I also found the P182SE for $191 + shipping from http://ozdirect.com/product_info.php?products_id=6...">OZDirect
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=antec+p182&...">Froogle is your fried! :)
yyrkoon - Sunday, April 15, 2007 - link
ATACOM should be, I've ordred from them before. ExcaliburPC IS safe, as is computerbrain, never heard of etchforsale, and anyone putting numbers in their business name, can not be all that sophisticated, now can they ;)Anyhow, look on resellerreview . . .
nicolasb - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
> Also, how many fans are being used?Like the P180, the case comes with three fans, but there are mounting points for another two if you really want to go nuts....
Can anyone tell me what the dimensions of the PSU compartment are? It'd be nice to know which 750W-850W PSUs will actually fit into this case.
giantpandaman2 - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
It's a bit of a lower end case, but, shockingly enough, it actually does come with hard drive suspension gear. I picked it up for $60 at a Fry's sale. It's definitely not as pretty as the P180's that were sitting next to it, but I couldn't believe I how cheap I was getting a tooless, quiet (comes with modest sound dampening material) case w/4 HDD suspension mounts and dual air filters. Obviously there's much better cases out there, but not for $60. The only thing it lacked was a front intake fan, easily solved for another $10 though.