The Basics (continued):
The internal packaging is minimal, but apparently good enough, since it shipped from California to New Jersey in only the retail box shown above. Inside the box, there is a foam frame surrounding the fan, and a cloth-like bag covering the whole panel. As shown in the below right image, a thin film of plastic is also placed over the window portion of the panel to reduce the risk of it getting scratched.
Perhaps your retailer of choice would place this inside another box before shipping, but even if they don't the side panel should arrive unharmed as is.
The below left image shows an overview of the panel from the outside. It has the exact same styling as the stock, windowed panel that came with the Armor (to be shown later as a comparison). There are two latches for closing the panel against the case, and even two keys provided that operate a lock at the upper latch. What you can not see is that there is a Thermaltake logo in the lower right window, which is also found on the stock side panel.
The above right image shows a close up of the outside of the fan, which features a black mesh grill that will keep your fingers safe, while not impeding airflow too much. What it probably won't do is filter the air, so a dusty environment may lead to dusty case internals.
Flipping the panel over we see that it is black painted steel (and actually some of the black paint has over-sprayed on to this side. The 25cm fan is just about all clear plastic, and an extremely long 4-pin lead is provided for power. No chance for fan speed monitoring on this fan.
The above right image provides a close up of the back of the fan. We can see that it sports 13 blades and the frame has five sets of "spokes" to hold the center hub in place. The spoke design has many cut outs to eliminate restriction to airflow, and hopefully won't generate any wind noise.
