Conclusion:
The BT611 mATX Case may not be the most exotic case we have reviewed from
In Win, but it may be one of my favorite cases to date. Tower cases, especially of the ATX variety, seem to have all the fun when it comes to design and nice touches, and mATX desktop cases always seem to lack much flair. The BT611 may not have alot of bells and whistles, but it does provide a very attractive, compact, and quiet home for your basic mATX system. In addition to these features, the whole thing comes ready to power a modern system thanks to the rather beefy 300W TFX power supply and its dual 12V rails.
This case also makes for a good choice for anyone seeking a low priced solution for a basic HTPC. The styling is appropriate, as is the low noise production. The only concerns may be with the width of the chassis not matching up to other rack components, and perhaps selecting from the limited selection of low profile cards to handle all of the necessary features of an HTPC (video, sound, TV tuner).
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There are few down sides with this case, as long as you know what you are getting into. This case is extremely compact, and therefore you can not expect to use some of your full sized hardware (especially CPU coolers and video cards). Additionally, there is only room for one 5.25" drive and two 3.5" drives, but that is not uncommon for an mATX case. What may be uncommon is the depth of the chassis. While it is both low profile and narrow, it seems quite deep. If you use it on a desktop, you might wind up with less room for your keyboard as it is about 16" deep by itself, and once you attach the cable on the back it makes it even deeper.
The only other concern is with the design of the front doors. The plastic seems a bit flimsy and the catches aren't that robust, and I expect that they may one day fail me. Additionally, if an optical drive is ejected via software, the drive tray will not be able to push the door open and will simply jam.
A search of
PriceGrabber turns up one location with the In Win BT611 mATX Case with 300W Power Supply for the low price of $47.99. Not bad for an attractive little system with a fairly beefy power supply. For an apples to apples comparison of the various components in this system, let's look at Newegg.com, one of the few places with a variety of configurations. They sell the In Win BT611 mATX Case with the 300W power supply for
$52.99, or you can get it with a 240W power supply for
$49.99 (I'd recommend checking the couch cushions for the extra three dollars). The 300W power supply makes up about half the price of the complete kit, selling for
$25.99 on its own.
Despite the few concerns I have with the BT611, it is still my favorite mATX case to date. It has incredibly attractive styling, generates minimal noise, is quite compact, and has low price tag. Given all of these positives, it earns the award of "Highly Recommended" and "Good Value".
Pros:
» Attractive styling
» Quiet
» Compact
» Suitable for a basic HTPC
» Strong little power supply
» Low price
Cons:
» Low profile expansion cards only
» May be narrow and low profile, but case is rather deep
» Front doors aren't the best or most robust
Special thanks to
In Win USA for providing the In Win BT611 mATX Case with 300W Power Supply to Bigbruin.com for review!
