What happened to Antec?

[scrlk]

I remember when Antec used to produce cases of great desire, such as the P182. Clean lines, stellar quality - the list goes on. It was like this until the P183. The front door got modified to allow more airflow and holes were added, forever ruining the front of the case. Mesh would have been a better idea, or something more original that would have from your excellent R&D. Sadly, it all went downhill from here. This is evident in the gaming cases as the Three Hundred is the only product I would buy. The Two Hundred would have been a nice case, would it not have been on the tacky front. The 600, 900, 902 and 1200 looks like it was designed by a 13yr old on crack mixed with LEDs and plastic. (ps. If you add in a window Antec, at least do it the Corsair way *cough*800D*cough*)

The rest of your cases are fine - the NSK series is of high merit as the 2 tone silver/black is sexy. All that needs to be done is to cull the range, update it (cooling wise & remove the case badge insert - case badges is so 2001) and volia - you have a hit. Your Sonata family needs a refresh - cooling & case badge insert removal would do fine although glossy black plastic is a big no no due to the high upkeep of keeping it nice.

If you don't know what to look for in your next case, try combining Lian Li and Corsair and sell it. You will have a hit on your hands if it has the zones of the P182, the design of Lian Li and the cable management of the 800D. Feel free to PM me if you need any ideas on what your next killer case should have.

[danroyle]

supply and demand mate. Quite alot of people like cases designed by 13 year old crackheads, Only an idiot company would choose not to make what people want.


Welcome to the forums!!!!!!!

[Disturbedguy]

I remember when Antec used to produce cases of great desire, such as the P182. Clean lines, stellar quality - the list goes on. It was like this until the P183. The front door got modified to allow more airflow and holes were added, forever ruining the front of the case. Mesh would have been a better idea, or something more original that would have from your excellent R&D. Sadly, it all went downhill from here. This is evident in the gaming cases as the Three Hundred is the only product I would buy. The Two Hundred would have been a nice case, would it not have been on the tacky front. The 600, 900, 902 and 1200 looks like it was designed by a 13yr old on crack mixed with LEDs and plastic. (ps. If you add in a window Antec, at least do it the Corsair way *cough*800D*cough*)

The rest of your cases are fine - the NSK series is of high merit as the 2 tone silver/black is sexy. All that needs to be done is to cull the range, update it (cooling wise & remove the case badge insert - case badges is so 2001) and volia - you have a hit. Your Sonata family needs a refresh - cooling & case badge insert removal would do fine although glossy black plastic is a big no no due to the high upkeep of keeping it nice.

If you don't know what to look for in your next case, try combining Lian Li and Corsair and sell it. You will have a hit on your hands if it has the zones of the P182, the design of Lian Li and the cable management of the 800D. Feel free to PM me if you need any ideas on what your next killer case should have.

Tbh Antec have teams of people who design the cases they sell, they may well take on board your suggestions for case ideas, however I highly doubt they would PM someone, who to be honest, is just a randomer.

Hope you stay around Hexus and join in the community.

[fadsarmy]

I remember when Antec used to produce cases of great desire, such as the P182. Clean lines, stellar quality - the list goes on. It was like this until the P183. The front door got modified to allow more airflow and holes were added, forever ruining the front of the case. Mesh would have been a better idea, or something more original that would have from your excellent R&D. Sadly, it all went downhill from here. This is evident in the gaming cases as the Three Hundred is the only product I would buy. The Two Hundred would have been a nice case, would it not have been on the tacky front. The 600, 900, 902 and 1200 looks like it was designed by a 13yr old on crack mixed with LEDs and plastic. (ps. If you add in a window Antec, at least do it the Corsair way *cough*800D*cough*)

The rest of your cases are fine - the NSK series is of high merit as the 2 tone silver/black is sexy. All that needs to be done is to cull the range, update it (cooling wise & remove the case badge insert - case badges is so 2001) and volia - you have a hit. Your Sonata family needs a refresh - cooling & case badge insert removal would do fine although glossy black plastic is a big no no due to the high upkeep of keeping it nice.

If you don't know what to look for in your next case, try combining Lian Li and Corsair and sell it. You will have a hit on your hands if it has the zones of the P182, the design of Lian Li and the cable management of the 800D. Feel free to PM me if you need any ideas on what your next killer case should have.

Agree 100% with above comments.

[Funkstar]

<snip>

Feel free to PM me if you need any ideas on what your next killer case should have.

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Welcome to Hexus.

[Mutley]

I have the P182. I love this case. Not seen much since from Antec that I like tbh.

[jim]

Got a P180 myself, as things stand don't think I'd buy Antec again. Not impressed with anything they've got out at the moment.

Silverstone seem to have perfected the "clean" look that I liked so much on the P180, and Corsair are doing great cases as well.

[MonkeyL]

Got a P180 myself, as things stand don't think I'd buy Antec again.

Not impressed with anything they've got out at the moment.

Same here, things just seem to have gone down hill since the p180. Wouldn't have considered anyone else at one point but now I hardly bother even looking at Antec.

As was pointed out above, unless you're a 13 year old crackhead then their new designs won't impress.

There doesn't seem to be anything on the horizon either, the entire range is either pretty stale or "day-glo".

[Biscuit]

Whilst i mostly agree, this is all quite subjective and you have to remember there are a lot of people who like their case to look like a chavs car.
It would be nice to see a new Antec release that competes on both features and sytle with the higher end silverstone and corsair cases though.
The P18* are great cases, but they are hopeless if you want a modern up to date GPU like the 5870 as you have to remove a hard drive cage, not good enough guys you need to catch up!
I am a fan of antecs producs and i am on the prowl for a replacement to my aging coolermaster so il keep my eye out, please dont dissapoint guys!

[Christoph@ANTEC]

Whilst i mostly agree, this is all quite subjective and you have to remember there are a lot of people who like their case to look like a chavs car.
It would be nice to see a new Antec release that competes on both features and sytle with the higher end silverstone and corsair cases though.
The P18* are great cases, but they are hopeless if you want a modern up to date GPU like the 5870 as you have to remove a hard drive cage, not good enough guys you need to catch up!
I am a fan of antecs producs and i am on the prowl for a replacement to my aging coolermaster so il keep my eye out, please dont dissapoint guys!

Hi, you are totally right. It's a subjective matter and there are a lot of people out there loving the cases which is why we are still No1 with retail cases. I personally liked the P180 also very much, but there were updates made. We had to cut small holes in the front for better air vent but the cases look very similar to the P180, or not?

Just because we cater to a whole new group of endusers doesn't mean something is going down hill. It's surprising that answers on the press release were mostly negative but people seeing the case in real on shows etc loved it. Maybe you should give it some time to get used to? On first sight I didnt like the Dark Fleet either but when I had a sample here it look better and better each day. Especially the DF35 comes quite cool even though I am a big fan of simple cases just like you guys.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback guys. Much appreciated!

Christoph

[jim]

Hi, you are totally right. It's a subjective matter and there are a lot of people out there loving the cases which is why we are still No1 with retail cases. I personally liked the P180 also very much, but there were updates made. We had to cut small holes in the front for better air vent but the cases look very similar to the P180, or not?

Problem is, as far as updates to the P180 go, it looks like you moved the PSU fan to the front (should have been the case on the P180 to be honest, daft place to put it), and beyond that very little has changed.

And the side fan on the P193 is awful!

[scrlk]

Hi, you are totally right. It's a subjective matter and there are a lot of people out there loving the cases which is why we are still No1 with retail cases. I personally liked the P180 also very much, but there were link removed made. We had to cut small holes in the front for better air vent but the cases look very similar to the P180, or not?

Just because we cater to a whole new group of endusers doesn't mean something is going down hill. It's surprising that answers on the press release were mostly negative but people seeing the case in real on shows etc loved it. Maybe you should give it some time to get used to? On first sight I didnt like the Dark Fleet either but when I had a sample here it look better and better each day. Especially the DF35 comes quite cool even though I am a big fan of simple cases just like you guys.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback guys. Much appreciated!

Christoph

To be fair, the market you are talking about is quite a niche one. Every time I see an Antec thread on an enthusiast forum, it ends up like this. Regarding the Dark Fleet, the bit-tech review sums up my thoughts:

"The first thing that came to mind when unboxing the Dark Fleet was Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan talking about his brother's girlfriend, who he says (to paraphrase) "looked like she'd fallen from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down." The Twelve Hundred has questionable looks but Antec have gone one better, as the Dark Fleet is truly hideous.

In fact, it almost looks as though it's missing its front fascia. Quite frankly, the bulging drive doors and three external 5.25in bay covers are nothing short of an eyesore. Another oddity we need to get off our chest is the top-mounted 2.5in drive bay. Mounting your hideously expensive but extremely desirable SSD in an exposed, unsecured manner on the outside of your case is a terrible idea."

[BobF64]

"The first thing that came to mind when unboxing the Dark Fleet was Matt Damon in Saving Private Ryan talking about his brother's girlfriend, who he says (to paraphrase) "looked like she'd fallen from the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down." The Twelve Hundred has questionable looks but Antec have gone one better, as the Dark Fleet is truly hideous.

See, this is the thing. Where you see hideous, others see unique, its all about perspective.

[Christoph@ANTEC]

See, this is the thing. Where you see hideous, others see unique, its all about perspective.

Thank you. I would put it the same way. There is just no sense in arguing about aesthetics.

Christoph

[jim]

Perhaps, but there would be a point in arguing about the product range.

If there's nothing compelling at one end of the market, then that's an issue.

[ehhhhhhh]

I really like the design of the p180 series (including the vent holes, inner design, build quality), and the 300...the others are too gamer or too "office style" for me as well, though I can see that more people are after the "gamer" design, which is sad...

what I would really welcome is an antec case with solid/professional look in a full tower form factor...and most importantly with a sensible price tag.

I don't see the point on wasting £300 on a case(eg obsidian).