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Firstly...a BIG THANK YOU to HEXUS and Fractal for giving me this prize.
Secondly...apologies to HEXUS and Fractal for the delay in submitting a review...I can only give finishing my 5 year house renovation project and a busier than expected Christmas for the delay.
Given the excellent reviews so far I won't be able to add anything else to the general opinion of this case...lets face it, for £70 (Scan 08/01/2016) this is a good solid buy if your prime requirements don't include space for 5.25” hardware...So, I'm going to give a totally subjective and occasionally fatuous opinion of my first HEXUS and Fractal prize.
The delivery box it arrived in was big, and I mean BIG. The Define S isn't small given the specs but the unfortunate neighbour that it was initially delivered to and then kindly brought it round to my front door, looked like Sponge Bob Square Pants on “Supersize Me” portions. “How big is this case” I thought.
3/10 for Ease of Neighbour Delivery.
Opening was fun...lots and lots and lots of bubble wrap and then...the Define S box taking up about 2/5ths of the volume and 3 small(ish) fan boxes shuffling about in the bottom.
10/10 for prize protection and cat amusement.
THE CASE.
The actual Define S box was basic but intact and did its job of protecting the important stuff. When unpacking I liked the rounded corners on the polystyrene packing because if you, like me, like to keep the everything pristine, it means I can get the contents out of / into the box and move the stuff around a work desk more easily than the square edge packaging allows.
Once out of the box I did a complete 360 around the Define S on the review station...or kitchen table as it's know in this house ( This is the best place to view all angles of “first prizes from HEXUS and Fractal”...Also works for temporarily putting crockery from the dishwasher, dropping shopping bags from household shopping expeditions and eating meals...but only if prior mentioned “first prizes from HEXUS and Fractal” are safely packed away )
Now given that I like simple case designs then I was never going to have a problem with the Define S in terms of aesthetics. The overall design is clean and I especially like the front On-Off Button / USB / Input console which is better than my more expensive Lian Li for finish in my opinion.
I have no problem with the aluminium effect plastic front cover as it's convincing enough although I would prefer that it emulated the dust filter it covers and used a really simple catch and magnet securing system...that would remove any worries about clumsy breakage with the snap in/out system it currently employs. I would say the same about the top removable panels, although, as I would be less likely to be removing and reapplying these panels once I'd put in radiators/fans in, then I wouldn't consider this a deal breaker.
Magnets in action
You should use a similar system here Fractal
A nice little touch on the side panels is that the securing bolts can't be fully removed from the panel once unscrewed from the main chassis (Don't know about you but I'm constantly dropping those slippery little buggers) but as with all the other “Tool Less” bolts/screws in this product I found I initially needed a screwdriver to loosen them (this shouldn't be a problem for HEXUS peeps).
Good idea this
Once the side panels are off you wonder how you will fill the space...and to be honest, as I had sold off all my old kit and nobody was in the market for a new PC and I wasn't prepared to dismantle my new rig you will have to continue to wonder, especially if this is the only review you read...Anyway I've worked on enough builds to see that this is good space to work in and compared with my old Lancool of similar size it would allow a neater, far easily assembled build.
So then!
Do I like it?...Yes I do.
Why?...Well, feature and looks wise it's more than £20 better than my £50 Lancool ( which was a really good budget case ) as well as having one better quality finish than my £120 Lian Li.
Will I be using it? No I won't.
Why?...It's too big for my work space (not the kitchen table) and too specialized for my current needs.
BUT...If I was stepping out into a first custom water-cooled build and didn't want to spend lots on a custom water-cooled build sympathetic case so I could spend more on the expensive water cooling bits this would be definitely be on the short list because it's good.
THE FANS.
Love em! They are quiet (compared to the other 140mm fans I have), the build quality is good and I absolutely love the 140/120 mm adapters. Now if I could only shoehorn them into my current case I would but they are just a tiny, tiny bit too big. Actually, one other thing springs to mind, why the black/grey colour combination the usual Fractal black/white would have worked better with all of your cases I'd have thought.
FINAL WORDS.
Now that I have finished the house can I have some more prizes to review.
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