Tekheads Lian Li review

When the guys over at Tekheads agreed to let me review one of their custom cases, I was well chuffed. "Great!" thinks me. "Maybe they'll send me a b0rg, or one of their funky towers!" So imagine my horror when I arrived home to find - a Lian Li PC60.
"What do you mean horror?" you may ask. Well, let's get one thing straight before we start - I hate mid-towers. Not dislike, or generally avoid, I HATE them. They're always too small, too cramped, never stylish, and they just don't have that 'power-user' look that a full tower does. So, a bit dejected, I unpacked the case and gathered some first impressions.

On first, sight, I could tell this wasn't going to be a normal mid-tower. This was the first time I'd ever seen an aluminium case up close, and to say I was impressed would be an understatement. It's really, really light! After lugging around my Aopen full-tower for the last few days, this was a welcome break! Let's take you through it bit-by bit (pun fully intended :)

The case. I'm sure you've all seen pics of it by now, so I won't dwell too long on exterior shots. Suffice to say, the case oozes sexiness. It just yells "Look at me, I'm a sexy biatch, yeah!!!" It's sleek, and damn impressive. If you're into funky interior design, like old Koolv, it'll be right at home - even if you're not, it'll sure stand out from the crowd. Notice the window on the side.

The other side - looks just as nice from here eh? It's a bit bigger than your average mid-tower, which suits me fine!

This isn't just any old PC-60 either, no sirree. This is a PC-60 USB, with 4 funky USB ports on the front of the case! They're covered by a plastic flip-down cover which protects them whilst not in use. This feels just a little bit cheap compared with the rest of the case, but serves its purpose well.

You noticed the window earlier, right? Well, Tekheads have pre-fitted their own window kit to the case to save you the hassle! Whilst pre-modded might sound like the wuss way out, let's face it - most people will only be doing this kind of window anyways, so you might as well save yourself the trouble! Note the little circular hole for mounting a neon switch - a nice touch.

A close up of the window rubber. Kinda chunky heh? Personally, I would have preferred something a bit sleeker to match the rest of the case, like the chrome schtuff over as Caseetc (hint hint Tek boys!!) but it still looks darned nice.

The motherboard tray. I find these essential for assembling components, since I hate working inside a case. This is lightweight, but very sturdy, and a pleasure to work with. The supplied motherboard mounts aren't your standard copper screw thingies, but funky little clips, which clip into the underside of the board and poke through. Took me a while to work out how to get em in easily, but once that was done, they work a lot better than normal stand-offs!

Yum, cable tidiness, just what I like to see! LL have created a sort of 'super-cable' from all the tiny little buggers you have to plug in at the edge of the board - this stops them getting in the way everywhere! Note the abundance of USB connectors...unfortunately, my Abit board only supports an additional 2 ports, so the other 2 on the front of the case have to go begging :( As a little rant aside, why can't the connectors for HDD LED, Reset switch, etc all be standardised into one plug? I get fed up of all the little wires, surely groupoing them all together into one socket wouldn't be hard?! Maybe I'll suggesed for the MHATX standard (that's Mrhaz ATX to you!) The way LL have bunched the cables is a nice compromise though, and adds to the overall feeling of class.

Here, you can see the fans that come supplied with the case. This is a nice touch, as you can get setup right out of the box, without having to cut blowholes or mount fans or anything- it's all right there, ready to go! LL even include a big fan filter at the front! Did I mention the case was classy? The speaker is mounted at the bottom, out of the way - it's only ever going to bleep once at startup, so why put it on the front of the case where it'll get in the way?! Nice one LL. Note that all the 3 1/2" drive bays can be removed for work.

My favourite part of the entire case (probably) - the drive bays. Yum. Instead of the rubbish clip mechanisms most cases have, these babies just push out from the inside, and can be easily re-inserted later! You'd be amazed how much easier this makes drive installation!