The Case

Like a piñata, this little beast is packed full of goodies. Fortunately we didn’t really have to beat it to a pulp in order to get the good stuff out. Traditionally cases have come in two distinct flavors – phenomenal and crappy. We’ve all played with cases that would slice our wrists open in what seemed to be an innate self-defense mechanism for parts that didn’t think they were obsolete. Then there are cases that follow the tenets of Hinduism to the letter, with edges so smooth so as not to disturb the hair on a cow’s behind. Assembled with TLC, the Shuttle X falls into the peace-loving category. We were hard pressed to find faults in its construction.

Shuttle butt

Drive cage

As we were ripping the case to pieces and examining all the little bits, the experience took me back to my younger days, when I would unscrew every nut and bolt, and then attempt to piece it back together again. Most of the time, everything would work out fine, except for those pesky G.I. Joe figures that had rubber bands in them… alas poor legless Tomax.

After my little traipse through nostalgia land, I had what turned out to be an enormous amount of pictures for your viewing pleasure. Multiple shots of cables and drive cages, ah the joy. In the process many a “gee whiz” feature was uncovered. Mind you, these aren’t the sorts of features that you won’t ever need, these are things you yourself would have thought to put in, but what most manufacturers generally leave out.

See the rubber stopper?

Heatsink upright

The case itself is custom designed to fit the Shuttle FS51 motherboard, so if you were thinking of trying to buy a case all by itself, you’re pretty much out of luck; no one else makes anything that would fit in it. Although, we suspect this might change if the “wee but powerful” trend catches on.

Getting to the case itself, removing the housing for the case is like taking the cover off of any case. Since the cover is attached by three thumbscrews, getting at the insides only takes seconds and no tools at all. Putting the cover back on is only slightly harder, as the motherboard power connector wires sort of get in the way. Not much of a problem by any means though.