Thermaltake Armor Jr. Case Review

[Capper]

Thermaltake Armor Jr. Case Review

We all like good things, but too much of a good thing can be, well, a bad thing. It's for this reason, among others, that we can purchase items such as fun sized candy bars, two door coupes, and those new little 8 oz. cans of cola. Following the same philosophy, Thermaltake recently downsized their immensly popular Armor chassis with the appropriately dubbed Armor Jr.

http://www.hardwarelogic.com/news/12...006-06-11.html

Paul has finished up a really nice review of Thermaltake's latest enclosure, the Thermaltake Armor Jr.....make sure you check it out

[gvblake22]

That's a very cool case, lots of new design features. I like to see companies (like Thermaltake) taking the time and effort to break the mold and design new features, layouts, and looks in their products. It's always nice to get a fresh new look at something, plus it spurs on the same thing to happen with other companies as well.

Thanks for the review Paul! :thumleft:

[polobunny]

Only things I can cry about with TT cases are the cheap overused side panels. Is it me or they always use the same side panel for their case? They got 2-3 models and that's about it. And their PSU's, which have always been noisy with me. Some people report them being really silent but nothing yet beats Antec IMO.
Edit: Oh yes nice review! :)

[gvblake22]

They do tend to use that "X" style side panel, but they have designed a few new ones. The one on the full sized Armor case is new. But if you look at it, most companies do the same thing. CoolerMaster does it, Antec does it, Chenming/Chieftec does it, Aspire and Raidmax do it...

[polobunny]

Now that you say it it's true all those companies re-use their side panels... :?
I guess TT just hit me more. It feels like i've seen so much "shark" type side panels.
Chenming/Chieftec though lol, I don't think they even have more than 1 model. :P

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by polobunny

Chenming/Chieftec though lol, I don't think they even have more than 1 model. :P

Actually Chieftec has quite an impressive lineup of products:
http://www.chieftec.com/products/products.htm

[polobunny]

1 model of side panel I meant, used to see the one with the window. :P I had a green dragon back in the days.

[One4yu2c]

Originally Posted by polobunny

Only things I can cry about with TT cases are the cheap overused side panels. Is it me or they always use the same side panel for their case? They got 2-3 models and that's about it. And their PSU's, which have always been noisy with me. Some people report them being really silent but nothing yet beats Antec IMO.

I can say that the panel on the Armor Jr. didn't feel "cheap" to me, but about what I would expect on a $100 case. My only real gripe is the branding and goofy Cool all Your Life slogan. It's almost a deal breaker IMO, with the saving grace being that the lettering is clear and not colored.

As for PSUs, I'm a huge proponent of OCZ units myself, but as I mentioned in another thread, the Thermaltake units I've played with have impressed (420w PurePower and their recent 600w version).

And with regards to the side panel variety, I count a whopping 7 different styles, grouped as follows:

• 1) Sideways 'M' Grille (Shark, Eureka)
  2) Three Part Window (Kandalf, Armor)
  3) Open 'X' w/ Lock (Armor Jr., Aquila, Eclipse DV, Tsunami, Soprano, Lanmoto)
  4) Large 'X' w/ No Lock (Damier, Xaser V)
  5) Backwards 'P' (Xaser III)
  6) Sideways Ovalish (Matrix VX, Swing)
  7) Square w/ Rounded Indent on Right (Eclipse)

That's really not a bad assortment...

[drew and not u]

Originally Posted by One4yu2c

My only real gripe is the branding and goofy Cool all Your Life slogan. It's almost a deal breaker IMO, with the saving grace being that the lettering is clear and not colored.

YES!!! That's my one complaint about my Armor. I hate that retarted slogan grrrr..

[RangerXLT8]

Wow the Jr. in the name led me to believe it was a mATX case, apparently not. Nice case, and Nice review!