Packaging

The packaging has the slogan "Coolest Case Ever" printed across the entire front side. This is completely different and gets the potential buyers' attention. The back has the case in all its parts as well as its features in English written on it. This makes for a very clean and still catchy packaging.


Once the sturdy cardboard box was opened, the top of the case was seen. This is different as well, as most manufactures tend to place the case with the front toward the top. Akasa went with some foam spacers which have the advantage of surviving more than just one fall, unlike Styrofoam.

Contents

There were three cardboard boxes inside the case. Cases usually have one or two boxes, so imagine my surprise when I discovered three of them.


I opened the big brown box first. All it included was a 12cm air duct with mounting screws. The duct is made out of soft plastic, while it may not look so high quality the soft plastic eliminates possible vibrations being passed on from the fan. The second box was filled to the rim with two pieces of paper, one zip tie, a standard backplate for the mainboard, a sticker for the backplate and three bags of screws. The sticker is a very nice addition. The user now has the choice of using the sticker or going with the mirror finish, naked look. There are plenty of screws included. One bag of black screws for optical and floppy drives, one bag of black screws for hard drives and one bag of normal screws for the general installation of all the parts.
As you see, it is a complete package. The only thing I did not understand is the single zip tie. Akasa should have included a larger number or none at all.


The last box had another surprise - four chassis wheels. They can be screwed onto the bottom of the case. Two of them feature locks, to keep the case from rolling all over the floor. There was no real manual included, just a very detailed diagram of the USB/Firewire connectors and diagram of the case in parts. If you have trouble putting together IKEA furniture using their plans, do not ever bother looking at these as you will have a very hard time grasping the entire concept and what everything means. A little illustrated booklet would have been nice.

The manual is simple, but includes pictures to help you if need be. I did not have any problems installing anything, as it all was quite straight forward.