Thermaltake DH-202 Review 5

Thermaltake DH-202 Review

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Value & Conclusion

  • The Thermaltake DH-202 is priced at around 340 €, which makes it one of the cheapest 7 inch touch screen equipped HTPC cases out there. It is only beat by the aging DH-102, which clocks in at almost 100 € less.
  • Great paint job
  • Soundgraph LCD screen & software a solid choice!
  • All control present to navigate through the software
  • Works with both Windows XP MCE and Vista
  • Updated looks are much better than the original DH-1 series
  • Solid construction
  • Includes Remote control
  • Can hold three hard drives
  • Two 60 mm fans, one 120 mm one
  • Large low profile CPU coolers are possible
  • Available in three versions
  • No improvements in the interior
  • Fans do not come with mainboard headers
  • Fans are quite noisy at 12V
  • You may not need all the features of the Soundgraph Graphical VFD for a HTPC
  • Large openings allow noise to escape the case and dust to settle inside it
  • Large graphic cards will not fit
  • A few parts lack the black paint job
  • Only partial screw-less system
We published our DH-101 review in November 2007. Since then the HTPC case market has matured and evolved. We have mini ITX cases, DTX and slim mATX units which require low profile expansion cards, but full sized units. The market is filled with offerings for every budget. It seems a bit like the DH-202 is just a cosmetic refresh of the DH-102. Sure the new front and incorporated card readers make it an easy pick over the previous model, but the unchanged interior does not. Even though there is a saying that springs to mind: "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but the DH-101 - which has the indentical interior to the DH-102 and 202 does offer a lot of room for improvement. I would have liked to see a better, mainly quieter thermal solution overall. Thermaltake could have easily realized this with better sound encapsulation or quieter fans. Even the fact that you still find the same, fairly loud cooling units inside the case, while the Luxa2 series gets treated with the updated and quieter ones looks like that not enough time was devoted to the DH-202.

The Thermaltake DH-202 is a good looking unit, but does not really manage to differentiate itself from the predecessor, but does offer 7 inch display at very low price with better, modern looks when compared to the DH-202. So if you can live with the interior age of the chassis, and do not mind spending a few bucks more on quiet fans or a simple fan controller, you should be satisfied with the end result as part of your home theater system.
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Nov 29th, 2024 13:36 EST change timezone

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