A Closer Look - Outside

The chassis itself has an excellent build quality. Thermaltake has used thick aluminum sheets to form the chassis. As you can see, the VFD is protected by a thin plastic film. The quality of the Luxa2 series is comparable to those of high-end HTPC manufacturers like Origen AE or Moneual Labs.


Thermaltake has gone with the same two tone look, which is clearly a signature of the Luxa2 line. Behind a drop down door you will find the two USB 2.0, pair of audio plugs and a single Firewire connector. It would have been nice to see eSATA or even USB 3.0 as you will most likely keep this investment for some time. Next to that is a card reader capable of reading and writing all the major formats out there. The rear of the LM200 is black and has the same general layout of a mini tower placed on its side. There are no openings on top or on the side of the case, so any noise generated should be nicely shielded and kept within the enclosure.


On the left side you will find the Luxa2 logo along with the power button. This one is identical to the one found on Thermaltake's HTPC line-up, but features a different color LED. While the official pictures of the LM200 show an IR receiver next to the power button, the actual retail model lacks that. You will find the receiver built into the Soundgraph supplied VFD, which is right below the full size external 5.25 drive bay. All the controls for the VFD have been placed on the right side. This is the standard set of controls supplied by Soundgraph for their software and displays. Due to the space constraints, Thermaltake has chosen to place the "left" / "right" functionality above and below the "up" and "down" buttons. It would have been much more natural if these pairs would have been switched around, but since Thermaltake has taken the default control PCB from Soundgraph and installed it at a 90 degree angle you will now have to live with crazy controls like that. This is certainly not something you want to see on a HTPC case with a price tag just below 300 Euros.


Taking a closer look at the rear, the PSU bay is on the left side - or "on top" in a mini tower configuration. A 120 mm fan of the new silent design fills the middle, while four seperately covered expansion slots can be found on the right side of the back.