Antec LanBoy Air Case Review

[Dark Mantis]

Antec LanBoy Air Case Review

by Dark Mantis









This is a novel designed case presented by Antec called the LanBoy Air and there are no prizes for guessing where the name came from. Actually it is very well designed for the purpose and although it is fairly lightweight which is an obvious plus point from the point of view of transportation, it is also quite sturdy and weighs in at a total of 9.6Kg (19 lbs)including the fans. The case's outside measurements are 490mm length by 520mm high and 230 wide. It features two top mounted handles which fold down flat when not in use that again are very robust and not there just for looks. They actually incorporate steel reinforcing to make sure that the plastic doesn't give way under load.









The whole case has a very modular look and to a greater extent that is true. It also features some high end ideas that I will go into in more detail later. The construction is of steel box section to give a nice rigidity and steel perforated sheet surrounded by a heavy duty plastic moulding for the panels. I can't help but say that it reminds me of "Mechano" construction sets that we used to play with as youngsters which is not a bad likeness. There is plenty of perforated steel sheet all over the chassis apart from the top which is all encased in a 4mm thick layer of plexiglas. This has plenty of holes cut into it for ventilation also. It is tinted too incorporating mounting points for a radiator.









From the front there is a small toolbox right at the bottom which probably wouldn't even be noticed as such unless it was pointed out. This is only small but is usefull for a few spares etc, as it is only 30mm x 145mm x 16mm. The SSD mounts and a bag of spare screws are supplied in here when purchased. Above this are two 120mm fans in individual mounting boxes. They are three speed Antec models and have a speed control knob situated in the bottom right corner so it is easilly accessible. The fans are illuminated with LEDs. The boxes are secured to the chassis with two screws. Personally I did feel that these were a little insubstantial and could be changed for some a little meatier!  Next up are three 5.25" drive bay covers again held on with two small screws each. Right at the top are the usual power and reset switches at opposite sides of the console. The reset switch was good in as much as it wasn't easy to press and so was unlikely to be hit accidentally. Between them are two USB2.0 and one USB3.0 ports and the obligatory mic and heaphone jacks. There are also two mini LEDs for power and HDD activity.









The two sides are practically mirror images of each other with the front sections being full height doors with just a single thumbscrew on each to gain access. Both of these doors can be fitted with three 120mm fans. Behind the doors are two panels divided up into three sections each, the larger ones each accepts dual 120mm fans. Two are already supplied, again speed controlled but this time only two options. Each side panel will take a total of four fans. These sides are secured with six thumbscrews each and just lift off once the screws are removed.









Moving on around to the back of the case right at the bottom is a slide out PSU framework that allows a quick swap of a modular power supply with only a single thumbscrew to slow youi down. Serious stuff! Above that are the usual 8 expansion bays with 25mm (1 inch) rubber grommited holes to the side in case you wantm to use liquid cooling rather than air. Even these grommits are substantial. There is no chance that just pushing a tube through the centre will cause the rubber surround to pop out like on many cases. Another 120mm dual speed fan resides above here. It is controllable by a switch let into the rear casing. there is a spare hole for another one if wished.









Onto the far side now and behind the panel already described is the motherboard tray. However again this has been carefully considered and it is able to slide out after removal of the rear plate just described that is held on by six thumbscrews.Removable motherboard trays are a much better idea and make installation of the board and accessories so much easier when it can al be done on the workbench in front of you in good light rather than having to delve into the darkest depths of the system box. The tray also has a really massive cut out for access to the rear of the motherboard whilst in situ so any CPU cooler alterations can be done without any problem.









The whole of the inside of the case is painted satin black apart from the box sections which are electric blue. This case is available in a bright yellow and black also. There are plenty of 3.5" drive bays which can total nine maximum if no 5.25" bays are required. If not it is possible to have three 5.25" and six/seven 3.5". Again these ar enot just the standard  old drive bay with  four screws holding the drive to the chassis. Anmtec has thought this problem through and come up with a  special "bunji" mount. These rubberised bracketshold the drive firmly in mid air so no amount of movement is going to damage the HDD and the air circulation is second to none. So noise and heat should be kept to a minimum. Enough mounts are supplied for six drives.This way of mounting also enables the drives to be located in either direction, forwards to backwards or across the case. Just another option that is availabel.







On the base of the case at the front are eight keyhole shaped slots and are pre cut for location of a pair of SSDs. The soft silicon mounts are supplied along with the special screws. On the roof the plexiglas is formed to take a dual 120mm (240mm) radiator if water cooling is wanted or two fans of course.







It is possible, if you could stand the noise, that you could fit a total of 19 (nineteen) 120mm fans in this case.  No wonder they called it the Lanboy AIR! Admittedly four would be situated behind the motherboard but I am sure anyone who was that serious wouldn't let a little thing like that put them off. I do feel that the fans emplacements should have removable dust filters to enable easy cleaning as they are going to be bringing in a lot of airborne particles. They have used the flying lead to connect the USB3.0 front port which is a definite error in my eyes but apart from these there is nothing detrimental to the case.







In general this is an excellent example of the type of case. It has a few minor flaws but the benefits outweigh them many times over. It is well built and can pack a surprising amount into a reasonable size chassis. There should be no reason for overheating at all with five supplied fans and at least ten more easilly fittable! I rate it as 9/10!



Supplier : Antec       website : http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/        Price : £140.00

[teknology9]

An image of the user guide/manual would have been useful which I'm sure Antec have enclosed as well as the accessories that come with the enclosure. A person who has this on his/her shopping list would like to know what they are getting.

The manual and other information can been found on this link everybody:

http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MjUyMA==

Manual:   http://www.antec.com/pdf/manuals/LanBoy%20Air%20Manual_EN.pdf


Teknology9

[Dark Mantis]

Well thanks for the added info although I had already incorporated the Antec website address at the end so that was a little superfluous. The manual that Antec supply in the box  is not even worthy of the name and the only real manual is the online one that you linked to. 

[teknology9]

If I was thinking of buying this enclosure I would like to know what I will be getting when I open the box. What might not be useful to you others might find useful. I thought when you review an item you cover the aspects the user needs to know.....as this enclosure comes in several parts  I would have thought it would have been a good idea to show this.......I've looked but no it's not there.

Yes....I added the manual because that what was missing from the your review.


Teknology9