External Impressions
The front panel of the case certainly is a work of art. It’s brushed aluminium mixed with the glossy black and shiny orange finish sets this case on fire. This case marks a work of class rather than the ‘gamers’ look.
The front has space for four 5.25” drive bays, although one of the four bays has a 3.5” Drive converter installed- which can be easily removed. There are two USB 2.0 slots, one Firewire and the normal headphone and mic jacks. Along with all this is a blue hard drive activity LED, a power switch with a blue LED ring surrounding it and a reset switch. Surrounding the drive bays is a copper/orange colour trimming which looks amazing contrasted with the glossy black and brushed aluminium finish.
The sides and top of the case are of very high quality, the paint job that has been done on them is extremely glossy much like a professional car finish. The sides don’t seem to show fingerprints as easily as other black cases- like the P190- which is good if you are worried about fingerprints.
The rear of the case is pretty normal. The Sonata 550 Plus uses the classic position for mounting hardware so nothing on the back panel is really that different. Black thumbscrews have been used on the side panel that is removed primarily and there are normal silver screws used on the ‘slave’ side panel. The two black thumbscrews on the back are a bit different though, they are actually fixed into a cap on the chassis so you loosen the screw from its cap and then the side panel can be removed, this method is used on a lot of Lian-Li Cases and saves you from loosing the thumbscrews.
On the bottom of the case are four anti-vibration feet. These feet are pretty normal for cases nowadays and are made of very soft rubber. With the aid of these feet, your nice new case won’t rattle against your floor – making things a lot quieter.
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