With the introduction of the CM Media 280/281 series case Cooler Master addresses some serious issues many people have with typical HTPC cases. Not the least of which is, "How the farathooming thalldrap am I going to cram all my stuff into that leetle beety box?" Slim line cases may look nice in your HiFi rack, but you pay a price for being slim. Just ask the Olsen twins...*shudder*.

As the size of a HTPC shrinks, so do the performance and upgrade options. You're generally stuck with Micro-ATX or the like for motherboards which offer fewer features than their full-size cousins. Things like riser cards and slim CD/DVD drives add to the cost and you're lucky if you get two hard drive bays and a single 5 1/4" bay. Few slim HTPC's support a full size power supply and don't even think about high-end video cards and cooling.

With the CM Media 280 and 281 you can build a HTPC with all the features of a tower case; mostly because it is a tower case. Sorta. The new CM Media can be configured in either desktop or tower style and while it's not what I consider a "full" tower, it does offer a great deal more options as to what kind of gear you can toss into it and how much. And thanks to Cooler Master's impeccable design sense, it will still look good on your HiFi Rack.

Specs

The exact model of the unit we'll be looking at is the CM Media 281. The only thing that differentiates the 280 and 281 is the inclusion of the Multi-Media kit which Cooler Master was kind enough to ship to us as well. So forgive me if I lose track of which model we actually have here.

Available Color: Black
Dimensions: 16.93in(W) x 7in(H) x 18.78in(D)
Material Chassis: SECC, Bezel: AL+ABS
Motherboards: ATX, Micro-ATX
5.25" Drive Bay: 3 (Exposed)
3.5" Drive Bay: 5 (Hidden) , 1 (Exposed)
Cooling System: One 120x120x25 mm Rear Silent Fan(1200 rpm, 17dBA),
One 120x120x25 mm Front Fan (Optional),
One 120x120x25 mm Top Fan(Optional),
One 120x120x25 mm Side Fan(Optional)
Front I/O Panel: USB 2.0x2, IEEE 1394 x1, MIC x1, SPK x1
Expansion Slots: 7
VFD Display (Optional): Multi-Media Kit (RC-281-OSB1-GP) Available for
this unit.
Weight: 20 lbs
Power Supply: Standard ATX PS2/ EPS 12V (Optional)

Package

The package looked a little less than pristine after its journey, but inside the CM Media 281 was safe and sound. The Media kit arrived separately in a plain brown box. No retail packaging for the Media kit yet, this is still a new product. The driver CD for the VFD isn't even labeled at this point.