Overview

Let's take a tour of the V-Tech AP107KL by going around the case.

The right side panel is pretty simple. It contains a series of vent holes near the lower edge and is screwed to the chassis at the rear with three screws. There's a recessed grip for easy removal of the panel.

The rear of the case contains the usual assortment of cutouts - ATX power supply, ATX I/O connectors, expansion slots, and fans. There are also five additional I/O knock-outs above the expansion slots for miscellaneous connectors a user might have.

The left panel offers a view of the PC's interior by way of an acrylic window. A large 'X' with a center mounted clear exhaust fan, lit by four LEDs of different colors, highlights this side. The window is held in place from the inside by eight screws. The fan is protected with a circular metal grill.

Coming around to the front, we find four 5-1/4 inch and the two 3-1/2 inch external (floppy type) device bays. Just below the floppy bays are three round, clear objects. The left one is a small unlit unmarked reset switch. The large center one is the main power switch. The right one is a small unmarked HDD activity light. The power switch lights up white when on and the HDD activity light is blue when lit. It's too bad the Reset button wasn't lit to offer more symmetry in appearance. Below this row are four air intake vent tubes tilted downwards. Each tube is reflective silver and lit by a bright blue LED. These can be turned on or off by a switch. At the very bottom is a flip-up door that reveals I/O connectors. There are two USB ports, a 1/8 inch microphone jack, a 1/8 inch stereo headphone jack, and an on/off switch for the aforementioned blue LEDs. There is a plate covering a space for an IEEE-1394 jack but as previously mentioned, this connector was not supplied with this case. The entire face is covered by a 1/8 inch thick acrylic cover held in place by six fasteners.

The top of the case is flat; a welcome sight for those who tend to pile gear on their PCs.

The bottom has four snap-in rubber feet (included in the hardware box). The bottom of the front panel also reveals an additional intake vent to supply air to the optional internally front mounted fans.

Now let's look at the inside the case.

All of the sheet metal is nicely rounded over to prevent cuts and scrapes to both users and cables/electrical parts.

There is space for up to four additional 80mm fans - two in the rear and two behind the front panel. Unfortunately, mounting fans behind the front panel requires the removal of the front panel itself, which is held in place by six pressure fit retainers - not easy to use for clumsy DIYers. A better design would have employed either a separate removable fan cage or a separate plate that would allow fans to be mounted from the inside of the chassis.

Cables for the front panel switches, HDD LED and I/O connectors are located near at the bottom of the case. Two cables are for the two USB connectors and two other cables are for audio I/O. Power to the front panel LEDs comes from a pair of 4-pin male/female Molex pass-through connectors allowing you to tap power without using up a device connector.

The manufacturer's spec claims two internal 3-1/2 inch bays but the internal hardware allows for up to four such devices. Each device location is identical to the next and there is enough separation between devices to allow good airflow from the front mounted fans.

With the right side panel removed, the motherboard tray can be removed by removing one additional screw on the rear of the chassis. To remove the tray, slide it forward about ½ inch and flip it to outward. There is no hinge; the tray just comes off from its seated position.

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