Overclocker Cafe -Aspire X-Navigator

Aspire X-Navigator Case

First Impressions

I'd have to say that the front bezel is what will catch most people's eyes on this case. It is molded plastic with several unique features. The first one you notice is the two different colors. The X-Navigator comes in either black or silver for the main body of the case with an option to choose from blue, red, yellow silver, green or black for the front mask.

Taking a quick tour around the outside, there are several items worth noting here. The first is the combination front access ports and thermal monitor. The front access ports include (2) USB 2.0 and (1) FireWire port directly beneath the backlit thermal monitor screen. To the side of the screen is a fan control knob which will control up to five fans for your case.

Below this are a series of diagonal slits in the mask and the bezel, which remind me of gills. And they serve the same purpose here; they allow for airflow in the front of the case.

Moving on to the top half, we have a lock which serves to keep out all those unwanted pests (i.e. wife, kids, dogs, etc.).

In the center at the top of the front mask, Aspire has included something that quite a few case manufacturers have phased out of late, a place for your very own OCCafe' case badge!

At each of the four corners is a clear plastic wedge covering a blue LED.

Once we open the door we can see the four 5.25" drive bays and the two exposed 3.5" bays. The 5.25" bay covers are very easy to remove as they just pop out from the outside.

We are also able to see the two top LEDs here as well.

Well, with all this talk about front masks and such, I'm sure you're wondering what I'm talking about. Aspire realizes that you don't always want to look at the same old colors over and over so they have devised a way for you to have some variety in your case. The front mask is nothing more than an interchangeable piece of molded plastic which you can replace for a different color and Aspire includes two extra sets of masks for you.

Removal of the mask is simple and they include a sheet of directions for you to follow just to make sure. In less than 3 minutes you can change the color scheme or your case and there are five different mask colors to choose from. One item to note is that once the mask was removed we realized that there was not filter for the front intake fan.

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