P182 Special Edition - One of the best cases gets better
by Joshua Buss on April 12, 2007 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Exterior
There is really no point in skirting around the P182 SE's most fantastic selling point. Both side panels and the front door are coated in an incredibly well polished stainless steel finish.
The finish is so clean in fact, we found it hard to really take a good picture of the case. Faced with this challenge, we figured it might be best to just take a few pictures of exactly what we saw when photographing the unit.
Just as the original P180 and all of its siblings, the P182 SE does not have much at all on the front side when the door is closed. "Antec" is embossed in the top right corner, but other than that only the ports and a lock for the panel are visible.
The case comes with two USB ports, a FireWire port, headphone and microphone jacks, as well as power and reset buttons all accessible on the front of the case. When the door is closed, the power and reset buttons are covered -- a good way to keep prying hands away from your system.
Getting back to the finish and its reflectivity though, the side panel in particular could almost be suitable as a replacement for most bathroom mirrors.
As soon as the door is opened, however, we are greeted with the familiar sight of a matte black plastic finish encompassing the power and reset buttons. The door is magnetically latched and it takes just the right amount of effort to open it up. It also hinges back all the way to the side of the case for users who would prefer to have it always open. Like its predecessors, the P182 SE allows for four 5.25" drives, one 3.5" drive, and gives easy access to both 120mm fan filters for cleaning.
One of the bigger additions to the P182 over the P180 is the inclusion of externally accessible switches for the top two fans on the back at the top of the case. This of course makes its way into the special edition as well, which is quite an improvement over having to take off the side panel and find the switch for each tri-cool fan. The soft rubber water tubing ports make their appearance on the back too, for an easier installation of external water cooling kits.
There is really no point in skirting around the P182 SE's most fantastic selling point. Both side panels and the front door are coated in an incredibly well polished stainless steel finish.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The finish is so clean in fact, we found it hard to really take a good picture of the case. Faced with this challenge, we figured it might be best to just take a few pictures of exactly what we saw when photographing the unit.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Just as the original P180 and all of its siblings, the P182 SE does not have much at all on the front side when the door is closed. "Antec" is embossed in the top right corner, but other than that only the ports and a lock for the panel are visible.
The case comes with two USB ports, a FireWire port, headphone and microphone jacks, as well as power and reset buttons all accessible on the front of the case. When the door is closed, the power and reset buttons are covered -- a good way to keep prying hands away from your system.
Getting back to the finish and its reflectivity though, the side panel in particular could almost be suitable as a replacement for most bathroom mirrors.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
As soon as the door is opened, however, we are greeted with the familiar sight of a matte black plastic finish encompassing the power and reset buttons. The door is magnetically latched and it takes just the right amount of effort to open it up. It also hinges back all the way to the side of the case for users who would prefer to have it always open. Like its predecessors, the P182 SE allows for four 5.25" drives, one 3.5" drive, and gives easy access to both 120mm fan filters for cleaning.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
One of the bigger additions to the P182 over the P180 is the inclusion of externally accessible switches for the top two fans on the back at the top of the case. This of course makes its way into the special edition as well, which is quite an improvement over having to take off the side panel and find the switch for each tri-cool fan. The soft rubber water tubing ports make their appearance on the back too, for an easier installation of external water cooling kits.
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Spanki - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Yep... I mentioned that ^ up there already :). I got the hybrid case as well back in March (others reported getting it since late Feb.). The primary difference, as far as I can tell is that it's black, instead of the new gun-metal grey of the 'regular' P182.i4mt3hwin - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Is there any other differences between the P182SE vs the P182 besides the finish? I'm really not into flashy looking cases but the features described in the article def appeal to me as I'm looking to buy a new case.Deusfaux - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
and the cable routing features behind it? They didnt even install the PSU that way or take advantage of them, and its a hell of a rat's nest in their install picture.Anyways I already have a P182SE on order to replace my P180
BPB - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
May I ask from where you ordered it? The http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">Newegg price is so high.classy - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
The P180 series is flat butt ugly.Spanki - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
It's the classiest case on the market today. I'm guessing you're one of those winky-blinky, windows and neon type of guys :).strikeback03 - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
They're classy with the door closed. IMO doors make cases pretty much useless though, and the front of the case inside the door is nothing special.yacoub - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
I love my Antec P150 (now also available as the SOLO (no included PSU)). I've had it since they were first available a little over a year ago and it's been an excellent case. An assortment of nice quiet/silencing features, a good amount of room inside for a "mini" tower, and what seem to be very good quality parts.If anyone is looking at the 180 or 182 and wishing there was something a bit smaller, definitely look at the P150 or the SOLO.
Icepick - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Agreed. The Solo is easily my favorite case and that's what I chose to house my Core2Duo build this past October. The silencing features, cable management and appearance make it the best case out there.jpeyton - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Antec made notable changes regarding cable management for the P182, particularly the design of the motherboard tray. Specifically, there are cut-outs in the tray for routing cables behind the tray between different compartments, and there is more room behind the tray to allow for thicker cables (like a 20/24-pin ATX PSU connector).I would think such important differences between the P182 and the P180 should be touched upon in the article; perhaps you could even incorporate some of the cable routing features into your "Installation" portion of the article?