We always enjoy visiting with ANTEC. As a leader in computer enclosures and accessories, we look forward to seeing what they come up with. Last year at COMPUTEX, we were introduced to the ANTEC Skeleton and were treated to a full walk-through of both versions of this unique product. While all our attention was focused on this product at COMPUTEX, the focus changes to another product at CES.
ANTEC Readies Their New Secret Weapon
For a while now, ANTEC has been working on their latest “Secret Weapon”, the ANTEC P1000 Advanced Chassis. Using many of the technologies that are signature features of cases like the P18x series and the 1200, the new P1000 should turn some heads when it becomes available in the near future. We are honored again by Han Liu, the man responsible for all the cool products, as he takes us through what makes the ANTEC P1000 such a special case…
Although the P1000 was already sitting around in rough prototype form at COMPUTEX, this latest version of the case will probably be the closest representation of the final product before production. I was talking to Johnny Hou, the head visionary at NZXT, about ANTEC using a curved door on their latest creation a smile came across his face. Johnny pioneered the first curved door on a chassis called the NZXT LEXA and he was very honored to hear that a company he looks up to decided to take design inspiration from him.
What Happened to the Mini-ITX Skeleton?
I’m sure many of you have been wondering where the Mini-ITX Skeleton case ended up. For a while, I was too because ANTEC had promised that both the Skeleton and Mini-Skeleton would launch at around the same time. Well, if you’re a fan of the ITX platform, the wait is about to end. ANTEC is simply ironing out some final bugs on the power supply side and they will be ready to ship the product soon.
ANTEC Provides Power for your Home Theatre
We all know that ANTEC makes very high quality power supplies. We also know that they’ve been pushing their new VERIS home theatre line. Put the two together and you get a new power center called the AVP-2000.
The AVP-2000 power center incorporates many of the things you’d expect on a home theatre power center like EMI Filters and surge suppression, but includes one thing that you wouldn’t expect: a ventilation system.
Since home theatre racks can be quite crowded with components, the AVP-2000 contains a pair of fans under the chassis that draw air up and away from things like your amplifier. The hot air is then exhausted to the back where it can do no harm. This could also be useful for rack mounted systems, though the AVP-2000 contains no rack-mount ears. I’m sure if there is enough demand, they’ll come out with one. The biggest surprise was the price which comes in at around $80.00 for this attractive looking unit. I guessed $200.
Check out our photo gallery on the next page for a few more new things getting ready to hit the shelves in 2009. Don’t forget to come back and check in with us as we empty our brains of all that was CES 2009.
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