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Ultra MicroFly Review The Ultra Microfly micro-atx case is based on Chenming's case design. It is very similar to the Aspire Q-pack yet it extends the basic design's depth measuring in at 15” (D) x 11.25” (W) x 9” (H) the MicroFly grows a little over an inch in depth over the Q-pack. Fortunately, the depth difference is hardly noticeable when the two cases are placed side by side. Overall the appearance has stayed in line with the Q-pack, with few subtle differences, ie: rounded front bezel and rounded corners, etc. The case is available in blue, black, and silver, with and without windowed sides for viewing, and with/without a 400W Ultra-V power supply. The power supply is a standard model, but take into account the space between the drive cage for wiring if you plan on replacing it. You might also think about using Sony optical drives as they tend to have a shorter footprint leaving more room for cabling and airflow. Opposed to the Q-pack, the Microfly has three aluminum panels instead of one cover panel. Care must be given not to bend the panels during the build ,as the aluminum is thicker than the Q-packs, yet still bends very easily. I was glad to notice that the power button's position had been moved as I had problems with the power button on the Q-pack design shorting out against the frame. There are two fans, one 80mm front, and one 120mm rear. The stock fans were around 50 dBA, and I found the stock fans rather loud for a HTPC setup, so I removed the 80mm fan, and replaced the 120mm fan with a Yates Loon 120mm on a Zalman fanmate 2. The rear fan may have enough clearance to add a Thermaltake CL-W0065 water cooler, and I'll be trying to add one into my own build later on. Plan on replacing or modding the fans if your going to use this as a home theater machine. Even with the 80mm fan removed, the 120mm fan replaced and placed on a fan controller, the cooling was excellent. My Athlon64 3400 maxed around 42C with a fanless heatsink installed. (I forgot to mention that the case offers enougth clearance for a rather beefy heatsink, which is a major plus over other micro-atx cases. I loaded my case with a ATI 9600XL agp video card, a Hauppuage PVR-500mce tv tuner, a matrix orbital VFD, a 3 1/2 internal card reader, a Pioneer DVR-111B DVD burner, a Xanbo front door camera door chime system (available at our storefront) and dual 500gb Seagate SATA hard drives, all on a cheapy socket 754 mobo (Cringe). For an OS, I used Windows MCE, and loaded in a mass of plugins including GameEx, Mame, Stepmania, Freetar hero, karaoke for Directx, a X10 home automation plugin, a caller ID plug, a generic usb speakerphone w/MCE SIP phone plugin, etc. (addons for MCE can be found here: http://www.benshouse.net/ ) I hooked up my Olympus P-10 photo printer for printing photos from the 10 foot interface, a PS1/2 USB convertor with a wireless dance mat, a wireless microphone, etc. Then I sat down and admired the work. Using the MCE remote, a Saitek P2500 wireless joystick, and a Gyration optical mouse/keyboard suite, I believe I have built a almost perfect theater system. The only drawback being the size of the case, yet it looks like it was built into my media center shelving. It's cheap, small, versatile, simplistic, looks great.. What else can I say. It's not a super gaming machine with a 6200 vid card, but it meets my needs perfectly. I can answer the phone, check and answer the front door, control the lights (turn on the coffee, popcorn machine), play a few video games, record TV, burn a DVD/CD, print and edit a picture from a digital camera, bid on ebay, watch google and youtube vids, look up recipes, check theater listings, find local resturants, view RSS feeds, sing karaoke, play DDR or Guitar hero clones, and all kinda neat things. All from my living room sofa, well, maybe not the dancing thing. : ) Other modifications I've done: Since I wasn't using a floppy drive, I bought a cheap plastic fishing lure case, and glued one of the 3 1/2 bay covers to it. Then I drilled a hole in the cover and added a pull knob. I use the small drawer I've made to store various camera memory cards, and a spare USB cable. : ) My total project cost was around the $600-$700 dollar range. Yeah, it's more than the cost of a Tivo, but Tivo wishes it could do half of what my setup can do. We have a couple of these cases at our store for sale for those wishing to set up a similar system. We're also happy to advise you on your build.
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