Antec
Sonata II

     Classified as a mid-tower enclosure, the Sonata II measures 16.75" (42.5cm) high x 18.25" (46.3cm) deep x 8.13" (20.6cm) wide. As far as appearance goes, the outside metal surfaces of the case have been painted with a glossy black finish. The front bezel and door are a more standard matte black and made of a high impact plastic.

The chrome piece on the front bezel is a flip-up door which hides the USB, Firewire and color-coded audio connectors.

     The top door can be locked to keep fingers away from the covered power and reset buttons.  It can also swing open beyond 180° to make sure the door is out of your way.  All of the exposed drive bays will also be covered when the door is closed. The large bevels on the right side of the drive bays are a give away that the Sonata II uses the rail system which Antec just also happens to use on 90% of its enclosures.

     The external 3.5 inch drive bays are both connected to the same pull out tray which also uses a tool free lock tab You still use regular screws to mount drives to the removable tray, but once that chore is done then the whole thing is pretty much tool-free.

     The rails for the 5.25 inch drives are stored on the back of the drive bay cover. This is a welcomed change from having them stored on the bottom inside of the enclosure. Some cases have accessory boxes which take up much needed space where internal hard drives would go. That's a nice idea, and works well in most situations, but this idea works the best. While it is a handy to have a place to store all your extra screws and motherboard stand-offs, most do it yourself PC builders probably have a pretty large screw collection anyway. This is a fair trade-off considering how infrequently you'll be adding new 5.25 inch drives.