Thermaltake DH-202 HTPC (Media PC) Chassis

Included Software

The Media Lab Kit is the heart of the system, as it offers everything that you would want in a Home Theater PC. With the availability to complete control your computer using just a remote control, with the control of your computer at your fingertips. The Media Lab Kit was actually not designed specifically for the Thermaltake DH-202 case but was integrated into it flawlessly. The Kit, made by SoundGraph initially released the iMON Ultra Bay, which places this media device into two of your front 5.25″ drive bays.

Located on the right side of the front panel are the controls that are used by the media lab kit, these controls are those like: play/pause, stop, forward, backward, volume control, etc. Located on the left side is the graphical VFD, which is capable of displaying anything from text to simple images. One feature that makes this graphical VFD so unique is that it can display in a variety of fonts as well as sizes. I was able to set it to display the time in a rather large font and am able to read it from a pretty far distance. Not only can the display show text, but it can also act as a visualizer when playing music.

The IR remote that came included with the kit worked flawlessly. As there are some limitations of the placement of the box because of the line of sight issue of the IR remote, there wasn’t much of a difference with this IR device than any other on the market today. It would have been nice if the remote was bluetooth but this obviously present both a pricing and battery eating problem for the remote. In the end we are not aware of any bluetooth enabled HTPC cases or remotes that are in the same price category as the DH-202.

Included are two separate pieces of software. First there is the iMon, which is a monitor for the front panel itself, allowing you to change settings of various things. Second we have iMedian, which allows you to watch movies, view photos, play music, etc from a single user interface. iMedian strongly reminds me of Windows Media Center. While you do not have to use iMedian it is relatively user friendly and will allow you to play back most of your commonly found content. Anything that iMedian will not play back you can usually find a free player for online, of course there is always Windows media player for those that prefer it.

Conclusion

The Thermaltake DH-202 is a spectacular case. It offers everything you need and more in a Home Theater PC Case. The brushed aluminum and black paino finish give it a stunning look and will fit perfectly in with your home theater entertainment center. The installation of the components into the case went very smoothly. The MediaLab software worked perfect with the front panel display and could handle everything I wanted it to do and more. Overall I had no issues with either the installation or the ease of use, which is why I would have to say that this is truly an amazing product. Although the price tag might be a little hefty for some consumers it is still very affordable when compared with other HTPC (media PC) cases on the market with similar features. When its all said and done if you are looking for a nice fully functional Home Theater PC case then the $249.99 price tag is very fair. It easily earns our Awesome Hardware Award!

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