Thermaltake Xaser III Lanfire (VM2000A)

Thermaltake is a company that needs no introduction among enthusiasts of great CPU coolers and cases. The company also sells various other cooling products, from external liquid cooling systems to VGA coolers, and various other products like keyboards and power supplies. And in true Thermaltake fashion, most of their products have some unique quality, whether it is in the style or the function. With the Xaser line of cases, Thermaltake has gained a lot of fans of their unique and interesting case designs. To appeal to the gamer on the go, Thermaltake recently released the Xaser III Lanfire VM2000A. I don't think that Thermaltake was struggling to gain acceptance from the LAN party crowd; the company just wanted to make a bolder statement in the segment to compete more directly with the other cases out on the streets that are marketed to LAN party gamers. The Lanfire version of the already popular Xaser III series was obviously made for travel. It was made smaller and weighs about 4.5 kg less than its bigger brother, the Xaser III Super Tower. Obviously, this move was to make it a more appealing chassis for a LAN rig. Let's see if Thermaltake has accomplished their goal with this new case.

The specs and features of the Lanfire illustrate Thermaltake's desire to add a lot of features to its first LAN-centric offering. The chassis comes "pre-modded" with a side panel window shaped like an 'X' and the EL Flash Fireball in the front panel. These are the types of features that make a system stand out at a LAN party. And to make your every day computing more convenient, the Lanfire has front panel USB 2.0 and FireWire ports and Hardcano fan controller with an alarm and an LCD for temperature monitoring.

Specifications:

• Net Weight: 4 kg (8.8 lb)
• Case Dimension (H x W x D): 440 x 180 x 460 mm
• Drive Bays: 3 x 5.25", 2 x 3.5"(external), 2 x 3.5"(internal)
• Material:
  • Chassis: 0.8 mm all aluminum made
  • Front Panel: silver color - ABS plastic; red color - aluminum made
• Expansion Slots: 7
• Motherboard Compatability: standard ATX and micro ATX

Features:

• Thermaltake EL Flash Fireball in front panel
• Included Fans:
  • 90 x 90 x 25 mm (1800 rpm, 21 dBA) in rear panel and side door
  • 80 x 80 x 25 mm (2050 rpm, 21 dBA) in side panel and front
• Retractable foot stands
• "X" type side panel window
• Hardcano 5.25" Drive Bay
  • 4 VR function fan speed controller
  • Temperature monitor LCD with alarm
  • Record and adjust presetting temp (blue back light)
  • Alarm function with red light warning
  • °C/°F display switch
• Front panel lock
• Front Ports: 2 x USB 2.0 & 1 x IEEE1394

Thermaltake includes with the Lanfire the usual package of various screws, keys, an adapter to change one of the connections on the Hardcano to accept a 3-pin connector, and a metal ring that I'm clueless about.