OrigenAE X15e HTPC ATX Case

Appearance

Being significantly taller than its sibling the X10, some of us may have problems fitting the X15e under our TV stands along with other equipment such as Amplifiers or Satellite receivers. I’d strongly recommend that anybody considering the X15e should measure the available space in their TV units/stands to avoid disappointment.

X15e Case X15e Case

X15e Case X15e Case

The first thing I noticed about the X15e (apart from the huge 7″ LCD) was the quality of ‘brushing’ on the aluminium. In comparison with other brushed aluminium cases (including the X10), the X15e has much deeper and defined brushing. This gives the case a very high quality feel, but also tends to pick up (and retain) dust and other marks very easily.

Its great to see that the same high level of workmanship has gone into ensuring that the case lid fits perfectly with the rest of the case as previously seen on the X10.

X15e InsideX15e Inside

X15e InsideX15e Inside

Looking inside the X15e, we can see that the same level of craftsmanship has been continued throughout. The internals of the X15e, including items such as the hard disk cage are all in brushed aluminium, which shows OrigenAE’s dedication to the finer details.

The layout of the X15e is very similar to that of a standard PC tower case (just laid flat). This is a great bonus, as just about every component you can fit inside an ordinary PC case should also fit inside the X15e.

Improving on the noise dampening features of the X10, the X15e provides rubber grommets for all Hard Disk / DVD drive mounting bays and foam pads to further dampen the vibration of the hard disks.

X15e LCD X15e LCD
Possibly the greatest feature of the X15e is its drool-worthy 7″ touch screen LCD. Powered by 12v using a molex connector directly from your power supply, the LCD is very easy to get up and running with little effort.

In order to send the picture from your graphics card to the display, you need to use the included loop-back VGA cable, which connects directly between your graphics card VGA (D-Style) output and the input on the lower PCI bracket at the back of the case.

The quality of the display is excellent, running at a maximum resolution of 1024×768. All aspects of the display can be changed using the OCD (on screen display), accessible by simply pressing the relevant button on the front of the case.

Unfortunately, I was unable to test some of the more advanced features of the display (such as the touch screen and remote control) as these required for a working PC system to be installed inside the of the case.