Packaging

When the Antec P180 arrived on my front porch I was a little surprise how large the case, but perhaps what surprised me the most was how light the case weighed in comparison to say the P182 which comes equipped with all of the sound deadening material.  The front of the shipping card has a nice picture of the P180 and six inset pictures that high-light the special features of this case.

You can also see that the carton is designed and colored in the typical Antec color scheme.  The rear of the carton affords the shopper a near perfect inside view of the case.  You will also find more inset pictures of the feature points of the case along with a complete run-down of the cases specification.

The Outside View

To get things started let's discuss the dimension's of the P180 so you will have an idea of the actual size of the case.  From front to the rear of the case it measures 20", the same distance it measures from the table top to the top of the case.  The width of the case is 7.5", so from these measurements you can see that the unit is not a giant of a case as some of the other cases we have reviewed. 

The construction material used on the P180 is plastic and aluminum,  On the outside of the case you can see the aluminum material that forms the skin of the case and what holds the skin in place is black plastic framing the surrounds each section of the case surprisingly what is on the other side of the plastic is another sheet of aluminum so as to form a sandwich.

As you can see by looking at the door of the P180 the aluminum used on the outside of the case has not been polished to a high luster, but instead is similar to a brushed aluminum finish which I much prefer over the mirror finish since it does hide finger prints for easier.  If a person were concerned about staining the aluminum on the case he could give a couple of layer of Clearcoat paint to protect it.

The door on the P180 has a double hinge front door designed to open up to 270º, and the ability to be hung from either side of the case. Located next to the door are the accessory plug-ins, they include a Firewire and two USB connectors along with a jack for a microphone and a connector for the speakers or headphone and last but not least the lock to secure the door.