I have for the last couple of weeks been playing with the Antec Sonata Elite. Personally I loved playing with the previous version called Antec Sonata. It was the case for me. It looked good, had the proper size but most important it had the thing that I needed the most the space to fit all of my gadgets inside of my computer. Last fall when I had the oppertunity to meet Antec in Stockholm I had the oppertunity to play with a pre-release version of the Sonata Elite.

At that moment I noticed a couple of distinct features compared to the previous version:

• You now have the option of putting a 120 mm fan next to the video cards
• On the side of the case you have now have ventilation to allow you to have a better ventilation inside of the computer

This is how the 120 mm fan looks when you have it ocnnected to your computer:

When you first open up the package you will notice how the package is the good old Antec style.  They have a clean design showing of the different prospects of the case but one thing that I really like is the option of contacting support. There is alot of companies otu there that does not offer the proper support and I like that Antec takes the lead in providing support for the user. From what I understand when reading support forums Antec provides a phone number in the US that you could call if you want to. While talking about support and Antec you can now find them on twitter and ask them questions about their new products. That is fo me the way to go when you are providing support to your end users.

I like that the case is protected by a sack. It protects the case but it also acts as a workbench for you so that you do not scratch up the Elite when you are installing your equipment.

When you have removed it from the sack you will notice how professional it looks and it shows that it is meant for business. Personally I could see alot of big companies use this case for their computers. If you want to you can still lock the case if you want to so that powerbutton, reset button, bays so that it all remains hidden.The case has more of a blueish color tone. It is a simple design but yet tasteful.  Antec ships a blow out fan that you put next to the video card that allows you to keep the heat down.

This is how it looks when the front is open:

Antec has keept the process of opening up the case simple. You have two screws on the back of each side that you unscrew when you want to remove either the left or the right side.

What puzzled me at the beginning was where the box with screws and cables was? When I looked further inside the case I discovered that the boc was hooked up to a screw further inside the case. Inside the box I found the following acessories:

• Screws and cables
• A driver bay if you want to install something such as a memory card reader.
• Fan that allows you to control the temperature inside the case.

The Elite brings back the clean design that we all remember from the Sonata. Below it we have two USB ports, 1 E-Sata port, power and hard drive activity lights, headphone and microphone port.What I like about these lights are the fact that they are simple and elegant. What I liek when I open up the case is that they have really thought of cable managment. The cables that you have at the front of your device are really easy to attach to the correct ports on your motherboard.  Antoher thing I really like is that you have these stands below the case that allows you minimize the vibration coming from the computer.
What I like is that there is a great dust flow inside inside of this case. I have opened up the case several times during different days to see how it would work and much dust I had inside the computer. Each time never a single spec of dusct inside the case.

The room where I have all of my desktop pc:s can become really warm and have a temperature of 60 Degrees Celsius, but when I measured the heat inside of my room with the Elite running the temperature actually went down from 60 Degrees Celsius to 40 Degrees Celsius

Conclusion: I am loving this case and I think that it is one that I plan on sticking with for a long time forward. It is simple yet elegant and has all the features that I need inside of my computer. I like that it looks so small but yet carries so many features inside of it. I am loving it.

Where to buy: Resellers and more information can be found over at Antec’s website.