The Cooler Master 360 is a strange, but flexible. It can be rotated for use either horizontally or vertical, making it easier to find a place for it in a home theater. It is also a fairly subtle case, helping with home theater integration. But does it really have the chops for long-term use?
Degrees have always been kind of cool. Microsoft knew this when calling their new console the Xbox 360. The term brings up vague images of skate-boards pulling tricks and cars doing doughnuts, both of which aren't bad images to have associated with your product.
The Cooler Master 360 is a bit more sincere, however, as in its case there is some amount of truth to the marketing. The idea is simple - the Cooler Master 360 is a case built to be placed either straight up in a tower format or flat in a desktop format - or anything in between, I suppose. This, combined with its relatively small size, makes it an attractive candidate for a budget HTPC build. So is the Cooler Master 360 capable of bringing satisfaction on a budget, or should you save your pennies for something a bit more expensive?
First impressions of the Cooler Master 360 don't really exist. It has a very basic appearance in both tower and desktop modes and its grainy black plastics and metals don't make much of an impact. This is not as a damning as one might think, however, as the primary purpose of an HTPC is to blend into the home theater to create seamless entertainment. Besides the big Cooler Master badge on the front - which can rotate so it is always right side up - there is little to indicate it is a PC case at all. However, the Cooler Master 360's complete lack of sex appeal will undoubtedly disappoint those who want their home theater to be as pleasing to the eye when the HDTV is off as when it is on.
The build quality, however, is quite poor, and this is something which matters for an HTPC. The home theater tends to get more foot traffic than the office, and it would be nice to know an HTPC can could take the occasional bump or jolt. The Cooler Master 360's brittle plastics don't inspire much confidence, and the metals used seem no stronger than those used to make soda cans. While most PC cases feel like they could take the occasional bump, even if the hardware inside could not, the Cooler Master 360 feels cheap. Of course, it is cheap. But a good cheap PC case makes you feel like you're getting more than you paid for. With the Cooler Master 360 it's always obvious that you're flying economy class.