Enlight EN-7237 Mid Tower Case w/300w PS

Company: Enlight Corp.
Product: EN-7237 Mid Tower Case
Street Price: $46 USD
Date Reviewed: February 2, 2002
Reviewed By: Jason

Introduction:

So you don't have (or want) to spend $200 for a Lian-Li case, but still want something halfway decent that doesn't look like it came out of a Toys 'R Us catalog? When I was searching for a new mid-tower case, I wanted to spend as little as possible, but still get something that was good quality, looked nice, was functional, and had at least a 300w AMD approved power supply.

After searching around, I came across an Enlight mid-tower case, the EN-7237. This case came with an their own brand (Enlight) 300w AMD & P4 approved power supply, and a front 80mm fan! Enlight has been around for quite some time and makes very good cases for every price range, even one that fits my small budget. Anyhow, I was able to find this case for $46 + $18 for 3 day shipping, not too bad IMO. I was a little worried while ordering that it might be made out of some cheap flimsy metal or have a bunch of sharp edges. However when it arrived I was really shocked at the quality and how solid the case was.

First Looks:

The front panel is very nice and has clean and simple lines, the plastic is a good thickness and it doesn't have that "cheap" plastic look. Occasionally I've seen some really cheap cases where you can see swirls and stress marks in the plastic, however the front panel on this case is just as nice and good quality as the front of my In-Win S500. There are four (4) - 5¼ drive bays, and two (2) - 3½ bays exposed, with one (1) - 3½ bay hidden. The power and reset buttons are a good size (there are a few cases I've seen that you have to use a pen or other small object for the reset button).

To take off the front panel there is a single big clip on the bottom (middle picture), unhook that (by pulling down on it) and the front panel is free to swing up and come off with ease. On the back of the case there is a simple picture illustrating how to remove the front panel. The back of the case is pretty standard, the 300w power supply is up top and out of the way. There is a mount for an extra 80mm fan in the back, and included with the case is four (4) black plastic rivets to hold the fan on (should you decide to purchase one separate or have an extra one laying around), but you could just as easily use fan screws if you have those and want to keep the all-metal look. The rear block-off plates aren't the standard kind, these wedge themselves in the slot, which look just as nice and are just as functional, if you have extra regular block off plates and prefer those instead you can fit them in the case just as easily.

One thing I did after getting a system running in the case was bore out the bottom hole pattern in the front bezel with a drill to help with airflow. I didn't drill massive holes, just ones slightly larger, I wanted to keep the nice clean look on the front. I didn't take a picture after I did it because the change in hole diameter really is not that noticeable. However if you really wanted to go crazy there is definitely easy modding potential for the front bezel.

Below you can see the left and right panels. The left one is vented, and once I got a system in the case I could actually feel the air being drawn in through those vents letting me know that they are actually functional and helping to keep my PCI & AGP devices cool. One thing that struck me as odd was the indentations for the door panels were near the front because I'm used to seeing them in the back. Then I noticed there weren't any screws in the back of the case to take off the side panels (check right picture above)!

Then I realized that you had to take off the front panel, which revealed the screws holding the side panels on. The top panel is riveted in place, though most people wouldn't have a need to remove it. If you must (to paint or mod) you can always drill out the rivets and use self-taping screws to mount it back in place. Anyhow, once you unscrew the side panels they slide forward (as opposed to backwards like most cases) and then come off with ease.

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