The history of the P180 series

Antec has been making computer cases and power supplies for a long time. However, in 2004 they were getting less and less popular with the enthusiast crowd, who at the time was completely in love with Lian-Li and other aluminum cases. Instead of jumping on the aluminum bandwagon they chose another path.

The original P180

I myself was an aluminum fan at the time, never realizing the problems with aluminum as a case material; although light and elegant, noicewise, it is no good. Fortunately Antec took another route with the P180. They were contacted by the most renowned name in hobbyist silent computer systems at the time, Mike Chin at Silent PC Review, and decided to work together with him to incorporate what hobbyists had learned over the years in to a new case: the P180 that was released in the summer of 2005.

Here are a couple of articles on silentpcreview.com, detailing the original P180:
Antec P180: A Visual Tour - an examination of features and design, complete with many photos
Antec P180 Review, Part 1: A Silent System - Ralf Hutter's ultimate silent build with a Pentium-M system
Antec P180 Review, Part 2: The Whole Nine Yards - complete thermal / noise analysis with various components

The P182 upgrade

Two years later, in 2007, the P180 had extensively been used to build a number of very silent computer systems, and acheived the target of very good cooling as well. However, at silentpcreview.com as well as other places, there had been quirks and possible improvement opportunities discovered. Some where taken care of with small updates (one of them sometimes called P180b, as in P180 ver b, not color Black, just to add to the confusion...), but the big ones were collected into a major new revision: the P182.

During 2007 the new upgrades were phased in to the P180 production as well, and now all P180 and P182 are functionally identical.

Here's silentpcreview's article on the P182:
Antec P182 Advanced Super Midtower Case - P180 v.2

What is the P180 series?

The Antec P180 is a computer case. A case is by many considered the most mundane part of a PC, but for us that are interested in keeping our computers cool and quiet, it is probably the most important component.
The series consists of three models, which are almost identical.

The P180 is the original model in a silver color. It also comes in black, often referred to as P180B. Antec's home page erronously refers to the original design on their home page, but the specification of the currently delivered chassi is identical to the P182 below.

 

 

 

The P182 is an update (see history section below) of the original P180 design, in a special "Gun Metal" black color, that seems to be generally liked. All features that originated in the P182 has been introduced to the P180 as well. This model is sometimes refereed to as the P182B.

 

 

The P182 SE is the "luxury" model in the series. Although it really adds no functional advantages, it does add flair. The inside of the chassis is painted in black, which many people seem to prefer. But the big difference is that the outside is in a polished super-shiny finish that looks just like a "real" mirror. Of course it is sensitive to smudges, so Antec packs a cloth to polish it with, but it is still sensitive to smudges and scratches. And many thinks it is just a little bit too much... Also included is a "snake light" to illuminate the inside while working inside. However reviewers don't like it and calls it questionable.