Related Articles

Appearance

As noted earlier, the new A64 Qbic looks exactly the same as every other version. The physical dimensions of the Qbic is slightly larger than other SFFs for a reason - there are two 5.25" bays on this baby - something that was in pretty high demand at the beginning of the SFF market, but has become less necessary with the rock-bottom prices of combo DVD/CDRW drives and falling prices of DVD burners. Even so, there are still other uses for a spare bay. As such, the size of the Soltek approaches that of the Antec Aria, except like all SFFs, it is still a proprietary motherboard and power supply.

The version we have is the standard mirror front/brushed steel version. Although the spring edition ones no longer are for sale, you can still find ones with a white case or with a black case. However, if you are located in Canada, expect to pay for extra shipping from the US since all we get are the silver versions. The finish on this is not as smooth as the Shuttle G5 chassis, but what can you expect for being cheaper?

Other than the colours, there are no differences between the 3 models. All buttons and lights are placed in the same position.

Accessories

The Qbic comes with the standard accessories shown below. The pic is the same as the one from before, and that's because there are no changes, except the drivers on the CD.

Interestingly, we did not get the funky orange Soltek backpack that we got last time. However, we suspect that it's because last time we got a retail box version, whereas this one is a sample version from Soltek directly, through their distributors. While we have no reason to believe the backpack is still free at most online retailers, it may still be possible to find some if you desperately wanted one.