Let's take a closer look at the inside layout.  Each of the doors is fastened in place by two matching black thumb screws.  With the left door removed we get our first look at the AE Plus ATX layout.

     The AE Plus uses a pretty standard layout with only a couple of notable variations.  The motherboard tray features several small ventilation holes and the internal drive bays include 5 hard drive bays turned 90 degrees.  With the external ports on the top, each run is given enough cabling to reach nearly any location on your motherboard.

     Looking towards the back, you can see the AE Plus can take a 92 mm or 120 mm exhaust fan and should have plenty of room for any standard size power supply.  Every edge is nicely rounded as well with nothing to give any nasty surprises during the install.

     The front view shows the drive cage assembly in detail.  The AE Plus supports 4 x 5.25" external devices, 2 x 2.5" bays in a floppy orientation (only one is external), and 5 x 2.5 inch internal drive bays turned 90 degrees for ease of installation.

     Taking a closer look at the front 140 mm fan reveals it is mounted at an angle.  This angle along with the additional space should help to focus airflow across the drives ad up towards the rear venting.  The clear fan is rated at 33.3dBA and pushes up to 80.9 CFM.  This fan is lit by 4 blue LEDs and provides the only lighting for the case.

     The doors are a combination of plastic and steel construction.  The 180 mm fan is clear and appears capable of running four LED lights although none are included.  Both the front fan and the door fan offer 12 V and motherboard control plugs.  With the clear construction and ~ 30 dBA max rating, this fan almost disappears when running.  At peak air flow the side fan can move up to 82.9 CFM.

The Install:

     I installed my Intel gaming build into the AE plus. The build includes an Intel Pentium Core Duo 2 6600 cooled by a passive AeroCool GT-1000, a Connect3D X1900 XT video card and a 2 x 1 GB kit of OCZ Titanium Series DDR2-6400 mounted on an ASUS P5W DH Deluxe.  Storage was provided by 2 x WD 74 GB Raptors in a RAID0, a Seagate 750 GB storage drive and a Plextor PX-755SA 16x DVD burner all powered by the Antec TruePower Quattro 850 Watt power supply.

     This picture shows the build with just the power supply and core components installed.  As you can see, there is plenty of room around the motherboard and behind the power supply.

     The rear slots are filled by snap in covers.  I also found the rivets from the assembly partially block slots 2 and 6.  When placing my Auzentech X-Meridian in to slot 6, I had to flex the back of the case to get the card around the rivet.  This may be caused by the slight separation from the back seen near the bottom, although this may just be a sign of some rough shipping and handling.

     And here we have the finished installation.  With no pesky windows to show off the dirty work, I can probably get by with a couple of well placed cable ties!  Shortly after this picture was taken, I also added a blue LED lit Antec Tri-Cool 120 mm to the rear to help cool my passive heat sink setup.  On low these fans are super quiet and match their great performance with some matching blue light.

     As with most aggressively styled case designs, you will probably base your purchase decision on how you feel about the look.  And as you van see here, the AE Plus cleans up pretty nicely.   

Conclusion:

     I must admit I was afraid the AE Plus would look plastic and cheap based on the pictures.  I was pleasantly surprised to end up with a sexy black beast straight out of an Air Force hanger.  Eager to see if I was alone in my assessment, I took the AE plus build to a local LAN party.  The local hardcore gamers have been pretty unkind to some of the radical designs on the market today but the AE Plus was a hit.

From a practical side, the AE plus is a joy to work with, combining solid construction with all of the little things you should expect from a high end case design.  The inside layout is both spacious and practical.  Although the AE Plus isn't quite tool-less, combine this with the 90 degree bay setup and the most commonly swapped parts are making the drive installation quick and easy.  I would recommend purchasing a good 120 mm fan to fill out the cooling duties, especially if you don't have a power supply that moves a lot of air but a less aggressive build could probably get by without it.

Over all there is a lot to like about the AeroCool AE Plus.  I would not hesitate to recommend this chassis to anyone looking for an aggressive case design and no need for a window.  Picking a case design should be about matching your build to a case that best suits your taste.  Thanks to the AeroCool quality and performance, you can safely pick any of the AeroEngine designs to match you own personal taste.

Innovation:	8.0 out of 10
Performance:	8.0 out of 10
Quality:	9.0 out of 10
Stability:	N/A
Overclocking:	N/A
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	8.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 8.5
Project Skill Level (10 being most difficult)	4 out of 10