SilverStone Technology Lascala Series / SST-LC01, Continued
After recovering from the excitement of finally receiving a true desktop case for review, it is time to take a look at the SST-LC01 to see what it offers. The SST-LC01 offers aluminum construction. It appears to be hard tooled, using rivets as well as simple screws to fasten the unit in certain places.
The exterior finish of the removable portion of the SST-LC01 is painted. The front aluminum bezel of the unit is solid aluminum and does appear to be molded rather than machined. This gives the case an elegant appearance and a nice fit for many possible environments.
In this picture, you can see the masking tape residue as well as some bits of masking tape that were not cleaned off after the case was removed from the jig. This is not a good way to impress the reviewer of the case at all.
Upon removing the back cover from the case using four screws, we found something that almost made our heads spin counterclockwise in disbelief. The inside of the case had quantities of masking tape residue and even bits of masking tape left from where the case was masked off prior to painting. As you can see in the picture above, it is ugly, and something that should not have happened at the factory. This shows a lack of attention to detail and some quality control issues that need to be addressed. Naturally, this hurt the SST-LC01's score in both the construction quality and overall case ratings. Based on a suggested retail price of $159.00 US, there just is no excuse for this.
A top down look at the inside of the SST-LC01.
The overall construction of the case is good, but the suggestion from the sales slick enclosed with the SST-LC01 that this is a tool-less design is not really accurate. The SST-LC01 requires screws for mounting almost everything in the case, and not even the four rear screws that hold the cover on were thumb screws. SilverStone should consider using thumb screws for mounting the cover to the case.
