Brain-picking time...
![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51vy1fQ5q4L._SL1000_.jpg)
Okay... so, after futzing around half the day trying to realize my dreams of epic case moddery with this cheap Thermatake case, reality has set in and I'm now leaning towards just cutting my losses and plopping an internal hot-swap cage on my desk with 1m cables. Problem is, I haven't actually bought one in over a decade, and have no idea if any of the "economy" models are actually worth the cost of shipping. So... anybody who's actually used any of these, please speak up.
1)
Kingwin 3-Bay "Internal" Cage: Appears to have all-aluminum extrusion exterior, and being essentially a passive architecture minimizes potential for failure;
looks like great quality for price. Can be modded with a cheap USB 3.0 SATA adapter if I need that connectivity later. Downsides are SATA-type power connectivity will require custom cabling and SSDs will require slot adapter at extra cost.
2)
Mediasonic 4-Bay "Internal" Cage: I like the price, and what appears to be all-metal construction. Similar passive architecture minimizes potential for failure as with the Kingwin above. 4 bays means I can sacrifice a bay for room to mod in stupid shit like maybe a USB3.0 Media Reader. Using actual caddies means SSDs will not require slot adapter, but probably needs screws, so less convenient.
3)
StarTech 4-Bay "Internal" Cage: Not excited about the price, but they're one of the brands I remember. Their stuff always felt a bit cheesy but not overly cheap; middle-of-the-road China-direct quality.
Anybody know anything about these units?
mnem
*poit*