When it comes to elite computer cases Lian-Li has more than just a few. The Taiwanese maker has continued to build on their range of brushed aluminum cases over the years, and yet one of its most famous offerings is still the aging PC-60, an all-aluminum chassis that dates back to 2000.
It's still hard to believe Lian-Li found success with a $200 case almost a decade ago, even more so considering that competitors at the time also included a power supply unit for the price while the PC-60 simply did not.
Fast forward to the present, it's not uncommon to find enthusiast-oriented cases (including those from Lian-Li) selling for well above the $200 mark. If you can recall, the last case we reviewed from this manufacturer had a steep $700 price tag attached to it. Admittedly that's a bit excessive and we cannot believe they can move a whole lot of units at that price.
Looking at other offerings from Lian-Li we have cases such as the PC-8B selling at more realistic prices in the $100 range. However, these cases tend to be a little weak on the features side, usually because you are paying for the lightweight all-aluminum design and not for a range of fans or other traits. With so many users cashing in on bargains and looking to save money during these tough economic times, the company is potentially missing out on a huge market segment.
With that in mind, Lian-Li has launched a spin-off company called "LanCool" that will deliver their unique designs at more affordable prices. They are doing this by moving away from aluminum and adopting the more traditional SECC steel used for computer case construction. LanCool has just a handful of products on offer at the moment, with many of them belonging to the "Dragon Lord" K series. Today we will be looking at two cases from this series.
The LanCool PC-K62 is a mid-tower chassis aimed at gamers and enthusiasts featuring a tool-less design with plenty of cooling options yet meant to remain silent on operation. The second case we are evaluating, the PC-K56, shares the same platform as the PC-K62 but is a more vanilla offering with less modification options available.
The PC-K62 is currently selling for $110, while the PC-K56 is retailing for just $65. That should give you a good idea already of the kind of savings you can obtain by ditching aluminum. If Lian Li can deliver in the form of a smart and clean design, we can see where they are going with their LanCool line. We will be checking these two cases out in more detail next.