Tagan A+ Black Pearl is a very good all-aluminum case. Here is a summary of what we found about this case.

Strong Points

• Excellent constructions and material (everything is made of aluminum, no steel or hybrid parts). No sharp edges where you could cut yourself while building your PC.
• “Fake faces” for optical drives and floppy disk drives for better aesthetics.
• Digital control panel for monitoring and controlling up to four fans and thermal sensor with digital thermometer.
• Adjustable arm on the rear 120-mm fan.
• Eight internal hard disk drive bays. Some cases on the same price range have only four hard disk drive bays.
• Anti-vibration mechanisms for hard disk drives.
• Allows the installation of redundant power supplies.
• Thumbscrews for fastening daughter boards to the case.
• The case is internally separated into three separated compartments, which provides a better thermal management and better cable organization.
• Space for installing two 120-mm fans on the top.
• Space for installing a water cooling radiator on the top (externally).
• Cover for water cooling holes are screwed to the case, so you can cover the holes back if you decide to remove your water cooling system. On regular cases you are left with two opened holes as you have to break the covers to open them.
• Excellent price point for an all-aluminum case with this amount of features. Good cost/benefit ratio for high-end users.

Weak Points

• Could have an eSATA port.
• Two USB ports are too close to each other, preventing the installation of two “fat” devices at the same time.
• Could have come with the two top 120-mm fans.
• No screwless mechanism on the top two 5 1/4” bays.

In summary, this is an excellent case for high-end users with the money to buy it. Its price isn’t bad at all for an all-aluminum full tower case loaded with great features, in particular the digital control panel – which would cost you some good extra money if bought separately. That is why we are giving it our “Golden Award” seal. Of course if you are just a regular user there are other good inexpensive cases on the market that will better fit your requirements (and pocket).