Is it making the thing as large as a desktop? I'd rather get a PC than a Hugebox 360

No, its smaller than a SFF PC, its 160 x 250 x 415mm (W,D,H).

See http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/p...=87&g=spec for more information.

its realy huge - 415mm H - that is just too big. i know htpc cases which are a bit smaller !!!!

Well, sorry to say this.. But 40cmx25cmx16cm is hardly small!

Those 16cm are just a centimeter smaller than my midi tower PC's width, hight is the same, so only place where it wins is "just" 25cm depth vs my 50cm. So roughly, if you take a mid tower, cut it in half, and you get this thing. Or just buy any mid tower and pop two XBoxes inside :D
IMHO, too much space wasted there, with that size they could have gone passive altogether

I dont know about anybody else, but when I am not using the CD drive, my 360 is silent. When I am playing music, or a demo, anything that isnt using the CD drive, its very quiet. The CD drive is the thing that is louder than hell on the 360.

The case should have been that big for the 360 in the first place. Maybe it would have kept the death count below 3 million.

im buying

MS's cooling solution is shitty, to put it nicely, however, RROD is covered under warranty for 3 years. Even if the console does die, MS will replace it (process is slow, I know, but free)

So why the hell would anyone VOID that warranty and pay themselves to solve MS's own poor design? For a price probably considerably higher than even the additional warranties offered by Worst Buy and others. To me it seems like a product aimed at extremely small niche of modders (how many moms will let their kids take a screwdriver to their 360?). To those people, case replacement is just a first step, the rest of us will just keep wondering whether it is cheaper for MS to keep fixing broken 360s or to redesign the cooling system (or maybe finally release the graphics chips based on smaller manufacturing process...)

Come on! I just got my 360 last year. D'oh!

From a perspective point of view, is this the front or the back of the Xbox 360 pictured? Where's the drive(s) and USB ports?

I'm assuming that's the front of the case. The DVD Drive is at the top behind a machined aluminum face. The silver outlined circle seems to be the power button/RROD display. As for USB, most likely behind the machined aluminum door on the left side halfway up the case.

Power Mac case and PowerPC core... it somehow seems so wrong...