SilverStone Milo ML02

Installation & Performance:

Inside the SilverStone Milo ML02 we had installed an MSI 945GT Speedster-A4R motherboard, Intel Celeron M 1.46GHz, 1GB DDR2-533, Seagate 7200.10 500GB HDD, and Sony NEC Optiarc DVD-ROM slim-line. While this case is extremely compact, the installation went surprisingly for the most part. SilverStone's manuals are generally well thought out but in the case of the ML02 it wasn't perfect. For the ML02MX LCD/IR hardware installation steps, the last step is: "From the front panel LCD/IR module, locate two female single wire leads colored in black and red. The black wire should have the connector labeled, 'GND'". That's the end of the guide. SilverStone, you forgot to mention for those newbies that the two wire leads actually need to be connected once they are located...

Aside from that, a real problem with the ML02 is the room around the expansion slot or there the lack of. We had hoped to install a Hauppauge WinTV PVR-500 dual TV tuner into the PCI slot, but the card would not fit. The PCB was too long. The WinTV PVR-500 PCB had run into the IDE adapter on the slim form factor DVD drive, which prevented this TV tuner from being installed. Other larger cards like the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS and X-Fi will likely run into similar problems.

Also attributed to the small size of the case is the mess of wires and the organizational challenge. We were worried at first with all of the wires present and the minimal amount of room to organize and conceal them, but within a few minutes we had most everything organized. Check out our pictures for the wiring outcome. With this case being geared for a media center / home theater PC where WiFi cards, TV tuners, and HDTV dedicated graphics cards are common, we would have liked to see room for at least a second expansion slot or an additional hard drive mounting area. Though if either was added, this form factor wouldn't be possible.