Foxconn TV-544 & TP-544 ATX Towers
Examination:
As mentioned before, the TV-544 and TP-544 are probably two of the best built steel cases we’ve ever looked at as far as it goes with a sleek yet elegant design. The steel used was very strong and thick; which in part led to an extremely good build quality. While moving both cases around, there were no rattling of loose parts. Although the front bezel on both cases is slightly different, they were both constructed of sturdy plastic. The outer appearance of the cases was nothing surprising, but when we started to open up the case, we began to realize how special they really were. After the thumbscrews were removed, the door can be released by pressing in the latch on the side and pulling out. Removal of the door on either Foxconn chassis' revealed the insides of an almost truly tool-less case. First let’s start with the drive bays. The retention systems on the drive bays are all very convenient. The first step in installing the hard drives is to first pull out the black latches on the side. This allows the drive to be slid in. Then when the switch is pushed to the lock position, the retention mechanism snaps in and the drive is securely held in the bay. This process was exactly the same for the floppy drive and the CD-ROM drives. There was absolutely no use any tools necessary and no installation of drive rails. The tool-less design holds true for both the TV-544 and TP-544.
Next up was their very impressive tool-less motherboard tray. The tray was secured by a thumbscrew, and after removing it, the tray slid out by simply pressing on the green release latch. Their motherboard mounting is also completely tool-less. The motherboard simply pushes on to three retention pins and then snaps on to the other retention pins. The pins needed to be bent slightly to accommodate the motherboard. This is to be expected however since not all motherboards are created exactly the same.
After the motherboard is fastened securely into place, the tray was snapped back into the case. Then came installation of the graphics card and expansion cards. This was also very easy. All we had to do was lift up the retention tabs, put in the card, and then snap the retention tab back into place. All the cables were plugged in and the system was ready to go. Well there you have it. The first installation we have ever done without ever touching a screwdriver. The whole process took an estimated 10-15 minutes. Keep in mind that we were doing this at a leisurely pace and also figuring out all the features as we went along.