A couple of things to note here:
1) A friend of mine has XP and a SB card and it is the only thing on his system that causes crashes. He'll be in the middle of a game and BAM, done. That is the reason that, when I get my "dream system on a budget" when the Hammer comes out, I'm not buying a SB card.
2) Actually, I think that a drive
should have to work around a case. I can't believe that you switch out drives as often as you say you do, but assuming you wouldn't lie to me (you seem like a nice person), you should know better than any of us that cases last much longer than drives. Look at the Thermaltake Hardcano 5. It's got an aluminum face specifically to match cases. Why can't other drives do this?
3) I will agree that it would be hard to fab a plate to fit the breakout box, especially where there's an indentation on the bottom right. It would be hard to make that look good. However, if you had the time, you could do it. And, if you're putting that much work into this thing, just put a little notch (barely visible) under the ins to tell them apart from the outs.
4) 3 isn't an issue since he doesn't use a breakout box (Hercules is a good choice btw).
5) I don't know how he feels about this, but I will absolutely, positively never buy a case that has a panel that I have to move in order to get to my drives. First, every time I want to access my drives I'd have to move it. Plus, what if I did have it locked (c'mon, unless this thing's at work, isn't that a little paranoid?)? I'd have to unlock it with my keys, which obviously couldn't be placed right next to the case. So, I sit down, and leave my keys in the other room, realize that the door's locked, go back to the other room, get the keys, come back, unlock the door, AND FINALLY TURN ON MY COMP!! I know it's not much, but I'd get really tired of locking it up after about two or three times of that crap. You may be more organized than me, but I know that I'd do this. Then, instead of a security feature, I have an annoyance.
6) Let's put the aesthetics (notice the spelling) things to rest: it's everyone's personal opinion and yours isn't going to change. Neither is mine. I think that Lian-Li's look better than Cheiftecs IMHO. Period. I like the fact that they're not covered in plastic. It gives it a little of an industrial look. I have a black leather couch and a black leather easy chair, a black TV and a silver component rack. See?! I like the look. I got sucked in by the "real men wear black" crap and I'm stuck.
I do have to claim ignorance on the aluminum and thumbscrew thing. I thought all Cheiftecs were steel. My bad. But, you can't beat the ADDA fans, the removable MB tray, or the fan controls. By the way, if you look at
Lian Li's site, they have plates to match your other drives. This basically comes down to this: Do you want something that will cover up everything to "look real pretty", or the supreme usability in a case. I care more about usability, but for me, the looks actually tip this way as well. I do admit when I'm wrong, but in this case, I think I'm right.