ASUS TA-212

The TA-212 is in fact a twin brother of the TA-252 model. They have the same chassis but different front panels:

Like in the TA-252, the two top bays are covered by flip-down panels:

And the panels are somewhat handier than those in the TA-212:

The disc eject button remains accessible irrespective of the position of the tray. The 3.5” bays are hidden under a movable shutter:

The shutter isn’t designed too well. It gets stuck constantly, so you’d better consider the TA-252 if you are regularly accessing these bays. The Reset button is placed next to them, but you can only press it with something thin and sharp. The Power-On button is at the bottom of the panel, a little above the panel that conceals the group of frontal interface connectors.

It is the same set of connectors as the TA-252 offers:

The Power-On button is highlighted from two sides with Power and HDD Activity indicators via a special reflector:

That’s all the difference. Subjectively, the TA-212 is somewhat worse from the standpoint of ergonomics than the TS-252, but if you like its design, you may well put up with the ergonomics. Another important difference is that the TA-212 lacks vent openings in the front panel. The intake fan gets all of its air through the narrow slit at the bottom of the front panel; your hard drives may not like it.

So, I’ve given you the descriptions of the system cases and now I am going to check them in action.