Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not bad but not great
Comment: My Sonata III 500 arrived with a broken door. It looks like Antec will replace it, but I'm really disappointed with the quality. I had never ordered a name-brand case before and I was expecting something better than a generic. Well, this is a little better but not worth twice the cost of your usual case. The entire front including the external drive door is plastic and quite cheap. The internal layout is good and roomy with easy access to everything, adequate cables on the PS, no real problems. Sound level is good but not astonishing.
Added: Three days now since I sent Antec my amazon receipt and they have yet to confirm that they'll replace the broken door. Meanwhile, the fan I ordered from amazon for this same case is 5 days late coming. Running a PC build through amazon won't work as a just-in-time process if everything is late or broken.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Value , Flawless Design
Comment: I have had this case a few weeks and have been super pleased with it. My third build with Antec cases this year. Two 900 cases for gaming systems and now this Sonata III for myself. Hey, I'm 58 and a nice cool and quiet case are what I want. I have never worked with a case this well thought out. All the cables can be run without crossing the motherboard. I picked up a second fan as I have three hard drives. My CPU stays at 104F or less no matter how hard I run it and the mobo is the same. Beautiful black finsish and the drive bays are the easiest I have worked with. Mounting the hard drives to be in side mounted, sound isolated trays makes them super easy to install and remove. The sound is almost imperceptable, even on drive access. Maxtor sata drives, gigabyte GA-EP35 DS3R mobo and Core Duo 6550. Best system I have had since I started building them in 1984. Buy this case and you won't be sorry.... unless you are a super overclocker and running wide open.. then go the 900.. not as nice, not as quiet but super cool.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great case with a free power source
Comment: All around great case, I didn't use the power source becuase the wattage was too low for my needs. With the 120mm interally mounted fan you will run into issues with really long video cards like the 8800ultra or GTX.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good case but BIG problem could damage system
Comment: There is a very big and annoying problem with this product. It does not adequately discharge static electricity. If it has been running for a while and you, or your pet, brushes up against the metalic insert on the front of the panel, you can discharge your energy and crash the system. This happens all the time for me when inserting a USB drive. Antec is aware of the problem, here is their response:
Comment: 1. We are working on this problem with a high priority, and have already tested multiple proposed fixes. Unfortunately, the problem is turning out to be more difficult than anticipated. The case is currently being tested in a special ESD lab.
2. The metallicized plastic IS grounded. That fact is one of the reasons this problem is proving so difficult to pin down.
3. We cannot refund monies that were not paid to us, but if a customer needs help returning product to a distributor we can usually help arrange that if the distributor is being uncooperative.
4. We actually expect an answer fairly soon, and as soon as we can we will be making it available to customers encountering this problem. We definitely apologize for the inconvenience, but Antec is well known for the quality of its customer service and for the way we stand behind our products.
UPDATE 3/17/08: As an update, Antec has come up with a solution. they have replaced the front silver metallic panel with a flat piano black panel. I have yet to see if this will fix the problem, but I think that bodes well to their commitment to fixing the issue.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Everything perfect
Comment: This case is perfect -- everything is as described, and the transaction with the seller was absolutely painless. Recommended!
Summary: Not bad but not great
Comment: My Sonata III 500 arrived with a broken door. It looks like Antec will replace it, but I'm really disappointed with the quality. I had never ordered a name-brand case before and I was expecting something better than a generic. Well, this is a little better but not worth twice the cost of your usual case. The entire front including the external drive door is plastic and quite cheap. The internal layout is good and roomy with easy access to everything, adequate cables on the PS, no real problems. Sound level is good but not astonishing.
Added: Three days now since I sent Antec my amazon receipt and they have yet to confirm that they'll replace the broken door. Meanwhile, the fan I ordered from amazon for this same case is 5 days late coming. Running a PC build through amazon won't work as a just-in-time process if everything is late or broken.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Value , Flawless Design
Comment: I have had this case a few weeks and have been super pleased with it. My third build with Antec cases this year. Two 900 cases for gaming systems and now this Sonata III for myself. Hey, I'm 58 and a nice cool and quiet case are what I want. I have never worked with a case this well thought out. All the cables can be run without crossing the motherboard. I picked up a second fan as I have three hard drives. My CPU stays at 104F or less no matter how hard I run it and the mobo is the same. Beautiful black finsish and the drive bays are the easiest I have worked with. Mounting the hard drives to be in side mounted, sound isolated trays makes them super easy to install and remove. The sound is almost imperceptable, even on drive access. Maxtor sata drives, gigabyte GA-EP35 DS3R mobo and Core Duo 6550. Best system I have had since I started building them in 1984. Buy this case and you won't be sorry.... unless you are a super overclocker and running wide open.. then go the 900.. not as nice, not as quiet but super cool.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great case with a free power source
Comment: All around great case, I didn't use the power source becuase the wattage was too low for my needs. With the 120mm interally mounted fan you will run into issues with really long video cards like the 8800ultra or GTX.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good case but BIG problem could damage system
Comment: There is a very big and annoying problem with this product. It does not adequately discharge static electricity. If it has been running for a while and you, or your pet, brushes up against the metalic insert on the front of the panel, you can discharge your energy and crash the system. This happens all the time for me when inserting a USB drive. Antec is aware of the problem, here is their response:
Comment: 1. We are working on this problem with a high priority, and have already tested multiple proposed fixes. Unfortunately, the problem is turning out to be more difficult than anticipated. The case is currently being tested in a special ESD lab.
2. The metallicized plastic IS grounded. That fact is one of the reasons this problem is proving so difficult to pin down.
3. We cannot refund monies that were not paid to us, but if a customer needs help returning product to a distributor we can usually help arrange that if the distributor is being uncooperative.
4. We actually expect an answer fairly soon, and as soon as we can we will be making it available to customers encountering this problem. We definitely apologize for the inconvenience, but Antec is well known for the quality of its customer service and for the way we stand behind our products.
UPDATE 3/17/08: As an update, Antec has come up with a solution. they have replaced the front silver metallic panel with a flat piano black panel. I have yet to see if this will fix the problem, but I think that bodes well to their commitment to fixing the issue.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Everything perfect
Comment: This case is perfect -- everything is as described, and the transaction with the seller was absolutely painless. Recommended!