Conclusions
There are so few Mini-ITX cases on the market that the Travla C137 is really in a class all its own. Sure, there are a plethora of funky little cubes that will accept Mini-ITX motherboards, but the Travlas were designed specifically with Mini-ITX in mind. The C137 is also one of the few Mini-ITX cases that looks right at home in an entertainment center with hi-fi stereo gear.

At $167 online, the C137 definitely isn't a cheap case option, but a power supply is included. Since the market isn't teeming with cheaper, smaller, more feature-rich Mini-ITX cases, I can't really complain. There isn't much point to whining about the cost of slim hard disks or optical drives, either; there will always be a premium to pay for miniaturization. Inexpensive home theater PCs can easily be built with ATX motherboards and larger cases, but they won't be as small as a C137.

As much as I like this case, the C137 still has a few loose ends I'd like to see tied up. A more versatile memory card reader should really be an option, as should front-mounted USB and Firewire ports, and at least a headphone jack. If Casetronic wants to get a little wild, they could also offer an integrated LCD display for the case's front panel.

Even without those changes, the C137 is still a quiet, attractive Mini-ITX case with a tiny footprint. The slim case isn't quite as cute as some of the other Mini-ITX cubes out there, but it blends in seamlessly with consumer electronics equipment, making it the perfect platform for a stealthy media PC. The C137 might even save a couple of old game consoles from being gutted for Mini-ITX projects, too.