Introduction:

      Here's the problem I had.  I have this nice Antec SX-1040B Case which is a smoke black and I have beige drives.  Antec is on the ball with this one since the case includes a drive cover which completely hides the drives. For most people that would be fine, but for me a beige drive in a black case is simply trashy whether or not there is a cover to hide it.

      There were three possible solutions:

1)  Paint the bezel black.

2)  Buy a black bezel.

3)  Get over it.

     I considered that to paint the bezel I would be making an investment on paint, sanding supplies, etc. and that this once I would stay away from doing it myself.  Well, that and I was working so I had very little free time.  

     Considering that this is perhaps the most boring review in existence I've decided to make it into an install guide.

 

Here's the beige drive in the case.  A definite eye sore.  It's time to get rid of the white facade and replace it with Plextor's black cover.  Ignore that diskette in the drive ;)

The Antec case allows the drives to slide out if the cables are detached.  If you can slide out the drive in your case feel free to do so, if not, just take the drive out.  Open the tray of the CD drive so that you may remove the plastic logo portion of the bezel. This must be removed first before the other piece.

To remove the logo'd bezel you need to apply pressure to the bottom corners until the bezel "clicks" out and then slide the plastic up to remove it.  I have tried this several times and it often felt that I was applying too much pressure. Be careful in removing this portion of the bezel since any number of things can go wrong if you apply too much pressure to the plastic.

The picture to the left shows the logo bezel being removed and some of the exposed tray.  Some might argue that the next step should be taken with the computer power off.  If you left the power on and are worried go ahead and kill the power.

The collage shows the three points where you may have to depress the plastic "clamps" that attach to the metal holes on the drive.  I used a flathead screw-driver, but almost anything will suffice.  Once the clamps have been depressed it should be easy to remove the plastic from the drive.

Since the logo bezel was removed first the base bezel can be removed.  If you didn't remove the logo bezel first you should do so if you want the base bezel to come off. ;)

Now slide the black bezel base over the cd tray and click it into place.  It will properly lock into place so you shouldn't forcefully shove it, and your cd drive, into the depths of your computer / house.

The black logo bezel aligns with the grooves on the cd tray and simply slides down.  Lock it into place by applying gentle pressure.

Here's the final version. The Antec case is a few shades toward the gray side, but the black drive complements it quite well.  I hope you enjoyed the article.

  When this bezel first showed up on Pricewatch.com it was going for $25 US plus $15 US shipping.  HardDrive.com is still monopolizing the bezels for a mere $15 US and $15 shipping.  I was lucky enough to get a special discount on shipping so it only cost me $20 shipped.  Fortunately many companies are offering to sell the drive with the black bezel (an option that didn't exist when I bought the drive).

  Pros:
No more beige!
Easy to install
Official Plextor Bezel

  Cons:
Purely cosmetic
Pricey (Currently $30US)
It's just colored plastic!

Score: 7/10