Packaging

For the packaging on the Sentry 2.0, packaging was a real concern. Typically when you have cases being shipped from Amazon here in the states things go a relatively short distance. The Sentry 2.0, however, was shipped from Poland. My concerns were quickly calmed down when the case actually came in. The box itself was shipped with a plastic wrap on the outside and this did start to come open a little but it would still protect the box from rain or snow which we were getting this weekend even. On top of that, they have thick straps across both directions on the case keeping everything nice and tight and keeping nosey customs people out. If that wasn’t enough they also had seals placed on the opening as well, these had what look to be our engineering sample model number or revision on it.

With all of the protection pulled off the box itself is your normal brown box and they went with black artwork. This includes the branding and a line drawing of the case. Around on the back is a second line drawing, this time with the case in a vertical configuration. This was put alongside a specification listing as well. I don’t think they have retail sales in mind, but the Sentry 2.0 is already well ahead of a lot of products in my book simply because they show you what is inside and include all of the important specifications as well long before you open anything up.

Before I got into the box I did a quick picture with the components I’m using to test the case as well. #teaser

So the outside of our box had what one or two tiny dings on it. But honestly, DHL could have kicked the Sentry 2.0 all the way from Poland to the middle of the nowhere Ohio where I live and I don’t think it would have taken any damage. When you open the box up right on top is a thick padding and you can see this high-quality foam used all around the case. This is the same foam that shipping cases use. From there the case itself is wrapped up in plastic with the Sentry 2.0 branding on it. This is actually a nice bag but this is above and beyond what most cases come with, with the only exception being the few cases that came in fabric bags but you rarely see that anymore.

Then up under the Sentry 2.0, all of the accessories are all in their own foam tray with a cutout for each thing. Then there is more foam under that.

Most cases just come with a small bag of screws and maybe a few zip ties, the Sentry 2.0 has a lot more than that. That is partially because there is a small amount of assembly. But also because packing everything into a small case like this is complicated. That includes two static protective bags on the bottom there with the PCIe adapter and next to those the bracket for them. To the left of that is a small 2.5-inch drive mounting bracket and then the big metal part on the left is the vertical bracket. The top row has a few wiring components. On the left is the USB cable and front panel, the middle is the power extender, then on the right in the bag, there is a front panel switch and LED. That bag also has a lot more so I broke that down into another photo. You have two bags of screws. A variety of feet and a plastic mounting design for the main feet. Last but far from least you also get a nice screwdriver. The Sentry 2.0 has a condensed number of screw head types now. The old design used hex head designs in a few sizes and they combined them down to one T10 Torx design as well as the normal Philips head screws. To make things simple they include a screwdriver for this