Granted, a metal case would have looked fine, but this board is also cheaper. A power supply is not needed, so that the plate fits in well in the netbook bag.
A disruptive running noise I could not tell for fried eggs frying the drive is not suitable, even after copying of 400GB, the drive was not even warm.
All in all a great value for money and the Gb still save space housed. I can only recommend !