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 Many
people out there aren't crazy modders who build there computer cases out
of recycled jet fighters or clear acrylic or whatever else people do these
days. A lot of consumers are looking to upgrade their system one component
at a time. The idea of having front side USB 2.0 as well as front side
IEEE 1394 (FireWire) is very exciting, but some cases don't come with
this feature, while other are intimidated by plugging in 32,490 little
tiny plugs into the motherboard in an absolute exact science. Ultra Products
has come to the market with a very neat little solution (literally) in
the form of their Media Dashboard which fits inside your 3.5" bay
in your computer. What it offers is not only front side USB 2.0 (2 ports)
and a FireWire port, but also inputs for your headphones, microphone,
and S/PDIF as well.
The Facts
FEATURES
- Convenient 3.5" Bay External Front accessing I/O
Port USB 2.0 Port x 2 IEEE1394 Port x 1 MIC Phone S/PDIF x 1
- Plug & Play installation device.
- Free Drive
MULTI-COMPOUND INTERFACE
- USB 1.1/2.0 to Hi/Low Speed support
- IEEE 1394a Version support
- No additional power need
- Coaxial S/PDIF support
- Coaxial to optical fiber transfer function
- S/PDIF support to AC 97
- Stereo/MIC In/Output Connection
- Support all kind of sound cards
- O/S support to Windows 98SE / NT/ ME / 2K / XP / and
MAC
SPECIFICATIONS
- Dimension 129 x 102 x 25 (L x W x H)
- Weight 268 G
- Temperature Operating,NON-Operation
- Humidity Operating 20%-80%,Non-operating 15%-90%
- Connector Interface:
- 1394 a x 1
- USB 2.0 x2
- 3.5 mm phone jack x 2
- Coaxial SPDIF out x 1
- Tosh-Link optical Fiber x 1
 Extremely
light weight and fits in your floppy drive bay that barely anyone uses
these days anyways (most have 2 on their systems). The unit comes with
a special bracket for the back of your case that allows you to rope through
the cables from the Media Dashboard to the back of your computer system.
Plug in the wires into the appropriate areas in the back of the system,
and you are up and running! The Media Dashboard does not require a power
input to operate.
Coolness Factor
For $20 this is one cool little device, especially for those
of you not willing to deal with the ridiculous things you have to do in
order to get front side USB or FireWire to work on your case. For people
that don't have those inputs at all on their cases but want the ease of
use that the front side inputs offer, this upgrade is a very easy and
cheap way to do it. Easy + Cheap + Performance = Cool.
Performance
Installation for anyone that's ever even opened a computer
case shouldn't take longer than 10 to 20 minutes tops. The directions
are fairly simplistic, but more people won't even need their use - it's
very straight forward how the unit works and fits into your computer.
The necessary screws are included for ease of installation. Once operational
the front side works like a champ - it's that easy.
usefulness / longevity
Obviously anyone interested in having front side inputs
would be interested in this product. Many cases only offer front side
USB 1.1 , which doesn't do many people any good if they want the high
speed transfer rates that many Cameras, Scanners, and printers offer up
these days. And what about FireWire - the almost universal transfer type
of digital camcorders? It's pretty rare to find front side FireWire on
any case, so this increases the usefulness of the Media Dashboard. Add
in the other inputs - specifically the ones for headphones or speakers,
and this guy really becomes useful. Both USB 2.0 and FireWire figure to
be around for a long time (remember that there is now FireWire2 that offers
double the transfer rates), and that you can move this device from computer
to computer as you upgrade in the future, making the longevity of the
product quite long.
overall impressions
Ultra Products has a very nice consumer good here in the
form of their basic Media Dashboard. It offers up some great features,
most of which would have been overlooked by zealous reviewers. Perhaps
the *best* feature of this product is that it's so easy to install, even
for people that are scared of installing upgrades. You can relax, since
the amount of computer expertise to install this little guy is at an all
time low.
The price is right too - $19.99 on the retail websites we
visited, so it definitely won't break your budget at all. The performance
was right were it should be, as it worked just fine when testing it out
with various game controllers, scanners, and cameras. Overall, the Ultra
Media Dashboard is a very slick and nice way to cheaply upgrade your computer
to get USB 2.0, FireWire, and other necessary inputs.
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10 / 10 |
OVERALL SCORE
92%
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9 / 10 |
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10 / 10 |
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9 / 10 |
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8 / 10 |
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9.2 / 10 |
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