Linuxathome.net - Linux news and help for home broadband internet users

	Date:	August 18th, 2001
Type:	Review
Supplier:	PCCaseGear
Author:	mayhem

Neon lights are quickly becoming the rage in case modifications these days, especially since alot of people are using Window Kits to make it possible to see inside you PC (and even more dramatic modifications of a completely clear perspex case). We have graciously been supplied a new Dual 9" Neon kit from PCCaseGear.

Those of you that have already seen or may even own a Neon for your PC then you will definitely be interested in this product, its not like your standard Neon, this one comes with two 9" long neons that will nicely fit into just about any size case you have. The best thing about having two neons is that you get a more even coverage with the light, you can place each neon in a different area rather than having light coming from a single source.

The Kit Itself:
Well as said before this is Australian made, which means that not only are you getting a great product but your keeping the sales and profit in this great Country of ours, of course PCCaseGear do send international orders. The kit itself consists of the following:

- Twin 9" ultra slim neon lights
- Remote inverter box that can be mounted anywhere in the case
- Pre-wired with 4-pin molex connecter and additional plug
- High quality rocker switch with drilling template and sticker
- Velcro mounting adhesive
- Available colours: blue, green, red or a mix of blue and green.

As you can see from the above picture we couldn't wait to test these neons out and had to see what they looked like the second they arrived, amazingly bright even in the middle of the day, and at night they light up my entire room in blue, rather impressive from the size of the actual neon that produces this amount of light.

Installation:
The first thing you will need to do is remove the case from your PC so that you can install the neon, of course we advise you turn your machine off before connecting this as you want to make sure you don't damage the light or even more so your computer. Once the case is off put it carefully aside so that you don't scratch the Window Kit.

When it comes to mounting the neon you have a number of choices of where you would like to put it, mainly along the top of the case (if you have room), the bottom of the case, the front and finally the back of the case. Since this neon kit has two neons you want to place them so that they can light all the inside of your case evenly, for this we decided one on the back of the case and one of the bottom of the case as these two positions would light up the entire window nicely. Now that you have established where you want to put the neon careful peel away the covering from the adhesive covers on the velcro, then carefully place the neon in the desired location (keeping in mind that you want the power cables out of the way and closest to the power supply in your machine, but you can run them along the base of the PC).

Next you will need to make plug in the neons, since this is a full kit you are supplied with some nice molex plugs that just need to be attached to a spare lead coming from your PSU and then plug the two neons into the power adapter unit that you just connected. Since the supplied cable is double ended it allows you to place it in-line with another device so that you don't loose the use of the plug (great little feature for those who have a PC full of hardware), all you need to is plug this lead in and its time to move on.

So the next thing to do is work out where you want to put the switch to turn the neon on and off (for those of you who want to do so), in our case we didn't have any spare 5 1/4" bays to put the switch and didn't want to drill a hole in the front of the case (saving that for a Fan later), and we didn't want to drill a hole in the side of the case (where most people do), so we just feed the wires out the back of the computer as a temp place until I can decide where to put it. To install the switch make sure you find a place that does NOT have any obstructions behind it, you don't want to make a hole in the side of your case and when you go to put it back on have problems.

In order to install the switch you will need to find the perfect location (just a couple of suggestions are in the pictures above), then you will need to place the washer in the location and mark the inside circle with a pencil. Next you will need to tape up the area around the outline so that the paint doesn't scratch or flake when you cut the whole, you can simply use the supplied sticker with our without additional masking tape. Using a drill, nibbler or dremel you will need to cut along the outline as closely as possible. Once the whole has been made clear away all tape and use a file to clean away the rough edges and then push the switch into the hole.

When you have the switch in place you need to connect the two little plugs onto the back of it, make sure that they are nice and tight as you don't want them coming apart. Now that the plug is in place and all cables are connected, get ready to fire this puppy up.

NEXT: Testing and conclusion