By: Jonathan Kwan
June 21, 2008
When it comes to customization of personal computers, no one can disregard the popularity of the application of lighting effects -- it seems that adding lights are the basics of case modding. The funny thing is that the use of case lights in the general custom built personal computer market are decreasing in popularity in the computer scene as far as I can see -- I haven't used any lights since my pair of cold cathodes combusted in 2005 (Hey, I'm not kidding. It smelled really bad). I'm not the only one though, many enthusiasts with nice cases and large side windows either didn't install any lights at all, or simply did it in a half-hearted fashion. That did not turn me away from case lighting though; the reason why I did not have any case lights for the past few years is that I was simply too lazy to find some. Not to mention that while there's an abundance of such products in the market, but none of them really appealed to my tastes because they are all so... generic, or simply just trying way too hard to be unique that ironically inhibited its very purpose. Of course, that's not until Lamptron contacted us with their huge array of unique case lighting products that's actually practical in my opinion. Today, we'll take a look at five out of the many products from Lamptron, and see how they fit in with my Silverstone KL-02 which incorporates a huge window on the side. If you've been following my computer photo posts for a while, you may have seen them already, if you haven't, they look absolutely beautiful. I won't waste anymore of your time, let's jump to the details.
Our Lamptron case lighting review units came from Lamptron's offices in China. Using a FedEx Priority Pak envelope, everything came in excellent condition thanks to the solid corrugated cardboard box inside -- plus the abundance of plastic bubble wrap for extra protection. They also arrived a lot quicker than we thought, it took no more than a couple days for this package to arrive from the other side of the world haha.
Our Lamptron review units came in relatively simple retail packages. Each product comes in a simple clear plastic package with a piece of cardboard insert; with features, specifications and color information printed at the back. The only exception is the FlexLight, which is a long strip of LEDs and arrived in a correspondingly long plastic tube. The products from Lamptron we used in this review consists of one of each of the following:
- 7 spread ClearPuk - Blue
- FlexLight - Purple
- 5-Spread Lazer LED - Red
- 4-Cluster ClearPuk - Green
- RingPuk - Blue
At least a few of those that we've requested may not be conventional lighting colors, but creativity counts -- I'll show you how they are applied into my computer in a short moment.
All products used in this review has Molex passthroughs.
Before we move on, let's take a look at the general specifications of these products, as they are all listed the same on Lamptron's website:
- Super Small Dimensions to be mounted anywhere
- Low heat output
- 200,000 hour life (22 years)
- Waterproof
- Shockproof
- Voltage range 12-14 volts DC
- Draw: Less than 26 mA @ 12 volts
- Very easy to install with screws or double sided tape
- Hooks directly to your 12 volt power supply
I found them a bit generic, since I can bet most of the ones we used in this review are not waterproof, not to mention that three out of five cannot be mounted with a screw.
Lamptron FlexLight
Colors available: Blue, Red, Green, UV, White, Yellow, Pink, Amber, Pink, Jade, Purple, Orange,
Teal. Slow Auto-Flashing and Fast Auto-Flashing.
I don't know what's with the flashing ones, I can almost bet that they would be very annoying haha. All the ones used in this review are consistent lights.
Our Lamptron FlexLight is the purple version with 24 LEDs. It's not particularly bright; providing soft ambient lighting that creates strong color overtones on covered areas. The light itself is wrapped in clear rubber for flexibility -- although you'll probably mount it straight anyways. I don't see how this can be installed with screws as suggested by Lamptron, but double sided tape would work well. Because of its flexible nature and type of light, I would generally recommend the use of this at the bottom of your case to maximize ease of installation and lighting effectiveness.
Lamptron RingPuk
Colors available: Blue, Red, Green, UV, White. Slow Flashing and Fast Flashing.
The Lamptron RingPuk is a puck-like device configured with ten medium-brightness LEDs on all of its sides. Our unit chosen is the blue one. I don't exactly know the proper application of this light, but judging by how light is emitted from all the sides it's optimal to mount it behind or under a component to create an effect around it. It's quite an interesting approach, although I find it less practical than something like the FlexLight. I mounted mine on the top of my case, but there are other lights that the user can choose to optimize desired effects.
Lamptron 7-Spread ClearPuk
Colors available: Blue, Red, Green, UV, White, Yellow, Amber, Pink, Jade, Purple, Orange, Teal
Ruby Red, Magenta, Dual Color, Tricolor. Flashing, Remote Control Flashing.
The 7-Spread ClearPuk we chose is blue. The LEDs themselves are incredibly bright for their size. This block has all its LEDs contained on one side so one hundred percent of its emitted light faces a single direction. I found this to be one of the most flexible and versatile lighting product we used in this review, as it can be mounted almost anywhere in your case. I installed the 7-Spread ClearPuk on the inside of the 5.25" drive bays vertically with the LEDs facing into the case to project a prominent blue overtone over the middle portion of my chassis.
Lamptron 5-Spread ClearPuk
Colors available: Blue, Red, Green, UV, White, Yellow, Amber, Pink, Jade, Purple, Orange, Teal
Ruby Red, Magenta, Dual Color, Tricolor. Flashing, Remote Control Flashing.
The 5-Spread ClearPuk used for this review is red. Unlike the other products used, the 5-Spread ClearPuk can actually accommodate installation via screws, although how you are going to take advantage of that is quite disputable. Likely because of the placement and amount of LEDs, the 5-Spread ClearPuk's emitted light is not nearly as concentrated as the 7-Spread ClearPuk as you can see in the section above. However, like the 7-Spread ClearPuk, the LEDs are just as bright -- not to mention that red light is quite a dominating color when installed inside the case. Again, I found this is one of the most flexible and versatile lighting product we used in this review, as it can be mounted almost anywhere in your case. I installed the 5-Spread ClearPuk on the inside of the 5.25" drive bays vertically with the LEDs facing into the case to project a prominent blue overtone over the top portion of my chassis.
Lamptron 4-Cluster ClearPuk
Blue, Red, Green, UV, White, Yellow, Amber, Pink, Jade, Purple, Orange, Teal, Ruby Red, Magenta, Dual Color, Tricolor. Flashing, Remote Control Flashing.
The Lamptron 4-Cluster ClearPuk is a mini block of four LEDs; the one we used for demonstration is green in light color. Being small for its size, the lights are incredibly bright -- and again, unlike the first three products used, the 4-Cluster ClearPuk can actually accommodate installation via screws, although how you are going to take advantage of that is quite disputable. I didn't install this product in my final lighting configuration because green did not fit in too well with the rest of my light's color scheme -- what I can tell you is that the 4-Cluster ClearPuk is probably best installed at the top of the case facing down, or at the back facing inwards.
The Lamptron case lights installed in my SilverStone KL-02, which has a large window on the side. At the top in front of the power supply is an area illuminated by the RingPuk, although the best choice in that area is likely the 4-Cluster ClearPuk. There are two lights facing inwards with light projected from the 5.25" bay area -- near the top is the red 5-Spread ClearPuk that creates a red overtone to the top area of the case, right below it is the blue 7-Spread ClearPuk illuminating the area below it. Placed along the bottom of the case is the purple FlexLight strip of LEDs, making a soft purple overtone to the bottom of the motherboard and sound card area. I find it extremely beautiful and unique -- quite a distinction from the classic "one cold cathode at the top, one cold cathode in the bottom" type. Generally speaking, I find that Lamptron has a great selection of types of light as well as colors available for each to customize the interior of your windowed case. What I am concerned about is Lamptron's mention of being a "quality manufacturer" -- I find it quite the opposite on a few of my lights. From just over a month of usage of these lights, the 5-Spread and 7-Spread ClearPuks are flawless -- but three LEDs already burned out at the end of the FlexLight after two weeks, two of four LEDs died on the 4-Cluster ClearPuk on the second day, and just recently four of ten LEDs went out on the RingPuk. Maybe it's just a batch of poorly manufactured lights, as some of them were fine. To conclude, I'm impressed by how nice these lights are as well as the vast amounts of choices for the consumer, but I'm also concerned about the long term quality of them. I'll rate based on the products itself, but on top of those ratings on paper you should count reliability in mind.
Special thanks to Rita over at Lamptron for making this review possible.
Lamptron FlexLight
APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that aren't likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.8/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
Lamptron RingPuk
APH Review Focus Summary:
6/10 means A product with its advantages, but drawbacks should not be ignored before purchasing.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 6.5/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
Lamptron 7-Spread ClearPuk
APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that aren't likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.8/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
Lamptron 5-Spread ClearPuk
APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that aren't likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.8/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
Lamptron 4-Cluster ClearPuk
APH Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that aren't likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks; but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Numeric Rating is 7.5/10
Please note that the APH Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other sites.
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