Akasa All-In-One Panel Review (English Version)

[Hemispasm1442169066]

REVIEW : Akasa Panel AllinOne

REVIEWER : Hemispasm

PROVIDED : Akasa Uk

AKASA PANEL ALLinONE REVIEW

INTRODUCTION

It’s time for another review at PCTechnology, and this time what we have in our hands is the latest “AllinOne” panel from Akasa. Its name comes to successfully describe its multifunctional character. With this panel Akasa aims to please even the most demanding customer, and all that in an affordable price.

First let us present you with a few details on the company’s background …

COMPANY INFORMATION

The Akasa Group of companies was founded in 1997 with offices in Taipei and London. With a management team experienced in Electronic and Electro-mechanical product development, Akasa currently has many offices like in London, Taipei, Rotterdam and Sao Paulo, establishing a big worldwide network.

The Akasa brand was launched in 2000; the name comes from a Sanskrit word meaning; atmosphere, space and the ether. Akasa's famous blue and yellow style is instantly recognised. The slogan “cool it with colour” was introduced in 2002 and is now inextricably linked to Akasa products.

Akasa has been at the forefront of the Custom PC revolution, beginning in 2000 with the introduction of Extreme Coolers, for the overclocking fraternity, quickly followed by aerodynamic round cables and PAXmate sound absorption kits. Nowadays Akasa has expanded its product portfolio to system and notebook coolers, control panels, cases, modding kits, thermals and other accessories.

Akasa has outlets in Asia Pacific, Middle East, Northern & Southern Europe, USA and South America. It also has a production facility in China and OEM many products for leading brands.

More information on Akasa can be found in its official website.

REVIEW PC CONFIGURATION

The PC we will be using for this review is configured as shown below:

• Processor : Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 3.00GHz
  
• Mainboard : MICRO-STAR INC. MS-6728
  
• Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM
  
• VGA Adapter : RADEON 9600 XT
  
• Hard Disk 1 : ST3160023AS (149GB)
  
• Hard Disk 2 : WD1200JB (112GB)
  
• ODDs : SOHW-1693S, PX-740A, TEAC DV-W516D
  

all these running under MS Windows XP Professional SP2.

PANEL SPECIFICATIONS

The Akasa AllinOne is a multifunctional control front panel that is installed in a 5 ?’’ device bay. It is equipped with a multi-slot card reader, thermal control fan speed, temperature display with alarms plus fan speed RPM reading and multi I/O ports connection.

The card reader addresses all popular memory card formats. It carries an illuminated LCD screen that shows 2 fan RPM’s and monitors 2 temperature zones. The over temperature alarm can be set to a level the user feels appropriate. The multi I/O ports provide most cable connections one would need, such as USB, IEEE, audio/video and even a SATA connection (data & power) for an external SATA device.

The specifications are shown in more detail on the following table:

Table: Akasa AllinOne front panel Specifications

Packaging – Product Photos

Akasa AllinOne Review: Packaging – Product Photos

We received the AllinOne control panel in a very nice retail package with everything placed very carefully inside.

As you can see, the box by itself does a very good job in presenting the product. All features are summarized in the front and back, while one can also see the colours the product is available in.

It can be found in black, silver, white and red colours. The panel we received was white.

When we opened the box we finally got to see the front panel. Provided accessories were nicely placed and enclosed in a plastic box. A detailed manual and installation CD were also included.

Accessories

After that we opened the plastic box to see what’s inside the retail package, as far as the installation components are concerned. We were very much impressed by how complete the package was. There is actually nothing one would miss when trying to install the panel, as you can see in the picture below:

Here is a list of all accessories found in the package:

- SATA data cable x1

- SATA power adaptor x1

- External SATA power connector x1

- USB external cable x1

- USB internal cable x1

- IEEE 1394 external cable x1

- IEEE 1394 internal cable x1

- Mic cable x1

- Audio cable x1

- RCA cable x1

- PCI backplate x1

- Cable ties x3

- Screws and adhesive set x1

- Fan cable x2

- Power connector x1

- Temperature sensor x1

This is pretty impressive. The Akasa AllinOne panel has absolutely everything one requires for installing the panel, even cable ties! Akasa also goes as far as giving the customer the possibility of choosing between internal or external connections for the USB and IEEE interfaces. The PCI backplate is needed since the SVideo -> RCA cable has to go from the back through the backplate and right into the AllinOne panel.

Panel pictures

Here is a picture of the panel itself, just after we opened the package:

The AllinOne panel has a somewhat classic design. What we liked is that it displays the kind of interfaces found in the front, so that even less experienced users will not have any problems identifying what is what.

And some pictures of the panel’s insides and backside:

The AllinOne panel gave us the impression of good making quality from the very beginning. It actually did fell like it had some weight on it, not like some other products of the same kind that are usually light as feather and flimsy.

Installation

Akasa AllinOne Review: Installation

Installing the AllinOne panel did seem daunting at the beginning I must admit, given the number of cables and connections that had to be made. The installation manual provided though was very helpful, and inexperienced users should definitely follow the instructions given. In addition, one might also need the motherboard manual also, if one is not familiar with it.

Installation Manual

A very detailed and illustrated manual was included in the package. This was also a very pleasant surprise since most other products of the kind usually lack decent documentation.

The manual is written in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish and contains information on the panel’s specifications as well as very detailed and illustrated instructions on how to install the panel step by step, as you can see for example in the picture below:

We find this to be extremely useful even for all users, as even more experience users might feel a bit confused at the beginning with all the connection cables and where they have to go.

Installing the panel took us less than half an hour without coming against any problems.

At this point we should point out the fact that the panel needs to be connected to 3 USB ports all together in order to be fully functional. Two are needed for the 2 USB ports on the front and one for the card reader itself. The card reader is essentially connected to an internal (motherboard) USB port, while users do have the choice to connect to internal or external USB ports for the 2 front USB ports.

What we would really like in this case though would be the implementation of an internal USB hub in the AllinOne front panel, so that one USB port would only be needed for both the USB ports and card reader to function. The other 2 USB ports would therefore actually be spared for users to use elsewhere. This would of course add up to the production cost, but my impression is that most users would prefer paying a few more € for such a feature.

Installation Software

The panel came with an installation CD, as the one shown below:

We were actually curious to see what the CD was for, since the panel was fully functional even without using it (there’s no need for the drivers for Windows ME/XP/x64). By executing the setup file, we got the following screen:

which was followed by the following warning:

The installation was responsible for the system recognizing the multi-slot card reader as removable storage devices with the corresponding icons and names.

When a card is used in the card reader, the corresponding device shows in colour:

In addition, the application Flash Ranger was also installed. It’s a simple program that can be used for formatting the contents of a card. In the case of SMC/xD there is also the option of a low level format.

Panel Presentation

Akasa AllinOne Review: Panel Presentation

After making all the right connections, we rebooted the system and the AllinOne panel came to life. The LCD screen lighted blue and all measurement readings were displayed.

The LCD screen at first seems rather small compared to that of other front panels. This is not true though, since the AllinOne is a multifunctional front panel and not a dedicated fan controller etc. Having all these I/O ports handy does come with a cost as far as the extend of available screen space is concerned. Taking this under consideration, the AllinOne?s 33x15mm LCD screen is one of the biggest in the market. Nevertheless, although the readings are legible when looking at it straight ahead, trying to make out the readings from an angle is very difficult, if not impossible.

What one can find on the LCD monitor are the fan speed display, temperature display, mode switch indicator, setting mode indicator, fan working display, fan speed display (numerical) and fan reading indicator.

With the + and – buttons in manual mode one can adjust the speed of the corresponding fan to the level one prefers. We successfully lowered the CPU fan speed a bit, just to make sure we got all connections right. On the left the fan speed display shows 7 levels of intensity, in the way cell phones display signal intensity, that lets the user know how much more he can lower the RPM for the fan.

The mode button serves for selecting between Fan1/Temp1 and Fan2/Temp2.

By pressing the reset button for 2 seconds the setup mode is enabled. Then by pressing the mode button 5 times the Auto mode is enabled and auto is displayed on the setting mode indicator. In auto mode the fan speed is controlled by the default temperature setting meaning:

Temperature of the sensor Voltage output for the fan

45 °C .................................................. 7 V

55 °C .................................................. 10 V

65 °C .................................................. 12 V

There is a “low speed / fan fail alarm” so that if the fan speed is lowered below the threshold (on level 1) or in case the fan fails the screen blinks red with a sound warning. The sound stops after 25 seconds, which is important, since one might prefer working with the lowest possible RPM and therefore noise, sacrificing a few decimals in temperature.

The back light remains red though and the fan speed display continues to blink until the problem is fixed. Increasing the RPM by one level brings everything back to normal. The same stands for the “overheat alarm” also, which initiates when temperature is higher that the temperature setting. The temperature alarm setting for each thermal sensor is set manually.

Conclusion

Akasa AllinOne Review: Conclusion

At the end of the day, the panel left us a very good impression. It is designed to serve as a multifunctional control front panel and that is exactly what it does. Most users will appreciate the easy access to the USB, IEEE, SATA RCA and audio ports while the multi-slot card reader will make life easy for those that use digital cameras, or any other devices that incorporates a memory card, on a daily basis.

Of course, what makes this panel stand out from the competition is how complete it is, since it offers all accessories needed. Buying these accessories as extras would add up to the total price, but in this case the Akasa AllinOne Panel has it all already.

What we did not like? A possible issue for most users would be the LCD screen as it is very difficult to get the readings from an angle. Given that most people keep their towers on the floor, people will have to swing aside to actually get a quick look on the readings.

Another thing we already mentioned is that the panel needs essentially 3 USB ports in order to have both the card reader and USB connections on the front panel functional. Since the presence of electricity, a powered USB hub connected internally to the 2 USB ports and the reader would have been the best idea for this panel, so that it would need only one USB and leave the 2 other for other devices. This is something of course that would make the panel’s production a bit more expensive, but I am sure users would prefer spending a few more € for having 2 more USB ports free for other use instead.

So here is a list of what we mentioned already:

POSITIVE

- Multifunctional front panel that will cover the needs of even the most demanding user

- Complete retail package, with a lot of accessories included

- Good manufacturing quality, not flimsy

NEGATIVE

- The LCD screen is not easily readable from an angle

- Lack of internal USB hub (needs 3 USB ports from the motherboard)

THANK TOs

At this point we would like to thank the people at Akasa for giving us the opportunity to review this product. We are always looking forward to reviewing quality products of this company.