Introduction

I think, with the incredible popularity of the Cold Cathode Kits into the modding scene, that the time has come for a no-holds barred comparison. It seems every single shop out there now has cathodes for sale in one form or another ("one form or another" being the key phrase there). Some will argue that "a cathode is a cathode" and that's pretty much true, but only if your talking about the amount of light it gives off. A couple things I'm gonna focus on here though is "presentation" and "quality", which I don't know about you guys, but it's pretty important to me. It's the same reason a person buys a Zippo lighter over a Bic lighter.....they both do the exact same thing, but the zippo is better protected, much more durable, and also looks a helluva lot cooler! If you don't get the point yet, keep reading...

The first thing I want to say before I get into this is that none of the sites from whom provided me a CC kit were informed of the exact specs of this little "shootout" between their products and to whom exactly they'd be up against. This whole Idea of mine started when Frozencpu sent me a 4" cold cathode to review, and the more I looked at it, and all the Cathodes I have lying around here, and seeing the huge amount of variance in the kits on the web, I just had to do this article! PCMods wouldn't have had to contribute at all since I had one of their cathodes lying around the VH Labs here for a good 6-8 months. I've popped it in and out a few cases, but since I was the case nomad for awhile there, it didn't get the usage it deserved. Well it turns out they have a revision out now so they sent me a new one anyway so I can show you the latest version. Diceman got a surprise or three in store where you'll be seeing some eye-straining cathode action before too long. *can't say no more!* And I'm not talking about anything you'll see here *damnit, I can't say no more!!*

Ok, back to the shootout. I've got these cathodes lying around from Pcmods and now frozencpu, I need to write a review on the frozencpu ones, ugh! Who the hell wants to read another cathode review anyway? Who the hell wants to write another cathode review? NOT ME! "There kewl! There bright!"...... *the end*........ BORING!!$@!#@ So let's make this alittle more interesting shall we? I think so! You peeps deserve it! If you're tired of spending/wasting your hard earned money on a cold cathode kit , only to see your buddy spent less money then you and his is alot nicer, then you've come to the right place! So I say to myself "self, why not do a comparison?".....I reply "hell yea, let's do it!"....then I have another idea and I say to myself "self, why not get a bunch of kits from all over and do a huge shootout to find the best kit?"......I think for a second and reply " HELL YEA!.....SHOOTOUTS ROCK!" ....so, here we are peeps :o)

I researched the web and grabbed 5 well known kits that we're totally original kits. I excluded places like Directron.com, and UmaxPC.com since they resell PCMods.com kits and well, hopefully you can figure out the logic there :o) I then contacted the parties to participate in the CC Kit shootout. They all accepted and sent me their full size retail Cold cathode kits. I also decided this will not be a "well, they're all cool and it's a tie" shootout. Their WILL be a winner folks......keep reading to find out where to buy your next cold cathode kit and actually get your moneys worth. Of course this does not apply to the select few that "make their own" , So don't email me bitching about you can make your own for a nickel or something rediculous...Cuz I KNOW YOU CAN'T! :o)

I'm gonna be mainly comparing the quality of design of all the kits instead of the lights themselves as they are the same damn thing...heh. All the cold cathode "cores" appear to be the exact same thing and they're all just as bright as one another. That said, let's get to taking a good look at each kit, what you'll receive, and how well it was constructed for you. I'll also be giving each kit a score of 1-10 to help you get an idea of my thoughts on each one.

FrozenCPU.com CC Kit (Retail = $34.00)

Since I already had the FrozenCPU Cold Cathode Kits, let's take a look at this one first. I gotta admit, when I first got this kit, It floored me. I haven't seen a CC kit from a shop come in a cheap plastic "holder" in a long time. I thought they didn't even sell them like this anymore. It's like buying a new car and not getting clearcoat on the paint, or having it have vinyl seats yet still paying the same price as the others......it's like "why?!" Although this kit is "adequately" constructed, insulated, and will "work", it was by far on the bottom of the scale in this shootout. All you have to do is look at the other kits and you'll notice this kit was just "whipped together". Yet, it's price doesn't reflect it one bit, coming in at $34 for the retail kit you see below.

Directly from FrozenCPU.com: "10" ultra bright cold cathode tubes encased in its acrylic tube with ends open. Velcro Straps for mounting anywhere in your case. Low profile bulb fits almost anywhere. Heatshrink covered inverter for safety- not painted black or plain like others. Female and Male Molex connector for 12v power. Round black rocker switch with drill template for mounting. All leads to switches are 100% professionally manufactured. This kit is 100% percent completely assembled and PC ready."

I'm confused. I don't see an "acrylic tube" here. I'm assuming the cheap plastic holder the cathode is in is for shipping purposes cuz it's too ugly to put into a case..heh. So by removing that, we have a totally unprotected cathode tube in the case. And what makes it worse (if that wasn't enough) you'll have wires pretruding from both ends of the cathode tube making it very bulky and impossible to get a nice clean installation and hide the wiring.

Here you'll notice some colored extension wires I also received with the kits. They help to extend the rocker switch away from the wiring mess to make it easier for you to mount the rocker switch in the front bezel ( or wherever you like). Since 90% of you will do exactly that and end up mounting the rocker into the bezel, I really don't see the need for colored extensions as they'll be hidden behind the bezel, or tucked inside some part of the case directly behind the bezel and outta view anyway. I think if you're gonna color anything, color something near the light itself, or the inverter or something visible. If the colored extensions were to go along with a "theme" or something, that would be different, but that's not the case here. So bottom line , this cold cathode kit from frozencpu will "work", but I think you would be wiser to spend your $34 elsewhere on a more protected cathode kit. Overall, a kit NOT recommended, considering the plethora of better quality kits in the same price range, or even less money for that matter. I think with the intense competition in the cold cathode market right now, Frozencpu could certainly take the time to make a better kit, especially considering some of their other products are of such nice quality.

Score = 5/10

ZXMods CC Kit (Retail = $26.95)

Ok, let's take a look at the next contender in this shootout. This time we take a look at the ZXMods.com Cold cathode barebones kit. The first thing you'll notice is that this kit is over $7 cheaper than the frozencpu kit. Why's that? It's gotta be even worse then right?.....Not so fast. Let's take a closer look and see what you'll get for your money.

Directly from ZXmods.com: "This is the kit for the Modder on a budget. Comes with the colored bulb of your choice, clear acrylic tube, inverter, passthrough molex, rocker switch, and velcro squares. (Round rocker is default, rectangular available upon request in the notes box on the checkout page. Substitutions may occur if not specified) Y adapters used are 6-8 inches long for a longer reach than competetors shorter pass-through molex connectors. 23 inches 'tween bulb center and switch, 38 inches from bulb center to end of wiring harness. You will not find this wiring harness length ANYWHERE else except at ZXMods.

ALL ZXMods cold cathode light kits come preassembled with both wires coming out one end of the protective acrylic mounting tube. The inverters some fully insulated and ZXMods even allows preference of a white or clear shrink covered (default black) inverter at no extra charge available as a selectable option on the right side of the "4" & 12" Bare Bones CC kit pages. Don't want the switch? that's an option as well! Want a rectangular rocker switch instead of the round rocker? Let us know and that's what you get! LOTS OF OPTIONS AVAILABLE AT ZXMODS!!!

ALL electrical engineers know that heat is a major factor which shortens the life span of electrical components. Shrink covered inverters instead of rubber coating (on the top side of the inverter) allows air to pass through and over the inverter electrical components for a longer life span! The same concept is applied to the open-ended protective acrylic tubes which allow the heat from the bulb to escape. Could the excess bulb heat cause premature decay and yellowing of the UV resistant protective tubes? Why take a chance! The absence of the little square blocks on the ends also allow a closer fit into the crevices of the computer case. And if you ever accidently grab the edges of your case as it's lying on the bed with your hands on the inside flanges of the case, flexing and breaking of the bulb inside the protective sleeve is most likely possible because the little acrylic blocks hold the ends of the tube up and away from the crevice. This means the middle of the protective tube has room to flex and create bulb breakage!

ZXMods CC light kits have the longest wiring harnesses on the internet which allows for better placement within the box. Still need more length for switch placement? ZXMods offers the most complete and "original" selection of switch extension wires on the internet. Plain or color matching to match the color of your light kit! http://www.zxmods.com/products/productccswitchextwires.html

ZXMods has the largest selection of DIY options available ANYWHERE on the internet! http://www.zxmods.com/products/productmaincoldcathodepage.html

ZXMods has even made custom 7 foot extension wires on numerous occasions at a customers request for a small extra charge. We have even wired three CC light kits to one wiring harness for one of our customers! All these custom configurations are available at a small, reasonable extra charge payable through PayPal on a prediscussed and arranged basis!"

This kit , as with all the kits, comes with everything you'll need to get it up and running fast without further modding. One thing I didn't find absent on this kit was the acrylic tube to protect the cathode tube. Also another feature that I find appealing is the fact that BOTH wires pretrude outta the same end of the cathode. This makes placing the kit in the case a much cleaner process without wires everywhere! You'll notice the rocker switch/molex connection area uses more wire to give you added length when installing the kit. A nice touch as the switch area is always the tightest area and the wires used to never be long enough. It seems someone noticed and gave ya that little extra :o) Next we look at the insulated inverter. It's "ok" as it doesn't look "as bad" as the frozencpu kit, but it's no work of art either :o)

 

You'll notice zxmods also offers extension wires. They have them in black and numerous other colors. Overall this is a "decent" kit. What makes it so is mostly the price. You just can't beat the price on this kit. And if that wasn't enough, you can get this kit in one of 5 different colors for the same price. And I don't mean the color of the light, I mean the color of the kit. Zxmods.com has what they call "color-matched kits where they cover all the wiring and the inverter in a rubber sleeve/heatshrink in various colors to create a colored "theme". You'll have to check out the site to see what I mean or keep reading down to the 4" kit comparison. Yes there's even a 4" kit shootout next!....muwhaahaha. One thing Zxmods has that noone else does is the incredible selection of colored cathode accessories. But even with all the glitz, glam, and low,low price....it's not the best quality kit here. It is however a much better kit then the price would lead you to believe. For those of you looking for the absolute lowest priced kit, without getting a POS, I can surely recommend the zxmods kit. It does come standard with the acrylic tubing and insulated inverter. And for the price, even that's surprising right? Not to mention you can pick up some accessories while you're there if you like and still be priced under most of the competition. I would recommend you spend the $1.25 on the mounting squares as the included velcro is not the best way to attach this light. However, they will enlarge the area needed to install the light so be sure you've got the room. This kit gets a decent score for it's sheer "buy me"value! However, if this shootout was scrictly about "cathode options"....ZXMods would win hands down!

Score = 7.5/10

 

Caseetc.com CC Kit (Retail = $37.99)

On to the next kit! Now I'm gonna give ya a closer look at the Caseetc CC Kit priced at $37.99. As you can see, not the "cheapy" of the group, it's actually the most expensive kit here. Is it the best? Let's find out together shall we? The first , and most disturbing, thing you'll notice is the wires pretruding outta BOTH ends of the cathode...UGH! When will they ever learn? Is it really THAT much harder to make a clean looking product? ZXmods can do it for a better than $10 less, why can't caseetc? I dunno....I personally think not doing it is taking the easy way out.

Again, we see the full kit here. After giving it a thorough going over, this kit is very good quality. However, it's just "not right". Having wires coming outta both ends is a huge drawback to such a nice kit. YOu can see how tight the molex connection is to the rocker switch . That will cause you to run a psu connection right up to behind your bezel, but then you only have a little bit of wire lead that goes to the inverter, so your inverter will have to be very close also. Not a good thing. This setup might be ok if your gonna mount that rocker switch in the lower corner of your side panel, but not many of us tend to do that. As first glance I thought the inverter wasn't even insulated, but it is. Although this may appear a bad insulation job, it's really totally satisfactory as the bottom of the inverter is really the most important part to cover up. Trust me I know. I shocked the hell outta myself one time by holding the inverter in my hand with a cathode running off it. I was fine till I touched the bottom of the inverter and bridged a few too many electrical gaps.....hehe....Let's just say, it woke me right up!

On to a few more pics, we can see here what appears to be a white plastic ring . Must be a template for the switch right? I guess, although it was included, the instructions made no mention of it, so i'll assume it's the rocker switch template. So I slip it over the back of the rocker thinking it would slide right over it and stop behind the front lip.....NOPE!....Hmmmmm, It's a hard template but it isn't actually the right size. It's too small, meaning if you made a circle on your case/bezel, you'd have to cut a hole too small, and then keep opening the hole till it fit. Hmm, not the most efficent way there. If it's not going to be exact, it might as well be a paper template, then you'd have an excuse to cut a non-exact hole the first time.

Moving on to the cathode tube itself, VERY nicely protected, but it again looks like it was starting off strong and was just unfinished. I see absolutely NO reason to make the bulb that pretty and protected, and NOT take the time to route the wires to one end. I mean seriously, how the hell is anyone gonna be able to mount this kit in a neat way when the connections are so short? It just makes me mad to see the potential this kit had go down the drain like that! Kinda makes ya wonder why , with all the shortcuts that seem to have been taken with this kit, that it's the most expensive one here...And finally, looking at the last pic with the kit fully assembled, you can see there is very little wire to work with. Reminds me of the frozencpu kit here. Not taking the time/energy to "add more wire/route more wire" really makes it a hassle to the end user and limits his/her installation options. People buy these premade kits for one reason "ease of installation"...if theres practically no wire to work with, that don't make it very easy now does it? This kit had alot going for it in materials used, but for the sheer lack of any kind of custom wiring, and it's very high price, I CAN NOT recommend this kit. There is better options on the market in the same price range or for less money. The only reason it scores higher then the frozencpu kit is the fact it at least protects the bulb!

Score = 6/10