Virtual-Hideout.Net | Reviews | PPCS MO MX212 USB LCD Review

PPCS MO MX212 USB LCD Review
Date : Monday, 21 April 2003
Author : Ript
Provided by : Performance-PCs.Com

Modding has certainly come a long way; hell, just about half of these introductions I have to write for every review usually include a blurb about the evolution of our hobby and progress the product up for review makes. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this time is no exception. LCDs used to be a product that the average modder found impractical due to the difficulties of having to first build, and then getting them to not only function alone, but also with ones PC. Let's face it, beyond a certain level of difficulty, even the most extreme modders won't bother attempting some things. As we've seen before, our community has had a demand for an easier product, and the manufacturers have come through. Virtual-Hideout has done a number of LCD reviews during the past couple of years, where you can actually see the progress manufacturers have made. Here's the ones I could dig up:

I'll just briefly touch on each one. Some of the first non-home made kits we got were Remote Displays, like the one offered by PCMods above. Remote? That's one way to do it I guess. The CaseETC kit above is a prime example of why some of the not so electronic savvy might be intimidated. About a year ago, we reviewed a unit from Matrix Orbital, the BLK202A-4BR. This was probably the true break through LCD, offering never before seen capabilities and support. However, it was still somewhat behind the times using a Serial connection and the GPOs only supporting 5V connections. This review will basically touch on the new features of the LK202-24-USB LCD and revisions made from the BLK202A-4BR to the new MX212. Be sure to check out the Matrix-Orbital BLK202A-4BR review if you end up getting lost.

My buds over at Performace-PCs were nice enough to send along a USB Internal Header to Female socket adapter that'll allow us to connect the LCD to a USB connector on the motherboard, avoiding being forced to run the cable through the back of your PC some how and connecting it that way.

The MX212 Unit

Keypad

First thing to mention is Matrix Orbital's new color selection. One color just doesn't do... you may get the MX2-- line in any color that the LK202-24-USB display comes in. This includes the Standard Green, which is black text on a green background; Backlit Inverse White, which is dark blue text on a grayish background; Backlit Inverse Blue, which is white text on a bright blue background; Backlit Inverse Red, which is red text on a dark red background; and Backlit Inverse Yellow, which is dark yellow (gold) on a black background.

Shown above is just a quick look at the MX212 unit fully assembled. The USB connector on the unit is a Type "B" connector. This is the primary revision between the LK202-25-V and the LK202-24-USB. But, is it really worth it? Well, speed really isn't the issue; sure, it's a hell of a lot faster than Serial, but that's like upgrading from a 1GHz CPU to a 3GHz CPU to play Doom. On the other hand, Serial is simply obsolete and as motherboard companies move forward, Serial won't be; USB will. If Serial being obsolete isn't enough to convince you, perhaps the fact that this USB cable looks pretty cool, and is easier to plug in than Serial cables are. Lastly, I don't like rebooting, it puts me in a bad mood. USB, good; rebooting, bad.

Before we continue, here's a look at some specifications of the MX212, from Matrix Orbital's product page:

Let's get this party started. First, since we're smart (and have learned that not doing so results in destruction of expensive things), let's take a quick gander at the instructions. Alrighty then, if necessary, attach your drive rails, and slide her in a free 5.25" slot.

Now, normally you'd find a way to run the connector through the back of your computer and plug it into a USB port back there, like any other external USB device. Since Performance-PCs sent along this USB adapter, we can skip this step and simply plug the adapter into the internal USB header on the motherboard..

Then plug the USB connector from the unit into the female USB connector on the adapter. After this, Window's should detect the device and you should be all set and ready to... display information! Now, be sure to follow the provided installation guide sheet, and also refer to the Getting Started section on the Matrix Orbital Software CD before starting.

Now that we have the unit installed we're going to want some software to fully take advantage of its capabilities. This is the same software used by Matrix Orbital a year ago in the previous review, LCDC. It's the program of choice for many LCD users. Quite frankly, I have yet to come across a more functional and useful piece of LCD software. Best of all, it's free with purchase of the Matrix Orbital unit (normally $17.50).

The LCDC software has an ever-growing online community through the LCDC forums. While there, you can receive help with any difficulties you might be having. In addition, you may also swap tips and tricks with fellow users and even get to try out some of the newer "still-in-development" plug-ins from independent developers which are constantly figuring out cool and new ways to use LCDs. On top of all this the LCDC team remains hard at work coming out with new features to their software... You're not buying a soon to be outdated version of windows for hundreds of dollars. Hell, you're not really buying anything, it's included! But, you're getting LCDC and whatever LCDC will be years from now as well.

When power goes to this unit the screen on the left should appear. Once you decide to make things more interesting, you could go ahead and start up LCDC and start playing around with it. If you get bored, you could hop on the LCDC website and surf to the Downloads section where you might download a third party addon by CheeseKeeper, called "Hi-Resolution CPU Usage." This plug-in will display the percentage of your CPU usage and refreshes multiple times a second.

Later, I revisited the Downloads section and found a way to combine the Hi-Resolution CPU Usage plug-in with another one of CheeseKeeper's plug-ins, the Custom Bar Graph Module which gave me the ability to display the percentage in the form of a horizontal bar graph instead of a (now boring) percentage. Score!

The LCDC software gives you so much to do whatever you may want with. Above are just a few examples of what you can do with LCDC combined with the unit. Far left I displayed which track I'm playing in winamp with the Spectrum analyzer for the song directly below. More practical uses may be to monitor your internet traffic or keep tabs on how much disk space you may have left. However, the far right screen makes me sick at my stomach. I just bought that hard drive a few months ago. :(

This is really the only fault I could find with the display. I found that the new backlit displays don't appear correctly while viewed at an angle, while reflective LCD's (ones that reflect light from an external source and don't require a backlight) don't have this problem. This is a rather common problem found on many displays and I'm sure there's a really good scientific explanation (or maybe there isn't, and I didn't try hard enough to find it), though if your interested I'm sure with enough research you can figure it out.

Matrix Orbital's step into USB wasn't a big one; there weren't a whole lot of significant changes I can read off a list. However, the changes that were made improved this unit just a ton. Higher quality and more user friendly products are what we like to see from the manufacturers, and Matrix Orbital Delivers. On the other hand, now that Matrix Orbital has made everything so easy with this LCD's, you're not that special anymore if you have one. But, chicks do dig the blue LCD, so you'll likely have that going for you.

The bottom line here is that this product will rarely serve any practical purpose for anyone. However, neither will CCFLs, window cut outs, or a nice looking wiring job.that you have on your case. It's another thing to have fun with, and for many will turn into a full fledged hobby.This is definitely a sure fire way to impress all your LAN buddies.