Introduction

Today I'll be giving you all a look at the SunbeamTech Rheobus Kit #2. It seems alotta companies are starting to realize that a smart, functional, and high quality "Rheobus" is what the customers are looking for. You've probably noticed a few companies lately putting out there versions of a Rheobus. Sunbeamtech is no different. They're doing their best to stay on top of what the customers are looking for and they've been working hard on this unit I'm about to show you to give you everything you couldn want in a high quality rheobus. Did they succeed? Read on and I'll try to give you the info to come to your own conclusion....

Rheobus Kit #2

I started talking to SunbeamTech a couple months ago on their upcoming new products. They went around and asked a bunch of folks that are prominent in the "enthusiast" market to see what kinda features are gonna be the most sought after and/or needed. I helped them out best I could along with numerous other writers/reviewers/webmasters. However, simply feeding them our opinions and suggestions is a long way from actually making it into a reality. I've seen many product concepts that appeared to be the magic combination in theory, but never made it to the production line. It's just the nature of the beast.

Did SunbeamTech listen to the experts and deliver the goods? First, let's take a closer look at the unit in question....

I received two kits from Sunbeamtech originally. One being more of a conceptual prototype. Then a few weeks later I received a retail edition with all the fixes and improvements made, that sunbeam saw fit to market. I must say, the finished product is a beauty. It's a looker from the moment you pull it from it's packaging, but the real surprises come once you power it up. We'll get to that in a moment. The one thing I wasn't extremely impressed with upon first inspection was the light blue screening on the aluminum faceplate with the sunbeam logo, etc. It looks a bit too tacky for my liking. It's not enough to really sway a "like" or "no-like" decision, but I think sunbeam could improve this a bit . Maybe some darker colors for the text or something to give it alittle more aggressive styling.

Specs (taken from Sunbeam's site)

Run the fans at full speed when you are doing CPU intensive tasks, and then when your system is idle run the fans at a slower setting. The variable speed setting can be adjusted to whatever speed you prefer, making it perfect for reducing noise. So, instead of leaving all 4 fans on all the time, you can instead turn down two and run 2 at a higher speed, cutting down on the noise immensely.

Bi-Color Leds & 20 WATTS of power for the #2 Kit!

There's a few important features I want you all to notice when looking at the specs.

• 1) 20 watts of power! That's tons of juice people.
• 2) Bi-Color Leds, and not only that, they change color from red to blue at the 7v-12v settings.
• 3) You CAN turn off the leds when you're not using it! Not just all or none, but each individual spot can be turned off completely!
• 4) The LED's also adjust in brightness as you turn up/down the voltage settings. ( no more blinding light ,even when it's off )
• 5) It's available pre-assembled with a silver or black aluminum faceplate! ( if you've got a lian li, this is for you! )
• 6) Fan hookup consists of four 3-pin connections on the back ( good or bad?)
• 7) Power to the unit is supplied by a single 4-pin molex connector from the psu.

<< Back to Reviews Page | More Specs and Conclusion >>

 

 

Got News? Send 'em in!