3DVelocity would like to thank Street Glow and especially Adam Daley for their help and courtesy in providing this kit for review.

Fitting :

Fitting the PC-Neon Connector is simplicity itself. Step one is perhaps the most daunting, as it involves drilling a hole in your case somewhere to mount the on/off switch. I was fortunate in that I had a few spare blanks available on our FrontX unit. From memory, I think it was a 6mm hole I drilled, but it was a little snug so probably a 7mm hole is best. Check before you drill. If the idea of drilling a hole in the case itself brings you out in a sweat, you may have a spare 3.5 inch blank available on the front that you could use, or failing that you could always drill and mount on the rear of your case, it just means more hassle to get to it.

Below you can see the switch mounted in the FrontX and ready to go.

Next step is to locate the Connector block. I decided to tuck it away on top of the power supply where it was out of the way but easy to get at later. If your mounting place is a little tight, make sure you plug the Molex adapter into the back first, and also remember you need to be able to press down on the release buttons on top to remove or insert the wires form any further lights you may buy later. Although in the picture it looks like I might struggle with that, it was actually quite simple to use a screwdriver and lever down using the top of the case as a pivot. One small moan is that the pressure needed to press these buttons enough to insert the wire is pretty high, and using your finger there's a tendency to press more than one button at the same time, a real pain if it means the wire you've just slotted into the adjacent connector pops out again. The buttons do actually have small slots in the top, and my guess is that this is to let you use a flat bladed screwdriver to perform the task, a much easier way altogether. The other niggle is that the wires from the neon tubes are pretty fine, and the blocks just didn't seem to take a solid grip on them. The only way to get them feeling even remotely secure was to either double or treble fold the ends or to prime them with a little silver solder to thicken them up.

 

Next step, in the case of the Mini 9" accent tubes at least, is to mount the transformer. Again, I decided to go for the top of the PSU out of the way. Just a note, if you decide to do the same make sure you're not obstructing any vents on the top of your power supply as this may cause overheating problems.

 

 

Finally it's time to mount the tubes themselves. I decided to go with one mounted to the cross brace up towards the top of the case and one right down on the case floor. Another small niggle is that most of the tubes in Street Glow's range are designed to be screw mounted, obviously not an option if you need to mount on to a side panel so you may have to find some other way to secure them. Fortunately I had some self adhesive plastic clips that did the job nicely on the lower tube, while for the top I simply used twist ties, though I could have actually drilled and screwed here. Maybe a self adhesive mounting clip would be a nice product for Street Glow to consider adding to their PC-Neon series.

 

Finally with everything connected, it's time to sit back and think about the rounded cables, plastic loom tubing and other such things that you're gonna have to save for to complete the effect. On the subject of plastic loom tubing, Street Glow also supply this from their site complete with angled connectors and all in fruity florescent or shiny Chromed glory.

 

 

Conclusion :

The PC-Neon Connector kit is well thought out, compact, simple and elegant solution to adding a comprehensive Neon lighting arrangement inside your PC. Of course its uses are not limited to just lighting because anything with a 12v DC supply could theoretically be plugged in to it.

My only gripe is that it feels a little vague in use, with wires you think you've trapped dropping out again, but ultimately it does work and it works well. Far superior to hacking into your cables to free up a 12v feed, the PC-Neon connector offers quick, fuss-free connection in a slimline and nicely styled unit that's not going to stand out like sore thumb in your newly tricked out box, but boy would I like to see this in a Chrome effect version!

At a price of $19.95 (without lighting units obviously) it isn't quite in the budget category, but in addition to the hassle it's going to save you in the long run, those kind folk over at Street Glow are offering 3DVelocity readers an awesome deal. Buy direct off their website and type in ad code rdn01 in the ad code area at the checkout, and you'll get a whopping 25% discount off the price of all products purchased, not just the PC-Neon connector, ALL products you buy. How's that for a generous offer eh?

While on the subject of price, I should also point out that rather than get into a price war with their own dealers, Street Glow have taken the sensible step of pricing only at MSRP on their site. Essentially this means you'll probably get a better price by using the dealer locator and buying from a dealer rather than straight off their site, a practise Street Glow actually encourage, but with this 25% discount offer it may still be worth making a quick comparison.

If you're looking for one of the biggest ranges of Neon accessories in the industry, with all manner of products including colour changing, Black Neon (UV), Lightning Neon, Lava Neon, strobe control units and more, the Street Glow is the place to look, and if I sound like an advertisement for them that's just tough, I'm simply stating facts.

Now if I was reviewing the lighting units themselves they'd romp away with full honours, but as the subject of this review is the connector kit, I have to be brutal and say that the slightly ropey feel to the release buttons does take the shine off this otherwise excellent idea, but at the end of the day it does still perform the task it was created for, albeit with a little less finesse than you might hope for.

 

A right to reply

This is a new feature we are introducing into all our future reviews. It's easy for us to sit and pick holes in a product, assuming we know why certain things were done the way they were, but it's only fair that the manufacturer gets the chance to defend themselves. In this section, you will see the manufacturer's replies to the points we raise, and decide for yourself if they're valid or not.

 

3DVelocity: Do you agree that the cable release buttons are a little stiff and vague, and is this something you may be able to improve upon with later designs?

Street Glow : yes I noticed this also, this will be changed perhaps into a "screw down" type fixture. These are actually prototypes before final release we sent out, so we're still working on a few things. Some units will ship like this but all in all if you double up like you said it will make a nice connection. But no worries, it will be fixed.

3DVelocity: The PC-Neon Connector would look awesome in a Chrome effect finish, is this possibly an option for later?

Street Glow : I definitly agree, this was one of the first things we looked into. But if we made it in chrome, expect the price to almost double in cost. We decided nobody would spend $40 on the kit, so we left it in standard black. Maybe in a future version we will have a clear case, it all depends on the demand for it.

3DVelocity: Will you be adding new products to your PC-Neon range?

Street Glow : We would be pretty dumb if we didn't. This is the first product in our new PC-Neon series. We need some ideas though on what else we should make. We already have all the neon and we'd need to see a big demand in a completely new product for the PC-Neon series. But yes, expect lots more in the months to come.

And if you have any ideas for new products for Street Glow's PC-Neon range, why not email me and I'll pass them on.