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Performance:::...

The first thing you notice when you supply the power is the three high intensity LEDs on the front of the controller. If you keep your PC in the room you sleep in you can be sure you'll not trip over anything on your way to the toilet at night unless you flip the off switch.

Front LEDs

They really are bright enough to perform a Jean Michel Jarre style light show on an opposing wall.

Front LEDs

But the party trick lies in those three front mounted dials. Turn the knob marked "Red" in a clockwise direction anf guess what, the four LED lamps glow red, and the further you turn the dial the brighter they get.

The Red Channel

This will probably come as a total shock to you, but if you shut off the red dial and turn the one marked "Green" in a clockwise direction, the same four lamps glow a glorious shade of green that would make Shrek feel....well....green.

The Green Channel

Now I know you weren't expecting this so I'm typing very slowly to give you time to take it in. If you shut off the red and green channels and turn the dial marked "Blue", the four lamps glow a cold, piercing blue colour!

The Blue Channel

Now I'm sure you're already fairly impressed, but how about I tell you that you can mix and match the three channels of colour to produce an almost infinite variety of shades that reflect your hardware colour scheme, you company colours, your football team, your mood or your decor.

For example mix a little blue and red and you have purple......

Blue and Red Channels

Or mix all three and you get white, ar as near to white as you could reasonably expect.

Red, Green and Blue Channels

I'm not going to sap your bandwidth with pictures of every possible shade available, I'm sure you get the idea by now.

What I particularly like about this setup is that the lamps are very compact at around just 5.5cm from tip to tail so you don't need a huge case to make room for everything, plus there are no inverters or other bulky extras required. If you have a spare 5.25" external bay and a 4-pin Molex then you're good to go.

Even with no case window you could feed the wires out of the back of your case and light up the twilight underneath your desk if you fancy it.

For what ammounts to almost no work at all, you have one of the most easily configured lighting systems on the market. The effect is impressive and the prodct a sure-fire winner.

Conclusion

The 3DVelocity 'Dual Conclusions Concept' Explained: After discussing this concept with users as well as companies and vendors we work with, 3DVelocity have decided that where necessary we shall aim to introduce our 'Dual Conclusions Concept' to sum up our thoughts and impressions on the hardware we review. As the needs of the more experienced users and enthusiasts have increased, it has become more difficult to factor in all the aspects that such a user would find important, while also being fair to products that may lack these high end "bonus" capabilities but which still represent a very good buy for the more traditional and more prevalent mainstream user. The two catergories we've used are:

The Mainstream User ~ The mainstream user is likely to put price, stock performance, value for money, reliability and/or warranty terms ahead of the need for hardware that operates beyond its design specifications. The mainstream user may be a PC novice or may be an experienced user, however their needs are clearly very different to those of the enthusiast, in that they want to buy products that operate efficiently and reliably within their advertised parameters.

The Enthusiast ~ The enthusiast cares about all the things that the mainstream user cares about but is more likely to accept a weakness in one or more of these things in exchange for some measure of performance or functionality beyond its design brief. For example, a high priced motherboard may be tolerated in exchange for unusually high levels of overclocking ability or alternatively an unusually large heat sink with a very poor fixing mechanism may be considered acceptable if it offers significantly superior cooling in return.

The Mainstream User ~

Good lighting suitable for installation by beginners is always a welcome find, but to have this kind of control over both colour and intensity in return for almost no effort at all is a real bonus. That, of course, is provided you can position it somewhere it can actually be seen.

Though installation should be a breeze in most cases, be prepared for possible difficulties if your case uses drive rails.

Sunbeam have a packed portflio of case modding gear, but this must surely take the prize for shear ease of use and dramatic effect. Be prepared to shut it off at night though if you share your bedroom with it.

It gets my vote! However with no price details it doesn't get my award.

	Awaiting Price Details
	NA

The Enthusiast ~

Startlingly simple yet very clever, like all good ideas seem to be. I'd prefer the front LEDs to be a little less glaring, you may disagree, but all told this is a brilliant idea well implemented.

Although not quite in the prestige category, the overall contruction seems vnicely done. It would have been so easy to spoil something so innovative by making it look tacky, but I' glad to say Sunbeam have done a good job with the design, fit and finish. All that's needed now is a version in black, ar better yet interchangable front panels so you can match it to your case yourself, and you've got it covered.

I'd love to see the option to have the lights cycle automatically through the colour range but I'm getting greedy now. If you want a fast and easy way to add endless lighting options to your favourite case this is it. For once a genuinely innovative idea that works! Surely an award winner....price pending.

	Awaiting Price Details
	NA

We're always looking for ways to make our reviews fairer. A Right To Reply gives the manufacturer or supplier of the product being reviewed a chance to make public comments on what we've said. They can explain perhaps why they've done the things we were unhappy with or blow their own trumpet over the things we loved. It's easy for us to pick a product apart but sometimes things are done a certain way for very specific reasons.

Should Sunbeam decide to exercise their "Right To Reply", we'll publish their comments below: