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PCMods.Com Cold Cathode Light Kit Review
Date : Wednesday, 02 May 2001
By : NODE
Provided by : PCMods
Product : Cold Cathode Light Kit

Introduction
Many of you either have neons, or want to get some. Well a little over a month ago one of the more popular modding supply stores came out with the insane little gem called the Cold Cathode. It is as close as one modder can come to lighting perfection. It has all the features you want. But the question is do you want to fork out the little bit more of cash for one?

PCmods being the great guys they are, sent me a blue Cold Cathode out of their second batch to review for ya :-). Earlier today I opened up my front screen door to behold a small triangular cardboard package with PCmods printed on the packing tape. Instantly I knew what it was and almost peed myself in excitement.

Don't you just love getting stuff in the mail. I sure do.

Inside the triangular package I found the following:

Cold Cathode with all accessories attached
Switch Template Sticker
Installation Instructions
Warranty and Return Information
Packing Slip

The Cold Cathode came with just about everything you could need. An on/off switch and a template sticker to help you in mounting the switch, molex pass-thru, seperate inverter, Velcro pad on each end "cube", and on the inverter to give you a stable mount, yet still being removable. All of this was pre-wired, solder, and heatshrunk. The seperate inverter seemed to be dipped in rubber. It was tiny as can be. Just barely thicker than a typical BIC pen. It was completely encased in acrylic. Even the end caps where clear acrylic cubes. This was starting to look like modern art instead of a neon turned off. It has plenty of slack wire to route which is quite nice.

Here is the nice rubber coated Lamp Inverter and switch.

This is the Switch Template Sticker.
These come with most PCmods neon kits.

Here is the Cold Cathode in all its unlit beauty.
Just so you know, That ruler is 12" long :-)

Here is the endside of the Cold Cathy.
As you can see, even the ends are clear.
Now just imagine how much better these would look in a clear case.

The Cold Cathode comes with a nice amount of spare wire in every spot.
You can hide that odd looking Lamp Inverter now.
And if you didn't know, the Lamp Inverters on normal neons are inside of the long black side.

Here is what quite a few of you have been waiting for.
Power. OH GLORIOUS POWER!! Muwahahaha

Here is how PCmods describes the Cold Cathodes on their site.

Specifications:

The next generation of case lighting is now here!
Mounted via velcro strips (included).
We've made a limited run of cold cathode bulbs and they look sweet.
12.25 inches of pure light. They are encased in a 100% acrylic shell so there is 360 degrees of light all around and only .25 inches in diameter."

They are really thin neons from what I can see. I made a chart for you to see the size comparison

	PCmods Cold Cathode	Lightning Rod
Thickness	0.5" or 13mm	1" or 25mm
Total Length	12.5" or 320mm	16.25" or 413mm
Visible Length	12.5" or 320mm	8.125" or 206mm
Light Producing Thickness	12" or 305mm	8.125" or 206mm

And as you can see these little babys have 1 1/2 the visible light of Lightning Rod and are only 3/4 the size of them total. They're also half as thick which means you can cram the cold cathode in a few places you wouldn't dare try to put a neon. However the lightning rod is the only other neon I have (unless someone cares to donate one to me for comparison) and lightning rods are more of a visual effect than light producing. Which means they look prettier when you can see the actual neon, and not hidden some where giving out 1.2 jiggawatts of light :-)

You can clearly see the viewable area of a Cold Cathode Compared to a 15" neon is quite nice. You know from my charts is shorter but has more vieable area.

This picture really shows you how much more light the Cold Cathode pumps out than the Lightning Rod. I found it very simple to install. Just find where you want to place the Cold Cathode, and the Lamp Inverter. Remove the Velcro backing and stick it down and press for about 30 seconds just to be sure. I chose ot put the Cold cathode to the inside of the bottom of my case.I used a ziptie to hold together the extra wire as I decided to put the Lamp Inverter not too far away. I just left the switch as I might make a baybus soon and will remove it anyways. But remember to always read the instructions first. Never want to miss a little detail that you'll regret.

And this is what my case looks like with the Cold Cathode installed and the Case Door put on. I chose this picture to end it all off for a few reasons. My camera had a few glary shots, you can see the cpu, and you can see my nice VH applique. My case is far brighter in real life. Just my cam isn't that great. I was extremely pleased with the Cold Cathode. It gave my entire case a nice bright blue glow. My window looks as if it has a blue tint, which it doesn't. This is one product I will suggest for almost everyone to buy. It's worth little bit extra money than a normal 15" neon.

Pros

.5" Thin Total (13mm) and 12.5" (320mm) visible/total length with a total of 12" (305mm) of the Cold Cathode producing light. It is 1/2 the thickness, 3/4 the total length, and has 1/3 more visible lighted area than your average poppa twist cabbge 15" neon
Tiny Clear Ends
Seperate Inverter for no
Completely acrylic casing resulting in 360º visible
Prewired with switch and pass-thru molex connector
Switch Template Sticker for helping postition, and cut a hole for switch
Velcro strips included

Cons

A little more than a normal neon (but worth it in my opinion)

And now for my final thoughts. I personally loved this lil beaut and will be using it permanently in my main case which is currently an Antec sx1030B, soon to be changed.

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Email:
Info@BeaverDam-ElecSales.com
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