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Not too bad on paper. Unlike another popular unit, the Nexus by Vantec, the Rheobus can do a full 20W on each channel. The Rheobus comes in a nice looking box, although the lack of specs and information on the packaging is unfortunate.
But aside from the manual and of course the controller itself, we get the following:
I was pretty psyched that they actually decided to include all this, since it makes our installation a lot easier if we have some fans without the 3-pin plugs. Now, it's actually a little misleading to say a maximum of four fans, since technically the Rheobus gives you control over four 12V power channels with standard 3-pin fan headers. As long as you don't exceed the power ratings on each channel you can easily daisy-chain multiple fans on one channel. Furthermore, who is to say you need to run fans on this controller? You can plug in your CCFLs, neons, EL, whatever you want as long as we stay within the power specifications on the unit. The
Rheobus is pretty sharp looking, with a 5 1/4" aluminum faceplate designed
to fit in one of your case drive bays. The knobs really do have a good feel to
them, clicking when turned on/off and they also give a little resistance which
kind of lends to a higher quality feel. Each knob is also equipped with an LED
which changes from red at or below 7V and to blue from 7V and up to 12V. This is
a handy way to tell which fans are turned down or not, plus it gives it a little
more character.
The bottom is nicely protected, that is if you care, but I
find this a nice addition.
Installation Installation is very straight-forward, and I had no problems
with the unit fitting in my case. It's as simple as screwing the unit in,
plugging in the fans you want control over, and giving it power.
Conclusion The Rheobus is some serious hardware. However, it had one shortcoming, which I found when I tried to use my 120mm Y.S. Tech. This fan moves about 131CFM and is rated at .66 amps, 7.92 watts, 12 volts DC. Admittedly this thing needs a lot of juice but while .66 amps is still within Sunbeam's specs the fan refused to spin a single degree for me. Not a twitch. I tried multiple fan adapter and headers to no avail. There might be a perfectly good explanation for this which I have yet to find, but it was disappointing. But the Rheobus is here to stay. I'm digging the look/feel of the unit and for every other device I've thrown at it there have been no problems. The really nice part about this controller is the price. I scored it for $15 at SVC which is cheaper than most of the alternatives and is rated a little higher. Thanks for reading and as always feel free to give your feedback, good or bad.  home | About Us | Contact Us | Country Music News | FAQ | Hot Toys | Links | Modding Articles | News and How To's | partners | Popular Video Feeds | Products | Site Map | Tech Feeds | Totally Useless Videos | User Comments | XP Bootscreens and Themes | Site Mailing List Sign Guest Book View Guest Book Beaverdam-ElecSales | Regal Splitters | Computer Accessories | Modding Supplies
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