January 26, 2004
Ultra Media Dashboard
If you own an older PC or a "beige box" generic machine, you may not have a system that benefits from some of the conveniences of newer cases, such as front-mounted USB ports and audio jacks. If that's the case, you may want to look into one of the many accessories that move various ports to the front of the case by using an empty 5.25" or 3.5" drive bay.
The one I selected is the Ultra Media Bay 3.5" (shown above), which I bought from Tiger Direct for $9.99 (beige price; black units available for $10 more). The unit is basically a box with front-mounted ports and a bunch of cables coming out the rear (see below). It looks somewhat like a Borg-inspired jellyfish.
Installation was painless and took less than 5 minutes. I first popped off the side panels of my case and removed an empty slot cover from the back. The unit then slid into the empty 3.5" bay below my floppy drive (doing this made me wonder why I still have the floppy drive installed). I installed the new slot cover in the back -- this one has a hole through which the cables get routed to the ports on the back of the PC. I then ran the USB2.0, headphone, and mic cords throught the slot and plugged into the appropriate ports in the back of the case. Side covers get put back on and I'm done. Below is what it looks like installed.
It's important to realize that this unit doesn't increase the number of ports you have -- it merely relocates existing (unused) ports to the front of the case. That's the case (bad pun) with most of these drive bay accessories. But, if you are tired of reaching back behind your PC to mess with cables, one of these might be just the ticket. TigerDirect.com and CyberGuys.com have many different units to choose from, some including media adapters (for flash cards), case fan and cooling controls, and other various interfaces.
Posted by Craig | Permalink | TrackBackthe dash I received says its supports all the Windows OS's, but the CD only has drivers for Win 98 & 2000. I'm using XP Home, and the computer won't shut down. Driver issue? Which of the included drivers should work with XP?
Posted by bob at March 5, 2004 11:59 PMthe dash I received says its supports all the Windows OS's, but the CD only has drivers for Win 98 & 2000. I'm using XP Home, and the computer won't shut down. Driver issue? Which of the included drivers should work with XP?
Note: my prior post on this had typo in my email address
Posted by Bob at March 6, 2004 12:01 AMBob, I didn't have a CD-ROM with mine (or if I did, I ignored it, since this shouldn't require drivers). Sorry I can't help.
Posted by Craig at March 6, 2004 12:07 AMI recently bought this product and want to know how you convert from external plugs to internal so I can go straight to the motherboard?
Posted by marco at March 13, 2004 11:42 AMCome on people, this aint rocket science!
It's nothing more than an extention cord...geeesh.
How do some people function in life?
I don't even own the thing and I could tell that from looking at the pictures.
If you don't "get" computers, then don't mess with them. Pay the 10 year old neighbor kid 20 bucks to do it for you.
Posted by Joe Joe at March 27, 2004 05:34 PMTo leave a comment or read updated entries, please visit GearBits' current site. Thanks.