ExaByteSystems
Cold Cathode Review Posted
by Mike @ 10:45
P.M. on 04/05/03
Background
Let's face
the facts, almost every online computer store sells cold
cathodes. In order to compete in this market a store needs
to have the best price while still selling a quality product.
ExaByteSystems.com
has the price part down, with full 12" cold cathode
kits available for only $11 and 4" kits for $12. As
for quality, our emotions are mixed.
While we all
obsess over who has the cheapest, we should pay more attention
to product quality. Cheaper prices are often an attempt
to sell a product that is behind the competition. More times
than not the saying lives on, "You get what you pay
for."
Here's a shot of the converter, molex pass-through, and
power button.
ExaByteSystems
made a good impression from the start, I received six well
packaged cold cathodes with inverters. After unwrapping
everything, I found the following 300mm (about 12")
cathodes: Blue, UV, White, and a RGB. Also included were
two 100mm (about 4"), a white and UV. Closer inspection
showed the cathodes and inverters seemed to be well constructed.
Wire length appeared perfect for a mid-sized tower.
It is not viewable in the picture but an
orange glow, the smell of smoke, and a noise came from where
the wires entered the tube.
However, our
first problem arose when first testing the cold cathodes.
An orange glow where the wires from the inverter connected
to the cold cathode was accompanied by the smell of smoke.
For the second time, a product that was sent to us for review
was faulty. In a conversation with the owner of ExaByteSystems
I was told there have only been three defective products
in the last 5 months, and each was taken care of to the
customers' satisfaction. As for the other five cold cathodes
we received, they work perfectly fine.
