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Installation & Testing
**click to enlarge**
I
installed the VPC-1000 into the Silverstone Temjin 6 chassis that my main
rig currently resides in. I tried out both rails and screws for mounting,
and didn’t have a major problem with either. The DVD unit itself is a little
shorter than standard, and when combined with the front faceplate actually
makes the unit normal sized compared to other CD or DVD drives. One item
that did surprise me was that even with the front of the unit flush with the
face of the chassis, the VFD display did not hit anything when lowered.
**click to enlarge**
One
of the really eye-catching parts of this unit is clearly the front display.
I had at least two people this week ask if the massive black box on my desk
is a radio or computer. “Both!” was my quick reply. The VFD display itself
has some nice motion to it…so I’ve included a small video clip of it in
action.
The VPC-1000 essentially does everything you’d expect a small CD radio to
do…shuffle, repeat, all that good stuff. Unlike one of those boxes though,
it also supports many more formats and has a clock/alarm feature that would
be very handy if your computer happens to be in your bedroom. The SRS WOW
system also offers a lot of customizing options, as far as fine tuning. I
was quickly able to set it up to work well with my Altec Lansing 5.1
speakers.
One thing I didn’t like was the lack of multi-channel support. The VPC-1000
is stuck in 2 channel audio, which is not something you’ll typically find on
most enthusiasts’ rigs. Certainly any geek worth his salt knows that the
Envy 24 chipset with its 7.1 output can be had for less than 50 bucks. It
might not even be a bad move by Asour to offer a PCI soundcard built off of
that chipset that interfaced with the VPC-1000.
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