Vizo Master Panel II

The VIZO Master Panel II Expansion Interface is a multifunctional controller panel; an updated version to Vizo's original Master Panel, that brings added provisions and features to where their needed...Up front. Here at Benchmark Reviews we are very familiar with the ongoing revolution in portable media. Wheather its uploading play-lists for an MP3 player or the day's pictures from a digital camera; everyone wants a convenient way to manage their data without having to fumble around the back of their cases. This popular demand has even driven manufacturers to add the most basic I/O ports to the front of PCs. However, with there being so many proprietary media standards, a convenient and centralized solution is still missing from many if not all case designs, leaving consumers looking to after market solutions for their needs.

Benchmark Reviews today will be testing the VIZO Master Panel II Expansion Interface. Featuring twin fan controllers, with support for a wide array of devices; an "all-in-one" approach designed to fit right on the front of your PC. Keeping in mind the need for a convenient and centralized solution, we'll put to test whether or not Vizo's Master Panel II can can truly make it's claim "No need to go to the back...Do it in the front!".

The Master Panel II comes packed with support for USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and HiDef Audio, with Multifunctional Card Readers, an RCA A/V jack, and an eSATA port. (It's a wonder that Vizo had room left on the Master Panel II for the dual fan controllers). This is a design that will surely appeal to the "do-it-yourselfer" out there not happy with the lack of or current placement of stock ports afforded them. Another notable feature with the Master Panel II is that its card reader's four slots are active, allowing you to copy data between different memory cards at the same time. I'll go into that a little later in the review.

About the company: VIZO Technology Corporation

"VIZO Technology Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and designer of computer peripheral products serving customers around the world."

Vizo is known for their variety of cooling, case modding products, and peripherals. Recently making a name for themselves with their popular line of external Hard-drive enclosures.

Here is a quote from Vizo's site regarding their founding and company philosophy.

"Established in Taiwan in 1992, VIZO has expanded and now operates in the market completely reorganized and prepared to meet the demand for high quality products which are "Made in Taiwan".

We have the best team and own completely innovative technology. Our company's philosophy is simple: share results among the employees, build trust with our customers, maximize efficiency in our work and innovation in our designs. Utilizing many years of experience and a mature skill set, VIZO is able to provide PC users an incredible variety of "Do It Yourself" products and peripherals."

VIZO Features & Specifications

*Need card adapter

Master Panel II Includes

Closer Look: Master Panel II

Most of us take for granted a products packaging, that is till the day when we receive something that's been damaged in transit due to lack of or improper packaging. I am always critical of how a company dresses their products. Is their package well labeled and informative? Is what I ordered secure enough to make the punishing journey through shipping? As such, I will always spend time in reviews on what most will probably trash without a second thought.

The Master Panel II sample shipped direct from Taiwan in a double walled cardboard box. Though I would've liked to have seen more insulation between the retail box and the outer one, I received the product in perfect condition, this approach worked well for such a light weight part. I hope online sellers of the Master Panel II will use a more secure method.

The dressing on the retail box is superb, being clearly labeled with the products name and its many features. No one would have any trouble identifying the Master Panel II with its bright box and clear images of the product.

On the back of the retail package there is a thorough breakdown of all the Master Panel II feature set and specifications.

The Master Panel II itself comes tucked in an unsealed clam-shell along with its many accessories. Included in the box you'll find a Windows 98 driver disc and a slim, but informative user manual in English.

There are a lot of cables in the package with the Master Panel II. This may appear overwhelming with so many, but each cable is either color coded, or labeled along its length for easy identification. Additionally, the cable ends intended to connect to the Master Panel II are labeled "up".

Detailed Features: Master Panel II

The basic construction of the Master Panel II is of high-grade plastic, sporting a matte black finish. And although the design is light weight (only 90g), it has a sturdy feel to it. With its front ports laid out in a way that ensures even using them all at once won't interfere with other nearby ports . When examining the PCB, I noted that all the solder points were well done, and the pins and various ports were arranged with a layout that should, again, minimize interference with other connectors nearby. The fan controller knobs on the front of the Master Panel II are made of plastic coated with a metallic finish, and feel very solid, giving a good amount of resistance when dialing in a specific speed.

A central feature of the Master Panel II is the inclusion of dual veritable resistor (VR) fan speed controllers. They are adjustable from 4-12v allowing for the desired tuning between cool and quiet; with the added ability to completely turn off most fans. The included fan cables on each controller are split for independent fan control of up to four fans. This is certainly a handy feature for those like me who have the fans for their cooling setup outside the case; for example an external radiator and fan assembly. I can say the fan controllers worked great to quiet my 120mm fans, allowing me to crank the speeds up when needed, as with gaming and overclocking, then turning them down all the way to off, while the system idled.

Here you can see the on-board card reader controller. The Alcor Micro AU6375. It's a single chip integrated into the Master Panel II enabling PCs to read/write various type of flash media cards. Flash media cards such as CF, SMC, XD, SD, MMC, and Memory Stick are widely used in digital cameras, cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players to store digital photos and compressed music. On the Master Panel II the Alcor controller chip allows for the unique ability to transfer data between different card media. For example: you can transfer your data from a Memory Stick to Compact Flash, saving both time and resources.

Only the Card Readers are regulated by the Alcor chip, all other remaining connectors are just pass-throughs from your motherboard or other devices. The USB, Firewire, eSATA, and Audio all connect via pin headers to the motherboard, leaving just the RCA A/V jack to be routed from the back of the case with the help of an included PCI shield. Vizo decided to use pin headers for the interconnects on the audio, USB 2.0, Card-reader, and Firewire. Though keeping in the "do-it-yourself tradition", I've found that with regular use all pin headers are prone to bending, and that's a very real possible here with the amount of pressure needed to connect the cables to the Master Panel II. However, once secured there's no worry about the pins coming undone. On the other hand, there is the SATA port on the back of the panel. This style of SATA is infamous for coming undone and I would've preferred to have seen a locking SATA port. My only other problem with the installation is the lack of labeling on the PCB itself. It would have been easy, I feel, given the amount of empty space around each set of connectors to lablel each pin out and port, with a reference for them in the user manuel.

For cable routing purposes and ease of installation I recommend any controller panel be installed before you put the system fully together. As you can see above, it is very cramped in my Lian-Li PC60 mid-tower case, though I did manage to connect the Master Panel II fairly effortlessly. First, by connecting the leads to the panels back, then to the motherboards pin outs. During installation I found that all the cables lengths were long enough to reach where they needed, and should offer no problems even in a full tower case. The included cable ties were a thoughtful touch, though cable sleeving would have been preferred.

The Master Panel II when installed is secured with four included case screws that easily fit into the pre-threaded copper mounts on either side of the Panel. Two LEDs on the front indicate various states of the Master Panel II, a green LED shows when the system is powered on. The other, a red LED flashes when there is activity on the card readers; a warning not to remove any cards till it goes solid again. I have to admit the Master Panel II is an attractive accent on this case, being unobtrusive while adding a subtle complexity to the front.

Testing & Results

Testing Methodology

To test if I really needed to "go to the back or not", I wanted to see if using the Master Panel II had any effect on performance regarding the ports I use most often; eSATA and USB 2.0. I also heavily make use of my digital camera and wondered if bypassing its docking station I could cut the time it takes to transfer images to my PC.

Concerning the tests, I used Simply Software's HD Tach v3.0.4.0 Quick Bench (8MB zones). HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices such as hard drives, removable drives (ZIP/JAZZ), flash devices, and RAID arrays. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and other low level Windows interfaces to bypass as many layers of software as possible and get as close to the physical performance of the device possible.

For the eSATA and USB 2.0 I used my Vantec external HDD enclosure that supports eSATA and USB 2.0 transfers. The drive I chose for the tests was a single Western Digital Raptor 74GB 16MB Cache 10k RPM.

For the Compact Flash (CF) reader I used a SanDisc 2GB CF Card, doing a direct comparison with my HP Photosmart R967 Digital Camera on its docking station, setting the camera to appear as a disc drive under Windows. Both the Card Reader and HP docking station connect via USB 2.0.

Test System

• Motherboard: ASRock 4CoreDual-VSTA (VIA Apollo PT880 Ultra) BIOS Date 7/25/07
• Processor: Intel E6600 Core 2 Duo 2.44GHz (266 MHz FSB)
• Cooling: Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultra+ Custom Water Cooling Kit
• Memory: 2 GB (1,024 MB x2 modules) OCZ OCZ26671024ELGEGXT DDR2 SDRAM @ 533MHz
• Video: GeCube X1950XT Core @ 750 vRAM @ 850
• Audio: SB X-FI
• Hard Disk: 2xWD RAPTOR 74GB 16MB Cache Raid 0 10,000rpm
• Optical Drive: SONY DVD RW DRU-830A
• Enclosure: Lian Li PC-60 ATX Case with 4x80mm cooling fans
• PSU: Ultra X-Connect 500Watt modular cables
• Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP-2 with IE7 (OS Version 5.1.2600 WinXP Retail)
  

Master Panel II Results

Since the eSATA is no more than a pass-through from the motherboard, there should be no difference with either port. The minor differences that were noted are likely due to normal variances in the test.

Here the Master Panel really shines, besting the Average transfer rate of the HP camera by almost 83%, and Random Access by more then 18.3%. With ~3MB average image size, that's no small drop in the bucket, and will cut image uploading time drastically.

Also being a straight pass-through the USB 2.0 test shows there is no difference compared to the on-board ports.

Giving you all the functionality of your on-board ports while being easily accessible is the aim of the Master Panel II. And it does just that with no tricks, just a simple design that uses a pass-through method to bring needed ports up front. I was quite surprised with the CF card results, and pleased with a way to get images to my PC faster.

Final Thoughts: Vizo Master Panel II

The Master Panel II has been designed for a growing market that demands easy access and support for modern devices, yet It isn't without its flaws. However, it whole heartedly succeeds in its claim of "No need to go to the back...Do it in the front!" This is a little piece of hardware will free you from constantly pulling out a case to get to obscure ports hidden in back, and doing so without loss of performance. Embodying the "everything-but-the-kitchen-sink" approach, I did not find the Master Panel II lacking in its support for modern connections. Personally, I would have liked to seen a digital LED readout for Temperature Monitoring to go along with the fan controllers, but I see how this straight forward design has its own appeal, ensuring ease of use, while maintaining a certain price point.

Conclusion

The package containing the Master Panel II is perhaps the best I have seen to date. The box is clearly labeled, informative, and the items are securely placed within. However, I still fault Vizo for not packing their product more securely, and I hope resellers will include added protection.

With its matte black finish the Master Panel II should seamlessly fit in with many case designs. However, should someone want a different color, they will be at a loss with the only current color option only being black.

Constructed of light weight, high-grade plastic the Master Panel II is rugged enough to take some physical abuse. It even withstood being dropped inadvertently several times without a scratch. The treaded copper mounting screws make installation in the 5.25" bay very easy, while also being secure. And although the pins headers have me concerned they will not survive after many re-installations, they offer a secure and universal interface.

If support for almost everything under the sun is whats desired, then the Master Panel II will not leave you wanting. And though you will find many controller panels on the market today, for perspective, none of the other controller panels at this price point offered the eSATA standard that has become so vital to external storage needs.

It may be a humorous statement, but Vizo's claim "No need to go to the back...Do it in the front!" couldn't be any more true when it comes to the Master Panel II.

Pros:

+ Sharp looking design
+ Support for control of up to four fans
+ Light Weight (90g)
+ Multifunction Card Reader can actively transfers data between cards
+ Space saving design consolidates everything in one place
+ Well placed front ports prevent clutter
+ Support for all modern data interfaces, including eSATA
+ RoHS Compliant

Cons:

- No color option other then black
- Excessive force needed to connect cables to pin headers (potential to bend pins)
- Not all cables are sleeved
- SATA connector from motherboard is not locking
- Cards can be inserted in the wrong orientation

Ratings:

• Presentation: 9.0
• Appearance: 8.75
• Construction: 8.75
• Functionality: 9.0
• Value: 8.75

Final Score: 8.85 out of 10.

Quality Recognition: Benchmark Reviews Silver Tachometer Award.

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