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3.5" VR Rheobus
Introduction
Ok, so you have seen rheobuses and fanbuses everywhere. They are in your friend's computers, in your co-worker's computer, and even in your dog's computer. Well, maybe not everywhere, but there's nothing really new about them anymore. Sure, adjusting your fan speed is great, and yeah, the noise level not being so loud is nice, but what is the big deal anymore? Well my friends, size is what matters now. Everybody and their mother have seen rheobuses taking up space that could be used for your CD-ROM drive, but has your mother seen a rheobus that fits into a floppy bay? Maybe, but don't ruin my fun. The 3.5" VR Fan Speed Controller I got this little box of surprises (good and bad) from Jacol Technologies. The brand is Noise Isolator. Never heard of them? Don't worry, I haven't either. The fan controller bezel is metal, aluminum I think, although it is not mentioned on the box itself. The model I received was silver in color. The color and material looks good, and would fit very well with the ever popular Lian Li style cases.    The Knobs This knobs on this controller disappoint me a little. The knobs themselves seem to have either a cheap chrome effect on them, or they weren't smoothed and polished enough when being made. Despite this minor flaw, the knobs are scored around the edges for better kung-fu gripping action. Similar to the Vantec Nexus fan controller, this one has glowing blue LEDs around each knob. The 3.5" rheobus has more of an aqua blue LED color rather than the cool blue LEDs the Nexus has. The Nexus also does a better job of making the entire surrounding circle glow equally. Unlike the Nexus, the LEDs on the 3.5" rheobus dim with the speed of the fan. This is great in theory, but the desired effect was not obtained because the dimming is very hard to notice. The clear plastic around the knobs that the LEDs light up were not secured to the rheobus itself, and rattled around a little when handling the rheobus outside of the case. When installed though, this was not a problem.   Included Items This rheobus comes with a "Y" 4-pin molex cable, two 3-pin extensions, four mounting screws, and an instruction sheet.   Performance To gauge the performance of the rheobus, I first hooked up 4 Thermaltake fans, one to each channel. Each one worked great from 7 to 12 volts except the lack of a noticeable dimming effect. I tried putting more than one fan on a single channel, and for some reason it didn't work. The rheobus claims to have 13 watts per channel, and even though each fan used 2.16 watts, it was a no go.     What's Next? Now that my computer is quieter, I have another job to tackle. I just have to figure out how to connect my ceiling fan to this thing!  Conclusion This rheobus has a great concept but it needs to be improved upon. It doesn't have enough going for it to separate it from all the others out there. The small size is great for people lacking extra 5.25" bays, and it effectively modifies the speed of a single fan per channel. The LEDs are a good idea, but they didn't noticeably dim. The quality varies throughout the product, as the bezel has a very nice aluminum look, but other things need work, such as the loose plastic around the knobs and the knobs that seem to have a bad chrome job. Price-wise, this rheobus is about the same price as the Nexus and many others on the market. Overall this is a decent product if you are looking for something to fit in a compact space, but if you don't mind taking up a large drive bay, then there are definitely other alternatives you should look in to (See our review on the Vantec Nexus). Pros Fits in 3.5" bay! Looks great Quiets fans down Bright LEDs Cons Roughly same price as better solutions Quality of knobs Only 1 fan per channel LEDs don't noticably dim 
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