Soltek QBIC EQ3702M
Stephen Cooper, January 12th, 2004
..:: Soltek QBIC EQ3702M Package ::..
Well, now that we are better acquainted with the base specifications of the 3702M, let us now take a more in-depth look at the product packaging, and all of the included accessories provided by Soltek. From the image above, you can see that Soltek ships the unit in a large, bright orange box emblazon with images of the two versions that the 3702M is offered in, the brushed aluminum and the mirror designs. Our review unit is one of the mirror designs, which features a black, brushed aluminum exterior, and a grey / mirror finish front panel, but we’ll get back to that in a few minutes. The box that the unit ships in is very sturdy, and the PC is held in place by two large sets of formed styrofoam, which can easily allow for rough shipping without damage to the unit. This is of great importance as, by the time this unit arrives at your doorstep it will likely have been transferred thousands of miles.
When we first tore open the box like a little kid on Christmas, well okay maybe not quite like that, we first found a silver and black backpack that Soltek has included for use in safe transportation of the 3702M. The unit is more than light enough to be able to be carried around on ones back. I’ve had heavier textbooks than what the 3702M weighs fully loaded, and due to the size of the unit, the weight is distributed far better. The backpack is specially made to fit the 3702M and other Soltek SFF PC’s, so if you don’t plan on toting round your PC in this bag, it is always available for other uses.
The next item that we came across was located along the edge of the packaging which held the included CPU heatsink / fan unit that Soltek provides as a portion of their IceyQ cooling system. This heatsink is quite unique, as it uses a form of manufacturing that isn’t seen very much. This heatsink is manufactured with folded-fin technology, which allows for a large amount of surface area, far more than any cold forged or extruded heatsink could offer. If we take a close look at the base, we can see that these fins are attached via solder, which shouldn’t hurt the thermal transfer too much. Initially, we used this heatsink for our stress and thermal testing, and we must say that at full speed, this unit is quite loud indeed. Luckily, Soltek offers fan control settings within the BIOS to control the fan speeds, although heat and noise go hand in hand. We found that a high quality OEM heatsink such as those manufactured by Thermalright, equipped with a silent fan offered the same level of cooling, at a lower noise level. The only problem, one that we will see later, is that larger units will make installation and assembly of the system a little more difficult than one would hope.
The last item we come across in the product packaging is that of the box containing all of the documentation, and cabling for the 3702M, along with several other items. When we emptied out this box, we found several manuals for the included software suite that Soltek provides, the installation guide, a user manual for the SL-B7A-F motherboard, a fold-out installation guide, and warranty / ABS II documentation. This is far more documentation that I was expecting, and was quite pleased to see Soltek taking such as detailed modus operandi when it comes to documentation. The box also contained the other ATA/133/100 IDE cable, the floppy cable, and a power cable for the power supply. The last items that were contained within this box were the various screws, zip ties, and other miscellaneous mounting hardware that the end user would need to get their system tidy and organized.
<< Previous Page Next Page >>
|
|
)
)
)
)
)