A
couple of weeks ago I was contacted by CoolerMaster to try out
a couple of new products they had received. My box arrived in perfect condition (from Hong
Kong no less) and when I opened it I got my first look at the
three products CoolerMaster had sent.
After
opening the box I was very excited to try these products. We
received an ATA, and floppy cable, as well as an aluminum mouse
pad. They got definite style points for their good looks.
The
IDE cable is a little longer than the ATA spec but as can be seen
below the read speed wasn’t severely affected.
Regular
High Density 80 lead IDE cable
CoolerMaster
rounded cables
Sequential
speeds were very close, and well within our margin for error.
Unlike some other round cables we've looked at in previous reviews,
we didn't seem to encounter any read/write errors. The leads are
sheathed with an aluminum mesh to keep down interference and then
covered in a clear vinyl casing.
I
thought the pull tabs were a nice touch. With
regular cables there is just nothing to grab but the wires to
pull the connector off. The tabs allow you to pull directly on the plug
to get the cable off. Nice.
The
floppy cable follows the same design as the ATA cable. There isn't
too much to say other than it works. Since floppy drive benchmarks
probably won't interest you, we'll omit those.
The
Mouse Pad
The
next product I received was the 10th Anniversary solid
aluminum mouse pad. When I received this I thought it was a great
idea! It would be a great
match for any aluminum case. I
only had two complaints about the pad. First,
it is a little small for use when gaming as demonstrated by the
handy Hercules GF2MX I had sitting around. Gamers who already
own the Ratpadz, fUNC, or Everglide will probably not bother with
this pad as there simply isn't enough surface area for the hardcore
gamer.
Secondly,
I had trouble with my optical mouse due to the reflectivity of
the pad but YMMV. Most older optical mice will probably not work,
although the newer Microsoft and Logitech mice may have some more
success.
Another
problem may be the availablity of this mouse pad. We have been
informed at the time of testing the pad that this may not be a
retail product available for sale. Cooler Master may package it
as a bonus gift or something, but at this time, we'd be hard pressed
to tell you where you can buy this product.
Conclusions
As
with most rounded cables, whether or not you need them will depend
on how you feel about internal case cleaniness. Although you can
do a neat job tidying the interior of the case with origami cabling
work, most people probably just let them dangle. Round cables
do "reduce" the clutter, however, unless you plan on
routing them properly, they will still look a little messy. In
any case, looking at silver cables though a case window does look
a lot nicer than flat grey ones.
The Good: The cables are a great way to clean
up the interior of your case and let the air flow through which
will help keep your case cooler.
The
Bad: Cooler Master didn’t follow the ATA length spec—but what
the hell, it’s only a standard.
The
mouse pad is an interesting idea, but not something many
users will find terribly useful. It is a bit spotty with older
optical mice, and it doesn't provide much in the ways of surface
area. It is unique though, and if you simply want a mousepad to
match your aluminum case, this is it.
The
Good: It looks great, there is just no way around
it. It is also a very original
idea. Congrats on 10 years Cooler Master!
The
Bad: Spotty with optical mice.
