FP-01 Popout LCD - card reader and temperature monitor Author: faceless105 -- Posted: 2008-03-11
One thing I really enjoy reviewing are peripherals. These always have a ton of cool features that can really add some life to any ordinary PC. This is why today I'm very happy to be reviewing the FP-01 Card Reader by AeroCool.
Out of the box, the Card Reader is very cool looking and offers a ton of features. As a Card Reader, it offers a whole slew of compatible memory types. In addition to this, the FP-01 also gives you the option of copying your media to your computer with the push of a single button.
Beyond the basis Card Reader function, the FP-01 also connects you with front side USB and eSata and has some amazing temperature and fan monitoring functions. This is where the FP-01 takes a real step above the rest. The FP-01 has a flip-up LCD that monitors up to three fans, temperatures, and even allows some control over them.
The LCD controls allow you to flip through each fan and the respective temperature probe connected with it. Once you've selected a fan, you can manually set the fan speed, or you can set it to "Auto" or "Manual". The FP-01 can also display the temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit, as well as which media ports are in use.
Now for the First Hand experience. The installation will take a little bit of time due to the number of connections. There are a total of three fans, three temperature probes to connect and place, power, USB connections, and a Sata connection. Now like I said, it does take a bit of time but it's not hard work doing the connections especially because you get to put some real consideration into the areas you want to monitor.
* one big bag of wires, lol
Once installed, all that is left is a quick install of the Card Reader. This enables to smart copy function.
The ease of use with this card reader has been great. The install was really simple, and wasn't complicated in the least bit. Once installed the card reader function works great and it's the exact same for the USB and eSata ports as well. The Fan/Temp monitor is really the icing on the cake with this device. It would have been really easy to make this just software based but the fact that you have the LCD dedicated to this functionality looks amazing and the controls work equally well. The temperature monitoring is accurate and the automatic controls work great.
I also want to touch on the looks of this device too, because I really love it when I can get some hardware the looks as great as it function. This is one of the cooler looking pieces of hardware that I've used so far. It functions great and it looks amazing. Aside from the LCD, the device has a clean smooth look to it, and the LCD like I said is really the icing on the cake. It looks great and really adds some personality to your computer.
This is a great card reader that I'd recommend to anyone looking for either a card reader or even a nice looking temperature monitoring solution. The setup is very straight forward and the ending result gives you a lot of extended functionality, beyond that, you're left with a very cool looking card reader / fan monitor and controller. I'd like to thank Aerocool for giving me the opportunity to review their FP-01 Card Reader.
If anyone has any questions or comments I'd love to hear them!
