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Review on ๐Ÿ’ป Refit Desktop Computer Case Motherboard Power Supply Reset HDD Button Switch - SoundOriginal (63inch 160cm) by Victor Ahmed

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Pretty good with a few annoying quirks

UPDATED 09/16/2020 (Update at bottom of review) Well I'm one of those financially disadvantaged people who have an old PC case that wasn't super high quality when it was new and ended up breaking the front panel wires and my reset button not working. I thought of getting a soldering iron but these things are tiny and my eyesight isn't what it used to be and my hands aren't stable and these things were never meant to be fixed anyway so I figured it would be better look and see what was in stock at Revain to replace a dead (dying) faceplate. I knew it was only a matter of time before the power button stopped working, so I was hoping I could find a universal solution to this problem. Luckily I found it. There are fancier options with onboard USB ports and front audio, and I've been tempted to not have front audio or front USB since I bought this case (because the cables were bulky and a hassle to deal with fans, and I cut them off). So it seemed perfect and the price was very attractive. When it arrived it was easy enough to install. At first I reversed the polarity on the hard drive indicator, but if you look closely the connector shows the polarity. I don't even really need a hard drive backlight, and I don't like flashing bright things anyway. I find them annoying and disturbing. That's why nothing lights up on my computer. It's just a regular black box, and that's how I like it. Anyway, the main power indicator for this one is blue, so it's not very annoying. But the whole button is lit, and at the right angle it can be bright and distracting. My desk is a bit higher than others, so it's at an angle to my eyes, which isn't very noticeable. However, I've decided not to connect any LEDs, TBH. Some people are most likely worried about the hard drive indicator. It's red, big, bright, and blinks every time the drive is accessed (obviously). Which honestly makes me think I'll end up just turning off the hard drive light and leaving everything else as it is. The biggest downside I found is that the cord could be a bit longer. They obviously wanted it to be attractive to people who wanted to place the power/reset button away from their PC, but for me it would have been ideal if the cable was a foot or so longer. The problem is that I have several obstacles in my way and the cable has to be routed around them and that takes up a fraction of the length. A slightly less annoying downside is that this thing's body isn't all black. Which would make sitting on my desk a little less uncomfortable. Instead, it's mostly black with large red plastic ridges on the body. One says "Golden Field" in big black letters. Which wasn't a surprise. You can see all of this in Revain's photos. I'm just talking If everything was black (preferably black rather than gloss black) the aesthetics would be better. However, if I had a can of black spray paint I could fix it easily enough. Another annoying downside is that the reset button is very small and flush mounted so you can't press it without working on it. You have to literally take the thing in your hand, turn it to the right angle and press the reset button with your fingernail. I think it's meant to prevent accidental resets, but it detracts from its functionality. If you're the type who regularly uses the reset button, this can be a bit annoying. I could (probably will) glue some sort of ridge to the top of the button to make it easier to press without wrestling with it every time. The last minor issue I ran into is the slot cover that you run the cable through on the back of your PC case (although it's nice that it's included and it's a nice clean way to get the cable out to get the case). a metallic silver that will likely clash with most PC cases. My PC case is all black and it's the only metallic silver piece on it, so it's a bit ugly. Although I could (I think) just paint it or alter one of my own slot covers to serve the same function and use that instead. Overall, for the money this is a good solution for people who just want something that works and is inexpensive, and it's great that you don't have to get up to use the power or reset buttons. I would complain a lot more if it cost more. UPDATE - September 16th, 2020 One last thing I think is worth mentioning in this review is the (perceived) quality of the actual wires inside. While the cable running from the button to your case appears relatively thick, the end of the cable where the wires come out to connect to the motherboard shows that they (maybe/probably) skimped a bit on the quality of those wires . They look (and feel) exceptionally thin, which generally doesn't bode well for a wire's longevity. Especially when there's a chance it was produced with minimum quality and maximum profitability, which it probably was (I could be wrong). At least that's what happened with the original power and reset buttons on my NZXT case. Also, the cables they connected to weren't the best quality to begin with (just the look and feel), and over the years the normal handling of these cables when disassembling a PC for cleaning and reassembling it took a long time. affected them and caused ruptures within. And they obviously had very few threads there to begin with. However, the original wires lasted about 7 years and I would say I probably moved and handled them more than the average person (most people probably don't clean their computer fans as often as I do). In any case, these wires most likely won't move too much on this button since they run straight from the motherboard to the back of the case and out. At least I hope I don't have to hook and unhook them often. Because if I did, I suspect they wouldn't have held up so well. It's still a $9 product, though, so most people will probably be pretty happy with it if they live with it for a few years (interestingly, most people generally keep a PC longer these days). ). To be honest, you wouldn't go wrong ordering a few of these and keeping backups in case you encounter any reliability issues. The overall functionality of the product is so good. I also found that the lights on this unit didn't bother me as much as I thought and found the hard drive lights to be more helpful than I expected. I would still say it would be too bright if placed at an angle where it tends to "shoot" light directly at you. END OF UPDATE

Pros
  • Always liked
Cons
  • Clarity