Customer Reviews

MD3 Media Dashboard

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Pros:
1. Very professional interface (all-in-one reader),
2. Good fan control
3. Nice blue LCD
4. Excellent Retailed Box Package
Cons:
1. I got this one with really bad power connector (Cheap Power Connector makes product low quality. Power connector is not a major feature, but it is the heart of the unit.)

2. eSata ports do not support hot-swap.

3. Reading CPU Temperature and Reading System Temperature features are poor in design. Its wires creat a mess in the PC case.

Other Thought:
Ultra engineers should do better in next design:
1. Improve power connector
2. Improve/Remove Reading CPU and System Temperature features.

If the power connector, Reading CPU Temperature, Reading System Temperature features are minor issues. Then this unit is still a good product to buy. When I bought it, the price was $49.98. Now, the price is $39.98. It is not so bad.

Pros: USB Ports worked
Fan controls work

Cons: Card reader didn't work
Audio connections didn't work
Mounting doesn't work with modern cases that use an easy mount system
Temperature sensors do not stay in place with supplied adhesive

I spent a week trying to get the card reader to work on this unit. There's no online support from Ultra. Manual is useless. Installed multiple drivers and BIOS updates trying to get the computer to recognize the card reader. I would recommend getting another card reader from a company that cares to help their customers after the purchase.

The options work OK but built entirely of plastic. Not rigid enough to secure in my Coolermaster case using the pressure fasteners. Must use screws to attach.

The unit is rather flimsy. I contains two probes for "sys" and "cpu" temperature, but the instruction do not tell one where to put them, which one would think is important. The fan controllers only work with mini three pin connectors. It would be nice if the provided an adapter to connect to fans which have Molex connectors.

This is really a neat product. Easily installed if your main PCB supports the connectors. Everything is nicely labeled and plugs right in.
I would STRONGLY recommend that this company developed an additional controller card. My Dell didn't allow for any of the connections. I had to resurrect my old home built system to use this device. I am confident that most companies like Dell, HP, and anything purchased from a box mover will have issues.
While everything works just fine it does have the feeling of being "cheap". All plastic, no weight and no feeling that this will last if a teenager decides to use it. For the price paid versus probable cost of manufacture I expected more. However, for a front panel connection dashboard it has all the features a power user could ask for, if you can connect it all.

I bought this product from the partnered reseller since the Amazon purchase link would not allow shipping to Alaska - but their partner did. (I actually bought two)

Not much documentation arrives in the box so I'll detail what I did for my installation. First, there is no instruction for connecting the card reader itself - I naturally assumed (correctly so in this case) that it plugs into one of the motherboard's USB connectors. It plugs into the short pin row, with the red wire to the opposite side of the non-existent pin. The rest of the connections are documented - if one wants to connect fans other than the 3-pin type, they need to re-tip or use an adapter (none come in the box). For the CPU temp sensor: slide the tip closest to the CPU heaksink - for my S212 cooler, there is ample room between the fins to securely place the sensor and it's within 1-2 degrees F of what my BIOS temp readout reports. For placement of the motherboard temp sensor, it's entirely up to the user: I placed mine on the heatsink on my northbridge as that's the hottest part of my system. Again, it was within 1-2 degrees F of what my other utilities report.

Overall I am impressed with the features and the cool blue display as my entire system is all cool blue. The chassis is semi-rigid plastic but the front faceplate is of much higher quality plastic and appears very professional. The temp readouts are only available in Farenheit, so those of you used to Celsius will have to adjust accordingly.

One particular note on my install: I already have a case-front audio connection, so I simply did not install the audio connector on the MD3.

This really boils down to expectations: It's not a $200 brushed aluminum touch-screen super controller, it's a $30 all in one solution that performs quite well when properly installed. If anyone has questions on the installation, please feel free to comment on my review.

This product provides quite a bit of functionality for the space taken. If you are looking for a multi card reader and want the little extra, well here it is. It was easy to install the instructions were clear and the cables where all labeled well. The only note to make is that it requires 3 internal USB slots to be fully functional. 2 for the USB slots on the front and 1 for the multi card reader which also is the one that powers the light for the fan/temp gauge.

In case anyone is interested in this device, please be advised that it has serveral shortcomings that make it a white elephant. First the CPU alarm is dead set to 120 deg F. Since most CPUs are good up to 150 deg F, this is an annoyance. BTW-you can't select C or F. That swoopy fan speed indicator? It's only a facade that displays the largest digit, the other 3 digits are fixed to 0. Perhaps I'm being too harsh, but the limited documentation does not show how to select other alarm temperatures.

In all this panel was designed for pimple faced teeny-booper that want bling in their case to show everyone how cool and sophisticated they are.

I'm in the middle of the reviewers in terms of what works and doesn't work. Everyone seems to have different results. In my case, the card readers never worked, as well as SATA inputs. Firewire and USB worked fine, plus the heat sensing (just guessed where to put the heat sensors). It looks cool and if you want eye candy with some level of utility, buy it. Don't get your hopes too high though.

I take allot of pictures.. well my daughter and wife does, so i figured a nice card reader + fan controller + temp reader would be awesome. This thing would be awesome if i did not care about my cable management and airflow thew my gaming PC. This thing is like a bowl of spaghetti or box of spaghetti when you open the box. There are 10 different cables, temp probes, fan controller cables and i just could not bring myself to permanently installing this monstrosity into my PC. Granted my review is not about functionality, this review is for those who care about cables and airflow threw there case.

I did hook up a few thing and test it out and everything did seem to work, but my CPU temps went up 3c at idle with those wires snaked threw my case. I didn't test at load and i didn't care. I will live with an external car dreader I plug into my USB before I have those wires devouring my case!

Not to mention the card reader slots do not match up with the cheep plastic case, it does work, but it is not worth the price.