Intro

Every so often, someone comes up with an idea and actually has the skill to see their idea to fruition. Such was the case with Twizted and his DragonMeter Hard Disk Drive Activity Indicator. I remember Twizted telling me his idea almost a year and a half ago, but it wasn't until he linked up with one of our own staff members, Lokie, before he was able to put his idea into production. Lokie is the owner of DragonModz.net and is a modder extraordinaire himself, so he quickly realized the potential that the DragonMeters had.

I first saw one of his HDD usage meters on the G3 case unveiled at Stompfest in March of this year by PimpRig's owner, GlitterKill. It takes a lot to impress GK, and he was as impressed with the product that Twizted had come up with as the onlookers at Stompfest were. So I was looking forward to eventually purchasing one of the DragonMeters to check it out myself. But then, a funny thing happened in our forum...

Another member of PimpRig, who also happens to be the proprietor of an online custom PC paint and modding store, stated bluntly that he could build a similar device with less expensive parts. The gauntlet had been thrown down and both parties agreed to send me a product for review, and the best device would win. That happened over 3 weeks ago and the only one I've received is Twizted's DragonMeter, so I declare Twizted the winner of this challenge by default.

Package

Honestly, it would be hard to beat Twizted anyway. Upon receipt I was thoroughly impressed with the high quality of parts, labor, and performance that the DragonMeter displayed. Here's a little closer look at what you get.

In the box is the LED bar consisting of 10 5mm or3mm LED's, your choice on which you want. A ribbon cable is also included, along with the control mechanism which is the actual DragonMeter. There is also a pass through Molex connector and a 2 pin HDD activity cable. Instructions are included in the box, but are not very necessary. The design is intuitive and easy to put together.

On the back of the LED bar is a connector for the 10 pin ribbon cable. All of the solder points on the 77mm x 23mm bar are clean and I couldn't find any LEDs that felt loose or seemed susceptible to having their voltage wires broken. I was pleasantly surprised to see some very professional looking text on the PCB which identified DragonModz.net and the name of the product. Twizted offers the DragonMeter with either 3mm or 5mm LED's; the one you see in the picture has the 5mm LEDs mounted. For an additional $2.50, Twizted will connect the LED's directly to the ribbon cable instead of using PCB so that you have the option to mount the LED's in various patterns or locations.

Here's the brains of the unit; the controller card. This is where the juice from the PSU flows into, where the HDD cable gets hooked up, and where the ribbon cable that supplies power to the LED's connects. The card is surprisingly small, only 38mm x 36mm and is extremely light. A small piece of velcro or double sided tape would allow you to mount the controller card almost anywhere inside of a case. Again, the device is assembled very professionally and seems to be very solid.

Power is provided via a pass-through molex connector that is 13.5 inches long. The motherboard's HDD activity light is connected to the controller unit using a 2 pin connector that looks suspiciously like a CD audio cable. The HDD connector is about 24 inches long.

This is the ribbon cable that moves the juice from the controller unit to the LEDs. The cable is 15 inches long and is pretty idiot-proof to hook up. If you opt to have Twizted place the LEDs at the end of the cable instead of on a PCB, one end of the cable would plug into the controller unit and the other end would have 10 individual LEDs that you could spread apart to mount however you like.

Here is the DragonMeter when all the cable are hooked up. It is real simple; HDD line to the HDD plug, ribbon cable to both ribbon connectors, and power. Done - too easy.

However, you and I both know that there is a n00b out there somewhere who could start a fire with a cup of water and a Q-tip. DragonModz and Twizted took that into consideration when writing the extensive instruction booklet for the DragonMeter. I've seen less documentation for motherboards; they have a parts list, tools needed, warnings, pictures, and a troubleshooting guide. I always take documentation into consideration during a review, and theirs is top-notch.