VFD - Antec Fusion 2 vs Soundgraph iMon

Theydon Bois

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I am getting closer and closer to starting my HD/Blu-Ray HTPC build, and have settled on the Antec Fusion case, which at £120 includes a PSU, VFD, and gets very good reviews all round......apart from it's inbuilt VFD. This seems to be a mixed bag, and some people have no problems, while others end up disconecting it :eek:

So, the question is this - for the same cash, I could go for the Fusions little bro, the Antec NSK2480, and whack in a Soundgraph iMon, which seems to have a nice (and very detailed) review here

And so this brings me to my question - do you have a Fusion, and is the VFD really that bad, or do you have the iMon, and how do you rate it?
 
The main problem i had with mine was the remote. It was very fussy with the angle it would receive signals. Also had loads of trouble getting it to recognise the remote, just kept saying undefined. The display on mine kept freezing when other remotes were used as well.
I bought a media center remote and usb receiver, covered the built in receiver in the case and had no more trouble from the remote.
Ive now got a Thermaltake dh101 with built in imon vfd (looks very similar to the antec display but uses better software) Ive had no trouble at all with this one
 
This is what I feared :(

I have also found a LCd version - the Silverstone MFP51 - again another alternative to the iMon.
 
tinners, quite a few people have mention "its an lcd in the black one"

Looking at the review, its identical to my fickle one. So either mine is an lcd or the reviewer is talking out of his behind.

After using the screen for a couple of months and then turning it off, I wouldnt recommend either.

I would either get a colour lcd display which costs a fortune or leave it out all together.

The glow and constant scrolling can actually be very annoying.
 
Whilst i've not messed about all that much with mine, it constantly crashes and a un-plug, plug back in cures it. I have installed the Imon software which seems a bit better. But i believe theres a cabling issue that sort out the garbled text problem??

Also, i've not touched the remote side of it? Can i ask if you can switch the PC on via it? Might be useful for me to get the htpc working with the harmony.

Agree with Croatoan, the GLOW can be a little intrusive with the lights off. The power light is even worse. So bad in fact that i disconnected it!

If i was building mine again, as much as I love the look of the fusion, the VFD isn't doing it for me and i'd look for an alternative.

BUT, it does look great under the telly!! :rolleyes:
 
Thanks to you all.

I now have a 'doh!' moment, as it was the black Fusion that I was going for!

But, based on things being said, I think I may end up with the NSK2480 + iMon route.

The black (version 2) Fusion does have LCD, where the Silver has the VFD.

Who knew that getting a HTPC 'just right' would be so tricksy? :rolleyes:
 
The black v2 is the one i had the trouble with. i agree about the power button. Its way to bright.
You can get it to switch on with the remote but i believe the front panel needs to be removed and a wire swapped around on the back of the display.
 
Thanks to you all.


But, based on things being said, I think I may end up with the NSK2480 + iMon route.

The black (version 2) Fusion does have LCD, where the Silver has the VFD.

:rolleyes:

I like the flexibility of the NSK2480 but the 380w put me off.
LCD / VFD................whichever one mine is in both cases is still dog poop.

Anyway the easiest way to get round the crashing is not connect the thing to the motherboard headers, this wont power the VFD/LCD when the pc shuts down.

Removes the need for the pulling out of plug or turning off at wall.

It does however still show the time.................well not the right time................just a time??????? WTF?
 
I purchased a htpc from the bargain forum a year or so ago, the buyer informed me that he had the vfd working for a short time but there were some problems with it as it refused to display now. Still I pressed ahead, purchased the machine and after lots of trial and error decided I didn't want the time displaying on the thing afterall, instead I would buy a cheap clock and stick that ontop of it instead. Damn site easier and cheaper too :D

During my research however, I did turn up these two links which maybe of help to you guys who would like a working\brighter\larger vfd\lcd:

http://www.crystalfontz.com/
http://www.matrixorbital.com/index.php

If you google.co.uk there are some retailers that stock their products in the UK.

Just thought the above maybe of some benefit.

HTH
 
I think the 380w PSU will be ok - maybe if it was not an Antec, then I would have a problem with it :rolleyes:

But the NSK2480+iMon looks to be the best way (in that budget range of around £120), seeing as how hardly anyone seems to have a good word about the LCD or the VFD displays...
 
i wanted a nsk but it only comes in silver so went for the Black V2 i've never had any problems with the display it crashes every now and then but only when i provoke it. Dump the driver cd and down load the latest software from the soundgraph website.

I had problems with remotes (my Onkyo 605 remote) ended up buying a logitech harmoney which has the antec pre-programed. The misses is happy now as well 4 remotes down to 1 :D

The only thing i would say about the antec's is the case fan is a bit loud at low volumes i'm only running one fan and at the lowest setting
 
i wanted a nsk but it only comes in silver so went for the Black V2 i've never had any problems with the display it crashes every now and then but only when i provoke it. Dump the driver cd and down load the latest software from the soundgraph website.

I had problems with remotes (my Onkyo 605 remote) ended up buying a logitech harmoney which has the antec pre-programed. The misses is happy now as well 4 remotes down to 1 :D

The only thing i would say about the antec's is the case fan is a bit loud at low volumes i'm only running one fan and at the lowest setting

Im also considering between Antec Fusion EC (colour black and silver) + iMON and Antec Fusion V2 (colour black & silver). The diference is that Antec Fusion V2 SILVER has VFD and IR receiver and V2 BLACK has LCD and IR receiver; Antec Fusion EC has VFD and NO receiver right?

So if I buy V2 in silver colour Ill be able use it with Harmony One? can you programme Harmony One to switch between components, navigate menues in MCE.. Because as far as I know Harmony one doesnt come with receiver, so you can only replace it with devices that already have a remote and IR receiver.. How can you operate MCE in vista..if in Antec's case there is no remote to switch it with harmony one?

I guess Antecs IR receiver does the trick or not??
 
what is better VFD or LCD? What do you suggest?

Which will give me less trouble with Harmony One remote?
 
Not had any problems with any of the Fusion displays; and we use this case a *lot*.
Whilst the new LCD on the black version is a nice idea, it's difficult to read and response time of the LCD is too slow to make any scrolling smooth. The VFD on the V2 is much much easier to read...

I see nobody has mentioned that the displays on used in the fusion ARE iMon so I see little point in going for the NSK2480 and adding iMon; another thing to consider is the PSU - the Fusion PSU is impressively quiet for a PSU supplied with a case - the unit supplied with the NSK2480 is different
 
Thanks - my 'media PC build purchase day' ....hmm, wonder if Clintons make a card for that? :rotfl: is coming close.....and I still cant make my bloody mind up. I have wanted one of the Antec Fusions since I saw one, so really should go with my gut on this.

I also knew that they are both made by the same company, but thought they where different parts using the same software, rather than being identical units?
 
I am getting closer and closer to starting my HD/Blu-Ray HTPC build, and have settled on the Antec Fusion case, which at £120 includes a PSU, VFD, and gets very good reviews all round......apart from it's inbuilt VFD. This seems to be a mixed bag, and some people have no problems, while others end up disconecting it :eek:

So, the question is this - for the same cash, I could go for the Fusions little bro, the Antec NSK2480, and whack in a Soundgraph iMon, which seems to have a nice (and very detailed) review here

And so this brings me to my question - do you have a Fusion, and is the VFD really that bad, or do you have the iMon, and how do you rate it?

Have had 2 Antec Fusions. With varying success the VFD will work fine. The biggest issue surrounding lock ups is when the VFD IR Remote receives a rogue signal.


Like for example when you have a sky box, the VFD IR gets the signal and freezes dead in its tracks.
By far the easiest way to fix it is to use a usb Infra Red and cover ( either internally or externally ) the internal IR.
If you dont and can cope with the occasional freeze, you can leave the motherboard header power unconnected.
This will still cause it to freeze but the added bonus is when you shutdown the VFD has no power and resets itself.
This has other side effects,...................time is never correct unless system is in the OS.
Its one of those things, looks great but soon grows tiresome.

Great case though and these niggles will get sorted out eventually.

Mine has a P5E VM HDMI, E6750, 500Gb Spinpoint, Radeon 3850Pro, 2gb.
 
zor2003 i have a Harmony 555. In the Harmony software you can add a device one of the pre-configured options is for the Antec Fusion case. You can teach the harmony anything because it can learn IR codes if you have the original.

If works well with Vista MCE i've even got it changing graphics card profiles to switch between my TV and my PC screen.

I agree the LCD display on the black is a little difficult to read i've found changing fonts and scroll speed helps a bit. At the end of the day all the information on the lcd is displayed on the tv anyway so i hardly ever look at it.
 
The Fusion v2 is a great case (IMO). The power light is bright but I dont notice it so it doesnt bother me.

Touch wood Ive not had problems with the VFD yet, but Ive only had it a couple of weeks. Im still using the drivers that came on CD with the case. You can configure it to display system info, the time, media information, graphic equaliser etc. However, it will only display media info if your using MCE or winamp. At the moment I am sticking with using MCE because I want my VFD to display music or film info, how far into a track you are etc.

I installed the latest software from the antec website (http://www.antec.com/uk/support_faqDownload.html) but didnt like the imedian software so I removed it and went back to the original software from the CD. Maybe this weekend I will try the newer version again and try it out in more depth.

Oh, and Ive wired mine so that it can be powered off by remote, but I might change that back because I dont have a remote yet. Im trying to find which MCE remote I can get that will interface directly with the build in IR reciever rather than use a seperate USB one (or even better one that comes with a capture card that will also operate MCE via the build in IR reciever!)
 
There is a new smaller fusion coming out
The Micro Fusion 350 - Silver, has the same LCD as the Fusion black, but is only 120mm high

micofusion350.jpg
 
Nice...I assume sff cards though?
 
Have had 2 Antec Fusions. With varying success the VFD will work fine. The biggest issue surrounding lock ups is when the VFD IR Remote receives a rogue signal.


Like for example when you have a sky box, the VFD IR gets the signal and freezes dead in its tracks.
By far the easiest way to fix it is to use a usb Infra Red and cover ( either internally or externally ) the internal IR.
If you dont and can cope with the occasional freeze, you can leave the motherboard header power unconnected.
This will still cause it to freeze but the added bonus is when you shutdown the VFD has no power and resets itself.
This has other side effects,...................time is never correct unless system is in the OS.
Its one of those things, looks great but soon grows tiresome.

Great case though and these niggles will get sorted out eventually.

Mine has a P5E VM HDMI, E6750, 500Gb Spinpoint, Radeon 3850Pro, 2gb.

My remote is very unresponsive with this case and I'd like to cover the IR receiver and use a usb receiver instead. Where do I find the IR receiver in the case to block it? Do I just stick some tape over it or can I unplug it?
 
strange mines pretty good.

The Ir on mine (black) is mounted on th same pcb as the lcd display. To get it out you have to take the front panel off the case via the three screws along the top(one is used to mount the earth strap)and then push the plastic tags at the bottom up to get the front off. Be careful the wiring loom is very short and you'll only be able to rotate the front panel. You can then unscrew the lcd and tape the glass up.

you'll need to remove the dvd drive cage and the hard disk to get access to the screws.

hope this helps
 
strange mines pretty good.

The Ir on mine (black) is mounted on th same pcb as the lcd display. To get it out you have to take the front panel off the case via the three screws along the top(one is used to mount the earth strap)and then push the plastic tags at the bottom up to get the front off. Be careful the wiring loom is very short and you'll only be able to rotate the front panel. You can then unscrew the lcd and tape the glass up.

you'll need to remove the dvd drive cage and the hard disk to get access to the screws.

hope this helps

Thanks for that, I'll give it a go tomorrow.
 

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