I have looked at these fan grills for some time with interest, it goes against convention to have them made out of plastic but we have plastic cases now and they look great. A fan grill for some time had only one function to guard various objects from the fan, I have heard stories of stitches needed after a run in with a 120mm delta, and I have been known to get on the painful side of a fan, but when laser cut fans came along this changed, they also looked great. It wasn�t long I until the latest incarnation of the humble fan grill came along in the form of clear plastic, I�m unsure on the type of plastic but I would guess its acrylic.
About Xpcases:
Check out their site at www.xpcases.com
Specifications on the product:
* 80mm High Quality Clear Acrylic Fan Grill
* Super Bright Rated LED and cables
* "Y" 4-Pin connectors (1 male, 1 female)
* Voltage Range 10~14
* Draws less than 26mA @ 12V
* Dimensions: 80 x 80 x 5 mm
* Power: 12 +/- 2V
The product:
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The fan grills from sunbeam come in a variety of different styles the one that I�m reviewing today is the �Counter strike� grill, there are also 2 other styles available, in the form of a girl and a fan shape (looks like sun rays). There is also 4 colours available, they include red, green, bloo, and mutli-coloured. As the led�s are clear so the colour is indicated on the back of the packaging also the style if you need help with that. The LED is a 3mm version, this is used as they are easy to insert in the side of the plastic, inserting the LED into the side of the plastic means that the edges of the fan grill will glow.
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The grill is well packaged and I don�t think that it could be easily damaged in transit even with the help of royal mail. Thin clear tubing is used to surround the wire between the molex and the fan grill, this keeps the cables tidy and also protects them. The connection is double tailed so you don�t have to loose a spare molex when you connect up the led fan grill. As you can see from the pictures the fan grill is brilliantly clear and the counter strike logo is great. It has to be said though that the grill will restrict air-flow create noise and there are large gaps to poke your fingers through, this means that they have really lost their original function; but as long as you don�t poke your fingers in the fan their should be no trips to the hospital.
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The little LED in the grill throws out a large amount of light and the bloo looks great. I had to screw the grill to the inside of the blowhole in my case to make sure wiring isn�t left dangling outside the case. I used a clear non lighted fan, as I didn�t want an ugly black fan behind this fan grill and I only wanted the grill as light source. When I plugged the grill and fan in I noticed the grill caused my quiet fan to become noisier and its very easy to stick your fingers in it, but no-one would really do that anyway. The airflow didn�t seem restricted much at all.
Please click on thumbnails to get bigger pictures
Conclusion
The overall look of the fan grill is good, maybe the design would be more appealing to me if I was a counter strike fan (no pun intended). The fan grill does not function as a fan grill was originally intended to function, it wont protect your fingers, also the extra noise it creates and the slightly decreased airflow is an issue. So overall the fan grill looks cool but not practical, but its better than a chrome and some laser cut grills.
