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The FrontX Solution” –>
The article first appeared in Tom’s Hard News Email Newsletter
The FrontX Solution
When I wrote the article entitled How To Add Front – Mounted Ports To Your Case, THG received a boatload of email that read like this: “Could You Please Review the FrontX” or “I own the FrontX, and it is an incredible solution that you should consider reviewing.” We like when readers point us in the direction of good products, since in many cases you readers use the products we review in more “real life” scenarios than we sometimes do.
We have been planning to review the FrontX, and even had it on our schedule, but we did not receive a sample unit to test until just recently. I am happy to report that, after testing and using the FrontX for about a month, I can honestly say that it works much like a multipurpose “Lego” building design for front panel solutions. And, since I am a huge Lego fan, that’s a good thing.
The FrontX features a design so flexible and reconfigurable that it reminds me of my youth, when I could build pretty much anything that I could imagine with the help of my Legos. This comparison to Lego building blocks is really the easiest way for me to describe the FrontX design, since FrontX features the use of track and blanker blocks and port covers that allow ports to be installed into one of four tracks within the FrontX unit. To demonstrate what I’m talking about, let’s take a look at this incredibly innovative solution for moving all of your ports to the front of your computer.
In this close-up picture, you can see what was included with our FrontX kit. Part of the unique design of the FrontX is that you can purchase as many, or as few, of the ports as needed for a certain configuration. The only limitation is the number of devices the FrontX can handle, which is six of the single width, two of the triple width, and three of the double width.
The FrontX Solution, Continued
Like the Enermax EN-006-TM1 we reviewed in the “How to Add Front Mounted Ports…” article referenced earlier, the FrontX also uses a 5 1/4 bay design. Unlike the EN-006-TM1, however, the cables are attached to the port, so you do not have to plug them into the back of the unit. This unit uses a very sturdy and practical design that is reinforced with a substantial metal bracket that runs along its back, which gives the FrontX a strong and stable feel.
In this picture, you can see the metal bracket that runs the length of the inside back of the FrontX.
The side of the FrontX is only one-fourth of the length of a typical 5-1/4 inch device, which could present a problem when mounting this unit into a case that requires the use of rails. However, FrontX does allow the use of the two screws on the front of the bracket to install it on the rail, which does help. We installed the unit into cases from both Antec and Enlight, each of which requires the use of rails.
Once installed, the FrontX was quite stable, and we didn’t have any problems with its stability in either of our case installations. Much of this can be attributed to the metal bracket that runs inside the length of the unit, which provides the reinforcement that is necessary to provide a firm and tight fit within the 5-1/4 bay. (This feature is missing from other competitive unit designs, and presents quite a drawback for those designs.)
Before the unit is mounted within the bay, you must first choose the port configuration that you will be using with the FrontX. What is truly unique about the FrontX is its incredible design versatility, which allows you many ways to configure it.
As we mentioned earlier, the FrontX unit uses a slide-in and slide-out design, with track blanks and spacers, which allows you to choose up to six single-spaced ports, two triple-spaced ports, three double-spaced ports, or any combination thereof which works with your installation. The port options can be configured in both single, double, or triple-spaced design. This allows you a wide range of port configurations from which you can customize the front of the FrontX.
The FrontX Solution, Continued
FrontX offers a variety of choices to use in the front ports of the unit, including USB, 1394 Firewire, Audio, RCA Video, serial, and joystick. Perhaps the only option missing is S-Video.
As you can see, we have installed the 1394 port that, when installed in this configuration, takes up two of the single spaces. We also left one of the spaces open to give you a better idea on how the ports slide into the FrontX unit.
Sliding the ports into the unit is not a big chore at all. Once you determine the configuration of the FrontX unit, it is just a matter of sliding each of the ports into the track that is molded into the FrontX, and then plugging the cable into the corresponding port on your computer. Once the ports were slid into place in the FrontX unit, we did not notice any “play” within the unit, so we don’t believe that durability will be a factor with the plugging in and unplugging of devices to and from the FrontX.
The photo below shows how the unit is designed, and what the function of each device within the unit’s design is.
A breakdown of the design of the FrontX unit.
As you can see in the picture above, the FrontX offers labels that are molded into the corners of each of the ports to help you identify the function of the port until you become more familiar with the unit. In cases where ports conform to the PC 99 I/O color standards, these are also colored the same way, which makes the installation of the unit even easier.
Perhaps one of the most exciting features of the FrontX is the door design that hides all of the ports when they are not in use. The front of the FrontX looks like a normal drive bay face plate; the flip-up door hides the industrial look of the front of the FrontX unit’s ports when not in use.
The FrontX Solution, Continued
The latch that holds the FrontX door closed is perhaps the only weak area that could stand to be improved upon. When in the closed position, the door is held by a reasonably small plastic clip that could get worn down after repeated use. But we opened and closed the door several hundred times during the course of this review, and it worked fine every time, so perhaps we are being overly cautious due to our past experiences with poor plastic construction of computer parts. This probably sounds pretty ‘geeky,’ but flipping the FrontX door open and closed (up and down) to show your friends this FrontX feature may become one of your favorite pastimes. It Is fun to play with! (Excuse me while I escape into Lego mind warp….)
A look at the FrontX with the door closed. We are not sure why no one else has adopted this flip-up door design to hide the unit when it is not in use. It really does disguise the unit well when it is not in use.
Once we installed all of the ports into the FrontX and installed it into our test system, we were very pleased with not only the results, but also the look of the FrontX. We even un-installed the FrontX several times to change the ports into different configurations, altering the location of the ports within the front Panel. This allowed a new level of flexibility that we are unaccustomed to with such products.
Conclusion – Best Design For The Long Term!
The FrontX by far offers the best front port panel design that we have seen. Once installed, it uses the same kind of pass-through design found in other units in the same product family. We really liked the fact that the FrontX offers both internal and external connectors that can be used for a variety of applications.
Perhaps one of the best ways to use the FrontX for USB 2 and 1394 Applications is to use the internal USB 2 and 1394 connections that are offered on a card similar to the Adaptec DuoConnect. This then allows you to hide the cables within the system, rather than having to run them out the back of the unit.
The FrontX unit isn’t widely available for retail purchase in stores as an off-the-shelf product, which has limited the availability and advertising for this product. The unit is available for purchase at FrontX’s web store, located at http://www.frontx.com/order1.html The FrontX web store is currently offering free shipping, which helps offset the cost of ordering the unit online.
In the configuration that we tested, the entire FrontX package was about $70 US, which was a little higher than one might want to pay. That said, however, the flexible design and capabilities of this unit, and the fact that you need to use fewer ports, do bring the FrontX price down to a more affordable level. And, as your needs increase and you need more capability, it is possible to remove the unit and add the ports as you need them, which is another cost savings to consider.
Overall, we give the FrontX a big ‘thumbs up.’ It is the best front-mounted port solution that we have seen so far. Its ‘Lego type’ flexibility is so unique that it is hard to imagine a better design. Most products today offer rigid designs that don’t allow users to customize the product at all to fit their needs. It was a very pleasant surprise to finally test and use a product that can be customized and that offers a truly useful design with consumer needs in mind. It is our hope that we will see more products like FrontX in the future.
When compared to the Enermax EN-006-TM1 that we reviewed in our last article, the Enermax does offer the additional temperature-monitoring feature at a price that is a lot less than the FrontX. If price is your overriding concern, you still might want to opt for the Enermax solution. The FrontX, on the other hand, is directed toward the user who wants the ultimate in design flexibility. If flexibility in use is the overriding concern, the FrontX clearly delivers a better value in that regard than does the EN-006-TM1.
For front-mounted port solutions, the FrontX receives a THG Editors’ Choice recommendation, and is an exceptional buy for its quality and unique design.
