Intro:

    Keeping dust from invading your PC is a problem for almost all of us. But what if we could block dust from getting into PCI and RAM slots? Neat? Maybe. Gimmicky? Yeah. Vantec manages to pull something out of the haze that maybe some of you want. An easy dust protector for unused slots, along with UV-reactive properties. I was excited to do this review, and as I had the product finally, time went on, and my excitement faded. See why...

About The Slot Protector Kit:

    The inside of a computer case is often layered in dust.  More importantly, dust can settle inside unoccupied PCI and RAM slots.  Over time, the dust build-up can become significant enough to cause contact problems with newly installed PCI cards or extra RAM memory.  With Vantec's PCI/RAM Slot Protectors, you can easily prevent dust from settling inside your PCI/RAM slots.  Additionally, the Vantec PCI/RAM Slot Protectors are UV-Reactive, a perfect accessory for systems with windowed cases and UV lighting. (Exact measurements are here, in the .PDF.)


Features:

  • Easy To Install
  • Great for Case Mod
  • Protect PCI/RAM Slots From Dust


Models available:

SPK-08UV-BK, SPK-08UV-GR, SPK-08UV-YL, SPK-08UV-RD, SPK-08UV-BL


Package Includes:

   • RAM Slot Protector x 3pcs
   • PCI Slot Protector x 5pcs


The packaging:

    Pleasing colors have always been a Vantec trademark for packaging, IMHO. Blues and Greens always seem to work well for them. On the back of the package, you can see exactly how each color looks, and then how it looks under UV light. That should have been my first clue to MY disappointment. You may feel otherwise. I saw those pictures on the web weeks and weeks ago, and I guess it didn't click in my head. More on that later...

(1) Front of package	(2) Back of package

Out of the packaging:

    Below are the PCI and RAM slot covers. Both have slots cut out, so it doesn't matter what orientation you insert them into their destination. Good thinking Vantec. I'm not sure I would have thought of that myself.

(3) PCI Slot cover	(4) DDR ram slot cover

Installing/installed:

    I tested the slot covers on an old Socket 7 board I had laying around. The PCI covers fit easily and snugly, although they do stick out quite a bit. I wouldn't mind them to be lower profile, and perhaps even shroud over the whole PCI slot. Moving on, the RAM slot cover, however, refused to go in. Upon further inspection, the ram slot covers are only for DDR RAM. Sure, an easy enough fix, cut a slot out for the ram spacer, but that leaves those with older SDRAM slots, getting out a sharp blade to mod their ram covers.

    On a DFI LAN Party board installed in a case, installation was a bit more difficult. The RAM slot cover didn't want to set right. After some pushing on the top and the bottom of the slot cover, it snapped into place as expected. I would personally, if possible, install the RAM slot covers without the mainboard being mounted. The little flex of the board may make it a bit harder to get the RAM slots covers to install correctly.

(5) Old mobo

UV light:

    Since many of you may, or well, may not know, I'm a self proclaimed UV nut. This is where my opinion is going to start to get negative. I picked the UV reactive green slot cover kit to review. It would match a color scheme that I will be using in a future case. So turn on the UV light against an already green UV reactive board, and we have...not anything even close to glowing green. A washed out Aqua is more like it. Click the pics below to see for yourself.

(6) Ram UV	(7) PCI UV

Vantec's own pictures:

    As mentioned previously, the warning signs were right there for everyone to see. Check the two below pictures in full detail. They all look like washed out Aqua. Except for the Red. That looks like pinkish, doesn't it? Ugh. I thought we were past the pink products by now. I'm sure everyone remembers the 'red CCFL's that look pink' fiasco not too terribly long ago by many manufacturers...

(a) Installed	(b) UV light, and they glow how?

Summary:

    As I queried above, is this a gimmicky idea? Yes. But if you think about it, most mod accessories are. I mean, does that LED exhaust fan in your case make your PC perform better? Nah. Look better? Yes. Necessary? Nope... Getting back to, well, dust, a can of air can flush out any dust you have in a slot. And that's a whole 3 bucks at Wal-Mart. Where this product I think should be more categorized as, in my opinion, it doesn't do so well. Remember that feature, "Great for Case Mod." Yeah, if you like light blue, or pink, under UV light. Not using UV? You'll be happy. These slot covers will jazz up your board a bit, and there is nothing wrong with that. I do realize some of you may like the colors that these slot covers give off. Me however, I'm not impressed.

    While Vantec has tapped into a potentially cool, exclusive (so far) idea, I think the delivery could have been better. While I usually highly regard Vantec products, and not of course because they send me stuff for free, because I think they DO make good products. They stand behind their products, because they are proud to sell good quality products. However, with this one, I am probably one of the few review sites that don't/won't highly regard this product. I'm not insinuating anything. Or am I? I'm giving my opinion, without being dishonest, or biased. It does block dust from your slots. No doubt about that. The UV colors...


Closing:

    One last bit about the UV reactive colors. I'll quote from an email I got from Vantec. "I will address is your concern over the UV nature of our product.  The red unit does not come off as pink.  As with most red UV reactive items, the color is more red-orange - a neon red, if you will.  Black, obviously, is not able to give off a black color... that would be pointless.  Instead, it gives off a blue-grayish hue.  Yellow is a naturally hard light to replicate as well, as it is so close to white on the spectrum.  Given the translucency of the units, the yellow actually comes off closer to white with UV light.  The blue has a blue appearance under UV light.  As for the green, it does give off more of an aqua color, but this is again attributed to the translucency of the units.  I am not sure why the color of the picture came out the way it is, but I just tried out the units once more and the colors are not being reflected accurately in that picture." (Referring to the two above pictures.)

    So, there you have the colors, and the Vantec picture explained. I don't see too many green UV reactive fans glowing blue, or many blue UV reactive fans glowing, say, any other color than blue. Do you? I admit, I have only seen the green slot cover kit personally. I didn't ask for all of the kits. I asked for the green kit. It was not only to review, it was to use in a color themed case. So, once again to my dismay, the green doesn't glow green. I can't use it for that.


Closed:

    This may not be the most positive review I have done, nor has it been the most negative. I am just so disappointed in the UV reactive colors, that's about all I can see, every single time I try and come back to this and edit it, or rewrite certain parts. So in that aspect, I won't do my usual quote, nor pros and cons, etc,. I'm sure you can form your own opinion. Don't take my word for it solely, check out what others have to say searching with Google.

    Regardless, I'd like to thank Vantec for sending this product for review. Send flames or praises to me here, or go sound off in the forums (The link is in the navigation.) I'm closing this popsicle stand for the day. Thanks for coming by. Until next time...

Home ^^^