News CableMod unveils WideBeam LED strip range

Are they crazy? You can buy that stuff by the yard for practically nothing.

 

Brilliant if you ask me, cold cathodes are a pain to fit (and mount the inverter) wilst usual LED's don't spread the light particularly well.

If prices reasonably these could be popular.

 

As a newbie to this stuff, can you offer me an example? Thanks.

 

Go to ebay and search on something like "waterproof LED strip". The silicone waterproof capping probably does somewhat widen the throw of light, but this is very standard stuff.

Yes, you'd have to clean the silicone capping off one end and solder on wires. That's it.

 

"comes with six embedded rare-earth magnets "
is this a good idea in close proximity to electronic stuff?

"the steel chassis of any case"
Except for the aluminium ones or the plastic ones or the plastic bits or the case, right?

 

1: Why? Laptops and even smartphones contain magnets... It merely depends on the strength of the magnet and it's proximity to sensitive components.

2: Many non-metal cases still use a steel frame chassis and for those that don't, there are foam adhesive variants (as mentioned in the article).

'For those whose systems are non-magnetic - such as a case made of aluminium or acrylic - a more traditional permanent adhesive foam option is available'

 

I have a question here... In theory at least, as they can be connected to ASUS motherboards to control the RGB settings, would it be possible to hook them up somehow to the Corsair 100i GTX AIO for a similar function? That way not just the Corsair logo changes colour according to temp but your whole case could.

 

Yes I made this mistake on my alu In-Win 805 No steel at all.

 

I think the biggest innovation in PC lighting would be to put a diffuser strip over the LEDS. It's not rocket science and wouldnt be expensive yet none that I've seen appear to have it.

 

That was a genuine question rather than sarcasm so thank you for the response

Right, so the magnets wont work on any case, which is what one of the selling point is.

 

I made a mockup neon sign like this. What you do is, you go to B&Q and buy some of their 10mm wide black plastic channel, and you stick the LED strip down in the bottom. Then, you get some 10mm OD clear PVC tube, and you stick white (or, optionally, appropriately-coloured) PVC electrical tape down one side. You stuff the tube into the top of the channel, tape out. It looks very, very much like neon, even close to.

P

 

Yes that's certainly one way to do it. If the manufacturer were to do it it would ideally be something flexible like extruded silicon tube or something. Putting a diffuser on seems like it would separate an LED product from others.

 

@Woodspoon

My comment pointed out the reality of the situation regarding magnets in that many devices, even with minimal dimensions still have magnets next to electrical components, there was no sarcasm.

As for:
'Right, so the magnets wont work on any case, which is what one of the selling point is.'

No... There are TWO versions.
The magnetic versions WILL work for any case that has a steel frame chassis, body or any other part that magnets will work with. For cases that are not suitable for the magnetic options, there are the adhesive, foam pads versions to use instead.

 

If it's strong enough I'd probably rather use some of this sort of stuff: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00CI6G0W6/ for a less strong magnetic attachment over a larger surface area. As opposed to a few strong rare-earth magnets that while probably fine could potentially do damage (?) if dropped on the motherboard or something.

As for whether their worth the inevitably premium over very cheap (very good in my experience) strips of LEDs you can get already I guess rather depends on how effective the "widebeam" aspect is and how much you want such a thing.

 

Often the best approach is some commercial VHB (er, "very high bond") tape. It's essentially what's supposed to be on the back of LED strip, but the Chinese manufacturers often cheap out (then print 3M on it anyway).

Off the shelf, it's usually hopeless and falls off in a few days. With VHB tape, it's pretty good.

 

No I wasn't suggesting you were being sarcastic, I thought, that you thought I was being sarcastic, if that makes sense?

Yeah read that there is 2 versions, but the selling point seems to be the magnets:

I'm struggling to see the advantage here over regular adhesive pads, which will work on any surface and cost less

 

Yeah I guess, just doesn't seem like much of a selling point for something that will no doubt cost more, it's not exactly difficult to get rid of a couple of mm of sticky stuff and if you sensible you'll have loads to spare.
oh well