What do you use to secure your drink in place while at the computer so it doesn’t spill all over? Well whatever you use, it’s probably not the x-ray. This device is a very unique product which offers a pop-out beverage tray along with a cigarette lighter. This device may appear appealing and practical at first, but is it really worth the money?
Features:
∙ Application in car accessories
∙ Beverage tray
∙ Convenient for LAN party gamer
∙ Fits for 5.25” drive bay
∙ Expansion by socket
∙ X-style panel
∙ Lightweight by aluminum & plastic housing
As you are able to tell, the default device that comes with this x-ray kit is a cigarette lighter, however this built in adapter has the ability to power other things such as mobile phones, notebooks, and also car accessories. The most prominent feature is the beverage tray, which pops out of a 5.25” drive bay to store your drinks. At most LAN parties, the attendees consume a large amount of Bawls Guarana and Mountain Dew (along with other drinks) making the device convenient for LAN partiers. Lightweight aluminum and a plastic housing prevents the x-ray from adding too much weight to your computer case when positioned in a 5.25” drive bay.
Examination:
When initially looking at the device we were somewhat interested in it, and thought it might be a good product, however after a closer examination our thoughts soon changed. When looking at the springs, which make the beverage tray extend from the housing when the eject button is pushed, they looked rather weak. Both the spring and mechanism looked to be poorly constructed. Other than that though, the overall built quality is reasonably good. The drink tray has a removable portion which allows you to clean it if a drink has been spilt. This is a good feature, as it makes it much easier to clean spillages.
Performance:
To test the performance, we installed the x-ray into an available 5.25” drive bay on a Maxtop case. After the installation had been completed, we put several different shaped drinks in the “beverage tray.” These drinks included Bawls Guarana, Dannon Fruit Smoothie, and a 12 ounce can of Cherry Coca-Cola. All of the drinks were a tough fit. In order to easily insert and remove the beverages, we first had to remove the the plastic inner lining of the beverage tray. In addition, it was difficult since most cases, including the one we tested the x-ray on have a bit of an overhang at the top, and since the tray doesn’t expand past that where the drinks exceed the height of the case, the beverage is obstructed from standing straight up, making it more difficult to insert/remove. However, one good aspect of the tight fit is that you can be sure the drinks are secure. You are not likely to easily knock them out of the holder. The car accessories and adapter worked well, but when the lighter was in its slot, the case door could not be closed.
Conclusion:
If you are into having all the different possible gadgets inside your computer system, or are really craving a beverage tray/lighter to be built into your computer we would recommend the Thermaltake X-ray for you. If the build quality was improved, and the beverage holder could be extended further, Thermaltake would have yet another great product to offer. However, we were not terribly impressed with the device’s build quality, as the springs seemed weak, and the practicality seemed overrated. However, it is fairly cheap from our friends at Crazy PC, so if you are interested please on over to www.crazypc.com for the Thermaltake Xray along with a wide variety of other products.
Pros:
∙ Cheap
∙ Holds drinks very securely
∙ Removable drink tray – Easy cleaning
∙ Useful for those of you who smoke
Cons:
∙ May not very useful
∙ Poor build quality
∙ Hard to insert/remove drinks
