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Product:
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MTB Exclusive: VL System L.I.S 2 Blue Eye |
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Price:
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$92 (CAN) / $70 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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VL System
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Author:
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DrMobius
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Date:
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February 16th, 2004
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Rating:
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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When the software is installing it also searches out for installations of Winamp and Windows Media Player.
If it finds them it drops a visualization (Winamp) or plugin (WMP) into their appropriate folders that
will allow either of these two programs to display a VU-Meter on the L.I.S. 2. In our previous review
of an L.I.S. module the files included would only work on older versions of Winamp, however the files
installed with the L.I.S. 2 configured without any errors. One thing I noticed was in our last review
we were supplied with two visualization options; to either display a full VU-Meter, or to scroll the
filename on the bottom with a VU-Meter on top. The only visualization that was included with this CD
was a full VU-Meter.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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The feature I find to be the most useful is the POP3 email notification. You can set up the L.I.S. 2 to
check your email accounts for new messages and then display the number of messages waiting at the server
by entering the server, login, and password into the e-mail section of the preferences. This has proven
useful as you can quickly glance at the readout and see if you have any messages waiting. I did find
that you cannot change the display name for the e-mail accounts, they will remain Mail1, Mail2, Mail3,
and Mail4. Some people may not like this as it can become hard to remember which e-mail account you have
setup for Mail1 as opposed to Mail3 and so on. Another thing to keep in mind is some e-mail servers lockdown
if they receive too many pings in a given time, so you’ll want to be sure that checking every minute won’t
cause any problems and adjust it for a longer interval if you’re not sure.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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The L.I.S Blue Eye 2 includes a bundled software application called the CG Logo Builder. The CG Logo
Builder allows you to create custom logos and images to display on the LCD unit. You are given 8 character
boxes to work with, simply click on a box to change it to white. The boxes are arranged based on the
fixed character positions (20 left to right) and are placed by using $1 - $8. Any custom CG logos are
displayed in the L.I.S. Control Center (the graphical representation of the actual LCD panel) as "~"
characters, but they appear correctly on the LCD screen itself.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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Once all the different settings have been customized, you can configure the auto user mode to run through
the different settings. This is basically a queue of events that cycle on the LCD screen and appear at
timed intervals that are configured via the software. You can chose to display either one of the many different
features constantly or choose the user mode to have it scroll through many different settings. You can
repeat a specific display screen by right clicking on the icon in the system tray and making your selection.
Under the preferences you can also expand the user mode for some additional "preferential basis"
actions. These options allow the visualizations from Winamp or Windows Media Player to be displayed in
the event they are opened.
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Conclusion:
VL System’s new L.I.S. 2 Blue Eye greatly improves on many of the weaknesses of its predecessors and
remains a wonderful all inclusive LCD display package. The display itself is very clear and VL System
has opted for a inversed display which puts bright white characters against a deep blue background. I
was very pleased with the clarity of this unit when compared to other LCD units currently on the market.
The software included has many improvements over the past releases including the automatic updates feature
and a new look which will be skinnable. Aside from the features covered in the review, it can also
display CPU/RAM usage, operating system information, Windows profile and user information, Internet Explorer
build and version, network information such as IP addresses and activity, hard drive usage and free
space, DirectX version and information, and printer information. The addition of a fan controller
function is a welcome change and while some may not like software controlled fan settings, I found it
can be helpful for controlling temperatures of computers remotely. When comparing this unit to its
competitors it has the same features and sports a cleaner look at a significantly lower cost. I only
came across a few issues with the L.I.S 2 Blue Eye which was the lack of documentation included with the
unit and the limitations of the software when compared to some of the other LCD/VFD control software
such as LCDC. Overall, I was very impressed with
VL System L.I.S 2 Blue Eye and award MTB's Seal of Approval with a final rating of
9.5 out of 10. If you have any questions
regarding this review be sure to visit the VL System
website for more information or discuss them in our forums.
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Pros:
- Professional quality LCD PCB circuit
- Clear high contrast display
- Clean front bezel
- Hitachi HD44780 compatible
- Great eye candy for any case modder
- Installation can be completed in less than 30 minutes
- Wide range of statistic display options
- Software controlled fan voltage adjustment
- Built-in auto update features
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Cons:
- Lack of documentation with the product
- Some users may find the software limiting
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