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Case, Power Supply, Fan Reviews
  Product:     Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit  
  Price:     $102 (CAN) / $75 (U.S)
  Supplied By:     HighSpeed PC
  Author:     Hi-TEK
  Date:     May 3rd, 2004
  Rating:     star star star star star star star star star

Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit
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Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit
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On the left and right hand sides of mounting drive bracket are two sets of 6-32 mounting holes for installing this unit inside a computer case. A closer look at the back of the Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit reveals that this product is not your typical LCD display. The principal design of the original 632 serial PCB is still in place with a few upgrades. The USB interface version of the 632 has the full feature set of the serial interface and allows connection to a USB port using only a single cable for both power and data. Crystalfontz has also upgraded to Character Generated Rom (CGROM) from version 1.3 to version 2.0. The CGROM is responsible to the most of the graphical display which includes numeric superscripts, icons, mathematical symbols, fractions, a variety of arrows, currency symbols, and more.

Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit
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Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit
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Attaching the integrated USB and Power cable is a straightforward process and Crystalfontz has integrated a USB bridge board over the original serial interface. Towards the bottom of the 632 PCB is a mini 4-pin header that is labeled Ground, Data Positive, Data Negative and +5 volts. All that is required is to connect one end of the bundled USB and data cable to the 4-pin header of the USB interface.

Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit
Click image for larger view
Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit
Click image for larger view
 
The Crystalfontz 632 16x2 USB LCD Kit mounts like a standard optical drive and requires one free 5.25" drive bay. Once the unit has been secured using the mounting screws, the final step is to attach the USB connector into any free USB port on the back of a case. The USB and Power cable can be easily routed through any open PCI slot during the installation process. It would have been nice to see some sort of transfer bracket included with the package to keep the overall look of the installation clean. Consumers can use any drill or rotary tool to modify any existing PCI bracket to solve this problem.
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