VIZO Master Panel II

(4.5 star rating) Written by: William Ford

The VIZO Master Panel II is very slick looking upgrade that give you accessibility to just about any type of connection from the front of your computer. The panel installs in any empty 5 ½” drive bay and fits any AT/ATX/EATX/BTX computer case. Even cases that require drive rails will have no problem accommodating this panel. Read on for an in-depth look at what the Master Panel II - MTP201 has to offer.

Master Panel II Features

The panel gives you access to 2 USB 2.0 ports which are backwards compatible with USB 1.1. It includes a memory card reader, two fan speed controllers, front panel audio access, composite video out (or in depending on your system configuration), a single IEEE 1394 FireWire port and a single eSATA (external Serial ATA) connection. There are two small LEDs at the top left corner of the panel; one green which indicates power to the panel and one red which indicates memory card access (drive activity).

Memory Card Reader

The memory card reader is four independent drives that can be accessed at the same time. This is very convenient for transferring files or photos from one type of memory card to another. The memory card reader natively supports Compact Flash type I and II, Micro Drive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Smart Media, Secure Digital, and Multi Media Card. With adapters it also supports Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, RS-MMC, MiniSD and MicroSD.

The memory card reader interfaces the computer through a USB connection directly to the motherboard. The USB cable used to connect the reader to the motherboard is a single USB connection but the two USB ports on the panel use a dual connection to the motherboard. This was a slight inconvenience for me because it left me short 1 USB port. My motherboard (an ECS NF650iSLIT-A) has two dual USB connectors on the motherboard for front panel access. Using the dual connection for the ports on the Master Panel II and the single USB connection for the memory card reader left an unused USB connection on the motherboard. This is not a big deal - but just something to be aware of.

IEEE 1394 FireWire

The front panel FireWire port is nice to have for plugging in my camcorder without running a cable around to the rear. The motherboard in the computer which the panel was installed does not have FireWire on-board but I do have a SoundBlaster Audigy sound card which does have a FireWire connection right on the peripheral card. The IEEE 1394 cable plugged right in and works just fine with the Creative card. I used to leave a FireWire cable plugged into the rear of the SoundBlaster and kept it tucked under the case when I wasn't using it; I don't have to do that anymore.

Fan Controllers and Power

The two fan controllers are used to control the speed of two case fans. The Master Panel II comes with two power cables that are split to connect the power interface on the control panel to the fan while also connecting the (yellow) speed monitor wire and (black) ground wire to the motherboard so you can monitor fan speed in your BIOS and still have your alarms work and failsafe shutdown in case of a fan failure.

A single Molex power adapter is used to connect power from the PC power supply to the Master Panel II and the fans connected to it. The Molex adapter connects to a single Molex power plug and splits to a small two-pin power cable that is used to power the panel and the other end give you another Molex power plug so you don't lose any power plugs using the Master Panel II.

Front Panel Audio/Video

The front panel audio give you access to a headphone jack which can also be used to send a stereo signal to standard stereo PC speakers as well. It also provides a microphone jack and a line-in jack for easy front access to recording features.

The front panel audio is connected by standard ¼” audio cables and are run through the inside of the computer and out the rear to be plugged into the rear panel audio on the computer. This is not my favorite feature but it works well. The composite video cable is also a standard cables that passes through the computer and out the rear. The Master Panel II comes with card slot cover (covers the peripheral card slot on the rear of the computer) with a cut-out for the audio and video cables to pass through the back of the computer.

eSATA

The eSATA interface allows a single SATA drive to be plugged into the front panel. The data speed of the interface depends on the controller on the motherboard and the rating of the drive attached. I have an SATA 3.0Gb controller but my drive is only SATA 150 so I do not get the full speed of the controller.