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Mnpctech Case Modding Review - Vinyl Film and Billet Fan Grill
Written by Allen C. Haid (BigAl) | Date: 1.07.2007 | Manufacturer: Mnpctech Pro Case Modding and Supplies

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Introduction

Modding is an art and will some day be recognized as such! (anonymous)


That quote above dates back to almost 2 hours ago. You see, I made it up. But it's so true! There are case mods out there that are truly works of art. We've all seen some snazzy case mods in all the computer forums out on the Internet. Maybe you've built one yourself.

Well who makes the most exotic cases mods? There's a couple of guys associated with case modding that you might have heard about, Bill Owen from Mnpctech and Stu King from KikBox Custom Computer Crafts. These guys have separate companies but some common interests (they formed The Mod Nation Forums as a joint effort that is linked from both of their home web pages, among other things) and both have produced some fantastic case mods in the last few years. We're talking about cases that appear on the cover of magazines like CPU, etc. This review is focused on some cool products from Mnpctech - Vinyl Film and Billet Fan Grills.

I managed to get a 24 inch by 15 inch sheet of Carbon Fiber vinyl film (about $9), a 120mm Billet Fan Grill (about $21), and some large vinyl film samples from Bill Owen at Mnpctech. In this review I will show you how I installed them, and during the installation process I took lots of pictures and evaluated the pros and cons of both items. I know, I know. It's a tough job but somebody has to do it!

The package from Mnpctech arrived in a few days, and the vinyl film was packed safely in a cardboard tube (figure 01). If you order vinyl films from Mnpctech, you can expect to receive them in this packaging. The other items were in a box, protected with paper packing material.

Here are the samples I received from Mnpctech:


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Figure 01 Overall collection of items sent by Mnpctech



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Figure 02 Brushed Chrome vinyl film

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Figure 03 Carbon Fiber vinyl film


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Figure 04 Engine Turned vinyl film

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Figure 05 Blue Metal Flake vinyl film


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Figure 06 Diamond Plate vinyl film

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Figure 07 120mm Billet Fan Grill (fan not included)



There is some good information on the Mnpctech web site and if you are going to give the vinyl film a try, you will definitely want to watch an installation Adobe flash media video that Mnpctech created to demonstrate how the pros install vinyl film. I didn't follow all the steps laid out in the flash video, but I paid careful attention so I would avoid mistakes the common man would make.

Before you go to the next page, take a moment to review the details that Mnpctech provides on these review items:



Mnpctech Billet Fan Grill


CNC milled from blocks of 3/16" thick solid aluminum.
Machined Billet fan grills come in 3 fan sizes,
80mm, 92mm and 120mm.

Machined Brush Aluminum finish.

Includes: Removable Honeycomb mesh grill and 4 stainless steel screws.


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Mnpctech Carbon Fiber Film


Give any case a performance attitude. Looks just like real carbon fiber used on F1 racing and exotic sports cars.

Apply Carbon Fiber film to: Power Supplies, Case panels, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, Drive faces, Headphones, Bezel, Fan controllers, Toggle switches etc.


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