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The problem is that if you’re going to use the USB, FireWire, audio connectors and the composite video connector, you’ll have a lot of cables hanging out the back of your PC which will look quite messy to say the very least. Personally I’d opt for the internal cables, but you’re still stuck with using the external ones for audio and video. You’ll also lose one USB header on your motherboard to the card reader, as it will use up half of one.

If you intend to use the front mounted SATA connectors then the back of t he AllInOne has to be connected to a SATA header on your motherboard as well as a SATA power connector. Just in case your PSU doesn’t have a SATA power connector, Akasa has supplied an adapter in the box. A special SATA to SATA power cable is also provided for connecting a drive externally, along with two SATA data cables.

A driver CD is also supplied for the card reader, in case you’re not using Windows XP. The manual is pretty comprehensive and lists all the cables and where they are supposed to be attached on your motherboard. A bag of stickers and a couple of adhesive pads are also thrown in for labelling up and attaching the thermal probes. Finally, you’ll find a set of screws and a couple of cable ties to tidy things up with.

Overall the Akasa AllInOne is a pretty handy – if messy – solution to bring regularly used connectors to the front of your PC. It will set you back £34.96 which is fairly reasonable considering the amount of cables you get with it. The AllInOne is not for everyone and you need some computer tinkering skills to install it, if you persevere it could prove worth the effort.

Verdict

The Akasa AllInOne is a good idea, but it’s not the perfect solution to the problem. It does what it sets out to do, but it will take some creative cable routing to keep your system internals tidy.

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