Introduction

Picture this – you’re holding a small house party with friends and you have your extensive MP3 dance mix playing from your computer system. All you need are some party lights and you’re complete so what do you do? You could go all out and purchase some expensive lighting gear but hey - you’re probably cheap like me so what other alternatives are there? This is where the Antec iLuminate MiniLED Light Tubes come into play. Let’s see what these little puppies can do.

Packaging

The Antec iLuminate Mini LED Light Tube comes in a simple plastic packaging that is a royal pain to open up without a scissor. Here are pictures of the product:

Front of the package	Back of the package

Features and Specs

So what exactly does this thing do anyhow? It’s a pair of small tubes that light up using power from a USB port. The tubes can either be set to illuminate via sound activation or it can be set to always be on or off. That’s it. That’s all this thing does. Nothing more.. nothing less.

The components

Here are some other specifications:

• Works with PCs, Macs, and Sony PlayStation 2 units
• Mini LED Light Tubes can be mounted via adhesive pads
• External USB connector – plugs into any powered USB port
• Sound Activator with three modes – OFF/Steady ON/SoundActivated
• Tube Measurements: 8 cm (L) x 2.5 cm (W) x 3.5 cm (H) 3.1" (L) x 1" (W) x 1.4" (H)
• Cable Length: 150 cm / 59" from sound activator to the USB connector, 60 cm / 23" from sound activator to the tube

The Mini LED Light Tubes come in a variety of colors including Green, Red, Blue, and Multicolor. We’ll be looking at the blue tubes for this review. There is a larger tube available for those who think size does matter.

Usage

How do you get this thing working? Just plug it into an available USB port and you’re on your way. The iLuminate is made of three sections – the USB connector, the sound activator and the two mini LED tubes. The sound activator holds the switch that enables the different modes on the tubes. There is also a sensitivity dial on the activator that you can adjust should the device be a tad bit too sensitive.

Connect to the USB port

The Sound Activator	The back of the Sound Activator

The hardest part about using the iLuminate Light Tubes is finding a place to mount the tubes themselves. Antec packages adhesive pads for the tubes and the sound activator. The cables between the tubes and the sound activator component aren’t that long so you’ll need to find a good place to mount the sound activator also. If your computer speakers happen to be around your monitor, then the sound activator won’t have a problem in picking up noise. However, if your sound sources are a bit further away, the activator won’t always pick up the background noise. Be aware that the sound activator will pick up any sort of noise – including ambient noise.

The Mini LED Light Tubes

Overall, the device worked as advertised. I temporarily mounted the light tubes on an old CRT screen we had lying around and took a video of it pulsating while Eminem was playing in the background. You can see the video clip (which is encoded using DivX 5.05) here:

I actually had a lot of fun using this accessory but the novelty of the light tube wears out after some time. The iLuminate Mini LED is a cool item to light up your desktop or wherever you have your PC of gaming console. It might actually be a nifty office item to have (and it’ll show to others that they’re talking too loud!) and definitely a fun toy for that house party of yours. Gamers may love to see how much noise their rockets are making with the amount of illumination that the lights produce during fragfests. If you’re looking for a unique gift, check it out but don’t expect much except for… lights.

Summary

Just when you thought you’ve seen them all in computer accessories comes this unusual product from the folks at Antec. The Antec iLuminate Mini LED functions exactly as advertised – add some sound and watch the light tubes come to life. Powered via a USB port, these lights will certainly add a new look to your desktop. Sometimes I love these simple little products. If you have any comments or questions, please post them in our forums.

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