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The Stackables 180W Multi-outlet DC 12V
Power Center:
The Power Center box differs slightly by showing
the entire stack rather than just a single component. This
seems to emphasize the Power center as a base for the system.
This difference helps to prevent purchase by misinformed customers
as an external power supply for other components or even for a PC
build.
The Power Center comes with: A setup guidel,
warranty registration card, an AC adaptor, 6 different DC output
cables in three different sizes, and two support stands.
Unlike the other Stackables, the Power Center is designed to be the
base of a stack and offers no other options for setup.

Specifications:
- Output: 12V +/- 5%
- Output Minimum: 1A
- Output Maximum: 15A
- Max Power Supplied: 180w
- Input: AC 115/230 V
- Frequency: 50/60hz
- Dimensions: 187 x 120 x 50 mm
- Weight: 900g
- Model Number: ULT33057
* For use only with Ultra Stackable Series
Products
Features:
- Provide 6 DC 12V outlets
- Short Circuit Protection
- Over Voltage Protection
- Over Power Protection
- Works great with Ultra Stackable Series
Products

The Power Center looks much different from the
other units as it is made from aluminum. The front surface is
given a lot of venting and features a blue LED indicator for each of
the supported 6 separate 12 Volt outputs.

The back is also given a lot of venting.
This venting and the aluminum surface work together to passively
cool the power supply. The right side features: a standard
power outlet, an off on toggle and a voltage switch. The feet
clip soundly to the sides and offer a wide support for the supported
additional 6 Stackable devices.
The Install:

No surprise here! I installed all of the
Stackables and routed power here. The three different lengths
of 12 V leads offer some flexibility across the supported drives.
Unfortunately the Power center and each component did not come with
a short USB lead to facilitate a similar data connection scheme.
Given my choice I would have included a small USB cable with each
device or 6/7 with the USB hubs.

And here we have the front with the entire stack
running. The stack looks pretty impressive even with just the
4 components. With the lights on you can see how those hard
drive lights compare to the rest of the system. The Power
Center lights give off a tremendous amount of light, maybe even too
much for some locations as the brightness cam be distracting in a
darker room.
Conclusion:
The idea of stacking components is nothing new
but taking a modular approach to your external device is definitely
a solid idea. The folks at Ultra have taken things a step
further by providing a single Power Center solution for each of
their external devices. I found every device to be well built
and easy to setup and install. The basic look is not as fancy
as some of the other products Ultra offers but when presented as a
stack, the setup looks pretty slick. Each piece is covered
under Ultra's 3-Year warranty as well when you register with Ultra
by mail or online. I do wish the entire line was aluminum
though.
Taking each component as an individual piece
weakens the package. Each component is on the more expensive
side for the market making the Stackables less of a deal when
purchased individually. Clearly you would only want to invest
in this setup if you planned on adding devices to your stack.
As a set they offer a unique first effort at organizing your common
external devices in a easy to upgrade modular system. My
suggestion would be to pick up a couple of the pieces first then add
the Power Center as the third piece before adding the rest.
Ultra has taken the lead with external devices by showing what
happens when you look at all of your devices as a system instead of
just individual pieces.
Note: Club Overclocker is
now using a new rating system based on a score of 1 to 5.
Please go to our rating system page for more information.
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| Performance: |
4 out of 5 | |
Innovation: |
5 out of 5 | |
Quality: |
3 out of 5 | |
Stability: |
N/A |
| Aesthetics: |
3 out of 5 | |
Software/Drivers Pack: |
N/A |
|
Overclocking: |
N/A |
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Value: |
3 out of 5 |
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|
 | Project Skill Level (5 being most difficult) |
3
out of 5 (on average) |

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