Xport1 Etched Window

This is the window I received to review. It’s title is Accused Realm which is a pretty good description. It is based off the original works of artist Eric Wadley. When I received this window, I was pleasantly surprised to see the care that went into packaging the product. The window was wrapped in bubble wrap, and was then surrounded by packaging popcorn in the box. It was obvious that the guys at Xport1 know what they are doing when it comes to safely shipping a finished product.

Looking at the backside of this window….I was already getting excited over what it would look like when in the side of my case. The detail is excellent. And would you believe that this window was only made with 72dpi? That’s right, only 72 dots per inch. That’s like 36 dots per half inch, or 18 dots per quarter inch, or 4 ½ dots per 1/16th inch, or 2 ¼ dots per 1/32nd inch, or 1 1/8th dots per 64th inch………you can kind of see what I’m saying, right? It’s detailed. And that kind of detail is achieved with their 40watt Universal laser system which can etch up a window with this same design in about 30 minutes or your pizza is free…..umm……well ok, no pizza. But that is rather speedy for etching such a good looking picture.

The acrylic itself was cut into their shape #12, which measures roughly 10x10. I had to bend test it a bit….and let me tell you this stuff is some good quality. Its not overly flimsy like some plexi windows are. Of course that’s not to say you should all go out and bend your windows just for the heck of it, but its nice to see it will stand up to mild beating.

Enough chat, lets get this bad boy into a case. For this review I opted to install this window into the only other case I have that didn’t already have a window. As you can see, it’s a fairly basic case. The second shot is so you can see roughly how much space the 10x10 window will take up

When you order a window kit from Xport1, you are given a choice as to what type of free trim you want. They offer two kinds: H trim and U trim. The H trim is the big black stuff you normally see. Its got a small gap on the bottom to fit around your case panel, and then its got a bigger gap on the top to fit around the window. Then once the window is in the side panel, it gets secured into place with a locking strip. The plus side to this is that you don’t need adhesives to hold the trim and window in place. The drawback is that it only comes in the color black. The other type of trim they offer is the U trim. It is sleeker and sometimes more stylish than the H trim and comes in a multitude of colors to really help you personalize your new window mod. But unlike the H trim, U trim secures a window in place with adhesives. The trim I ended up using for this review was some H trim I had left over from previous window mods. It’s a little bigger than the stuff offered by Xport1, but I had to use it to be done with it.

But before installing the window….I took a few minutes to unpeel the protective covering from around the edges. I did this because if I was to leave this on while installing, it would be a pain in the rear to get off later seeing as how the edges would be covered by the trim. And I didn’t take it completely off because when working with H trim, you must position the covered side downwards when you are putting the locking strip in. If the protective covering is off when doing that, then you are taking the chance or scratching up your nice, new window. Its just a little tip I picked up when doing my other windows.

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