The box: UPS brought me a box that weight a little more than air itself, i was wondering if there is actually anything inside. before filing the claim that somebody stole the device out of the box i decided to open it anyway (; there it was, a small green board with a few short cables and a little bag with a few tiny jumpers. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and test the &*%$ out of it, but to my surprise there was no manual, no CD, no USB cable. i found a very basic manual on the mini-box.com site and the journey began.

The work: Without the availability of the USB cable and lack of software, i went ahead configuring the device to my needs with a basic manual and a few jumpers. I need 19VDC to power my Zotac A-U mobo, the device CAN produce this voltage but with the USB software, i set the device to output the nearest voltage that can be set with jumpers which is 18VDC, the multimeter shows 18.24VDC i then set the device to operate as a regular converter/inverter and connected it to my mobo. pushed the power button, the fan started to spin, and the mobo seems to run just fine. +/-1VDC inst crucial for this mobo. i then tested the output voltage range of this device and the device does what it is suppose to do. no matter of the input (as long as its within range) the output voltage will be what it is set to be. then i set it to automotive mode which adds timing options along with ON/OFF pulses to the mobo. i set the timing to send off pulse to the mobo as soon as ACC is off and completely turn off the device after a minute - it did just that. my Zotac now powers on and off automatically. because of the wide input range the device has absolutely no problems surviving engine crank. however once the device starts the timer, it cannot be interrupted, meaning that if i shut off ACC the timer will start and will count a minute, in this time frame if i turn the ACC back on the device will not power up the mobo, nor send on/off signals. but if i leave the ACC on until the timer finished it will power up the board and send ON signal. temperature wise this device does just well, it get a bit warm when powered for a long time, but absolutely nothing to worry about and nothing that will require additional cooling. in my setup the device does exactly what it is described to do.

The good: The device can be used for a wide variety of applications, it is very accurate, small profile, easy to setup,survives engine crank, appears to be reliable (i used it a few days already and it powers up and shuts down every time without problems) and the price is right.

The bad: I am not sure how it is shipped from mini-box.com but the device should most defiantly come with advanced documentation or at least some documentation. even though most of us SHOULD have the proper USB cabe, it should be included in the package, the configuration software should also come with the device or at least be available for easy download. otherwise more configuration options should be available on the device itself. mini-box.com use jumpers that are smaller then the regular computer jumpers, i don't see a reason for this, should just use regular jumpers.

The truth: All in all the device is great, does what you configure it to do and does it well. for this price ($59+shipping) you cant go wrong with it. though with more documentation, software and USB cable the package would be complete.

The rest: (from mini-box.com) - Applications: powering motherboard with single rail power from any voltage to any voltage, laptops, custom electronics. This module can be used to convert any voltage ranging 6-34V to any output from 5-24V. The DCDC-USB has 4 models of operation: - Dumb mode: Acts as a regular DC-DC converter with wide input (6-34V) and produces a fixed 12V output (or any output from 6-24V) - Automotive mode: Acts as an intelligent PSU, ignition aware, will send ON/OFF pulse to the motherboard to turn ON/OFF. Standby power consumption is well under 1mA. - UPS mode: The unit will act as an intelligent UPS unit, will shut down at prescribed battery voltages. - Script mode: Unit can be programmed to wake up, sleep, based on pre-programmed scripts. Additional features of DCDC-USB: - Remote ON/OFF switch capable of switching up to 6A, 8A peak. - Can control motherboard ON/OFF pins - Fused input, TVS protected - USB mini, type B - All Solid Polymer Capacitors, SVPD series, Sanyo, Japan.

(If it says it's a private video, it's lying)

-For this project you need the following materials:
-p2140 and 8pin molex output harness
-Wire strippers 14-22 gauge
-Bench battery
-Multimeter
-Shrink tubing and heat shrink tubing gun OR electrical tape
-Solder gun and non leaded solder
-laptop and its power brick
-knife or scissors

To finalize this project you should do a continuity test on the stripped wire to find out which is positive and which is negative. Then you can twist and solder the p2140 output wires to the cut laptop brick wires. Turn it on to test it one more time, and then plug it into your laptop to test.

-For this project you need the following materials:
-p2140 and 8pin molex output harness
-Wire strippers 14-22 gauge
-Bench battery
-Multimeter
-Shrink tubing and heat shrink tubing gun OR electrical tape
-Solder gun and non leaded solder
-laptop and its power brick
-knife or scissors

The basic procedure here is to cut and strip the laptop power brick, while NOT cutting the multi-strand wires right beneath the black plastic. Then soldering the positive wire of the primary output from the p2140 to positive end of the now cut power brick cord. And then the same for the negative.

In the next video we will show you how to test the polarity using continuity and then actually test turing on the laptop using only the power from the p2140 (through the bench battery of course)