CaseBuy USB Vacuum Cleaner
Review by: Steve
Edited by: Ji4m
Provided by: CaseBuy
Price: Unknown

Introduction:
Since USB was first introduced people have been tapping into the power it provides and making all kinds of invenetions. There is USB Coffee Warmers, USB Christmas Lights, USB Desk Lights and now USB Vacuum cleaners. Today we'll be looking at the CaseBuy USB Vacuum Cleaner.

In The Box:
(1) USB Vacuum cleaner
(1) Standard cleaning head
(1) Brush cleaning head

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Specs:
Requires power from one available USB port

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Features:
The vacuum itself is of very small size and can be easily held in the palm of your hand. All the power it requires can be provided by plugging it into a USB port. On the back top of the vacuum there is a power switch with the options of "off", "light" or "on w/ light" all represented by a tiny diagram each.
The light is a very neat feature to include on a vacuum. The light is simply an ultra-bright LED mounted on the underside and will give you some illumination when vacuuming in those dark corners of your case. One thing I noticed is that the light dims slightly when the suction is turned on in the vacuum. When the vacuum is running there is a button on the bottom marked "HIGH POWER" which increases the suction.

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CaseBuy is nice enough to include 2 heads with the vacuum. The first head has a small, thin, oval shaped piece of flexible plastic. This head is good for cleaning between the keys of your keyboard and getting into tight areas. The second head is a brushed head with 3 circular tubes under the brush. This head is great for sweeping and sucking up that stubborn dust and dirt.

 
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One thing that concerns me is, you know how when you turn on your vacuum in your house how all the lights dim due to the massive amount of power it suddenly started drawing? Although your computer isn't a house and this vacuum cleaner isn't near the size of a home vacuum, my best guess is that something like this is happening to your computer but on a much smaller scale. Makes me leary of using it for extended amounts of time.

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Testing:
I wasn't overly pleased with the performance of the vacuum. I found there to be very little suction at all and lots of dust was left behind when doing something as simple as a flat surface. When trying to vacuum a case and case fans, the vacuum just didn't perform. It seemed to just push the dust around and not pick up very much of it. Plus, this vacuum is marketed to vacuum keyboards and the inside of computer cases, but since it is powered via the USB the computer must be on when vacuuming inside. This is something I don't prefer to do with my computer. I would much rather bring up the home vacuum, shut down, and clean everything properly. Be warned though, using a home vacuum inside a computer can also be a very dangerous exercise. You can break tiny parts by bumping them, not to mention the static electricity dangers.

Conclusion:
Overall, I give CaseBuy credit for trying. A USB vacuum cleaner is definately a neat innovation, just due to the little amount of power coming out of a USB port, I don't see it as a very practical tool.

Pros:
Inexpensive
Built in light
Small

Cons:
Hardly any suction
Power "surge" when turned on is possibly like a real vacuum being turned on. Good for a PC...?
PC needs to be running in order to use it because it's USB, vacuuming inside a running PC could be dangerous.

Rating: 3/10

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