Features:
Taking up only one 5.25" drive bay, the Silverstone MFP51 is an LCD display with an included remote and software meant to transform your system into the ultimate media center computer. But as you'll read in this review, the MFP51 also has many more uses than just being a media hub like you may think!

(Protective coating still on the screen in this pic)

To start things off I'll explain the premise behind the unit. The display board, remote and software are all made by a company called Soundgraph. They make units like this not only under their own name but also available through OEM for other manufacturers to use, create a housing or case around, and sell under their own name. For Silverstone, this involves many cases that have this LCD display built in which they include the remote and software with. But of course for those who don't want to spend the money on an entire new case to get this function, they now have the MFP51 available.

When I first took it out of the box, the styling and quality definitely impressed me. That's something I've always found with Silverstone products when we've reviewed them here - their quality is outstanding. The front is their much-liked brushed aluminum styling with their white logo in the bottom left corner.

The included remote, pictured below, handles a whole host of functions. Everything from running the iMedian software to navigating and typing on your computer itself! This is all talked about later on when I get in-depth with the included software.

Installation:
Installation will require you to get your hands a bit dirty for those who may not have wired up the internals of their case before. The included ATX power adapter goes between your power supply's ATX cable and the plug on your motherboard. This adapter has a small wire leading off it which gets plugged into the appropriate cable on the back of the MFP51. The unit is powered this way because as you may, or may not know, whenever your power supply is plugged into the wall and turned on there is power going through it even if the computer isn't running. For certain functions of the MFP51 to work, which we'll talk about later, it will need a constant supply of power even when your computer "appears" to be powered down.

If you want to be able to turn your computer on using the power button on the remote instead of your case power button then you'll need to unplug the case power button wires from the motherboard and use the power switch wires coming from the MFP51 instead. The case power switch leads can then plug into the back of the MFP51 so you can use either option to power up the computer.
For us, this didn't come without a minor hitch. All our front I/O wires were connected in one long ribbon type cable, so I had to split the power leads back to separate them from this strand. Even once this was done, the wire still wouldn't reach even close to where the MFP51 was. Since hooking up the power switch isn't mandatory if you just want to use the remote, you don't have to do what I did if you have this problem. My solution however was to use a bunch of the ends and pins I had around here from the same style of plug and fabricate an extension wire. This way I could plug the power lead into this wire at the front of the case where the wire was and run the extension right up to the MFP51. The next problem? The location of where I had to plug the connector into was severely hindered by the frame so I had to unscrew the front part of the display from the metal frame to hold it in my hands and plug the cable in securely.

Make sure you are doing the installation of this unit with your power supply physically unplugged. Failing to do that means you are plugging and unplugging live wires which will not only damage your computer but could also result in injury for you. So, switch off the power supply and take that extra measure of unplugging it all together before you start installing the MFP51. Remember to also follow proper personal grounding procedures if you are touching sensitive components.