Moneual Sonamu G100: Back to the Future

Conclusion: Welcome Back to 1995

I have a history of being snarky whenever I don't like something or it bothers me. It's a history that's served me well doing stand-up, writing blogs, or just entertaining friends, but it's something I found myself having to try and rein in while working on this review. Opening up the case and discovering just how badly Moneual had cut corners, especially with how hard they push their "Green Button" and innovative power design, was disconcerting. Worse, it reeked of hucksterism.

Moneual has a lot of very slick looking HTPC cases available that I wouldn't mind bringing in to test, but the Sonamu G100 was outdated the day it shipped. Why do I keep talking about it like it's a relic? Simple: because despite their press release and all the talk of proprietary technology, what they've essentially done is install a bridge between the power supply and the wall plug and allow the computer's power state to govern whether or not peripherals plugged into the case receive power. That's not innovation, that's something monitors in 1995 were doing. And it's true, if you press the main power switch on the front of the case, it'll cut power to the computer and everything plugged into it, but you know what else will do that? Hitting the switch on your surge protector.

None of this would bother me anywhere near as much if the price tag on the case was reasonable, but it's not—it's nowhere close. $139 is highway robbery for a case with a power switch on the front and an included $20 power supply. It can't mount a 2.5" drive on its own, the power supply's connectors are brutally outdated, and just to put a little stank on it, the expansion slots have to be punched out. If Moneual sold this case for what it was worth, between $50 and $70, I could take a lot of these cut corners on the chin. Yet the marketing and high price tag make me feel like it was targeted to poor rubes who just wanted a more efficient computer and are willing to buy anything with the word "green" on it.

You'll note I haven't even really touched on the "Green Button" functionality, and the reason for that is two-fold: first, I've already explained how most of it works and taken the magic out of the equation. Second, Moneual doesn't tell you in the documentation that comes with the case anyhow. And third, with such a low efficiency power supply installed, how much does it even matter? Most peripherals draw very little power when they idle these days, so a healthy amount of whatever you hoped to save is going to get gobbled up by the low efficiency power supply when you do deign to use your computer for work. So yes, theoretically the switch allows you to shut down everything connected to the computer while the computer itself is asleep, or you can set a timer for the computer to idle out and put everything to sleep (how to do this isn't readily obvious or even explained in the documentation either), but does it honestly matter?

The Moneual Sonamu G100 works as a basic enclosure, but it does the same job any $60 case can do. They took old technology, tarted it up a bit, wrapped it in a big green bow, and asked you to pay $139 for it. If they really cared about being green, they should have put in an efficient PSU as the first criteria. Seasonic has a 300W 80 Plus Bronze that would do the trick (and still leave plenty of room for profit)—but it doesn't have an AT-style monitor plug.

Update: Moneual seems to have heard at least some of our complaints, along with those of our peers. They've released a revision on the Sonamu G100 that includes an 80 Plus Bronze certified power supply. It's $10 extra, which seems a bit steep given the G100's already high price, but it's definitely a step in the right direction. That revision can be found here.