HSPC Tech Station Computer Workbench Review :: HighSpeed PC Tech Station

The entire workstation fits nicely in a small cardboard box. The unit itself is not very heavy. The entire workstation is non-conductive, with the bench surface made of high- grade polymers. The workstation is capable of supporting a hefty 160lbs. Be sure that you have an electric screwdriver to put this thing together. Using manual force gets tiring fast.

The entire package is rather simple. There are two bench boards, two acrylic stands for hard drives, four support legs, a plastic AGP/PCI brace, LED lights, power and reset buttons, alarm speaker, and various small screw accessories for installation.

The installation process begins with the mounting of the 120mm fan. Attach two "L" shaped brackets with two fan screws. Then find the bench with the side that has multiple holes and secure the fan to the bench with two small self-tapping screws.

Now take a piece of acrylic bar and insert two long self-tapping screws through the hole, followed with a plastic standoff. The acrylic bar is to provide support for hard drives. Align the screw tips with the holes on the bench and tighten it down gently. Do not use too much pressure as it'll crack the acrylic pieces. Make sure that you have both pieces of acrylic installed.

Now we move to the second bench. The bottom of the bench is lifted by rubber grommets that help keep the bench from moving around. Take four long self-tapping screws and slip each through washers. Then insert the screw through the rubber feet. The screws and washers won't fall into the hole of the rubber feet until you screw it down. Do not use excessive pressure, as the screw and washer will pop through the rubber feet. Make sure that the screw sticks out approximately 1/4" from the other side of the bench.

Flip over the bottom bench and proceed to install the legs of the workstation. The leg portion of the bench is pretty easy to install. No tools are needed here. Simply twist each leg until it is secured. There is one catch to two of the legs though. There are two legs with a small hole in the middle of the rod. With the bench lying horizontally, the two holes should face you after it is tightly secured. This is the part that can get a little tricky. You'll have to do some trial and error before you get it right.

With the bottom portion done, we move back to the top portion. The legs are already standing and now it is time to close the top with more self-taping screws. Insert each screw through a washer and through the screw cap. Make sure that you have the cap facing the right way so you can cover the screw later on. Tighten down the screw until the tip of the screw is barely noticeable. The picture below shows that the screw went through too much. Sit the top bench on top of the legs and make sure that the tips of the screws are aligned with the holes. Tighten down until the entire top portion is fully secured and close the cap of the screw cap.

Now to proceed with the AGP/PCI bracket, we take the remaining "L" brackets and secure them to the holes in the legs. With the bench positioned horizontally and with the fan on the left side, place the AGP/PCI bracket down over the "L" brackets. Make sure that the holes for your cards are on the right side. Also notice that the holes are closer to one edge of the bracket. Make sure that the edge the holes are closer to is facing inside the workstation. Secure the AGP/PCI bracket with the two remaining small self-tapping screws.

Now the entire assembly is complete. Here are a few pictures at various angles to show the complete workstation.

My old test bench takes up roughly half the space on my desk. It's cluttered and I try to keep it nice and tidy. Now with the workstation, that space is freed for me to put it to some other use. All the components for my test bench now sit nicely in the top right corner.

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