Safety & Reliability of PicoPSU; How many here have a PicoPSU?

[Kasm]

I am trying to build a tiny htpc. Therefore, I would like to use a PicoPSU. Possibly the picoPSU-160-XT with a 12 volt brick, but also maybe a PicoPSU-120-WI-25 with a 19 volt power brick. This is because jonnyguru had done a review a long time ago that showed the regulation and ripple on the 12 volt lines of the 12 volt PicoPSUs is basically right from the 12 volt brick which is barely in spec. But before I move forward, I want to check on the safety and reliability. I don't want to have a failure that burns down my house because I wanted something a little smaller. I know PicoPSUs have been around a long time now which is a good indication, but also at the same time, if they have been around for so long why haven't they been picked up by more mainstream providers?

Anyways, I am trying to get a feel of how many people actually use a PicoPSU and if they are safe. If you have one, can you let me know?

Thank you.

 

[notarat]

I have four different Pico PSU's (two of the 110W units and two of the 160W units) and over the last 2 years none have given me any problems.

I did make sure each has a good amount of airflow over them and on the 160w unit I added a small copper heat sink (like the kind that goes on the memory chips on a GPU)

I use a better quality power brick on them than they ship with, though...That's probably the most important thing...clean stable power into them = longer life.

 

[Kasm]

Thanks for the response. Can you offer suggestions for a good quality brick that is better than the kit option?