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David A.

David A.

Joined on 04/04/03

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 22
Most Favorable Review

Ugly, but good value

IOGEAR MiniView GCS104U USB KVM & Peripheral Sharing Switch Kit w/Cables
IOGEAR MiniView GCS104U USB KVM & Peripheral Sharing Switch Kit w/Cables

Pros: - Good feature / price ratio. - Completely USB - Includes all cables

Cons: - Looks ugly - No direct switching

Overall Review: There are two kinds of USB KVM's: (a) ones that emulate the keyboard / mouse and (b) ones that pass the connection through just like a hub. Emulating KVM's trick the PC's into thinking that the keybaord / mouse is always connected which allows very fast switching. The drawback is that special features (like scroll wheels, etc) do not work. Passthrough KVM's electronically disconnect the keyboard / mouse from one PC to the next. Switching is slow (about 3 seconds total); however, all of the extra features work. WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: People with specialty keyboards and mice that use the extra features. WHO SHOULD NOT BUY THIS: Impatient system administrators used to working on rackmount consoles with instant-switch KVM connections.

Most Critical Review

Good Specs; Builders Beware

SUPERMICRO MBD-X9DRL-3F-O ATX Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011 DDR3 1600
SUPERMICRO MBD-X9DRL-3F-O ATX Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011 DDR3 1600

Pros: Lots of good specs on paper; price is right. Getting a dual LGA-2011 board onto an ATX form factor is the main reason I bought this board.

Cons: There are two reasons I gave it 3-eggs instead of 5. (1) Of the 8 mounting holes, 3 are located where you (including Antec, Corsair, and Cooler Master) don't expect them. To mount this in typical enthusiast ATX cases, you'll have to use nylon stand-off's which gives the middle of the board more ability to flex than I'd like. (2) The two CPU sockets are placed so closely together that there is no room for the fan on the stock SuperMicro heatsink / fan (SNK-P0050AP4). This means you'll have to run one CPU with a fan and one without.

Overall Review: If you're putting this in a 2U rack-mount case using a low-profile (fanless) heatsink, this is a top-notch board. If you're putting this in a pedestal ATX case to run a meaty Hyper-V server next to your desk, you may want to consider something else. As an alternative, the ASUS Z9PA-D8 looks like it has more-standard mounting holes, but still suffers from sockets being too close together.

Reliable, Low-Maintenance

EnGenius EAP350 N300 High-Power Wireless Gigabit Indoor Access Point/WDS/Repeater
EnGenius EAP350 N300 High-Power Wireless Gigabit Indoor Access Point/WDS/Repeater

Pros: Set-it and forget-it; no problems, zero dropouts (so far).

Cons: A little weird to install.

Overall Review: I used three of these to provide wireless connectivity in 40,000 sqft warehouse. Once wired and setup, I haven't had any problems -- the warehouse operates smoothly without any dropouts.

Fast, Good Value

ORICO H4999-U3 -SV Aluminum 4 Ports Super Speed USB3.0 HUB with 12V2A Power Adapter
ORICO H4999-U3 -SV Aluminum 4 Ports Super Speed USB3.0 HUB with 12V2A Power Adapter

Pros: Fast, independently-powered, small desktop footprint.

Cons: Short USB cord.

Overall Review: Other than an exceptionally-short USB cable, this item is great. It's small, fast, and gets the job done reliably.

Reliable and a Good Value

TRENDnet TEW-637AP Wireless Easy-N-Upgrader 802.11b/g/n and 802.11e up to 300 Mbps
TRENDnet TEW-637AP Wireless Easy-N-Upgrader 802.11b/g/n and 802.11e up to 300 Mbps

Pros: Easy setup, no dropouts, good range, and decent performance.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I'm not a big fan of wireless networking because it's just too slow compared to 1Gbe. If you already have a solid router / firewall, this is a good wireless bridge. I used this plus a Zyxel USG50 to replace a piece of bologna WRT610N that overheated under a load and disconnected everyone in the house.

Junk; Mis-Categorized

LINKSYS WET610N Gaming and Video Adapter 802.11a/b/g/n 2.4/5GHz Dual Band up to 300Mbps/ Wireless your Blu-ray, Game Console
LINKSYS WET610N Gaming and Video Adapter 802.11a/b/g/n 2.4/5GHz Dual Band up to 300Mbps/ Wireless your Blu-ray, Game Console

Pros: Its black and looks pretty.

Cons: This is a wireless receiver, not a bridge. It lets you add wireless networking capabilities to a device that only has wired network. In other words, it's about as useless as utters on a bull.