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Patrick H.

Patrick H.

Joined on 01/22/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 7
Most Favorable Review

Comes with CD Drive

Jetway HBJC231C63P-330D-B NVIDIA ION Mini / Booksize Barebone System
Jetway HBJC231C63P-330D-B NVIDIA ION Mini / Booksize Barebone System

Pros: Nice little unit for a baisc HTPC or workstation. Nifty remote makes it an easy choice for HTPC, runs cool and quiet. Outfitted one with 4GB of memory and a 750GB HDD, running Windows 7 Pro. Great little machine for what I'm using it for.

Cons: The CD Drive is NASTY loud, and the description says it doesn't include a drive. Don't spend money on a drive if all you want is DVD/CD

Most Critical Review

Installation Problems..

LIAN LI CR-25B 20-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Aluminum Card Reader
LIAN LI CR-25B 20-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Aluminum Card Reader

Pros: It looks spiffy in a Lian Li case

Cons: When installing, I did the normal thing everyone does and attached it to the case and plugged it in. I got everything else on the computer working, but wasn't seeing anything indicating that I had a card reader installed. I thought maybe it had something to do with drivers or Windows 7. Come to find out, if I removed the thing from the case, it worked just fine. The metal tabs provided to attach this device to a 3.5" cage are causing the USB to short out, causing the reader to not get power. I sent a tech support request to Lian Li, we'll see how responsive they are.

Overall Review: I tried to rig up some electrical tape to prevent shorting, but the screws are still making contact on the threads, and honestly, you shouldn't have to work this hard to install a card reader..

11/24/2009

Nice LED for the Price

SAMSUNG BX2331 Glossy Black 23" 1920 x 1080 Full HD LED Backlight LCD Monitor Slim Design  250 cd/m2 DCR 5,000,000:1 (1,000:1)
SAMSUNG BX2331 Glossy Black 23" 1920 x 1080 Full HD LED Backlight LCD Monitor Slim Design 250 cd/m2 DCR 5,000,000:1 (1,000:1)

Pros: It has nice color, light weight, runs very cool.

Cons: No mounting (VESA Standard) options, not a good monitor if you want to put it on your wall.

Overall Review: Paid $179.99 on Black Friday, prices on these will probably continue to fall the closer we get to CES.

Yep, it works.

EnGenius EPE-5818AF 802.3af PoE Injector
EnGenius EPE-5818AF 802.3af PoE Injector

Pros: POE Injector that works.. I set up a DLink WAP that I put in the attic of a restaurant where running 110V wasn't really possible. It did the trick, and seems to be working fine.

Cons: It wasn't free or included with the WAP?

Blue Screen w/ 2x2GB RAM

GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA790XT-UD4P AM3 DDR3 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: I love Gigabyte motherboards. I have one in my i7 920, have use them for the past 5-6 years. The design is good, the layout is fine, the integrated GSATA controller works well (have 2x 1TB WD running RAID1).

Cons: When running with two sticks of DDR3 I get a blue screen when windows 7 loads. I think it's a motherboard problem, but I'm working through it.

11/27/2009

Second Motherboard, More Problems

BIOSTAR P4M900M4 Socket 478 VIA P4M900 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
BIOSTAR P4M900M4 Socket 478 VIA P4M900 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Old Tech, New Board.

Cons: >< Very Disappointed. The first P4M900 I ordered was DOA, would not post. Got a new board via newegg RMA and it ran fine for the first five days. Now the NIC seems to have died, the LEDs barely light up and I have zero connectivity. I installed a 3rd Party legacy NIC which works just fine. I'm losing faith in Biostar. I have been a diehard Gigabyte builder for the past 10 years, never had a single problem. Biostar needs to step up their QA if you ask me.

Overall Review: Please Remember: This board DOES NOT SUPPORT Willamette Cores!!!!!!