Joined on 03/08/11
Wanted to do it right, so I got this.
Pros: Comes in a cute little plunger type applicator. Nice rubber cap holds tight when not in use. Appears to be working as it's suppose to.
Cons: No packaging, just the applicator. Was overlooked when unpacking box with other items. Almost got thrown away with the packing peanuts left in the box.
Overall Review: Packaged with a CPU fan and case fan, and didn't see it hiding at the bottom of the small box under the packing peanuts. Almost thought it was left out when they shipped my order. Good way to cut down on unneeded waste though. Just remember not to throw your box away before making sure you grabbed all your stuff out.
Failed after just over 3 years
Pros: For the price, it had an exceptionally good power output. Mesh sleeve on cables
Cons: Purchased March of 2011 and it failed May 2014.
Overall Review: This unit powered my computer almost constantly for just over 3 years. The first two years it served as my main PC that I would game on, watch movies, played around with overclocking and all the typical stuff. Then this last year it was converted to a surveillance unit and would sit recording surveillance footage until the PS failed. I still have power supplies from 8 or so years ago that ran for 4-5 years almost continuously and are still running strong. So a 3 year life span has me wary of going with this product again. PC specs Phenom II 555 3.2Ghz dual core HD6850 8GB Ram Asus DVD-RW/CD-RW Crucial SSD 500GB WD HDD
Gets the job done
Pros: I picked this CPU cooler because it was priced very reasonably and looked like it would work fairly well. Now two years later, I can say it has worked great. Ran this with my AMD Phenom II unlocked to 4 cores and overclocked to 3.8ghz at times. I have never once reached a temperature that was anything I would worry about. In fact, it kept my CPU close to temps that are seen during normal use.
Cons: No real cons that I can think of.
Overall Review: I am not a hardcore overclocker, but these are the conditions I have noticed while gaming with games that are very CPU intensive (such as GTA IV) for at least an hour at a time. I have done a few benchmark tools that run the CPU at 100%, but that was more to see how stable my system was when I first got it, so only performed a few times long ago. CPU remained well within tolerable temps during those runs though, so I would expect it would do the same if I were to try it again.
Nice boot drive
Pros: At the time of purchase, was the best deal I could find for an SSD of this size. Fast and reliable
Cons: Not really a con, since they had a fix... About halfway through ownership, I had issues with my PC crashing after what seemed like the same amount of time every time I used it. I wrote Crucial an E-mail and the promptly responded, letting me know there was a firmware update. I did the updated (I remember it being fairly easy) and have never had a problem since. Not sure what happened to cause the problem in the first place, but if I remember correctly, it happened right after a windows update.
Overall Review: Been using this as a boot drive for two years now and I've finally gotten to the point that I am just going to build a new PC due to filling up the boot drive. I tried hard to keep as much free space on it as possible, but somewhere along the line I just couldn't keep from filling it up. So rather then spending time cleaning the drive up and getting the free space again, I will build a new PC with a larger SSD boot drive and retire this PC to HTPC duties after freshly reformatting the M4 SSD. I would definitely recommend this drive for anyone that will use it solely as a boot drive and is able to keep themselves from filling it up right away. As soon as I hit enter from my password to log into windows, I am able to open programs and get going with whatever it is I want to do. That is even from a cold boot. Now that SSDs have come down in price a bit, I have opted for a 240GB from Kingston. Hopefully I will have just as much luck with their SSD as I did with Crucials. If not, I may be returning to Crucial.
Great PS3 HDD
Pros: Works In PS3 and improves loading times. Especially with GT5 and downloaded games. I actually prefer PSN games over disc based games now, because of the quick loading with installed games.
Cons: None so far.
Overall Review: If you need to increase the storage capacity of your PS3, this is a great way to do it. That or maybe just get it to increase loading times if you already have the 320Gb hdd. Either way, I'm very happy that I decided to go with this drive. SSD would have been nice, but way too expensive for the time being.
Initial thoughts.
Pros: Touch screen keeps the front clean looking. So there is no need for knobs protruding out the front of your case. Also allowing it to have more features. All while keeping an easy to use interface. Screen turns off when you don't need it.
Cons: Background illuminates slightly from the images, giving it horrible contrast. A way to adjust brightness would be a great feature, might even help with contrast at dimmer settings. The beep it makes sounds like a microwave. A clicking sound or even just a different pitch of beep would probably be nicer.
Overall Review: After about a week of use, I'm very happy with this unit. I've left it on overnight and for hours at a time during the day. No problems yet, so hopefully it will continue to be reliable. The price is very reasonable for what you get. All together, this is a very convenient, functional and attractive looking fan controller. Hope they come out with a new model that has a few more features and possibly a better screen contrast, cause I'd buy it.