cover
Aaron S.

Aaron S.

Joined on 04/11/04

0
0

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 22
Most Favorable Review

Smooth Sailing

Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab, 802.11a/b/g, Draft 802.11n
Linksys WRT610N Simultaneous Dual-N Band Wireless Router IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab, 802.11a/b/g, Draft 802.11n

Pros: Gigabit ethernet. Aesthetically sound design. Wireless n. Price. It works! Very, very fast.

Cons: Comes with a 3-foot Cat 5e cable with no clip protectors. Come on, Linksys. $140+ and you can't even spring for a 10-footer with clip protectors? SHAME ON YOU!!!

Overall Review: Ahem - where to start? Many, many people have complained that this router stinks. Here's my thought - the people that are complaining either lack the Cat 6/Cat5e cable, lack the intellect, or lack the patience to learn how to properly set up their router. Let's be clear, here. This isn't a network switch - this is a router. It is NOT a simple plug and play device (although the software takes care to baby step users through the process). In order to get the most from your router you should know beforehand how to: set up wireless security, have information from your ISP on what protocols to use (do they require special settings), and generally be ready to educate yourself. If you are having trouble with this router, the likely culprit can be found in the mirror. I mean no disrespect, but some people just aren't cut out to be early adopters of technology. Cheers!

Most Critical Review

Corsair Commander Pro Users Beware!

ASUS AMD AM4 ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0, WiFi 6, 2.5Gbps LAN, Dual M.2, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2
ASUS AMD AM4 ROG Strix X570-E Gaming ATX Motherboard with PCIe 4.0, WiFi 6, 2.5Gbps LAN, Dual M.2, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.2 Gen 2

Pros: - FAST I/O - Lots of expansion for the money - Good looking board - Active board cooling

Cons: - Does NOT play well with Corsair's Commander Pro - USB 2.0 native devices may or may not be fully compatible with this board - Must remove chipset active cooling plate in order to remove m.2 drives

Overall Review: I wouldn't really recommend this board to anyone since ASUS cannot seem to properly support USB 2.0 devices on this board. The issues caused by USB conflicts between the Corsair Commander Pro and this board (my ASUS TUF X570 works flawlessly on the same setup) make me leery of recommending it.

Good product!

Rosewill RNX-N180UBEv3 - Wireless High Gain N300 Wi-Fi Adapter - IEEE 802.11b/g/n, (2T2R), Up to 300 Mbps Data Rates, USB 2.0 Cradle, 5 dBi High Power Antenna
Rosewill RNX-N180UBEv3 - Wireless High Gain N300 Wi-Fi Adapter - IEEE 802.11b/g/n, (2T2R), Up to 300 Mbps Data Rates, USB 2.0 Cradle, 5 dBi High Power Antenna

Pros: Configurable design. USB 2.0. USB extender cable with stand. This product was easy to install and set up in Windows 7. I was seeing connection speeds of 145Mbps on my wireless network. Signal strength is outstanding. My old wireless card got 30% signal on the best of days, and usually hovered around 20%. This one was bouncing between 90%-100% signal!! Very impressive. The adapter itself has a micro LED light to indicate activity and 'link'. Nice touch.

Cons: USB extender could have been longer, I guess. Not a dealbreaker.

Overall Review: Great price on a solid product. Longevity remains to be seen, but it's looking good so far.

Decent case - Couple drawbacks

Antec Gaming Series one illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec Gaming Series one illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Nice design. Layout is okay, but side panels press outward to accomodate the layout. Black powder coat inside and out is of fairlygood quality. Includes USB 3.0 ports up front with a 3.0 -> USB 2.0 adapter header. Includes four blue LED fans. Bottom-mount PSU with underside fan intake and fan filter. Toolless, screwless 3.5" HDD mounts and 5.25 bays. Front panel wires are plenty long. Large motherboard tray cutout for easy CPU cooler removal while leaving the motherboard mounted. This case looks as good with the side panels off as it does with them on. The power and reset buttons operate smoothly and feel substantional. The fans are quiet and the blue LEDs are bright but are a darker shade of blue. The front panel pops off without a problem to facilitate removal of the optical drive bay covers. The 3.5" drives are oriented with the power and sata cables toward the right side of the case, which is a welcome change. And the side panels are secured with included thumbscrews.

Cons: --Thin metal. The case I received was partially crushed on the left side, but no box damage was evident leading me to conclude it was damaged at the factory, or that the metal was indeed so thin that any kind of weight on top would cause failure. --The biggest drawback for me with this case is the power connectors on all four fans. The only connectors provided with this case are 3-pin. No adapters are included, and my budget-oriented motherboard only had two 3-pin fan headers, one of which is for the CPU. This left me to either purchase three 4-pin to 3-pin adapters at $3.99 each, or splice the wires. This is a major oversight in a budget case in my opinion. Come on, Antec. Lose the watercooling ports and include adapters instead!!! --No fan filters for the intakes. This is my other major gripe. A filter is included for the PSU bottom intake, why not the front and side?

Overall Review: Overall an attractive case at an attractive price. The thin metal is an understandable tradeoff. The omission of 3-pin to 4-pin fan power adapters, and lack of fan filters are not understandable tradeoffs. The powder coating inside and out give the case a more expensive look and I really like the industrial design of the case. If Antec includes the filters and adapters, I would buy no other case for my client builds. Until then, I am staying away. Newegg is replacing my crushed case, and the damage did not affect my 4-egg rating. Newegg got it right. Antec got it almost right.

Good Deal

EVGA 111-CD-E630-RX LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 111-CD-E630-RX LGA 1156 Intel H55 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: CHEAP. Refurbished doesn't always mean bad. I salvaged a socket 1156 Core i3 from a fried motherboard and bought one of these boards to test it. I was pleasantly surprised with the performance and would up building a system around it. Good stuff!

Cons: Not many expansion slots. Not many SATA ports.

Overall Review: Great deal for the money. Excellent choice for a budget system!

A good deal so far

Seagate Momentus XT ST750LX003 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive
Seagate Momentus XT ST750LX003 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

Pros: Inexpensive alternative to buying unused. Nice capacity, speed, and QUIET operation. Nice of Newegg to offer a discounted extended warranty on this product. Took advantage of that.

Cons: BIOS gave an error on first boot that Hard Disk failure was imminent and to replace it right away. I pressed on, installing Windows 7. No errors since and have been running this PC for over a week. Knocked off an egg for the error.