Joined on 06/09/12
It works
Pros: -Low Price -Comes with thermal paste -Can mount a 2nd fan, and comes with the parts to attach it.
Cons: -Installation took longer than expected, due to poor machining of the nuts.
Overall Review: I bought this to replace a closed circuit water cooler. The temps are comparable to my old cooler. Installation was a mild hassle. What I thought would be a 15 minute job turned into a 2 hour adventure of GETTING THE NUTS TO ACTUALLY FIT on the bolt that secures the base plate. Other than that, it wasn't too bad, the x-mount has to be fidgeted with a bit, but wasn't too difficult to attach. Note: make sure you have a long or thin screw driver. I could easily see it being a huge hassle to attach the x-mount with a wide grip one (Heatsink is very large). Also, make sure you remove the fan before trying to install the heatsink.
Surprises! The good kind!
Pros: -Excellent build quality. -Comfortable keyboard, and windows 7.
Cons: -Some bloatware.
Overall Review: The graphics card is an AMD 5800 series, but the OS doesn't specify which one. My guess is that it is a Fire Pro. Whatever the case it runs games surprisingly well and I assume it would run circles around any other laptop when it comes to CAD programs. For $270 this was a hell of a deal.
Only comes with vga cable
Pros: -It has a displayport connector. -It has a two port usb hub built in. -Adjustable screen, including rotation (Great for programmers).
Cons: I won't know until I actually use it. See other thoughts.
Overall Review: It did not come with a displayport cable as I had hoped. Gotta wait another few days for the cable to come in. You can't find them anywhere in retail outlets. The employees will stare at you like a deer in the headlights if you ask them about it. Make sure your order a displayport cable alongside this monitor. Otherwise you will be excited opening the box, only to be let down by the fact that you have to wait to use it. It does however come with a vga cable. So if you're using an older graphics card you'll be fine.
Begger's can't be choosers
Pros: Tablet mode is neat. Laptop is faster than I expected. Can even handle some games on low settings.
Cons: No ethernet port is a bummer. The bios is poorly designed. Booting from a usb stick is a pain.
Overall Review: I got this laptop for free through a Time Warner Cable promotion. I really like it. It's a neat design, and honestly much better than I expected. For a sub $400 laptop it's really quite snappy, and the IPS screen is nice. I can play League of Legends on this laptop, so I'm happy there. You really can't do better than this laptop at this price point.
Easy to Work WIth
Pros: The case is very large, and has enough space for anything you could possibly want. You can fit the largest graphics cards in multi-card setups There are 8 HDD cages, and a special bracket that can mount 2 SSDs. There are 5 - 5.25" bays, what you could possibly use them all for, I have no idea. The cable management system is really convenient, and the mostly tool less design makes installing components a snap.
Cons: -It sucks that you are constrained to NZXT brand fans for some of the slots. -The HDD mounting brackets are a mild hassle. -Front Panel ports are a little unreliable.
Overall Review: This case is an absolute dream to work with, especially if you have a modular power supply. If you ever have to move it, you can skip working out for the day. It's heavy, about 25-30 pounds depending on which components you have installed.
Easy to Install
Pros: -MODULAR (so easy to work with!) -Has a silent mode -Plenty of cables, sata cables have 4 connectors! -Has a carrying case for your unused cables
Cons: -None so far