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Nathan W.

Nathan W.

Joined on 10/13/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 7
Most Favorable Review

Great!

SONY Laptop VAIO Intel Core i5-3210M 6GB Memory 640GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE 13.3" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit SVS13A12FXS
SONY Laptop VAIO Intel Core i5-3210M 6GB Memory 640GB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M LE 13.3" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit SVS13A12FXS

Pros: First off, I must mention that I ordered my S13 directly from Sony with a bit different configuration than this laptop here. Mine has a smaller HDD and the 2GB GT640m. -Gunmetal finish looks GREAT. Very professional looking laptop that isn't an embarrassment to carry around. -Comfortable, thin, and very light. -Backlit keyboard is AWESOME. -Great display, 1600x900 resolution creates a beautifully crisp picture on a 13" screen. Viewing angles and brightness are pretty good. Plenty of power hardware wise. The i5 burns through CPU heavy programs well, and the GT 640m LE takes handles games with ease. Games: Skyrim (no mods)- High settings, 40-50fps, 65C GPU 70C CPU Dota 2- Maxed, 60fps, 65C GPU/CPU Psychonauts- Maxed, 60fps Battery life: Speed mode, gaming: ~2.5 hours Speed mode, browsing/movies: ~3.5-4 hours Stamina mode, browsing/movies" ~4.5+ hours Overall, this is just a great laptop for anyone after a small form factor laptop with a lot of power AND great bat

Cons: -Touch pad is HUGE and has no physical buttons. The pad itself clicks well and is plenty sensitive, but it is easy to bump with a palm while typing and moves the cursor. -Screen is very thin, resulting in a lot of flex. The strong screen hinge sort of counters this though, because when open, the screen feels really solid aside from the flex. -Gets a little hot on the right palm rest when gaming, but this is a small issue when using a separate mouse. -For a $1200 laptop, dual band wifi would be nice. -Gunmetal finish is a fingerprint magnet. Although I can nitpick and find a lot of little issues with it, the S13 is still a FANTASTIC computer, and none of the things I don't love about it are worth knocking off an egg.

Overall Review: I ordered mine through Sony and got in on the free 160GB PS3 deal for students. My specs were as follows: 500GB HDD, 4GB RAM, 2GB GT640M LE, 1600x900 res Newegg doesn't mention which version of the GT650m LE this comes with, but it is only available on these Vaios in 1GB or 2GB models, and the 1GB model should be more than enough to run most games on high settings. When my laptop shipped, I ordered an 8GB stick of Gskill RAM to add, and it now has 12GB of system ram and runs GREAT. It is also possible to swap the optical drive with a small HDD caddy to add a second HDD. When unistalling the bloatware, DO NOT REMOVE VAIO CONTROL CENTER! It is needed for the speed/stamina settings. Be sure to set Vaio CC to ventilation priority mode if you are gaming!

Most Critical Review

Decent case, brittle plastic

RAIDMAX AEOLUS ATX-818WB Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
RAIDMAX AEOLUS ATX-818WB Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Great looking case with a lot of room for a tall CPU cooler and a long GPU. Lots of fan space to be able to move a lot of air through the case. The mounting point for the second front fan moves air right through the HDD trays, great for keeping a bunch of tightly packed disks cool. The bottom mount PSU and fan filter is pretty great. Overall, it is a pretty nice looking case and the front fan is a nice eye-catcher.

Cons: When it arrived, it came out of the box with all of the plastic tabs broken off of the top panel. The panel itself was no longer attached to the case, and one of the top fans had fallen into the box. The front panel also had two broken tabs. The plastic clips which hold the fans are not too great; one top fan sat nicely in them, but the other one did not. Front LED fan is very weak for the only intake fan. Not much of a problem because there is a mounting point for a second intake fan, and 120mm fans are dirt cheap. Cable management is kind of difficult. I like my cases to look PRISTINE, and that was next to impossible in this case. I would suggest a modular PSU for the best appearance.

Overall Review: I bought this case for $40 on a Shell Shocker deal. A tube of super glue and a bit of patience and it all came together nicely. I found all of the broken tabs and glued them back on. It took me some work, but now it is impossible to tell it was ever broken. Some of the breaks may have been rough handling by UPS, but the box looked like it had very little damage; the plastic just seems fragile. This case arrived TWO DAYS after I ordered it with free shipping. Newegg ROCKS.

Works great for a great price

Insten 1846923 35 ft. Black & Red Cable with Ethernet Male to Male
Insten 1846923 35 ft. Black & Red Cable with Ethernet Male to Male

Pros: I bought this cable a bit over 3 months ago to use when connecting my PC to my home theater. It has worked great so far. The cable is solid and the connectors are nice. No part of the cable feels remotely flimsy. The cable itself is the same cable that you'll find in many other brands of HDMI, display port, and DVI cables-- the printing on the cable reads "High-Speed HDMI cable with ethernet E342987 AWM Style 20276 80C 30V". Mine cost $19 with shipping, a price I couldn't beat anywhere else. Overall, I am very satisfied.

Cons: None.

10/27/2014

One Year, going strong!

Tt eSPORTS  CHALLENGER ULTIMATE Gaming Keyboard Black KB-CHU003US
Tt eSPORTS CHALLENGER ULTIMATE Gaming Keyboard Black KB-CHU003US

Pros: I got this keyboard on sale last holiday season and have loved it since the day I opened it up. It is easily the best keyboard I have ever owned. -THIS KEYBOARD LOOKS GREAT! - Low profile keys makes transitioning super easy for games with lots of hotkeys -Heavy enough to not slide -Adjustable brightness on backlight, high visibility in low light -Plenty of Macro keys -Macros work well -Integrated powered USB and headphone output -Great feedback for non-mechanical keyboard -The fan looks cool!

Cons: -Software looks like it came from Windows 98 -Right row of Macro keys (6-10) are kind of awkward to reach -Low-profile keys are kind of difficult to type on for long periods of time

Overall Review: Although the software is clunky and slow, it does exactly what it should and works perfectly. It may take forever and feel awful to work with, but it does the job fine. Bad software isn't worth an egg if it doesn't hinder the performance. The fan doesn't really... do much. I decided it was best used in the right hand port to blow a little air on my mouse hand. I have been using this Keyboard to play Dota 2 since February, and it has worked out GREAT for me. The function keys and macro keys are easy to reach without moving my hand, and the low profile makes transitioning super easy. I would definitely recommend this keyboard to anyone playing a game with a lot of hotkeys, and to anyone who plays in the dark because they fear sunlight. Also, to anyone. Ever.

12/16/2012

Great Adapter

TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless N150 High Gain USB Adapter, 150Mbps, w/4 dBi High Gain Detachable Antenna, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WEP, WPA/WPA2
TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless N150 High Gain USB Adapter, 150Mbps, w/4 dBi High Gain Detachable Antenna, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WEP, WPA/WPA2

Pros: Fantastic adapter; win7 picked it up immediately and I was able to have it online within a few minutes of opening the package. High gain seems to be true; I am getting four bars over about 75', through four walls, and a floor. I have not suffered a single dropped connection yet either. The USB cradle that came with it is awesome.

Cons: White doesn't match the rest of the things on my desk. Darn.

Overall Review: I am using a Linksys WNDR3700 dual band N router with DD-WRT v24 sp2 firmware. I have no doubt that this high gain adapter helps pick up a better signal, but I also have the wireless tx boosted through the firmware to increase the range as well. If you are comfortable with reading a walkthrough and following instructions, DD-WRT is one of the best things you can do to improve a network.

Pretty Great

DIAMOND Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card 7870PE52G
DIAMOND Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card 7870PE52G

Pros: This card is a powerhouse. Super fast clocks, lots of shaders, and 2GB RAM makes for a happy gamer. So far, this card has taken everything I can throw at it and laughed. It has maxed Skyrim with 2k textures, Borderlands, Dota 2, and Portal 2 so far, all at 60fps. The size is just right for most cases. It is a hair shorter than my MSI r6950, and fit perfectly into a Raidmax Raptor case. The reference cooler is a fantastic cooler, at 20% fan speed, the card sits at 29C idle, and temps never pass 50C gaming, even with the fan curve set in MSI Afterburner so that I can't hear the fan until GPU temp hits 55C.

Cons: The squirrel cage fan is kind of loud. I knew this would be the case when purchasing though, so it doesn't lose an egg. Just imagine the sound of a leaf blower, and scale it down to GPU size. All reference coolers in this line will have the same volume.

Overall Review: I am curious to see what speeds I can hit with overclocking. 1GHz is fast, but why not push it a little? The reference cooler will easily be able to handle a little more heat.