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Matt C.

Matt C.

Joined on 11/27/09

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review
TRENDnet 8-Port Unmanaged Gigabit GREENnet Desktop Metal Switch, Fanless, 16Gbps Switching Capacity, Plug & Play, Network Ethernet Switch, Lifetime Protection, Black, TEG-S80G
TRENDnet 8-Port Unmanaged Gigabit GREENnet Desktop Metal Switch, Fanless, 16Gbps Switching Capacity, Plug & Play, Network Ethernet Switch, Lifetime Protection, Black, TEG-S80G

Pros: This switch is really great. It's completely silent and stays nice and cool. Of course, it's much faster than my old 10/100 switch!

Cons: This is really nitpicky but the cons field is required: the status lights aren't the best in the world. If you're looking at the switch from the left or right, you'll see the lights start to show up where the adjacent port should be.

Most Critical Review
OCZ 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Desktop Memory Model OCZ2V6672G
OCZ 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Desktop Memory Model OCZ2V6672G

Pros: Once I got a working stick, it works fine.

Cons: I bought this memory and installed it in my new server. The OS install crashed about five times, so I ran memtest86 and found that the memory was defective. I RMA'd it, and when I got the replacement it wouldn't even POST. I RMA'd it again, and the second replacement actually worked. You should probably avoid this RAM. I bought this specific RAM because of its low price, but after return shipping on two RMAs it didn't turn out so cheap.

Overall Review: I still don't believe premium RAM is worth it for the average user. But from now on I'm buying mid-range rather than the cheapest I can find.

not durable

RFID-blocking, Hard-case Wallets (Set of 2)
RFID-blocking, Hard-case Wallets (Set of 2)

Pros: Seems to stand up to scratches well. Holds more cards than advertised - I got 13 in there, but maybe that's part of the reason it broke.

Cons: I bought a set of two, and within 6 months they both broke. The little plastic tab that latches to close the wallet snapped in the exact same place in both.

Overall Review: The package claimed that it would hold cash, but there's no way it would fit.

Verbatim Smart 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model 97275
Verbatim Smart 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model 97275

Pros: Cheap and high capacity. The retracting USB plug is nice because there's no cap to lose.

Cons: SUPER SLOW! It's really unpleasant to copy a bunch of files onto this drive. At first I thought it was just the fact that I had accidentally used a USB 1 (not high speed) port, but it didn't get much faster with a USB2 high speed port. Retracting plug is a little flimsy. Once or twice it's retracted when I tried to plug it in.

Overall Review: It would be nice if there was a status light that blinked when the drive was active.

SiliconDust - HDHomeRun Network-based Dual Digital - HDTV Tuner Ethernet Interface
SiliconDust - HDHomeRun Network-based Dual Digital - HDTV Tuner Ethernet Interface

Pros: This is a pretty amazing piece of equipment. I have two of them for my MythTV system and they've never caused any problems at all. They get surprisingly good reception with just a plain old antenna in the attic, and the fact that they work over ethernet allowed me to set them up in the attic to get a better signal without moving my server from the living room.

Cons: Can't receive encrypted cable channels. I wish it had a different style power adapter.

Overall Review: Most cable systems don't have anything unencrypted, not even local channels. If you do get unencrypted channels, the cable company can start encrypting them at any time with no warning. I'm not listing this as a con because it isn't specific to this product, but you should keep it in mind.