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Charles N.

Charles N.

Joined on 04/05/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

You get what you pay for

ASUS GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card EN8400GS Silent/P/512M
ASUS GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card EN8400GS Silent/P/512M

Pros: Quiet, PureVideo HD, DirectX 10, Price after rebate

Cons: Performance

Overall Review: I used this board to bring a rig with embedded 6150 graphics into modern times. It is fanless (and thus quiet) and supports DirectX 10 and Flash 10.1 hardware acceleration. This met my minimal needs for only about $20 after MIR. The 8400 GS is about 25% faster than the integrated 3200 HD on another computer in the house, but only about one-seventh the speed of a Radeon 4670 HD. In other words, this board is a good upgrade to older integrated graphics at an absolute minimal cost, but for $30-40 more, you can have performance good enough for quality mainstream gaming.

Good but flawed

Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro for PS3
Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro for PS3

Pros: Bluetooth, keyboard and mouse (trackpad) in one device, some PS3 controller functions

Cons: Missing some PS3 controller functions; no Windows key when used as Windows keyboard

Overall Review: OK, this is sold as a PS3 keyboard, so I should not complain about the lack of a Windows key. On the other hand, as a PS3 keyboard that one might want to use for web browsing, the keyboard lacks keys corresponding to controller inputs that are essential for easy browsing. I cannot imagine why this is so. Given that, I find it a better PC keyboard than PS3.

No problems

Cables Unlimited - High Speed HDMI Cable - 6 FEET
Cables Unlimited - High Speed HDMI Cable - 6 FEET

Pros: Picture and sound transmitted with no problems

Cons: None

Overall Review: Maybe I'm just not discerning enough, but I am almost always satisfied with the performance of commodity cabling for digital signals. This is no exception: HD picture and sound from computer to LCD TV are great.

Get 64-bit driver on-line

ASUS USB-BT21 USB 2.0 Mini Bluetooth Dongle
ASUS USB-BT21 USB 2.0 Mini Bluetooth Dongle

Pros: Does what I need it to; price (just $10 last month)

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: I wanted to use this with Windows 7 64-bit. I went to asus.com, searched for USB-BT21, clicked downloads, selected Vista 64-bit (there was no Windows 7 option), downloaded the newer of the two "utilities" downloads, unzipped, installed, then put the dongle in a USB port and voila. After the drivers finished installing and I rebooted, Windows 7 discovered my Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro, paired with it, and I am one happy camper.

Perfect at the time

ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Excellent integrated graphics, plenty of SATA ports, many display options

Cons: Now outdated

Overall Review: Had this mb about a year...rock solid, lots of SATA ports. Just upgraded to 4670 video card for a good gaming experience. Today I would recommend an ASUS mb based on a more advanced chipset, which you can probably get for pretty much the same price.

Rocks for the price

ASUS Radeon HD 4670 512MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card EAH4670/DI/512MD3
ASUS Radeon HD 4670 512MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card EAH4670/DI/512MD3

Pros: Price/performance, good (but not excellent) game play at 1680x1050, simple power requirements (pulls through PCIe rather than separate cable(s))

Cons: Still get flack from friend who dropped 3 bills plus on 5xxx card

Overall Review: A gaming enthusiast would scoff at this card's performance, but for mainstream gaming and videos, I've seen nothing to beat the price/performance. The Linux drivers from AMD's web site installed and worked flawlessly.