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Christopher L.

Christopher L.

Joined on 05/26/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 7
Most Favorable Review

Solid PS, expected quieter, cables too short

SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
SeaSonic G Series SSR-550RM 550W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

Pros: Solid construction, good brand.

Cons: Noise level is good when running Office applications, it's a low steady background noise so it's easier to ignore, though it's higher pitched than other PS I've owned. However, the instant load increases, e.g. when copying files to ext HDD or watching streaming video, fan noise ramps up noticeably. This wouldn't normally be a problem if this desktop sat on the floor. However, this particular computer is the only one in my house that sits on a desk in a very quiet upstairs room. The included SATA power cables are too short overall for a mid tower case. Also, the intervals between connectors are too short, forcing me to re-arrange drives to get them to work. How much could longer cables possibly cost? I would have preferred cables 3-4 inches longer with greater intervals between connectors in lieu of the black bag provided for cable storage.

Overall Review: First time owner of Seasonic based on reviews. Have an X series PS ordered from NewEgg that I expect to be quieter. Will keep this G series my other desktops that sit on the floor.

Most Critical Review

Solid printer, uses up color ink even if printing only black

HP Officejet 6000 C9295A Up to 32 ppm Black Print Speed 4800 x 1200 dpi Color Print Quality Ethernet (RJ-45) / USB / Wi-Fi InkJet Workgroup Color Printer
HP Officejet 6000 C9295A Up to 32 ppm Black Print Speed 4800 x 1200 dpi Color Print Quality Ethernet (RJ-45) / USB / Wi-Fi InkJet Workgroup Color Printer

Pros: Wireless, print quality is very good, replacement ink cartridges available in high capacity versions, big input tray, individual ink tanks. Good diagnostics printouts for networking and ink usage.

Cons: Uses up color inks, even if you set driver defaults to print 100% in black. Have three students in the house, so this printer is used a lot for printing out school papers. Nearly all of kids' homework is black only, but we wanted color capability for the occasional color charts and graphics. I expected the black starter cartridge to run out quickly and it did. However, I did not expect the color cartridges to show low ink so quickly. After six weeks of usage (340 pages according to the built-in "printer status report"), all the low ink warning lights for the color inks on the front panel came on. We have not printed more than 20 pages in color. A search of the HP support forums says color ink being used up in between print jobs to maintain the internal inkjet plumbing. This is a disappointing surprise. Why didn't HP say so before I bought the product. This is a hassle, though not a big loss, it was on sale at Newegg for $50 after instant rebate.

Overall Review: Bought this for wireless, and it works great. Bought this so we could use high capacity cartridges to save $$$ save on ink, and this is working for black ink, but so far not for color ink.

Very good except must use QVL DDR5

ASUS Prime Z690-A LGA 1700(Intel®12th&13th) ATX motherboard (16+1 DrMOS,PCIe 5.0,DDR5,4x M.2, Intel® 2.5 Gb LAN,USB 3.2 Gen 2 front panel Type-C,Thunderbolt™ 4,Aura Sync RGB lighting)
ASUS Prime Z690-A LGA 1700(Intel®12th&13th) ATX motherboard (16+1 DrMOS,PCIe 5.0,DDR5,4x M.2, Intel® 2.5 Gb LAN,USB 3.2 Gen 2 front panel Type-C,Thunderbolt™ 4,Aura Sync RGB lighting)

Pros: Mounted in case with no problems to replace an older ASUS motherboard. Have used ASUS for years with no problems. Installed 2x16Gb Crucial DDR5 sticks. Got erratic boot behavior. Boot hung with yellow Q-LED on (DRAM issue). Sometimes it would get past yellow QLED to white QLED then power down and reboot. Sometimes would hang on ASUS boot screen "press DEL or F2". Sometimes would successfully boot and start Windows. If I installed a single stick (either one), would get consistently successful boot. If both sticks installed, then got erratic boot. DIdn't matter if I cleared CMOS or not. Then read these reviews and later discovered my Crucial sticks were not on the motherboard's qualified vendor list. After installing two approved DRAM, problems went away. Can't remember having these problems with ASUS motherboards before (I've built 7 previous systems with ASUS boards).

Overall Review: Solid motherboard so far if you are careful to install the right DRAM.

Solid and quiet

SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold (SS-650KM Active PFC F3) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Hasw
SeaSonic X Series X650 Gold (SS-650KM Active PFC F3) 650W ATX12V V2.3/EPS 12V V2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Hasw

Pros: Quiet. Perfect for my needs.

Cons: Cables too short for mid-tower. Intervals between connectors too short. Had to re-arrange drives to get all of them connected.

Works fine, no complaints

TRENDnet TEW-P1UG Wireless 1-Port Print Server Wired: IEEE 802.3 10Base-T, IEEE 802.3u 100Base-TX  Wireless: IEEE 802.11b/g USB 2.0, 1.1 Compliant UB Type A port
TRENDnet TEW-P1UG Wireless 1-Port Print Server Wired: IEEE 802.3 10Base-T, IEEE 802.3u 100Base-TX Wireless: IEEE 802.11b/g USB 2.0, 1.1 Compliant UB Type A port

Pros: Small, unobstrusive, adequate set up instructions, works fine. Used this wireless print server to add to my home wireless network a 12 yr old (when they were built like tanks) HP inkjet printer for utility printing purposes.

Cons: When setting up on one computer, it wouldn't detect the printer. Simply restarting the computer, and powering on/off the printer and wireless server fixed the problem.

Didn't work

Lenmar PPU916 Universal Laptop Power Pack
Lenmar PPU916 Universal Laptop Power Pack

Pros: Small. Lightweight. Comes with many adaptors; able to find the right ones for my laptop. Has USB port for charging personal electronics. Worked OK for charging my daughter's MP3 player.

Cons: Didn't work on two HP/Compaq notebook PC's (both have 14" screens, within the manufacturer's claims of being ideal for 7-15" screens). The battery was fully charged, I used the proper adaptors, the battery was set to proper output voltage, and there were good electrical connections. My newer 6 month old HP/Compaq business notebook running Win 7 acted if the external battery wasn't even there. On my 4 year old HP/Compaq notebook running Win XP, the Windows power icon flickered intermittently when external battery was connected.

Overall Review: Nice idea, but to me, it seems this battery doesn't quite have enough juice to do the job.