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Kevin M.

Kevin M.

Joined on 03/09/09

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 11
Most Favorable Review

Very Solid SSD

Kingston SSDNow V+ Series 2.5" 64GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SNVP325-S2/64GB
Kingston SSDNow V+ Series 2.5" 64GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SNVP325-S2/64GB

Pros: Fast, no moving parts, cold, not affected by road time (great for laptops and LAN machines!), and good company like Kingston will stand behind their warranty. Just an FYI Intel is the best in the industry, and they worked side by side with Kingston so they probably have better grasp on the SSD market than an OC? company.

Cons: Like every SSD the price for GB is high (I paid 200 for this very early last year). I also have to say they aren't immune to problems, I had one instance that a sys32 file got corrupt but rolled back to a Ghost image I made the day before (45 minutes of testing, and then wiping before I was up again). I tested the drive with PCWizard and it has no bad blocks so I blame my HDD controller and Windows. It happens... Also Newegg shipped the Kingston box in a vanilla pouch, I can see that for a DVD but I'd like to see something more substantial for 200 bucks - haha. No damage done, this SSD has a metal housing.

Overall Review: This went to my 2.5 ghz quad core desktop, and I do have to say the boot times were great! Now that I've loaded it up with webserver, Skype, Live Messaging, Steam, etc on start up I still have 35 second start up times(~13s BIOS). Had my page file on this SSD for 6 months, this made my FPS a bit better but thought that it was a bad idea since I leave my machine on for a webserver (still swapping data then). I was able to get 210mb read and 160mb writes withouth AHCI turned on. I didn't need it, in fact it slowed down my computer booting. Just ordered 2x2tb drives for data, 64 gigs is enough for my OS and games, but not if you want to back up all your DVDs to HD. Specs: Antec 902 This SSD 64gb WD Blue 320gb (going away after the 2tb get its contents) Samsung Bluray w/ Lightscribe EVGA GST250 (512mb) - w/ EVGA Precision to control temps during OC'd gaming 8gb half height DDR2 RAM 120mm Sunbeam CPU cooler (idle temps 20*C load 35*C) Antec Earthwatts 750w XFX 750a mobo (not

Most Critical Review

XFX Mobo = No Good

XFX MDA72P7509 AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
XFX MDA72P7509 AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Lots of connections: 2 PCIe slots (SLI would be great!), 6 SATA ports, Sleek chrome heatsink, AM3 support, maybe a good overclocking bios but I never got that far.

Cons: No 1394 port hookups, MAJOR quality control issues, major driver problems, TWO bios chips (one for stock settings, one for OC'ing), no longevity in the parts.

Overall Review: I bought this as part of a bundle on another site, and let me just say this board is a nightmare! I have had 3 of them and all of them have had different problems come up within the first 2 weeks of running. First just failed to turn back on after 10 days, second lasted 3 days, and this third one is still sputtering. The first two I had no graphics card and no over clocking, just my 8 gigs of ram and 2.5ghz phenom(quadcore). The system stayed cool, but Left4Dead just wasn't as good as my laptop. So I got a card while the 3rd one was on its way (PNY 9800GTX OCd) this was a cheap upgrade that was sure to make this system fly right? WRONG! I put the card in, and booted up my old OS and BSOD. Dang, must need to re-install. I grab another SATA drive install another 64bit XP Pro and did windows updates (SP2) and security updates. Then I put on the 9800 drivers, go to restart and BSOD. Dang, lets try restoring in safe mode - NOPE integrated graphics found & another BSOD. • -DO NOT BUT THIS -

The BEST Wireless G Router!

Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g Wireless Broadband Router up to 54 Mbps/ Compatible with Open Source DD-WRT (not pre-load)
Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g Wireless Broadband Router up to 54 Mbps/ Compatible with Open Source DD-WRT (not pre-load)

Pros: This router is amazing. It has more than enough to keep the average home running, especially if loaded with DD-WRT (highly recommended). I have had one running for 4 years and bought another just to make sure I wouldn't be dead in the water if a pop spills on it. The signal strength with stock antenas is great (especially if adjusted to 70 in the DDWRT settings). I get full bars all over the house, and that is through tile floors and 3 walls across 70 feet.

Cons: Aging now, it isn't gigabit which is the only reason I could see for even looking at another router besides this.

Overall Review: A quick search on the web can reveal that you can add SD cards, screens, and more to this. Its crazy how capable this router is, and will continue to be for years to come! Get it if you don't do file sharing between computers on your LAN.

It Works

Nippon Labs 26AWG 4K HDMI Cable 50 ft. HDMI 2.0 Cable, Supports 1080p, 3D, 2160p, 4K, HDR, ARC, 18Gbps, CL3 for in-Wall Installation, HDMI-50
Nippon Labs 26AWG 4K HDMI Cable 50 ft. HDMI 2.0 Cable, Supports 1080p, 3D, 2160p, 4K, HDR, ARC, 18Gbps, CL3 for in-Wall Installation, HDMI-50

Pros: First off, it just works. Cables shouldn't be hard to screw up, but many companies manage to do it. This product is not one of those that will fail on you unless you are really cranking it around corners and bending it hard. The cable is really thick, meaning lots of copper, shielding, and protection between wires.

Cons: While some may find the heft of this cable annoying, its absolutely necessary for the length of this cable. You need bulk and cable diamjavascript:Biz.Feedback.RateProduct.Form.submit('display')eter to get 50 feet of solid performance.

Overall Review: I had this cable running from my PC to my TV, and it worked flawlessly (after accounting for overscan). The shielding works very well as it ran past a ton of other wires/cables including; wireless WRT54GL router w/ 6 cat5 UTP connections and higher 2.4 output, numerous surge protectors and power cables, computer speakers, and home theater speaker wires running parallel with it in my ducts. All that noise and it still delivers flawless picture from my aging GTX260 w/ SPIF audio and DVI > HDMI adapter. I'd recommend this product without hesitation to anyone looking for 20 feet or more - just coil up extra for a rainy day.

Just Get It!

GARMIN 010-10908-00 Portable Friction Mount
GARMIN 010-10908-00 Portable Friction Mount

Pros: This is the best idea out there for taking the GPS in the car, I have two of them and they are used heavily. This keeps the GPS planted on the dash in pretty much any driving situation (no probably not if you roll the car or get rear-ended, but gravity does wonders). It weighs maybe 3 pounds but its plenty to keep it put, but light enough so you can pass it over to the passenger. It also has bendable metal in the base, so if you want it in the same place everytime you can contour the bottom to what the dash does.

Cons: Probably doesn't repel hot cocoa or coffee well for itself or the GPS.

Overall Review: I do not encourage people to skimp the 15 bucks and get the knock off item here. It uses the suction cup to fasten to the base, and it is only a matter of time until it stops sealing. I've used this base for years and messed with it while I'm riding and it won't break if you make sure you aren't hitting or stepping on it.

Not for New PCs - Read This!

Zoo Tycoon 2 PC Game
Zoo Tycoon 2 PC Game

Pros: Fun game, hours of entertainment, cheap to buy, no hassle installation/activation garbage, available c#3@t$ make it fun for people who want to start big

Cons: READ OTHER THOUGHTS! This game will NOT run on a PC with 4 gigs or MORE of RAM. This is a huge drawback, I have 8 on my PC and the only way I could play this was to go start>run>msconfig [enter] and go into the Boot tab and limit the Maximum memory to 3 gigs (specify in MB with Win 7, not sure about XP). I did this a few times, but I don't like to reboot even with my SSD providing 35 second restarts (hitting shutdown to desktop). It's something I wish a patch could fix, but there is no way to do it.

Overall Review: Use the MSConfig route or open your case to yank ram out if your system has 4gb or more of RAM. It will look like your install goes fine, but when you launch the game it won't think your system specs meet the min requirements. The idea of using it in a VM didn't work so well with VMWare 6, but V Box might a bit better since it utilizes power from the GFX cards (if you have one installed). Overall, the game is a blast if your PC is not loaded with RAM.