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Finally Worth the Premium
09/05/2016
This review is from: SAMSUNG 850 PRO 2.5" 512GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7KE512BW
Pros: >Stayed quick after a month or so of usage, and approx. 70% capacity utilization
>Samsung magician software made installing and moving absolute child's play
Cons: >Keep trying to install an unsigned driver from Samsung India at startup. Windows blocks it though
>"Where is the power? Where is the SATA? Where have all the cables gone?" It's a $200~ drive. A SATAIII cable is expected, but no one seems to include them anymore.
Other Thoughts: Running Windows 10 on an ASUS Maximus Formula V, I can now boot into windows in under 10 seconds, and I now leave all of my programs to boot on startup too (I know, I'm a madman). Steam, GoG, Origin, uPlay, Spotify, 'Amazing Prime Music', Telegram, ownCloud, Corsair, Logitech, SteelSeries, Tobii, Adobe (and its various add-ons), OneDrive, SpiderOak, Soundblaster, KeePass, Slack, and my AV software - and it doesn't even bat an eye. I hit the login screen, unlock the computer, and can immediately open a web browser. Task Manager reports my last BIOS time as 38.9 seconds, but it feels shorter than that. All I know is that when I was on a 320Gb 7200rpm HDD, it took ~5 minutes from BIOS to being able to use my computer, and really only SpiderOak, OneDrive, Logitech, Corsair, SteelSeries, KeePass, Tobii, and my AV software would run.
I held off upgrading so long because I could never really justify the $/GB premium on quality SSDs until recently. I've had an SSD in my laptop (came with it installed) for a few years now, so I knew first hand the kind of advantages they offered. But I needed (wanted) 500GB minimum - I wanted more than just my OS on it, I wanted all my games and software on it. I also kept reading '1-year follow-up' reviews about cheaper SSDs that died or became nearly as slow as rust spinners. Intel and Samsung seemed to be the only two that were consistently puttting out quality SSDs. Not surprising, since they seem to be the only two making all of their own components - other SSD OEMs are actually buying most of their components from Intel and Samsung. Samsung is cheaper than Intel right now in the 2.5" form factor, and after catching the drive on sale at a brick & mortar retailer (let's call them "Nanohub"), I couldn't say 'no' anymore. And after a month of usage, it looks like it is going to go the distance.
Really, my only complaints concern Samsung Magician. It keeps trying to install an unsigned driver from Samsung India at Windows startup. Windows 10 keep blocking it, and I have no intention of unblocking it. Re-installing Samsung Magician had no effect. An email to customer support got no response. But I also was unable to find anyone else complaining of a similar issue, so I seem to be an isolated case - not sure what makes me special. But this is really not much more than an annoyance, just a click-through Windows prompt at startup that informs me that Windows blocked the installation. As for the software's usability:
Some of its more advanced features are hidden. You have to be willing to click around, and get to OS optimization screen to set some of the options - but can change these same options with Windows itself too. Nothing major, just minor UX complaints mostly.
Benchmarks (AS SSD Benchmark):
>Control w/ no data
>>Seq Read: 521.82 MB/s
>>Seq Write: 492.89 MB/s
>>4K Read: 24.03 MB/s
>>4K Write: 61.50 MB/s
>>4k-64Thrd Read: 383.85 MB/s
>>4K-64Thrd Write: 331.38 MB/s
>>Acc. Time Read: 0.049 ms
>>Acc. Time Write: 0.041 ms
>>Read Score: 460
>>Write Score: 442
>>Combined Score: 1143
>After ~1mo of usage, and 70% capacity utilization
>>Seq Read: 521.73 MB/s
>>Seq Write: 482.96 MB/s
>>4K Read: 29.20 MB/s
>>4K Write: 56.34 MB/s
>>4k-64Thrd Read: 380.78 MB/s
>>4K-64Thrd Write: 295.62 MB/s
>>Acc. Time Read: 0.103 ms
>>Acc. Time Write: 0.037 ms
>>Read Score: 462
>>Write Score: 400
>>Combined Score: 1106
EggXpert
Not suitable for GoPro (or other high-bandwidth media recording)
07/31/2016
This review is from: Silicon Power 128GB Elite microSDXC UHS-I/U1 Class 10 Memory Card with Adapter, Speed Up to 75MB/s (SP128GBSTXBU1V20NE)
Pros: >Massive storage; great for storing smartphone pictures
>Quick read
>exFat out of the box
>116/128GB usable space
Cons: >Too slow write (9Mbps) for any kind of HD video recording; 1080p60
Other Thoughts: First off: this isn't a bad memory card, price considered. If all you are looking for a memory card to store Apps, PDFs, word docs, and the occasional pic on your phone with, then look no further. I doubt you will ever fill this up. Most people have trouble filling up cards one-quarter the size of this one. If you were hoping to record HD video with this card, keep looking - and assume that any speeds listed at read speeds, unless specifically listed as "write" speeds. I tried this in my GoPro, just as a good stress test. With modern screens, I consider 1080p60fps to be a good 'standard' recording format. The only time you should use 720p is when it is the most our camera is capable off, or when the point is to bump up the fps for slow motion video capture. In my GoPro Hero 4 Silver, this card seems to drop about every other frame at 1080p60, every third frame at 1080p48, and inconsistently dropped every fourth frame at 1080p30 (some videos were perfect, others were not). What made this a little worse is you can't see this on the GoPro screen until you begin playing it back after recording (either on-camera, or on your computer). So if you're not careful, and use this card, you could end up getting 5 hours of unusable video. It was a similar deal with the couple of phones I tried it out with.
So, no good for video recording, and no good for snapping a lot of pictures in quick succession. But if you just want to install as many Apps as you would like, and save a bunch of documents or media files for off-line playback, go nuts. That is what 80%* of the population needs micro SD cards for anyway. So 4/5 eggs, for the 4/5 people that this card will be perfect for.
One thing that I find odd - neither negative nor positive - is that it is 116GB of actual space, and that is the exact same amount that a lot of other reviewers have been saying. You always end up with less space than advertised, because the kind of math they like to use to calculate advertised space and space lost to formatting, but at the same time, feels a little too specific to just be a coincidence.
*A statistic that I completely made up, but sounds about right in my head.
EggXpert
07/06/2016
This review is from: TP-LINK RE355 AC1200 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Range Extender
Pros: >One of the few dual band extenders on the consumer market
>Setup was the easiest I've ever done with an extender; no WPS necessary
>Good range for both bands
>Antennae are rectractable
>'Seamless' wireless networking - some cheaper extenders won't let you clone the SSID.
Cons: >Antennae feel a little flimsy
>It is a little large?
>Kind of pricey if it isn't exactly what you are looking for
Other Thoughts: I live in the lower-half of a two-family home. Router is in the basement by necessity, so it used to be that we could only get the 2.4Ghz signal throughout the home. The 5Ghz could only be picked up in certain places that were nearby the router. This extender seems to solve that problem. We get 5Ghz throughout the home, and 2.4Ghz out onto the porch and into the yard.
The setup was super easy. I'm used to having to run back and forth between router and extender pushing WPS button - and then usually having some kind of "network name - extender" SSID coming from the extender. But this was: plug it in, connect to it like you would a router, follow the on-screen prompts, and get a seamless wireless network. Super easy. All you need to know if your WiFi network names and passwords. That is it.
One thing you should be aware of is just how massive this extender is. Don't expect to be using that socket for anything other than this extender. It doesn't completely block the plug below it, but it does come close enough that getting other plugs in and out would be difficult/impossible (depending on the plug). Even then, with the antennas retracted, its about 6" long. I suggest you put it in a socket that you don't really use. We put it in our kitchen, in a socket that we never used (its in an odd place).
Is it worth $90? Maybe. Depends on your situation, and budget. If you have a little more money to spend and like solid WiFi connections - but your budget stops short of enterprise-class gear - this is probably what you are looking for. We flat out couldn't use our 5Ghz network before this. It just couldn't be picked up by any devices in most of the house, because even the $300 routers have trouble pumping 5Ghz signal up two flights of stairs from a basement. Now we have 5Ghz everywhere, and 2.4Ghz outside. But if you have only a few dead or weak spots in your coverage, you can probably get by with a cheaper extender.
