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Aric B.

Aric B.

Joined on 04/06/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 14
Most Favorable Review

Wonderful Purchase

SAMSUNG NC20-21GBK VIA Nano U2250(1.3+ GHz) 12.1" WXGA 1GB Memory 160GB HDD Netbook
SAMSUNG NC20-21GBK VIA Nano U2250(1.3+ GHz) 12.1" WXGA 1GB Memory 160GB HDD Netbook

Pros: -Very high battery life which easily last for a day of use -High resolution compared to other netbooks, though is compromised for by the portability -Quiet fan, it only increased speed on time while streaming an HD video while placed on a couch, even then it wasn't too loud -The upgrade to 2GB of RAM dedicates more memory to strictly video memory (256MB of the 2048MB) -There is an extension for Firefox that allows zooming in and out using the touch pad, similar to how the iPhone zooms -Doesn't get hot if on a rigid surface, and is reasonable on a pillow/couch/lap -Wireless works well and pick ups networks from long distances -The lack of a CD-ROM drive is a pro, decrease the weight and you can easily access a drive over your LAN -Quick post (maybe 2 seconds), short boot time and short time to return from hibernation/stand-by -I haven't tried any games, though i am sure CS 1.7 will run fine (that's all you need, right?) -Large keyboard (almost full size), takes no time to get

Cons: -Speakers of course; I agree with others that the placement of the speakers should be above the keyboard -There is lag when running HD videos or videos over a LAN -There is not a noticeable edge where the touch pad is and isn't, so sometimes you try to move the mouse and the touch pad is not there -Your thumb sometimes hits the touch pad and interrupts typing (though is not near as bad as the MacBooks) -The DC part of the power adapter is very small and flexible, though the AC cord that goes from the wall to the AC to DC converter is stiff and large.... and it also has a ground wire (I have never seen a laptop that has the need for a ground wire) -McAfee blows... -For some reason the recovery software created two partitions of equal size.... kinda lame -I wish it had the 2 finger scrolling

Overall Review: I installed Sophos anti-virus because that is what my college provides for it's students for free. Very low memory usage and does not have annoying updates and reboots everyday. I have never owned a laptop before, and coming from a gaming machine with dual 1920x1200 Dell UltraSharp monitors is a bit harsh. I am not used to not being able to run to applications side-by-side. I would most definitely recommend an upgrade to 2GB of RAM. I will most likely create a partition for Linux for programming and Windows 7 just for trying out...

Most Critical Review

Worthless

ENCORE Video Tuner & Capture Card ENLTV-FM PCI Interface
ENCORE Video Tuner & Capture Card ENLTV-FM PCI Interface

Pros: None.

Cons: This product is not verified by windows. Even in the manual it tells the user to "continue anyway." Also this product does not work with ANY thing that involves microsoft's products. If you want to use windows media center... too bad, it won't work.

Overall Review: Don't buy it unless you have a cheap computer to go along with your cheap TV tuner.

Good cheap router

TP-LINK TL-WR541G IEEE 802.11b/g eXtended Range Wireless G Router up to 54Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4
TP-LINK TL-WR541G IEEE 802.11b/g eXtended Range Wireless G Router up to 54Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4

Pros: -Easy to use web interface -No drops or disconnects (running 24/7 for over 8 months now) -Good wireless range -Mac Cloning

Cons: -It is difficult to see the port that the lights are trying to indicate is active or in use

Overall Review: I use this router in my dorm hidden from the my universities Residential Network. To hide it from my university, I clone my MAC address, disable the SSID, use WPA-Passkey security and MAC address filtering. All of these features function like they should and keep a stable configuration. This configuration makes it just about impossible to connect to it from an unauthorized source (aka KU).

TP-LINK TL-WR541G

TP-LINK TL-WR541G IEEE 802.11b/g eXtended Range Wireless G Router up to 54Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4
TP-LINK TL-WR541G IEEE 802.11b/g eXtended Range Wireless G Router up to 54Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4

Pros: Strong connection with a very long range. Works throughout a entire 4 floor brick hall that I live in. Has not dropped a connection.

Cons: Layout of the settings could be better. Mac filtering is a little confusing.

Overall Review: I hide this router from my school network and it works wonderfully. I use mac filtering, hide the SSID, WEP 128-bit encryption, and my mac is cloned for the residential network cannot detect it.

OCZ Diesel 16GB

OCZ Diesel 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model OCZUSBDSL16G
OCZ Diesel 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Model OCZUSBDSL16G

Pros: 16 Gigabytes!!! It will be a while until I have to replace this one. Sadly, I said the same about my 4GB Sandisk. OK read/write speeds.

Cons: The cap is a horrible design. There should be a way to attach it to the drive when in a USB slot.

Overall Review: The reason for the loss in memory is because OCZ represents a kilobyte as 1000 bytes (which is just an approximation) and windows recognizes it as 1024 bytes. It is just how the OS is built and this is the way it has been since the invention of flash memory. So if 16GB is represented as 16,000,000,000 bytes in OCZ's world and a Gigabyte is actually 1073741824 bytes then you take 16 billion divided by 1073741824 bytes and you get 14.9GB! This method is used for simplification because zeros are a lot easier to deal with than random numbers.

12/27/2008

LG Blu-Ray ROM

LG Black 6X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model GGC-H20L
LG Black 6X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-ROM SATA Internal Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Model GGC-H20L

Pros: Plays HD DVDs and Blu-Ray movies. Looks wonderful in 1920x1200. Bought it on sale for $100, came with a power adapter and a SATA cable, which is suprising for a OEM model.

Cons: The bright blue LED and software.

Overall Review: Cyberlink is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with. I bought the PowerDVD 8, the standard edition, figuring that all the 8 series has Blu-Ray playback. I was wrong. On Cyberlinks website the only way to find out that only the Ultra Edition has Blu-Ray playback is to click the tiny compare button, other than the compare button Cyberlink advertises Blu-Ray playback all over the main page for PowerDVD 8. Also there is no way to contact Cyberlink to refund your money execpt through email which takes over 48 hours for them to respond. You have to call Digital River to recieve the refund which Cyberlink never mentions on there website. I called LG and they sent me a cut down version of PowerDVD 7 Ultra which also plays HD DVDs, unlike the 8 series. Do not buy Cyberlink's Software go with AnyDVD HD. That way you don't have to worry about HDCP compliance.

12/23/2008