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Matthew C.

Matthew C.

Joined on 09/08/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 12
Most Favorable Review

satisfactory

FSP Group AURUM GOLD 500W (AU-500) ATX12V /EPS 12V 80PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply  with Intel Haswell Ready
FSP Group AURUM GOLD 500W (AU-500) ATX12V /EPS 12V 80PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply with Intel Haswell Ready

Pros: Aside from the obvious - this is a very small power supply (fits very well in the bitfenix prodigy micro itx case, for instance), with adequate length cables (longer than I needed but again it's a small case), and it's very quiet.

Cons: No cable to power a case fan - you'll have to spend a buck or two to get an adapter if you have more fans than your motherboard has fan headers (this is common)

Most Critical Review

Not so happy with this component

COOLMAX CUG-700B 700W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified / CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC and Compatible with Core i3/i5/i7 Power Supply
COOLMAX CUG-700B 700W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Certified / CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC and Compatible with Core i3/i5/i7 Power Supply

Pros: Seems to deliver stable power. My system (e6320 and 8800 gts) is hardly the most demanding, but still, it works.

Cons: Ok, about the noise - the device is basically very quiet, but there is a persistent high pitched squeal that many people cannot hear. I happen to have good hearing, and the noise is very annoying. I may RMA it, or I may return it and bite the restocking fee to get a different brand. It seems I am not the only one with this problem ... I just don't know if it's a design flaw or if my unit is defective.

Follow-up review

Acer Laptop Aspire Intel Core i5-480M 4GB Memory 640GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 6550M 17.3" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit AS7741G-6426
Acer Laptop Aspire Intel Core i5-480M 4GB Memory 640GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 6550M 17.3" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit AS7741G-6426

Pros: Already reviewed once - see other post for numerous pros.

Cons: Touchpad sucks ... but this can be partially resolved. Symptoms: Noticable response delay, frequently missed 'touch-clicks' AND excessive sensitivity, terrible scrolling gesture support. I've never used a touchpad this terrible - you move your finger to do something and it doesn't register instantly like others ... you try to move the mouse across a page and end up a. not where you wanted and b. clicking 3 links along the way - without making any sort of clicking motion once in the process. Then when you want to click on something it doesn't register always - double clicks are especially bad.

Overall Review: Solution! I tried fiddling with the settings and tried updating/downgrading the Alps touchpad driver. It doesn't help. What did help ... ironically ... was downloading a Synaptecs generic touchpad driver. After installing a driver from the competitor to the company that makes this touchpad, the device is responsive and efficient. All the problems are gone, with one bad side effect - you cannot configure anything fancy using the synaptecs generic driver, ie: no 'tap-zones', no disable-touchpad-when-typing feature, no extra sensitivity options. I think you might be able to find a synaptecs driver that gives you everything though .... I'll keep looking. Post here if you find a good driver as numerous owners of this notebook are cursing this terrible touchpad (it's the driver, though).

About what I expected

Acer Laptop Aspire Intel Core i5-480M 4GB Memory 640GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 6550M 17.3" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit AS7741G-6426
Acer Laptop Aspire Intel Core i5-480M 4GB Memory 640GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 6550M 17.3" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit AS7741G-6426

Pros: Excellent specs for the price range, very attractive appearance, cooling/noise appear to be superior to the average. Generally very good performance, both in typical apps, bootup times, and games (what you'd expect based upon gpu/cpu/memory/hdd).

Cons: Touchpad - it's ok but doesn't seem as precise as others I have used. Screen - truly subpar ... I would say passable at best, due to the poor viewing angles, poor contrast, and mediocre color (subjective). Audio is mediocre.

Overall Review: At current prices & given current competition, this is a great buy. The only aspect with which I was disappointed was the screen. It is truly subpar. Compared to a 7 year old laptop it replaces (admittedly a nice one), the contrast is laughable, colors don't look that vibrant, text is uncomfortable to read (relatively - it is quite usable), and worst of all the viewing angles are below average.

DRM is out of control

BioShock PC Game
BioShock PC Game

Pros: Good game.

Cons: As others have pointed out, this game installed a rootkit onto your computer. I strongly suggest you do not buy it until (if ever) this is stopped. You CANNOT uninstall the root-kit, even if you uninstall the game.

Overall Review: I purchased this game, but honestly I wish I hadn't. I hate to support scummy DRM like this - why can't companies go the route of Steam? That's copy protection done right - except that if you buy this game through steam you STILL get the rootkit!

Best Case I've tried yet

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0

Pros: This case will not disappoint. Set the fans to low (the top fan to medium) and it's quiet enough for anything short of a recording studio (heck, it might even work there). The airflow is just amazing. I am using a nice heatsink with no fan, and it seems to cool better with just the case fans than many other cases and heatsink+fan combos.

Cons: Dust? None in my case yet, but it'll get dusty eventually. All cases get dusty, though.

Overall Review: Great shipping, somewhat high price (but well worth it); as usual I am very happy with Newegg.