Joined on 03/18/10
Brother HL2270-DW owner, saving a bundle over OEM cartridges
Pros: Easy install process. Did it even before noticing the sheet with the detailed install diagrams. No striping or other print quality issues. I compared a document to one printed with the starter cartridge and saw no appreciable difference in quality. Price! Even though I missed the deadline for the mail-in rebate, I'm not mad. Avoiding official OEM ink still saved a lot, Laser printers are now that much more cost-effective compared to inkjets.
Cons: Took several printer restarts before the cartridge was recognized, which caused me a little concern. Following Brother's User Manual instructions to "Press and hold the Go button for about 4 seconds until all the LEDs light up" apparently did not reset the drum counter as indicated. Instead, it took several more power-cycles of the printer before it saw the new toner.
Overall Review: As per instructions, make sure you shake the new cartridge side-to-side to evenly distribute the toner before installing. Also, clean the corona wire inside by sliding the green tab back and forth several times, returning it to its home position. Skipping either of these steps could lead to striping.
Drop-in replacement
Pros: Besides the price, I like how my HL-2270DW printer instantly recognized this. Took just a minute to pop in and I was up and running. An earlier Rosewill toner replacement required several restarts and long button presses before it was properly recognized by my printer.
Cons: None so far.
Overall Review: My previous 3rd-party toner (Rosewill-branded) didn't last half as long as it should have. Too early to tell if Ink4Work will do the same. Even if it does, I think I'd still stick to the cheaper toner replacements instead of paying OEM prices. EDIT: Haven't kept track of total pages printed with my generic replacements, but my impression is this didn't last very long either. Finally paid for the official Brother toner to hopefully reduce maintenance trouble.
Incredible! Efficient and silent, always.
Pros: - Absolutely silent. At low loads (like my system) the fan never needs to turn on at all. - Efficient! In-depth review sites show it practically reaches Platinum efficiency, even in high heat environments, all while maintaining rock solid stability. - Efficient at low load too! 650W is huge overkill for my silent PC, with just a Core i3 and no discrete graphics card, so I worried that I would forfeit efficiency. However, the JonnyGuru review of this PSU shows it maintains an extremely impressive 88.8% efficiency at 9.6% load. - Pays for itself! I've calculated that at my electric rates this PSU will save me $25/year compared to a "budget" option. For a high-end system powered on 24/7 it would be much more! - 100% modular, sleeved cabling. Much less cluttered than my last PC, with less obstructed airflow. - Velvet bag is useful for holding board game pieces for random drawing--I use it for Carcassonne tiles. - 5 year warranty Edit: Still going strong 7 years later (Jan 2019)
Cons: - Manual was a little less descriptive than I would have liked for my first PSU install, but easy enough to figure things out. - Wish they offered it cheaper rather than include a fancy velvet bag and the special bag for cables.
Overall Review: Wish I'd bought another one to upgrade my family's PC, where the PSU is obviously the loudest component. Higher power draw too, so the efficiency gains from a Seasonic would really be noticeable on our electric bill.
Instantly recognized in ThinkPad E585, no issues
Pros: - Lifetime warranty - Good CAS Latency (16) - Easy install - Fast, free shipping with tracking - Instantly recognized, and passed a thorough hardware test
Cons: - RAM cartel pricing, but this was the best price for 32GB I'd seen at $170
Overall Review: - They included a small G.Skill sticker to adorn your case if that's your thing. - I liked that the packaging was easy to open without scissors (plastic with 2 strong snaps to close, plus the modules themselves fitted snuggly in place), but conceivably it could spring open in shipping and allow the RAM to fly around without anti-static shielding. I assume it's adequate protection in the vast majority of cases. - Dislike the trend away from easy access hatches for popping in RAM and storage upgrades. Wasn't bad to do again as I'd opened my laptop recently to install an NVMe SSD, but 9 screws and prying off the whole bottom cover is still annoying.
Solid performer
Pros: Fast boots, snappy app load times, and generally great speed on my machine. No transfer cables (as I knew), so did a manual backup of my files and a clean Windows 7 install, shedding any crapware in the process. Scores the max 7.9 in Windows Experience Index, compared to 5.9 from the previous 5400 RPM mechanical drive. 7mm height means it'll fit in any notebook fine (some SSDs are 9mm and too large for laptop drive spaces, especially in "ultrabooks" where thinness is prized).
Cons: None yet. Will update my review if any issues crop up down the line.
Overall Review: Formatted capacity of 111 GB, and after all security updates, office suite and other basic apps, was left with 85 GB for media and games. If you want to install in a desktop's 3.5" bay, order a mounting bracket too--this is just a bare drive.
Fantastic utility and value
Pros: Great set of the most useful tools, kept neat and organized by elastic bands and a zippered case.
Cons: No anti-static wrist strap (though I was so impressed with this toolkit, I ordered its bigger brother which had a strap included).
Overall Review: I put a small but powerful LED flashlight in the little extra space the case has. That's been my most useful tool, honestly. If you want to keep the tool identifying label, it can be cut out from the packaging and kept securely behind the tools.