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Edward S.

Edward S.

Joined on 11/12/12

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 27
Most Favorable Review

Works fine with HP Pavilion Slimline Case

MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Graphics Card N750 Ti-2GD5TLP
MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Graphics Card N750 Ti-2GD5TLP

Pros: I upgraded the HP Pavilion Slimline with an Intel DH67BL motherboard some time ago. Drop it fitment on the motherboard btw. I decided to replace the Zotac GTX 640 LP I originally had with this GTX 750 Ti LP and it was a perfect fit. The necessary Low Profile height PCI brackets are included by MSI. Very quiet fans. Very nice protective plastic packaging caps along the PCI edge connector and all three external ports.

Cons: For a Low Profile card the LP bracket should be installed by default, not the regular size PCI bracket. Minor comment, that's really all I could say con wise.

Overall Review: No need to uninstall the Nvidia drivers if you update before the card swap. Drop in replacement, nothing to do with GeForce Experience installed.

Most Critical Review

Needs work

D-Link DAP-1665 Wireless AC1200 Dual Band Gigabit Access Point
D-Link DAP-1665 Wireless AC1200 Dual Band Gigabit Access Point

Pros: Only DAP I am aware of that has simultaneous dual band radio support. Nice clean mechanical design in soft white color with green LEDs that do not blink. Healthy looking antennae. GigE LAN port. Has the "legacy" orange firmware UI with more user control over features.

Cons: Poor signal strength, you can be sitting line of sight within 10ft or less and the unit is still have under 60% signal on both bands checked with common WiFi testing tools as well as Mac, Android, PCs. Also have observed the unit goes into a reboot cycle with more than 12 clients actively connected! While it has the "legacy" orange UI, D-Link have removed settings that were available in earlier DAP models thus degrading what you can control with this newer WAP. Tested with latest firmware 1.13 at time of this review.

Overall Review: I really wanted this to work and replace a pair of DAP-1522s handling 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz with a single WAP that did both. While it *could* replace them, it needs firmware work to be an improvement. The DAP-1665 range is less than the DAP-1522, and the DAP-1522 never rebooted on me even with 20 clients connected. The DAP-1665 reboots on me every single time it has more than 12 clients actively engaged. Both the poor signal strength/range and the instability are firmware issues that could be addressed.

Great Windows alternative to the Apple Macbook Air

HP ENVY x360 13m-ag0001dx AMD Ryzen 5 2500U (2.00 GHz) 8 GB Memory 128 GB SSD AMD Radeon Vega 8 13.3" Touchscreen 1920 x 1080 Convertible 2-in-1 Laptop Windows 10 Home 64-Bit (Factory Refurbished)
HP ENVY x360 13m-ag0001dx AMD Ryzen 5 2500U (2.00 GHz) 8 GB Memory 128 GB SSD AMD Radeon Vega 8 13.3" Touchscreen 1920 x 1080 Convertible 2-in-1 Laptop Windows 10 Home 64-Bit (Factory Refurbished)

Pros: - Lightweight, sleek, thin - Touchscreen and compact 13" - Dark matte finish - Backlighted keyboard

Cons: - Hours of BIOS firmware and software updates needed to bring it up to date out of the box - Plastic construction instead of aluminum

Overall Review: I would recommend this though as it's far newer and less expensive than a comparable used Apple Macbook Air would be yet represents all the best features of that laptop model.

Top notch build quality and compatibility

ICY DOCK Quad Bay 2.5"/ 3.5" SATA HDD/SSD USB 3.0/eSATA External JBOD Hard Drive Enclosure - Black - ICYCube MB561U3S-4SB R1
ICY DOCK Quad Bay 2.5"/ 3.5" SATA HDD/SSD USB 3.0/eSATA External JBOD Hard Drive Enclosure - Black - ICYCube MB561U3S-4SB R1

Pros: I have used the previous model to this unit since 2014 with only minor issues that had great support (drive LEDs went out on that one twice but Icy warranty replaced the circuit boards each time). So when shopping for a new enclosure I went with Icy Dock again. I have this connected to a SiiG SC-SA0N11-S1 1-port PCIe eSATA 6Gb adapter installed in an HP Gen8 Microserver running Windows Home Server 2011 (Windows Server 2008 R2 based). This adapter is a port mulitplier type and the Icy supports these across eSATA. Includes a USB 3.0 cable, eSATA cable, setup manual, screws for four 2.5" drives, and screws for four 3.5" drives. This is a nice touch. The drive activity LEDs are a soft white color and cannot be dimmed. Fortunately they are very small and not a problem. Build quality is still excellent with an aluminum outer shell and removal exhaust fan. Compatible with the equipment I have.

Cons: The power cable includes an adapter brick, wish they would move this DC power adapter functionality into the unit area below the drives to remove the cable bulk.

Overall Review: Fantastic warranty support - but be sure you go to their website and register the product manually to activate it!

Trouble free setup and fully RAID compatible

Seagate NAS HDD ST3000VN000 3TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive
Seagate NAS HDD ST3000VN000 3TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive

Pros: Unlike Desktop class drives, these NAS class drives are designed to work with RAID controllers and have timings to avoid unnecessary array resets / rebuilds. I put four of these into an HP Gen8 Microserver in a OBR (One Big RAID) RAID 1+0 setup with a 160GB system logical volume and the rest as a data volume with Windows Home Server 2011. An OBR puts the OS in the same array as data. which is the best practice in commercial IT centers with Windows Server nowadays. These are the precursor to the new Iron Wolf line from Seagate, they are identical other than firmware improvements and a better buy for home use given they are currently priced to move out this now discontinued model. This drive would be comparable and competitive with a WD Red model. No issues after four weeks and humming along nicely.

Cons: None really.

Overall Review: Nothing but the drive is included in this SKU; no screws, no cables, no rails, no software. Just the bare drive. With a Seagate I've found if you're gonna have problems it will be on the first day or in the first couple of weeks. If you get that far they usually hum along for 4-5 years.

One of a kind product

Tripp Lite 550 VA Audio / Video Backup Power Block - Exclusive UPS Protection for Structured Wiring Enclosure (AV550SC)
Tripp Lite 550 VA Audio / Video Backup Power Block - Exclusive UPS Protection for Structured Wiring Enclosure (AV550SC)

Pros: All metal rugged contruction Two year factory warranty Silent, no beeps/alarms only indicator LEDs Fits nicely inside the 42" On-Q Legrand structured wiring enclosure Has a 60s delay-on feature for the router plug to give time for the modem to power up first Has a 12VDC output you can use for some enclosure accessories (but not security alarm boards which need 16VAC)

Cons: No remote monitoring/remote self-test capability Only 8-10minutes of reserve power (battery backup running time) Battery is an uncommon and difficult to locate type in retail stores (available online though)

Overall Review: Tripp Lite claims the battery is not user serviceable, but you can replace it yourself if you are a DIY type. Measures approx 8.5in H x 7in W x 3in D Off white/light tan type paint color