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Ronald P.

Ronald P.

Joined on 02/20/06

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Most Favorable Review

Great USP for laptop setup in home office

APC BE650G1 Back-UPS 650 VA 8-outlet 340 Joules Surge Energy Rating Data Line Protection -Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) (Replaces BE650G)
APC BE650G1 Back-UPS 650 VA 8-outlet 340 Joules Surge Energy Rating Data Line Protection -Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) (Replaces BE650G)

Pros: Plenty of outlets, both batter-backup and surge-protected. No setup required, just plug it in. Battery replacement will be a snap when the time comes (battery cover comes off without having to undo screws). 650VA is plenty for a laptop & docking station, with a couple of monitors. The footprint isn't tiny, but small enough for my home-office setup.

Cons: Heavy and bulky compared to a 6-outlet surge protector. But I guess the battery has to go somewhere!

Overall Review: Good bang-for-the-buck. I have used 1500VA UPS's before, but they seemed overkill based on my actual power usage. This one is more in line with actual need, and about half the price. Fits in my compact home office setting, which I bet a LOT of us are now dealing with in 2020! You can see how it snugs right into the available space in the attached photo. Plenty of open outlets if I need to add anything.

Most Critical Review

Flimsy CF slot, unstable mounting means it was of no use to me.

Rosewill 5.25" Front Panel Card Reader USB 3.0 USB Hub and Fan Speed Controller, All-In-One Card Reader: SD, CF, XD and MS, 4 Fast Charging USB 3.0 Ports w/ Voltage & Amp Indicator - RCR-300
Rosewill 5.25" Front Panel Card Reader USB 3.0 USB Hub and Fan Speed Controller, All-In-One Card Reader: SD, CF, XD and MS, 4 Fast Charging USB 3.0 Ports w/ Voltage & Amp Indicator - RCR-300

Pros: Lots of USB3 ports. It has a fan control plug (didn't use it myself, as my case already has all the controls I needed).

Cons: I bought this specifically for the CF card reader. My wife's DSLR uses those kind of flash drives. After only 3 uses, the pins were already getting bent, and it could no longer read the card. The slot itself is so shallow front-to-back that it does not allow for stable insertion of the card. So basically 15 minutes into having it installed, it was already unusable. Did not try the other card slots, so don't know about any of them. They looked more stable than the CF slot. With only 1 mounting screw on either side, this reader tended to spin up an down in the case. Rather unstable mounting situation. Just really couldn't recommend this to anyone that wants to use the CF slot. If you're looking at this reader for the other features, it may be good enough for your purposes. But for me, I ended up going back to the AFT XM-37U USB 3.0 3.5” Kiosk Card Reader. It's expensive, but it's one really tough cookie that puts up with a LOT of use & abuse. A better option in my opinion.

Overall Review: Tried this unit because it was for a 5 1/4" slot. Didn't want to have to buy another faceplate adapter. Should have spent the money for a better unit (like the AFT mentioned above), and the adapter...

Comfortable, option-rich keyboard!

Logitech ERGO K860 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard - Split Keyboard, Wrist Rest, Natural Typing, Stain-Resistant Fabric, Bluetooth and USB Connectivity, Compatible with Windows/Mac
Logitech ERGO K860 Wireless Ergonomic Keyboard - Split Keyboard, Wrist Rest, Natural Typing, Stain-Resistant Fabric, Bluetooth and USB Connectivity, Compatible with Windows/Mac

Pros: This Logitech keyboard is just as comfortable to use as the Microsoft Natural line (which has been my go-to since the 1990's). The split-angle, and bump in the middle really do make it ideal for keeping my wrists from hurting while typing. I'm not normally a fan of "chicklet" keyboard, much prefer the mechanical action of old-style keyboards. But this one is not too bad. There is enough key travel and a pleasant "poink" when you press a key to where you know you pressed it. The Bluetooth connection was incredibly easy to set up, have it paired with my laptop and iPhone (fun using a full keyboard to type texts!!!).

Cons: The "chicklet" style keys make it a little harder to know where you are on the keyboard when touch-typing as compared to larger mechanical keys. Not bad enough to ding it an egg. But if you really hate "chicklet" keys, it may affect how you perceive this item.

Overall Review: I have no complaints so far. The more I use it the more I get used to finding keys (especially the home/end/delete grouping, and arrow key grouping) without having to look down. Have not really used the function keys much, other than to verify they work as advertised. The ability to move the keyboard around, and not be tied by a USB cable is awesome. Works great with my home office setup. The keyboard came with a Bluetooth dongle (tiny) but didn't need to use it. But if your device doesn't have Bluetooth built in, at least you won't have to shell out any more cash for a dongle.

Huge cooler--better get a big case!

Noctua NH-C14S, Premium CPU Cooler with NF-A14 PWM 140mm Fan (Brown)
Noctua NH-C14S, Premium CPU Cooler with NF-A14 PWM 140mm Fan (Brown)

Pros: The fin pack is plenty big, lots of surface area to radiate heat away from the chip & mobo. The ability to clip the fan above or below the fin pack (or even use 2 fans) is really nice. Allows it to avoid your memory sticks. Keeps the chip nice and cool. Not very loud, even at full RPM on the fan. Includes lots of hardware options for various socket configurations, and some good thermal paste.

Cons: The thing is really huge. Could not orient the heat pipes toward the top of my Corsair 600t case because they contacted the 200mm case fan. Orienting the heat pipes toward the bottom of the case, they came in contact with the back of the graphics card in SLOT #2!!!, and would have shorted it out. So had to move the 2-slot wide graphics card out of the x16 slot down to slot #4, which is x8, and now can't use the top 2 slots. Thankfully, I only have one expansion card, for 4 USB3 ports, that fits in the bottom x1 PCIE slot, so I didn't really loose anything. The last step of installing the cooler is a bit tricky. They give you a LONG screwdriver that has to slip through a hole in the top of the fin pack and engage the spring-loaded mounting bolts. They screw onto 2 threaded pegs sticking up from the mounting brackets. Had a hard time getting the bolts aligned with the pegs. But once installed, they do hold pretty securely. The fan is a hideous color, but I don't have see-through side panels :)

Overall Review: Lay your case on its side when trying to do the last step of mounting the cooler. Having back-side access to the mobo really helps.

Wow! Fantastic sound!

Corsair Vengeance 2100 Circumaural Wireless Dolby 7.1 Gaming Headset
Corsair Vengeance 2100 Circumaural Wireless Dolby 7.1 Gaming Headset

Pros: Beautiful sound. The ear cups are really comfortable, and cut out the majority of ambient sound. Easy to use. I downloaded the accompanying software off Corsair's site, so I'm getting simulated 7.1. Noticeable difference between just plain stereo.

Cons: When you have the dongle plugged in, your normal speakers are disabled (at least I couldn't find a way to have them both active). Set the earphones to the default sound device, and when you unplug the dongle, your regular speakers will be the fallback device. Wish they would BOTH play the sound at the same time, and I could just turn the headphones off instead of having to mess with the dongle.

Overall Review: Kind of heavy, but I guess when it comes to speakers and headphones, the heaver the magnets, the better the sound. Takes up 2 USB ports, one for the dongle, one for charging. If you have lots (my system has like 14), no big deal.

Works like a champ

Rosewill NEC 4+1 Ports USB 2.0 PCIE Card Model RC-503
Rosewill NEC 4+1 Ports USB 2.0 PCIE Card Model RC-503

Pros: - Needed extra USB 2.0 ports, and this card does the trick. - PCIEx1 interface, small form factor, fits nicely between my SLI setup.

Cons: - Getting a molex connector routed to it was "interesting", would be nice if it didn't want one. But it does allow for USB-powered devices w/o taxing the PCI bus.

Overall Review: - Would have LOVED to have found a card with 2 or more INTERNAL USB headers, but this one got me across the finish line.