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Steve P.

Steve P.

Joined on 03/29/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 4
Most Favorable Review

Wait for the price drop -- DISCONTINUED!

HP MediaSmart EX495, Windows Home Server w/ Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.5 Ghz 64-bit 2GB DDR2 1.5TB HDD installed (three open bay), 4 USB & 1 eSATA expansion ports , Mac Compatible, TiVO support
HP MediaSmart EX495, Windows Home Server w/ Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.5 Ghz 64-bit 2GB DDR2 1.5TB HDD installed (three open bay), 4 USB & 1 eSATA expansion ports , Mac Compatible, TiVO support

Pros: Great product for the money.

Cons: HP just announced that they have discontinued this product. Expect serious price drops in the coming months while Newegg and other retailers use up their existing inventory.

Most Critical Review

Works, but...

Dell Radeon HD 3450 256MB DDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card Y104D
Dell Radeon HD 3450 256MB DDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card Y104D

Pros: Works as expected, definitely works in brands other than Dell (another review noted that it ONLY works in Dell systems). I installed it in an older HP computer with no problems.

Cons: The one I received did not come with any DMS-59 to DVI (or VGA) adapter although one of the product photos shows one. I had to call customer service to resolve it. They don't have the included adapter, but sent an item #N82E16812117560 adapter at no charge.

Overall Review: Just know if you want to be sure you'll be able to use it out of the box, either have a DMS-59 adapter on hand, or plan to purchase one at the same time as the card. As others noted, this is a low profile card. The page doesn't mention this. Luckily I was replacing a lower performance version of the same card and was able to swap the regular profile bracket over.

Is Lenovo quality slipping? I'd say YES!

ThinkPad Laptop T Series Intel Core i5-520M 2GB Memory 250GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 15.6" Windows 7 Professional 32-bit T510(431328U)
ThinkPad Laptop T Series Intel Core i5-520M 2GB Memory 250GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 15.6" Windows 7 Professional 32-bit T510(431328U)

Pros: This is still a solidly built notebook with many outstanding features.

Cons: I'm the one who wrote the review on 9/25/2010. Since then, Newegg has replaced the notebook with a new one (although it would be nice if they extended an additional return period on the new notebook, but they don't). The new one has been fine up until last night when the rear USB port suddenly failed. All of a sudden, my wireless mouse failed. At first, I expected the mouse lost it's pairing with the receiver, so I downloaded Logitech's connect software to try to pair it up. Whenthe software failed to detect a receiver, I suspected the problem was with the $50 mouse, not the $1,000+ notebook. Wrong -- plugging the receiver into another USB port confirmed the mouse was fine. I tried the original rear port and again, no mouse and the software couldn't detect the receiver.

Overall Review: I've been a Thinkpad owner for years -- well before the ill-fated sale of the line by IBM to Lenovo. This may very well be the last Lenovo product I ever buy. My previous Thinkpad is still working flawlessly (but that was purchased just after the transition -- in fact it has both IBM and Lenovo on it). Yet another fine "Made In China" product. Lenovo=FAIL.

Is Lenovo quality slipping?

ThinkPad Laptop T Series Intel Core i5-520M 2GB Memory 250GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 15.6" Windows 7 Professional 32-bit T510(431328U)
ThinkPad Laptop T Series Intel Core i5-520M 2GB Memory 250GB HDD Intel GMA 4500MHD 15.6" Windows 7 Professional 32-bit T510(431328U)

Pros: Excellent screen (both in terms of color and brightness) -- this is the first LED backlit notebook I've owned, and am quite pleased with the screen overall. Love the keyboard illumination (LED at the top center of the screen) - this might seem like a small feature, but it's one of the big reasons I keep coming back to Thinkpad T-series notebooks.

Cons: The last time I bought a new Thinkpad was about two years ago. Since then, the packaging that Lenovo ships the notebook in seems very sparse. It's surprising that the notebook actually survives shipping in the first place. This is the type of packaging that one would expect when getting a notebook back from repair, but not on a brand new machine. Also, the unit I received had two light scratches on the LCD itself - I;ve requested an RMA from Newegg -- let's see how well this issue is resolved.