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David R.

David R.

Joined on 05/31/09

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Amazing Card

Galaxy GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 56NGH6HS3KXZ
Galaxy GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 56NGH6HS3KXZ

Pros: This card was really an amazing deal for the price I paid. I purchased two to SLI into a very nice build recently, and love them to death. Everything defaults to 100% using the cards without auxillery settings, and with the use of a bridge, the SLI setup was a breeze. The fans are rather quiet, and the system stays cool without much effort. On top of that, I have been able to play several games on Maximum settings with at or better than 60 fps on low gpu combined usage (around 40-50%), including World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, Borderlands, Dead Island, and more. I can see myself still using these cards well in 5 years' time. Well worth the buy for an SLI system. The rebate was also quick and painless, and I recieved both within a few days.

Cons: The physical installation in my tower was somewhat troublesome. These cards seemed rather bulky compared to other cards in the size range, and I needed to apply a bit of force to seat the screw properly. I'll admit, that was more poor design on the tower, but that was the only problem I've had with these cards.

Overall Review: Be careful, as these cards require two PCI power connections each. They work fine with 6+2 connectors, but you will need at least 4 6 or 6+2 connectors to use 2 in your system.

Most Critical Review

Power Issues

Blu Dash 4.5 D310A Unlocked GSM Dual-SIM Android Cell Phone 4.5" Black
Blu Dash 4.5 D310A Unlocked GSM Dual-SIM Android Cell Phone 4.5" Black

Pros: Bought this phone back in February and it's been amazing since. I use it to store and view PDFs of various manuals and to play games using the Google play store and Visual Boy Advance. It works wonderfully for everything, the quad-core processor is a good choice. The screen is bright and responsive, the sound quality in calls and ringtones is rather high. The dual SIM option has served me well, I keep At&t in the phone alongside Boost. Between the two, I'm never out of service range.

Cons: About a month ago, the phone began turning off randomly. I have noticed that when it shuts off, it is sometimes difficult to turn back on. While I have the phone plugged in, it works fine. I believe that the phone's battery is to blame, and as a result, warn anyone purchasing this model to take care to not put pressure on the battery plate.

Overall Review: I'm really impressed with a phone in this price range having only such a seemingly minor issue. I doubt I will need a warranty exchange, but am frustrated that the battery needs to be replaced due to wear and tear damage after only about 6 months.

A year later...

CM Storm Devastator - LED Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo Bundle (Blue Edition)
CM Storm Devastator - LED Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo Bundle (Blue Edition)

Pros: High quality for the price. I did not notice any real ghosting during my ownership, and the keys always felt tactful and responsive. The backlight and the coloring is an obvious bonus. The DPI button on the mouse is a true godsend, and the fact that I can turn off the backlight when needed is nice.

Cons: I decided to come back after a year to warn those hooked in by the price of the issues that myself and another gentleman I am acquainted with ran into during our use of this model. As you have read in other reviews, the mouse wheel squeaks terribly. I found that after about six months, the squeaking ceased almost completely. The mouse has a rather noticeable break-in period. I usually put my PC to sleep rather than shutting down, but I've noticed that the keyboard does not acknowledge the first keystroke after waking up from a sleep cycle. The second keystroke on is fine. This has caused undue duress multiple times. The LED backlight bulb below my arrow keys has begun to flicker occasionally, which is rather annoying. Most recently, I've noticed that the mouse's laser is beginning to fade. I will be replacing this model soon, only after a year of ownership.

Overall Review: For the price, I still recommend this model to anyone looking for a cheap gaming setup. I just don't recommend it to anyone seeking a long-term solution.

Not very pleased.

ECS H81H3-I/HDMI (V1.0) LGA 1150 Intel H81 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
ECS H81H3-I/HDMI (V1.0) LGA 1150 Intel H81 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Like the color scheme, excellent placement of the CPU socket. Easy, efficient, inexpensive.

Cons: Really not happy about this one. Was not aware that this motherboard was not Haswell-compatible. Bought this to assemble a mini-build to replace my father's old computer for Christmas. Got the computer assembled, but then... nothing. Found out after very heavy research that the board doesn't support the G3258 that I painstakingly picked out for this build. I have no reason to change the chip; it matched all the features I wanted. I'm very displeased that my father's Christmas present will be shoved back to some time after January 5th to wait for ECS tech support, or waste more money on paying $18 to return a $40 motherboard. I've had a lot of luck from Newegg, and I've been in good standing. I blame ECS for this. I took a chance buying this one, but I don't think I will ever again.

Overall Review: If a BIOS update is what is needed, I could fix that, but without a processor that will be frustratingly difficult. I would very much like to see the incompatibility listed on the Newegg page to warn future buyers.

12/27/2014

You get what you pay for.

Huawei Fusion 2 U8665 3G Unlocked GSM Android Cell Phone 3.5" Black 512MB RAM
Huawei Fusion 2 U8665 3G Unlocked GSM Android Cell Phone 3.5" Black 512MB RAM

Pros: Good durability and materials, very nice scratch- and shatter-resistant screen. Android 2.3 is user friendly, stable, and easy to work with. Navigation through the menus and screens was a breeze, and the scrolling wallpaper feature was rather nifty.

Cons: Unfortunately, this model became a rather large pain closer to 8-9 months of ownership. The SIM card slot became unstable, and would at this point require soldering the contacts to make the phone usable again. At first it was a minor inconvenience, the phone simply needed to be power cycled. However, the issue turned into having to remove the battery and re-seating the SIM card every few minutes in order to use the phone.

Overall Review: I can recommend this phone to anyone new to smart phones looking for an inexpensive model. However, be warned that the model is inexpensive for a reason, and won't last a long period of time.

Awesome Value

Pros: Bought a pair of these to replace my old setup of a busted headset's mic and a pair of studio headphones. The sound quality of the Afterglow rivals what I'm used to, but I have noticed is a bit quieter. The retractable mic is extremely convenient and will change color to red when muted, which is incredibly helpful. The blue glow I was surprised to find is subtle and not overly apparent or obnoxious unless in a dark room. The hardware controller has a mute button and a volume control. The controller surprised me, though, be cause it also has a second 3.5mm jack for splitting into another pair of headphones as well as a volume balance knob for game and chat applications. The primary connector is a split, giving you the option of either a 3.5mm connection or USB. They also came with a few splice terminals for connecting to RCA left and right. I have noticed that the hardware is very intuitive in detecting different sound levels, I am hearing subtle beats and sounds in songs and games I did not hear before on my studio headphones, and get a very low, dynamic bass to boot. An excellent buy at $60.

Cons: While this product has utterly blown me away with its overwhelming list of pros, I will say that, as said above, would like a bit more volume. Some songs have super amazing quality, but I can't turn it up like the audiophile I'm pretending to be. The volume sits at about 70% of what my Earpollution Ronin studio headphones were able to do. I don't know exact decibel ratings, but these headphones definitely can't reach what they're rated for through the USB connector.

Overall Review: Again, an excellent buy for $60. I was absolutely floored when I compared these to a buddy's Turtle Beach PX22 series. They are amazingly comfortable to just wear, have a lot of features that I didn't expect, and all around ended up making my buddy very jealous that he paid more for a lesser headset.