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Eliot A.

Eliot A.

Joined on 05/20/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 3
Most Favorable Review

stable, but confused

MSI P35 Platinum Combo LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI P35 Platinum Combo LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Great board -- easy to set up (requires some manual reading, of course.) Extremely stable, lots of features, pretty LEDs, too! Thanks to intel for a stable chipset!

Cons: not "officially" supporting DDR2 1066 memory has been a slight problem for me, though despite my memory running at 1.9v instead of 2.2v, it still is extremely stable at 1066mhz.

Overall Review: Because it doesn't "officially" support DDR2 1066 memory, you have to change a few things in the bios. I still haven't figured out how to get the bios to allow me to change my voltage settings from 1.9v to 2.2v -- can anyone help me on this? I've got Kingston HyperX NVIDIA SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory.

Most Critical Review

Scammed :(

TOPOWER POWERBIRD TOP-900W 900 W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Modular SLI Power Supply
TOPOWER POWERBIRD TOP-900W 900 W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Modular SLI Power Supply

Pros: Great power supply. Ultra-reliable, at first, and extremely high quality look -- seems well built, but I'll address that later...

Cons: At first I was having issues where my pc would freeze and need a reboot, and it sounded like the power supply was trying to get it going again, but it appeared to be fine, and acted as though the motherboard or processor, or ram, was to blame since it often happened after I tested some of the limits of bios settings to see which was optimal. Turns out it was likely flawed to begin with, and it wasn't easy to tell. When it finally died, it still sounded like it was fine, since it was trying to turn the PC on, and had power, it just kept perpetually almost turning on (the power light flickered until i fliped the switch on the PSU.) After removing every component and extensive troubleshooting, I finally tried a new PSU which made the PC work fine again.

Overall Review: This is unacceptable that it died within months of the 1 year (?) warranty, since it is allegedly one of the highest quality power supplies, highly recommended, and seemingly built to last. I was told to buy this because it had been heralded as a great company, with the most reliable of power supplies. I wanted to opt for something cheaper, from a company I trusted, but everyone and every review said get the TOPPOWER! So I did, and now I'm out over 200 dollars, after this thing died. I have cheap power supplies that have out-lasted nearly all of my computers since 1996, and modern PSU's that have lasted anywhere from 5 to ten years. I live in a building that has modern wiring, and use a decent surge protector, and I feel scammed. I bought this expecting it to last. I was told it would, and I was told it's the best. It is not, and if their warranty won't cover something like design flaws if they die after the measly 1 year warranty is up, then I'm going to buy from OCZ from now on. At least they have 3 year to life time warranties, are cheaper, and their PSU's LAST! I was hoping to become a life-time customer of top-power after this PSU -- it seemed like it was the answer to all of my top-shelf quality issues with power supplies. I'm never paying that much for a glorified piece of junk like that again. The least they could have done is offerred me a replacement or discount on a new one given this thing died under normal load, but they'll probably ignore my review since it's "no longer in stock."

rip off

NETGEAR Wireless Router - N300 (WNR2000)
NETGEAR Wireless Router - N300 (WNR2000)

Pros: Great when it worked. Extremely reliable until it died after almost owning it for a year, for no reason. Get something that has at least a warranty for a year.

Cons: Does not work for no reason -- pretends to work, but will not get a connection any longer to provide wireless, or ethernet, or a connection to the cable modem, for that matter.

Overall Review: Considering what i paid, and considering this has no manufacturer's warranty and a mere 30 day return policy, this was a HUGE waste of money. I have a cheap dlink wireless router that still works after 5 years, and I've had to go back to that, since I can't afford to replace this thing. If there's no warranty, then shouldn't it be able to work for at least a year? Why is nobody holding netgear's reputation accountable? Aren't they supposed to have a good reputation for a reason? Abandoning customers after they spend a lot of money on one of their products that inexplicably breaks after 11 months isn't okay, and I don't think I'll be purchasing anything by them again any time soon. I'd recommend getting a wireless router that at least has a year warranty.