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Steven O.

Steven O.

Joined on 09/09/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 14
Most Favorable Review

Flawless - Almost

ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Board is extremely well laid out - everything fit beautifully with my Armor+ case. All the features work, no problems, no issues, period. Thanks to earlier reviews, I downloaded all fresh drivers, apps, and 6.02 BIOS to a thumb drive before I did anything. Started it up with a X2 BE-2300 that I got free as a bonus offer, flashed the BIOS, setup the RAID, swapped to Phenom II x4 940 BE, and then remaining setup went flawlessly. The 6.02 BIOS allows setup of any legal RAID 0,1,5,10 config, including mixing with non-RAID, though I just went straight to 10. Booted first try, insanely fast. LOVE IT!

Cons: Other than shipping with 5.04 BIOS instead of 6.02, no cons at all. Would like to have more than 6 SATA ports, but I can deal with it.

Overall Review: Running Phenom II x4 940 BE, RAID-10 (4x 500 GB drives), Sapphire HD4870x2, PC Power & Cooling 1200W, 8 GB Corsair Dominator-Fan, LG BD Burner H20LK, Samsung DVD S223Q, Zalman 9500, Vista Ultimate 64, Thermaltake Armor+ 6000BWS

Most Critical Review

Good Basic Value, But Flawed

PROMISE SmartStor NS4600 Network Attached Storage and Digital Media Server
PROMISE SmartStor NS4600 Network Attached Storage and Digital Media Server

Pros: Good basic value for the money, runs cool, quiet, consistently, and has lots of features (more than I'll ever use). I installed 4x Hitachi 2 TB drives in RAID 5, and switched to static addressing with no problem. (Have 4x Maxtor 500 GB drives in my 4300). Drive power-down on user selectable inactivity interval works on 4600 (does not work on 4300). Automatically recognizes APC Smart-ups for automatic shutdown, but not any other brand.

Cons: Both USB ports and eSata ports are client only, so you can extend the storage capacity with slower, non-networked storage, but you cannot connect directly to a server for local-disk backups. NAS Replication function only works on identical models: 4600 to 4600; 4300 to 4300; not inter-connectable. This was confirmed by Promise Tech Support, with no workaround available or underway. I consider this a major flaw. File permissions are wonky, allowing explicit control at the share level, but not at the directory or file level, even though some invisible owner permissions are set automagically at these levels. Also, when mounting a share in Windows using the workgroup approach (most home networking), remember to connect with a different user name, and use the format: nasname\username with the username as defined on the NAS, not in Windows. There is a limitation as well that you can use only one username to connect all shares from a given NAS to your Windows box.

Overall Review: I bought the 4600 because I've had 2 good years of service out of the 4300, despite it's rather wonky quirks. 0 Failures. I wanted to use the 4600 as a replication target for my 4300, and general PC / Server backup device, which is a great use for it given the cost, web-interface, GBE, and drive power-down capabilities. But the lack of support for NAS replication across models really messed me up. Also, while the setup wizard supports RAID 0,1, or 5, you cannot use it to setup a 4-drive RAID 0+1, and you cannot migrate from any other RAID to a 4-drive 0+1. So, even though they claim support for that, I don't see how you get there.

12/23/2009

Works As Advertised

Etekcity® Hdmi Signal Network Unlimited extender over cat5/cat6 Cable to TCP/IP Extension
Etekcity® Hdmi Signal Network Unlimited extender over cat5/cat6 Cable to TCP/IP Extension

Pros: Super simple to install - HDMI cable from source to transmitter, CAT5/6/7 from transmitter to receiver, HDMI from receiver to display. I tested installations with both direct point-to-point CAT6/7 and switched gigabit network CAT6/7 using 100 foot runs. I ran from cable TV DVR to HD TV, carrying standard HD 1080i audio and video without any problems. Only issue is perception of some degredation of picture quality, so I would do more testing on a higher refresh rate TV before I would install anywhere where picture quality is critical, but maybe it's just my TV. The real beauty of this is in multiple-source, multiple destination HDMI routing over standard TCP/IP network carrying other computer signals. Should allow super-flexible routing of HD combined audio/video signals between multiple sources and displays in a home / office.

Cons: Possibly some picture degredation. Refresh rate supported? While most computer monitors have HDMI inputs, they typically don't have speakers, and most computers don't have HDMI inputs for audio. So, desktop/gaming computers typically do have HDMI audio/video outputs, and therefore make good sources, they're not necessarily the best targets. But modern TVs make great targets.

Overall Review: I'm ordering four more sets for my small office. Still need to explore remote management more, for ease of dynamic switching of remote target in multiple target network. Could be the greatest thing since sliced bread for pushing computer screens, HD TV, DVD, CD sources to multiple TVs around your home/office.

12/20/2013

Fix for BIOS Problem

ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Ran this board almost continuous around the clock for more than 4 years. Went through 2 sets of enterprise RAID disks. When the second set of disks had a failure, after about 5 reboots, the BIOS became bricked with a very common problem where the NV RAM fills up with error entries, and won't finish the boot sequence. Error Msg: "Not enough space in runtime area!!. SMBIOS data will not be available". BIOS bug exists in that there is no reset for the NV RAM despite the message directing you to proceed. None of the remedies I found anywhere worked, until I found MyTech selling replacement BIOS chips on _Bay for about $15. Had to ship from Europe, but worked like a charm! Board is back up and working again!!

Cons: RAID controller BIOS doesn't support rebuilding the array by adding a new disk. Have to full-back it, wipe it, redefine the array, and full-recover it.

Overall Review: The only issues with this board have been the AMI BIOS, which is very popular, and used on tons of different boards, so it's hard to knock the board for that fault. But two serious BIOS problems will cost ASUS an egg, because they haven't posted any support for either problem in four years, despite numerous posts about the problems. I'm just posting this now, so that anyone else still running this great board will know there is a cheap, effective solution to the bricked BIOS. Buy a new chip for cheap, and swap it out.

Awesome UPS!

Tripp Lite SMART2200VS Smart Pro 2200 VA 1600 Watts Line Interactive Tower UPS
Tripp Lite SMART2200VS Smart Pro 2200 VA 1600 Watts Line Interactive Tower UPS

Pros: I've owned 2 of these for over 2 years now, and they've been perfect. No problems, issues, or concerns. Does what it's supposed to do. Best part of this is the 3 separately controllable zones for output power. You can independently bounce, stop, start, schedule, and monitor each zone, which provides huge flexibility in managing my glitchy cable modem, VOIP adapter, router, firewall, network switch, video amplifiers, backup NAS, etc. etc. I can prioritize and shed loads manually or by schedule. I haven't seen anything else in this price range that can do this.

Cons: Some inconveniences, but not enough to remove an egg.... - Fan never stops. - Version with external expandability has a different SKU, so ordering can be tricky if you want that. - Comes with a 20-amp plug built-in, which won't fit standard wall outlets; but does come with standard 15-amp plug (that you can get at any hardware store) to connect to a normal 15 amp circuit. I've been running mine off of 15 amp circuits for 2 years without any problems. At full tilt, it will take the whole circuit, but 99% of the time, it takes barely more than the loads it's carrying.

Overall Review: I highly recommend this product. The capability, flexibility, and control simply cannot be beat in this price range. Strongly recommend adding the optional network card for any installation like a wiring closet. The included Windows software can manage whole groups of these over the network. If you want the best, most powerful, most controllable UPS for home or SMB use, this is it!

12/26/2010

Reliable; Powerful

Tripp Lite SNMP/Web Management Accessory Card, Remote Monitoring & Control of SmartPro or SmartOnline UPS Systems (SNMPWEBCARD)
Tripp Lite SNMP/Web Management Accessory Card, Remote Monitoring & Control of SmartPro or SmartOnline UPS Systems (SNMPWEBCARD)

Pros: I've owned this for over 2 years, without a hitch, hiccup, or flaw. It's been perfect. Yes, it's expensive, but it gives you remote access, monitoring, and control (via HTTP and Tripp-Lite distributed network-based scheduling, monitoring, and control software for Windows). The remote control capability was key for me. When coupled with the 3 independently controllable zones on the SmartPro 2200 VS, I can use a browser to bounce my glitchy cable modem without leaving my desk. I can shed unnecessary loads during a power outage, and still keep my network switch and VOIP phone system powered. And the best part was showing someone else, who is not technical, how to bounce the blasted cable modem - click this button on this web page - when I'm not around to pull wires!

Cons: Price. That's about it.

Overall Review: Simple, straight forward, does what it's supposed to do. And in this case, it adds tremendous value to the host UPS. Highly recommended for any compatible Tripp-Lite UPS.

12/26/2010