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Joseph B.

Joseph B.

Joined on 01/06/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 12
Most Favorable Review

tiny keyboard

SolidTek KB-3462B-BT Black Bluetooth Wireless Super mini 6" x 9" Keyboard w/ Touchpad
SolidTek KB-3462B-BT Black Bluetooth Wireless Super mini 6" x 9" Keyboard w/ Touchpad

Pros: it is very tiny and works good with both my laptop and newly built mediaPC. it pairs well with the Kingwin KBT-150M.

Cons: goes through batteries quick

Overall Review: i bought this because i thought a small keyboard would be good for a mediaPC. so far it has met my expectations

Most Critical Review

budget sandy bridge

GIGABYTE GA-H67M-D2-B3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-H67M-D2-B3 LGA 1155 Intel H67 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: inexpensive sandy bridge, compatible with OSX86 and Windows8 developer. a good amount of USB ports

Cons: lacks on board firewire, no PCI slots. even though it is inexpensive for a sandy bridge build, the AMD AM3 Motherboards still offer a significant value over an Intel based system for a budget build.

Overall Review: i bought this MB because it was recommended for a OSX86 build, it does work excellent for that application. it also works well for Windows8 developer, and although i am waiting for Ubuntu11.10 to be released, im certain it will work correctly with that OS as well. I usually buy ASUS Motherboards and this board is comparable in quality, but somewhat lacking in features. overall, this MB is a good product for a specific application, and an average MB for a basic PC build.

decent card for gaming

GIGABYTE GT-WS100 SkyVision HD Video Seamlessly Transmit
GIGABYTE GT-WS100 SkyVision HD Video Seamlessly Transmit

Pros: The nvidia proprietary driver for Linux is quite good. I purchased this card with the intent of building a mini-itx Linux gaming rig. It is paired with a core i3 2100, 4gigs corsair mem. And a foxconn h67s mb. I modified an apex mi-008 case and installed a silverstone 450w psu. With this setup, It works well with native Linux games in steam. It works well in windows 7 for games too, provided you don't plan on any resolutions above 1080p.

Cons: Gaming at 1080p is difficult for this card. Even in a game as simple as ME3 it tends to get inconsistent frame rates and choppiness when the action gets intense. The comparatively priced hd6870 in my other AMD based rig is a much better value. The Kepler GPU's are not well supported in wine or play on Linux. It requires a wine registry edit to fool wine into thinking it is a gtx560 in order to be able to play any games.

Overall Review: Overall this is a decent entry level gaming card. If you are planning on building a Linux based gaming rig, and would like to use nvidia, I would go for a gtx560 or other fermi based GPU card as they are better supported by wine/pol. If you are simply going for best value the amd hd6870 is a better performer in both windows and Linux (if you're willing to use the linux beta driver and are somewhat tech savy.)

excellent for htpc

Foxconn H67S LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Foxconn H67S LGA 1155 Intel H67 HDMI Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Inexpensive mini itx form factor, perfect for small, quiet HTPC. Pci-e x16 allows for adding pci-e tuner card, or more powerful graphics card for gaming. Simple and effective BIOS. Everything seems to be working perfectly out of the box with Ubuntu 11.10.

Cons: Does not come with SPDIF header. At first it was extremely slow to boot, seemed to be performing memory test or something. But after install of OS seems to be normal now. The instruction sheet is pretty space, fortunately a more complete manual is available from foxconn's website.

Overall Review: This is the second foxconn motherboard I've used, and I have been plesantly surprised by the quality and features of their products for he money.

10/25/2011

loud, very loud

XION HTPC Series XON-810PCB-RD icro ATX / Mini ITX Slim Desktop Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case w/ 450W Power Supply
XION HTPC Series XON-810PCB-RD icro ATX / Mini ITX Slim Desktop Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case w/ 450W Power Supply

Pros: stylish, keyboard and mouse included, reasonable price. it is a tight fit, but it fits a micro atx mb, one hard drive and one dvd drive along with cabling.

Cons: very loud powersupply fan. this case could not be used for an HTPC it's just too loud, its so loud i may RMA it simply because i can't imagine using it for anything. the internal USB and front panel audio connectors are of no known standard format.

Overall Review: the KB and mouse are ok, and if the case power supply fan wasn't so noisy this would make for a good budget build PC.

slow

ADATA 8GB microSDHC Flash Card w/ SD and miniSD adapters Model MicroSDHC 8G 2 adt
ADATA 8GB microSDHC Flash Card w/ SD and miniSD adapters Model MicroSDHC 8G 2 adt

Pros: cheap and includes adaptors

Cons: very slow, does not work with LG Vu CU920 phone. i suppose i should have researched that more. only Sandisk cards work with the LG Vu and only up to 4Gb.

Overall Review: i can't recommend this to anyone it is painfully slow and takes literally 5 times as long to transmit data to and from when compared to a Sandisk.

11/30/2009