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David B.

David B.

Joined on 11/03/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 4
Most Favorable Review

I couldn't be happier!

MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card N650TI-1GD5/OC
MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card N650TI-1GD5/OC

Pros: I upgraded from a 9600GT and the difference is striking. Skyrim, Saints Row 3, Dishonored, et al. run flawlessly in glorious 1080p. It's certainly not as loud as I expected, either. My CPU fan kicks in like a jet engine long before the GTX 650 even breaks a sweat. Installation went very well, once I got some cables rearranged.

Cons: I'm not taking eggs off for this, because the card works fine regardless, but the box arrived in rough shape. One corner was caved in completely and it looked as though it had been tossed around a little bit.

Overall Review: The card is massive; at least larger than I'm used to. It just barely fit in my ATX tower case and I had to redo my cable management. I wouldn't call this a con, because this thing is a workhorse, but it's something to keep in mind.

Most Critical Review
GARMIN 4.3" GPS Navigation w/ Lifetime Map Updates
GARMIN 4.3" GPS Navigation w/ Lifetime Map Updates

Pros: The device itself works as expected.

Cons: In this day and age, the map update software is an absolute joke. Maps appear to be multiple gigabytes in size, but I can't really be sure because it doesn't display the download size or speed. All I know is that I allowed it to download for 8 hours overnight and still wasn't finished in the morning. Since I had other important things to do and couldn't have it slowing my connection down, I paused the download (with the button clearly labeled "Pause") only to discover later that pausing actually cancelled the whole thing and now it's started over from the very beginning. It's 2012, for Pete's sake. Surely the Garmin programmers can make a decent downloader with proper pause/resume support.

12/26/2012

Great case!

Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Cooler Master Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Aluminum Bezel, SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Looks great. The mesh on the front is awesome, especially since it has a filter behind it to catch dust. The front cover just pulls right off with a bit of force, which makes things a lot easier; no clips to pry out and accidentally snap. Plenty of room on the inside and I'm happy to finally have a tool-less case.

Cons: The power button is a little wobbly, but I'm sure that could be fixed. The tool-less parts seem a little cheap and sometimes I'm afraid I'm going to break them. The aluminum had a few deep scratches, but nowhere immediately noticeable.

Overall Review: I've seen some complaints about the plastic clips on the expansion slots breaking. So far, I haven't had any issues. Just don't press too hard and you'll be fine. If one does break, it's not really the end of the world. You should still be using screws, anyway.

A great wireless keyboard/mouse combo!

IOGEAR GKM561R Black 2.4GHz Wireless HTPC Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel
IOGEAR GKM561R Black 2.4GHz Wireless HTPC Multimedia Keyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel

Pros: This product is well constructed (except for the trackball) and very slim. I purchased it because I needed to use a computer in an area with very little extra space (my cluttered workbench). This keyboard/mouse combo doesn't get in the way and I can easily slide it in a drawer somewhere when it's not needed.

Cons: As I said above, the trackball could be better. It feels cheap and sometimes skips. For someone who hasn't used a combo like this before, the arrangement of the trackball and mouse keys could take some getting used to, although I eventually found it very comfortable.