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Jordan A.

Jordan A.

Joined on 01/22/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 56
Most Favorable Review

Excellent "Budget" SSD

OCZ Trion 100 2.5" 960GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) TRN100-25SAT3-960G
OCZ Trion 100 2.5" 960GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) TRN100-25SAT3-960G

Pros: After two months of heavy use (installed 5 games each about 20 GB or more) it's still going strong. Not the absolute fastest SSD out there but for my use it's great (if it can beat HDD speeds by a wide margin then yes, it's a win in my book). 960 GB of space equates to roughly $0.26 per GB, and guarantees longevity through wear leveling. Plus, I can install ALL my games without having to uninstall the larger ones (it's quite obnoxious).

Cons: None so far.

Overall Review: Highly recommend this particular size over the smaller sizes. Besides the obvious size difference, this one has slightly better read/write numbers (also, iirc). Check out OCZ's site for more information.

Most Critical Review

junk

Sunbeam Hush PSU-HUSH580-US 580 W ATX12V Power Supply
Sunbeam Hush PSU-HUSH580-US 580 W ATX12V Power Supply

Pros: cheap.

Cons: ....cheap.

Overall Review: Bought this PSU in January, didn't open the box until February. Installed it on an old Dell model around the end of February. Tested it out the same day, worked nicely. Left for school and came back a month later. Computer would not boot up. Performed basic troubleshooting procedures, checked to see if other PSU's worked. They did. It wasn't a motherboard issue. Checked to see if the SunBeam PSU worked in other computers. It didn't. The PSU was the problem here. And since I bought it in January I couldn't return it to Newegg. From other reviews of the product I assume SunBeam doesn't give half a rat's [donkey]. Recommend not buying this because there is about a good 75% chance it will fail outside of the 30 day refund window.

Incredibly large. 60 Hz. Can take some getting used to. (Update May 2018)

Seiki Pro SM40UNP 40.0-Inch 4K LED-Lit Monitor
Seiki Pro SM40UNP 40.0-Inch 4K LED-Lit Monitor

Pros: -Update MAY 2018: Horry Cao I've had this thing for almost 3 years now? Still runs great. After some updates from Nvidia and upgrading to Windows 10 it actually runs a ton smoother, never reverts back to 1080P or 30 Hz, and seems more stable. I've wall mounted it to clear up space on my desk and my entire setup is glorious like Macklemore. Still haven't tried a 980Ti SLI setup (I was having problems with 680 SLI before) but I expect to within a year. IF YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN THIS MONITOR YET, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? -Update APR 2016: Reliable. 4 months in and this thing still works great. See new SLI note below. -Large. 40 inches guarantees that you'll get the most out of your 4K experience. Scaling at this size is no problem. Everything looks beautiful. -60 Hz. Although it's not setup out of the box, you'll need to enable DP1.2 from the OSD. It's a PITA using the touch-bezel, but once it's setup you're ready for goodness. -Connections. 2 DP, 2 HDMI, DVI-D and VGA cover all your video needs. If you don't like digital audio (I prefer analog), a PC audio passthrough port is available. A headphone out will cover your speaker or headphone needs. I assume you can play HDMI/DP audio through this headphone jack as well but I haven't tried it. Includes a USB 3.0 hub on the back of the monitor. Excellent if you have a webcam but a short cable. -Price. It was on sale for $450. I had $50 left on a gift card I got from Groupon. So essentially I got this for $400. Score!

Cons: -SLI Compatibility. 4k on this doesn't play well with SLI. Refresh rate constantly dips to 30 Hz when starting and exiting games. Stick to a single GPU and you're golden. -Setup. For some reason the display can handle 60 Hz on 2K/4K resolutions, but you have to set it up in the Nvidia/Windows Display control panel. The two settings clash with each other, constantly trying to override the other settings. It's a pain and reverts to 30 Hz every once in a while when playing video games but it's something you have to deal with on a beautiful screen like this. -It's... too big. It barely fits on my desk. While gaming I need to sit a good distance away, but this is more a problem with my own setup than with the screen itself. Highly suggest getting a wall mount stand for it. That being said... -VESA 100x100. Why? Just... why?? This monitor is essentially an HDTV without the input lag. There should be more mounting options beyond 100mm. Most VESA monitor mounts clamp onto the desk, so if your desk is wobbly, prepare to make it worse (the monitor itself wobbles a bit but it's not a big deal). So... I highly suggest a wall mountable (or sturdy floor mounted) stand.

Overall Review: 1) Don't forget to enable DP 1.2 in the OSD! 2) In Windows 10 with an Nvidia card installed, there are two places to set 60 Hz. The Nvidia settings window may be confusing. Make sure you scroll down the resolutions menu to select your 4K resolution to enable 60 Hz. Alternatively, go to the Windows Display Properties menu, choose the Monitor Display Adapter Properties and select 60 Hz from the dropdown box. 3) If all else fails, look up a guide for "Custom Resolution Utility" to force the 4K 60 Hz setting if the video card is not reading the EDID from the monitor correctly. 4) Don't expect to perform 4K gaming at 60 Hz on Ultra settings on most games. A Titan can barely push 40 FPS @ 4K on Metal Gear Solid V. I have two GTX 680 cards in SLI. I can run "Very High" settings on 1440P/2K and barely reach 40 FPS. BUT IT STILL LOOKS PRETTY. I heard about some longevity issues with this screen. If I have any problems I'll update this review as I see fit.

Excellent for the money

Zmodo KHI8-YARUZ8ZN 8 Channel H.264, 960H DVR Security System with 8 x 700TVL Night Vision w/IR Cut Outdoor Cameras (No HDD)
Zmodo KHI8-YARUZ8ZN 8 Channel H.264, 960H DVR Security System with 8 x 700TVL Night Vision w/IR Cut Outdoor Cameras (No HDD)

Pros: -Cameras are of good quality. Not the best but definitely work great for this price point. -EIGHT CAMERAS! -Motion sensing works great out of the box. -Network viewing from anywhere.

Cons: -No instructions. -Cables are only about 50 ft long. I needed to buy some BNC couplers to extend the signal to my patio. -No HDD. -Included mouse is garbage. -Network setup is tricky.

Overall Review: This is a very entry-level DVR kit that should not be purchased for its ease of use. However, I've got a bit of experience setting these up so it wasn't too big of a deal, especially for $120 I can deal with most of the small issues this DVR has. I had a spare 500GB SSHD that I used for this. The network setup was a PITA but with patience I was able to get it working and view my cameras from work and across states using their DDNS service.

Flawless

Rosewill RSV-SATA-Cage-34 - Hard Disk Drives - Black, 3 x 5.25" to 4 x 3.5" Hot-Swap - SATA III / SAS - Cage
Rosewill RSV-SATA-Cage-34 - Hard Disk Drives - Black, 3 x 5.25" to 4 x 3.5" Hot-Swap - SATA III / SAS - Cage

Pros: 4-in-3, simple yet effective design. Trays slide in and out without much effort. A big plus is compatibility with the RSV-L4000 server case and NZXT cases. Compatible with 2.5" and 3.5" drives. Only needs 2 IDE power connectors to power all four SATA drives. The 120mm fan is changeable. I used a Noctua NF-S12A FLX for silent operation, plus it already has a short cable so there isn't much extra slack lying around your case (nothing a little zip tie treatment won't fix, however). CHEAP! Other backplanes of this size with similar features run much more expensive than this.

Cons: It's made primarily of plastic, but that's to keep the overall price as low as possible.

Overall Review: Used in an NZXT Phantom. So yes, it is cut to fit tool-less cases, even with guide rails.

Works as advertised, clean

SYBA CL-ENC50038 2.5" & 3.5" White SATA I / II / III USB 3.0 Dual Mode SATA III HDD Duplicator + Docking Station
SYBA CL-ENC50038 2.5" & 3.5" White SATA I / II / III USB 3.0 Dual Mode SATA III HDD Duplicator + Docking Station

Pros: Works with no fuss and no mess. USB 3.0 ensuring minimal bottlenecks. Simple to install, no extra software needed. Best of all, CLEAN.

Cons: The way to add a second drive looks awkward at first. But I guarantee it's all in your mind.

Overall Review: Haven't fully tested the USB 3.0 yet. I plan to try it out on a SATA3 drive with NCQ. Or maybe just a SSD. We'll see...