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Brandon C.

Brandon C.

Joined on 05/14/01

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 21
Most Favorable Review

270mbps is certainly better than 125!

Linksys WRT600N Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11a/b/g, IEEE802.11n Draft
Linksys WRT600N Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11a/b/g, IEEE802.11n Draft

Pros: I purchased a pair of laptops that had the intel 4965AGN wireless card. I found out, to my dismay, that unlike the Atheros based N card I had in my old Thinkpad (which would get 300mbps on the DIR-655), I only got 125mbps. I wanted my 300mbps back. A little research showed me that I needed a 5.8ghz Wireless N router to get higher than 125mbps on the 4965AGN. My choices were the DIR855 and DGL4500 from DLink, a Buffalo that was nowhere to be found, a Netgear, and the Linksys WRT600N. The DGL couldn't do both 5.8 and 2.4 at the same time, and the DIR wasn't available yet. The WRT600N was the most affordable, so I bought it. I connected my T61P and DV9548U laptops to the 5ghz band, and promptly got 270mbps. My wife's Acer and my Asus EEE still run in the old 2.4ghz G band. It works perfectly so far, and looks great sitting on my T61P's docking station, next to a black 40gb plugged into its storage link as a NAS.

Cons: Haven't figured out how to use the NAS part yet, but I've had it less than an hour, haven't read the manual. Broadcomm chipset instead of Atheros, but that's just a matter of preference. It works, and range is as good as the DLink DIR655 I had before. Also, a minor quibble, but the price dropped a few bucks between when I ordered it (Monday), and when I received it (Thursday). Luckily, Newegg was generous enough to refund me the difference, you guys are the best.

Overall Review: I work at a brick & mortar computer store, and have recommended the DLink DIR655 as the best wireless N router available. While it's still likely the best performance per dollar, if you need 5.8ghz, or want that extra speed out of your Centrino Duo-based laptop, go with this router.

A great addition to a Thunderbolt 3 PC.

AORUS GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming Box eGPU, GV-N1070IXEB-8GD
AORUS GeForce GTX 1070 Gaming Box eGPU, GV-N1070IXEB-8GD

Pros: Opens up a lot of options as to what I can go gaming with. From a small NUC, to a workstation laptop. Thin & Light for mobility, and a docked gaming station at the desk. Or, all the horsepower I bought in 2016 that's still overkill can be used properly. I don't need to rebuy a desktop for the power I had in a laptop.

Cons: The light controls don't seem to work with the software from their website. Ran into issues with Quadro + GeForce driver issues. May be easiest if you don't have an nVidia system already, or at least don't have a Pro + Gaming card. I'm not sure how they'll interfere, or if they will at all, but I know I had the 1070 on October drivers while my Quadro was on January drivers. One of the rubber feet fell off 3 minutes after I got it. It stuck back on, but I don't have high hopes. Fan's louder than I'd like, and without the ability to control the light, it's stuck on RGB cycle. I just picked up the card and turned it around so I couldn't see the light, but I'd prefer a better solution.

Overall Review: Plugged into my portable workstation. i7 6700HQ, 64GB RAM, 1.5TB SSD space, 2GB Quadro M1000M, 15.6" 4k LCD, 24" WUXGA external LCD. I now can take the workstation I had setup for VMware and turn it into a Doom & VR beast when I want to be playing games and doing VR...something I didn't have in mind when I bought it. And the next system I build/buy doesn't have to have anything more than intel onboard video, and I can enjoy a sub 4lb with 12+ hours of battery life while still being able to do some heavy lifting at home.

Another quality Ogio backpack

OGIO Renegade 15" Gaming Laptop/Tablet Backpack Black Pindot Model 111071.317
OGIO Renegade 15" Gaming Laptop/Tablet Backpack Black Pindot Model 111071.317

Pros: Space for everything, if a bit snug. Same build quality I would expect from a laptop bag of this price. There's no way I'm going to break any thing in this.

Cons: Is this shoulder pocket a joke? Shorter straps than I expected, but I am a big guy. I wish the cross strap was removable. No separate drink pocket, integrated into the bottom pockets. Any thoughts of fitting a standard 17" laptop in the main pocket are laughable. Laptop zipper sticks, looks to be hitting part of the fabric when unzipping. Not enough to get caught, but enough to give it pause while unzipping.

Overall Review: I've had several Ogio bags. A 7 year old Metro, a 5 year old Metroid, a 6 year old MasterMind, a 3 year old Epic. It was time to phase out a freebie leather laptop bag I was using for my craptop, and with that came a cycling of bags, and a cause for buying a new one. I picked this one up to house my nice and shiny MacBook Pro Retina 15". It is a snug fit, and I doubt my previous laptop (a 15" HP EliteBook) but I have no concern that anything could be broken. There appear to be 2 layers of hard plastic on each side of the laptop, plus the foam, plus the soft lining. My suitcase doesn't feel this sturdy.

11/21/2013

Embarassingly fast

ADATA 64GB Elite UE700 USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Speed Up to 200MB/s (AUE700-64G-CBK)
ADATA 64GB Elite UE700 USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Speed Up to 200MB/s (AUE700-64G-CBK)

Pros: No cap to lose. Benched at 200 read, 95 write. Faster than the hard drive this flash drive will be plugged into!

Cons: Lanyard strap not that great for putting on a keychain.

Overall Review: I bought this as I was cycling out flash drives for work, and bought this to replace my Adata N005 Pro 32GB (which now becomes my work drive). Whereas its cap was worthless, the new one is faster, bigger, has no cap to lose. Much happier with this drive than its predecessor. Smaller, thinner, nothing to lose; what's not to love? And, Adata is one of the few companies out there offering a lifetime warranty, so I'll keep going to them.

New external for home use

WD 1TB Elements SE Portable Hard Drive USB 3.0 Model WDBPCK0010BBK-NESN
WD 1TB Elements SE Portable Hard Drive USB 3.0 Model WDBPCK0010BBK-NESN

Pros: USB 3.0, cheap, fast (pulling 107MB/s between my 320GB 7200RPM drive and this external), barebones.

Cons: Proprietary connector on the PCB of the drive itself; no standard SATA plug so if the enclosure dies, you can't pull the drive and plug it into something else like you could with older models. And, since it's a proprietary end, if you need more than the foot they give you, you're out of luck.

Overall Review: I have a USB 2.0 Passport 1TB that I use for work. One of the things that I disliked about it was that every time it got plugged in, it gave me a virtual CD full of stuff I didn't care about. I thought that would happen on this one, but it ended up just being a bare drive, no software, no fluff that I would never use.

Bigger than I thought it would be.

SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-450-USB3.0 ALL Black Plastic / SECC Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case with SFX 450W 80+ Bronze Certified / Single +12V rail Power Supply with 2 x USB3.0 ports (Black)
SilverStone Sugo Series SG05BB-450-USB3.0 ALL Black Plastic / SECC Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case with SFX 450W 80+ Bronze Certified / Single +12V rail Power Supply with 2 x USB3.0 ports (Black)

Pros: I was looking to make the smallest non-proprietary gaming PC I could, and this fit the bill, beating out a mini-ITX that took a full size PSU and had a lot of extra features I didn't need or want, or another box that had a proprietary motherboard. I coupled this with an H77 board, i5, 7850, and a pair of 2.5" drives. The temps are great, the PSU handles everything without issue. Nice ventilation on the side.

Cons: I wish there was a better way to mount multiple 2.5" drives, but that's what a drill is for.

Overall Review: Drilled holes in the bottom to fit a 2.5" drive between the motherboard and the front of the chassis. I may look into finding a way to mount 4 2.5" drives in place of the optical bay tray, as I have no intentions of using it.