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Brian R.

Brian R.

Joined on 02/19/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 54
Most Favorable Review

Not immune to the effects of gravity

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Intel Core i5 CPU 4 GB RAM 128 GB Storage 12.0" Tablet PC MQ2-00001
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Intel Core i5 CPU 4 GB RAM 128 GB Storage 12.0" Tablet PC MQ2-00001

Pros: Beautiful touch interface. Amazingly responsive keyboard - even though I type 145 WPM

Cons: Price

Overall Review: I spent an hour or so playing with this product at a local big-box store. I really enjoyed it. The keyboard is especially amazing to me because I type 145 words per minute (tested), and the keyboard/cover was able to keep up with me. The previous review from "Matt R" really makes me wonder what people expect. Matt's Surface tablet fell 36 inches from his kitchen counter top to his kitchen floor. It broke. In transit, the crack in the screen got worse, probably from vibration, temperature variation, and barometric pressure variation. Microsoft refused to fix it for free... because Matt dropped it. Imagine that! If I crash my car into a brick wall, do you think the car manufacturer should repair it free of charge??? You bought a tablet with a glass screen. You dropped it 36 inches to a hard floor. It broke. Duh.

Most Critical Review

DOA

Foxconn A88GMV AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Foxconn A88GMV AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Great form factor Lots of connectivity NewEgg service is top notch.

Cons: DOA. I shipped it back and bought a different brand.

Overall Review: I've had good luck with other Foxconn products. I never tried one of their motherboards before. Too bad this one was DOA.

After almost exactly five years, it died

ZyXEL16 Port Unmanaged Gigabit Rackmount Switch,  GS1100-16
ZyXEL16 Port Unmanaged Gigabit Rackmount Switch, GS1100-16

Pros: It was inexpensive, worked great, and lasted for five years.

Cons: It died after FIVE YEARS.

Overall Review: See my original review below, which happens to be the most "liked".

Great little case for a pfSense router!

SilverStone SST-PT13B-120 Black Aluminum top cover / Steel body Mini-ITX Computer Case
SilverStone SST-PT13B-120 Black Aluminum top cover / Steel body Mini-ITX Computer Case

Pros: Easy to install components. Has room for an internal 2.5" drive.

Cons: It's a little pricey.

Overall Review: I built mine using an ASUS H110T/CSM motherboard, a Pentium G4400 CPU, Crucial 8GB CT2K4G4SFS8213 RAM, ADATA Premier SP600 128GB M.2 2242 SSD, and a Silverstone SST-PT13B-120 CPU fan. Finding a fan that fits in the case is the main thing to watch out for. I'm using it as a pfSense router. It would work well as a small form factor PC that can be VESA mounted on the back of your monitor.

10/17/2017

Dead after 4 years, 9 months

ENERMAX PRO87+ EPG500AWT 500 W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply
ENERMAX PRO87+ EPG500AWT 500 W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Power Supply

Pros: ABSOLUTE SILENCE! This PSU makes ZERO sound in my HTPC build. Lots of connectors! There are six SATA power connectors (4 on one cable, 2 on another), several 4-pin MOLEX connectors, two graphics power connectors and one or two floppy connectors (who uses those anymore?). The 8-pin CPU power connector is long enough to reach the motherboard even in a case with the PSU mounted on the bottom of a tower case, or the left side (looking from the front) of a desktop case.

Cons: Dead after 4 years, 9 months. I've never had a PSU die after the first few days. Every other PSU has lasted for decades. Pretty bad that this failed after less than 5 years.

Michael D's DHCP/encryption/handshakes/etc?

ZyXEL16 Port Unmanaged Gigabit Rackmount Switch,  GS1100-16
ZyXEL16 Port Unmanaged Gigabit Rackmount Switch, GS1100-16

Pros: It works great. Has been working for more than 1 year. No problems. Can be rack mounted with included hardware. No fans. Low power consumption. Can sit on a shelf. Has 16 ports for a very low price. Passes gigabit traffic without any issue.

Cons: None

Overall Review: It's an unmanaged switch. What more do you want? Michael D's review on 6/24/2014 mentions DHCP, encryption, hand shakes, security flaws, and other things that have absolutely NOTHING to do with an UN-MANAGED switch! This is a simple layer-2 switch. It doesn't do anything with DHCP, encryption, hand shakes (beyond those required by the hardware), security, or anything else! Don't write a review with negative comments when you know absolutely nothing about networking. I read one review that claimed that this switch would only pass 100 megabit traffic. That is absolutely false. Perhaps the reviewer had problems with other equipment on his network?