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Preston B.

Preston B.

Joined on 05/10/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 35
Most Favorable Review

Finally, a slick notebook without a fruit.

ASUS ZenBook Intel Core i5-2557M 4GB Memory 128GB SSD Intel HD Graphics 13.3" 1600 x 900 Ultrabook Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit UX31E-DH52
ASUS ZenBook Intel Core i5-2557M 4GB Memory 128GB SSD Intel HD Graphics 13.3" 1600 x 900 Ultrabook Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit UX31E-DH52

Pros: In order of amazement: Style, build quality, touchpad, sound, speed/performance, display resolution, battery life, size, extras included, ac adapter, USB 3.0, and it's not a Mac.

Cons: I'm not a fan of the stickers on the palm rest. I appreciate that they are on the mild side and silver but distract from rest of the design. The silver script writing under the ASUS logo under the display feels out of place. Obviously these are not deal breakers here.

Overall Review: I havn't had this very long and will include a more detailed review later. The touchpad though, is by far the best I've ever seen on a PC. The display resolution and speakers are remarkable considering its size. I can't comment on the pre-installed software because the first thing I booted to was a Windows 7 USB key to install a fresh copy. I researched way too much before pushing the "add to cart" button so if you are in that boat, hopefully this will help: (1) The touchpad issue is resolved with new drivers that came out Dec 2011. The touchpad functions much like the Mac touchpad, you can two finger right click, or one finger click in the right click area of the touchpad. Two finger scrolling works both vertical and horizonal directions. (2) Keyboard is fine, took me less than 90 sec to adjust to its sensitivity. (3) They ship with a SanDisk SSD which is still very fast, initially they shipped with a slightly faster ADATA SSD.

Most Critical Review

Not bad, Not great.

Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming headset
Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming headset

Pros: Audio Quality is pretty good and is very clear at high levels. The bass isn't amazing but it better than most headsets I've used. The wireless function is nice, while waiting to queue a game you can roam around the house and not miss a word your buddies in vent are saying. Range is decent, depends greatly on the location of you're usb receiver and the amount of walls.

Cons: Like others have mentioned, the quality of the build materials leaves a little to be desired. Those that put these on by holding the earpieces are all the ones with cracked plastic. Grab just above the earmuff on the band and I reckon you won't have cracked plastic above the muffs. On lower battery my mic quality goes down the drain and my buddies describe it as "disco" mode. At least the speakers are still crystal clear. There also not anything close to comfortable compared to the Siberia v2 but those are the best I've worn. I'd rank these just above decent and almost good. I wear glasses and they are fine with these btw.

Overall Review: If you're considering these, make sure the wireless function is why. That the only reason I've got left to keep these around. There's something about being able to run to the bathroom while waiting for respawn in dota 2 without missing anything. ;)

Rock Solid

ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: I'll keep it simple. This motherboard is awesome. The 5 year warranty is by far the best part. You can only offer a 5 year warranty on a board you put the best components on. I'm an EE and the quality of this board gets my stamp of approval. As always it was very easy to install and I haven't had a problem for 6+ months.

Cons: Price, except you really get what you pay for. The higher reliability of the components used on this board is well worth the price in my opinion.

Overall Review: Reading through reviews today is more like sorting through garbage. If you're like me and read every review you can skip the rest and purchase this thing. I've built 200+ computer builds, ALL of them with ASUS motherboards. This is what I've put in my personal machine.

Just Rock Solid

Logitech MX 518 Aluminum 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Gaming Mouse
Logitech MX 518 Aluminum 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Gaming Mouse

Pros: Crazy Accurate, Very Soft Curves, On-the-fly Adjustable, Slides Effortlessly, Wired Connection.

Cons: Sensitivity adjustments are in fairly high increments, turning down your software sensitivity easily fixes that though.

Overall Review: By far the best mouse I've ever used.

Look no further

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded USB 3.0

Pros: Airflow is amazing, smart design, fits my 90mm Zalman heatsink, Strong and sturdy, and front buttons/usb's in the perfect spot.

Cons: My 9800GTX+ graphics card is almost too long, can't have hard drives in slots next to graphics card.

Overall Review: Not that this case needs any more reviews to prove its awesomeness, I added my review nevertheless.

My favorite case

APEVIA X-DREAMER3 X-DMR3-NW-BK/450 Black metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply
APEVIA X-DREAMER3 X-DMR3-NW-BK/450 Black metal ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply

Pros: Good design and build quality is nice. I have purchased 15+ of these cases after previously using Apevia's black Dreamer cases before. It's not super heavy duty, but not plastic.. I like the balance. This power supply isn't a monster but very reliable as long as you don't overload it. Use Newegg's PSU calculator to see if you overloading it. (google it) Overall this case is very reasonably quiet for how cool it runs.

Cons: Only one Sata power cable, although one is infinity times better than none. The hardest thing to install is the front bezel's for the DVD/CD drives, and even those are cake. (open flap with one hand for a visual of the tab holding in place, and with a flat head screw driver in the other, approach from behind to gently push the tab while pulling the bezel with the other hand gently.)

Overall Review: The power button is very different but easy to use, especially if you want to turn on the computer with your foot. Overall this is a classy case and looks good, my favorite case on the market.