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Jeff S.

Jeff S.

Joined on 02/01/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Booting with Linux

Seagate FreeAgent Go 320GB USB 2.0 2.5" External Hard Drive ST903203FGA2E1-RK Silver
Seagate FreeAgent Go 320GB USB 2.0 2.5" External Hard Drive ST903203FGA2E1-RK Silver

Pros: Relatively quick drive, just uses one USB port. I've got it velcroed to the back of my laptop and the laptop still fits in its bag comfortably. It's small enough to fit in your pocket (unless you have really tiny pockets) but still had a decent chunk of storage for a usb powered drive.

Cons: The cord's a bit short. Since my drive is velcroed to the lid of my laptop, it's not a problem for me, but you might want to make sure you don't need an extension cable. The lights just change slowly in intensity as the drive is used, so you can't really tell when the drive is being accessed like you can with the more traditional access LED (they're pretty, though).

Overall Review: If you're using this as a boot drive for linux, first hook it up to a Windows machine and install the Seagate utilities. Then turn off power management. There's a quirk in linux where if the drive tries to sleep, then wake up again, it comes back as a different usb device number and you're left with no root filesystem. Turning off power management on the drive fixes the issue.

12/23/2008
Most Critical Review

Linux users: it's a 950q!

Hauppauge 1198 WinTV-HVR-950 w/Remote ATSC/NTSC USB TV Stick
Hauppauge 1198 WinTV-HVR-950 w/Remote ATSC/NTSC USB TV Stick

Pros: Not sure about any pros, since I can't really use it yet. It _is_ supported by linux, and many people say that it does a really good job on ATSC and QAM. I just don't have digital cable and the local PBS station doesn't switch 'til the deadline. The 2.6.27 kernel picks up the card right away, although you have to download the firmware to get it to actually work. A quick search on the net will find the proper firmware you need.

Cons: The au0828 driver does not have support for analog. That means if you've got good ol' basic cable (NTSC) or want to use the composite (RCA) connector for something like a VCR, you're out of luck. There's no reason why it can't work once someone adds analog support for this chipset. Check around on the mailing lists and see for yourself if you're buying this in 2009 or later.

Overall Review: Note that this does not use the same chipset that the 950 does, so pretty much any info you find on the 950 will not apply. It's also not the same as the pinnacle usb stick (the 950 is, not the 950q). Hopefully this will save people banging their heads for weeks like I did.

12/23/2008

Nice case

Case for Google Pixel 6,Google Pixel 6 Case(2021) Heavy Duty Rugged Shockproof Protective Cover Case for Google Pixel 6 (Black)
Case for Google Pixel 6,Google Pixel 6 Case(2021) Heavy Duty Rugged Shockproof Protective Cover Case for Google Pixel 6 (Black)

Pros: Feels sturdy. Grips the phone well. Easy to remove to clean the gunk out. Stand works well, and you can fit your finger through it to hold your phone more securely if you're moving around.

Cons: None that I could find.

Overall Review: It's nothing fancy, just a good case.

11/16/2022

Doesn't handle movement very well

USB-C to 3.5mm Female Aux Audio Cable Adapter with USB-C Charging Port
USB-C to 3.5mm Female Aux Audio Cable Adapter with USB-C Charging Port

Pros: Does what it's supposed to when it's sitting still.

Cons: If you move your phone around, it randomly disconnects. You have to unplug it and plug it back in to get it to work again. Quite annoying as I bought this to listen to audiobooks while flying, and just moving in my seat is enough to trigger the disconnect.

Overall Review: Gave it to my girlfriend to use while plugged into a stereo. Since it's sitting still, it works fine for that.

11/16/2022

Horrible Design

Kensington Pro Fit Full-Size Mouse K72369US Black 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical 2400 dpi Mouse
Kensington Pro Fit Full-Size Mouse K72369US Black 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical 2400 dpi Mouse

Pros: Feels good in the hand. Most stuff works OK.

Cons: The mouse wheel has a tiny nub of plastic that goes into the rotary encoder (the part that detects you're scrolling the mouse). This mouse is designed so that every time you press the wheel, you put stress on that tiny nub until it inevitably breaks, leaving you with no scrolling ability. Mine broke in less than three months of light use.

Overall Review: Skip this one and buy a properly engineered mouse.

11/16/2022

There's cheap, then there's this thing.

Maikou USB 3.5mm Aux Wired Speaker 2.0 Channel Multimedia Speaker For MP3 PC(black)
Maikou USB 3.5mm Aux Wired Speaker 2.0 Channel Multimedia Speaker For MP3 PC(black)

Pros: Small, cute.

Cons: It's only single channel, so if you like mono sound, here you go. Mine was DOA, so I opened it up (it's not worth mailing back). It had a little circuit board with an "Income Technology" 8002C chip on it. Look it up, that's a single channel 3-watt amplifier for small devices like cell phones. Note the "single channel" bit there. There's a spot on the circuit board for a second chip, but it was unpopulated and both speakers were soldered to the same outputs. It arrived packaged horribly (flimsy taped up cardboard "box") and arrived with one of the speakers cracked.

Overall Review: I'm assuming the speakers are OK, so I'm going to build my own little amp and put it in there. Like I said, these things are cute - it's about the only selling point they have, really.