cover
Dennis L.

Dennis L.

Joined on 11/21/11

0
0

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 49
Most Favorable Review

Not bad for an entry level case

Fractal Design Core 1000 Black Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
Fractal Design Core 1000 Black Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case

Pros: Typical Fractal design, fairly straightforward with decent build construction for a case this inexpensive. * USB 3.0 header * 120mm front fan * Rounded edges so you don't cut your hands to shreds * Big enough for a large GPU... but I don't know why that was a design goal... If I was putting a Titan in, I wouldn't be picking this case. * SSD adapter tray in bottom ODD space. * Standoff pilot holes lined up perfectly.

Cons: * Thin steel... but I expected that at this level. A Define Mini it is not. * Funky side-mount HDD tray, it works but it isn't pretty. * There is no cable management potential in this case. I used sticky ziptie anchors to corral the cables. There is NO room behind the mobo header for wires. * No provision to mount another 120mm front fan above the other even though there is room (like in the Define Mini.) * No potential to ever get positive case pressure... this thing has vent holes cut everywhere.

Overall Review: For an entry-level mATX case, I could have done a lot worse at this price point. It will serve it's purpose well, I believe, and doesn't look like something out of 1980. Even considering the thin steel, it's a fairly robust build. If you can spring for it, get a modular PSU, or just plan on having wires hanging everywhere. I used ziptie sticky anchors to get unused cables up and out of the way, but it still looks like a rats nest. Not a big fan of high-mounted PSUs, in this light of a case it makes them top heavy. I really wish they would have went with some sort of standard mount HDD cage, the vertical mount is just odd, and I don't like having the SATA plugs/control board on the HDD right there in the open.

11/30/2013
Most Critical Review

Pass on this one...

Rosewill RCR-IC001 - 3.5" Internal 40-in-1 Card Reader with USB 2.0 Port & Extra Silver Face Plate
Rosewill RCR-IC001 - 3.5" Internal 40-in-1 Card Reader with USB 2.0 Port & Extra Silver Face Plate

Pros: Easy enough to install, has a Micro SD reader slot (no adapter which is why I bought it.

Cons: One of the leads pulled out of the USB plug, rendering it useless for card reading... but what did I expect for $8?

Overall Review: I'm going to try to fix it, but I'll probably wind up with a different brand.

They probably sound good... except they were DOA from the box

Logitech Z207 2.0 Stereo Computer Speakers with Bluetooth
Logitech Z207 2.0 Stereo Computer Speakers with Bluetooth

Pros: Nice box.

Cons: These speakers would not power up out of the box, and I tried 2 different transformers. Further, I question the value, and sense, of leaving the speaker cones exposed to damage (and little kid fingers.) These units are also rather big... they do take up some desk space.

Overall Review: I would not recommend these.

Nice drive, disappointed in the accessories.

Crucial X9 Pro 2TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s read and write - water and dust resistant, PC and Mac - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT2000X9PROSSD9
Crucial X9 Pro 2TB Portable SSD - Up to 1050MB/s read and write - water and dust resistant, PC and Mac - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive - CT2000X9PROSSD9

Pros: It was far more compact than I thought it would be. Nice, fast file transfers... what's not to like?

Cons: What is with the sorry excuse for a data cable? A single 9" double USB-C cable is all you can include? Not everyone has a brand new computer with USB-C, nor is everyone using it with a laptop. I had to order a cable to a) get it connected to my computer, and b) reach the USB ports from the top of the PC case.

Overall Review: I like the drive, but be aware the included cable won't work in every application.

Nice board... but...

GIGABYTE B560M DS3H V2 LGA 1200 Intel B560 Micro-ATX Motherboard with Dual M.2, PCIe 4.0, USB 3.2 Gen1, GbE LAN
GIGABYTE B560M DS3H V2 LGA 1200 Intel B560 Micro-ATX Motherboard with Dual M.2, PCIe 4.0, USB 3.2 Gen1, GbE LAN

Pros: Gigabyte quality 4 RAM slots M2 slots

Cons: Video out limited to DVI-D, DP, or HDMI.

Overall Review: Bought this for a budget build, where I'm pretty happy with it. Although it's a bottom-end B560 board, it's got a lot of features. My M2 SSD would only boot off the M2A slot, not the M2P-CPU slot... so I had to do a little swapping before I could install the OS. No VGA video out. I know this sounds trivial, but it's coupled with DVI-D... not a DVI-I out. I wound up just buying another monitor... all the adapters I had were for DVI-I, or VGA. Very frustrating. At the end of the day, however, it boots up and is quite stable, and I expect long life from it.

Excellent CPU... on a budget even!

Intel Core i3-10100 - Core i3 10th Gen Comet Lake Quad-Core 3.6 GHz LGA 1200 65W Intel UHD Graphics 630 Desktop CPU Processor - BX8070110100
Intel Core i3-10100 - Core i3 10th Gen Comet Lake Quad-Core 3.6 GHz LGA 1200 65W Intel UHD Graphics 630 Desktop CPU Processor - BX8070110100

Pros: Fairly inexpensive for an i3 processor, and when compared to better CPUs Very fast, compared to my older i3 (Sandy Bridge) Onboard GPU

Cons: None so far...

Overall Review: Bought this as the bottom end i3 for a budget desktop PC build, over the higher level Pentium or Celeron, and am very happy with the performance of it.