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Scott C.

Scott C.

Joined on 10/21/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 16
Most Favorable Review

My First IPS LCD screen

ViewSonic VP2365wb Black 23"IPS LCD Monitor w/4-port USB hub,height&pivot adjustment 300 cd/m2 1000:1
ViewSonic VP2365wb Black 23"IPS LCD Monitor w/4-port USB hub,height&pivot adjustment 300 cd/m2 1000:1

Pros: This is my First IPS LCD monitor and I tested it with "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs" DVD and the colors looked like I was in a movie theater, with a little ghosting in the Title Screen transitions (Title > Producer, etc.) but it did not detract from my primary reason for this purchase. Great colors, IPS screen (under $300), 1080p, Pivit/Tilt (needed portrait mode for work as most screens don't Pivit), and a great price. This screen is used in a room with full sunlight, and I only have the brightness up to about 35 (out of 100), so it's plenty bright (despite what you might read in the initial reviews). The response time is 14 ms, but I'm not using this for gaming, and for my purpose it's great. No dead pixels.

Cons: The base/stand could have been designed with a little more attention. The height adjustment is 'held in' by a single cotter pin that is pushed in a hole between two plastic tower pieces that comprised of your base. It's as if the height adjust mechanism is an afterthought. View Sonic skimped on the design/weight/heft of the base, and it's a little precarious if you happen to knock it over. Small danger, but nevertheless there. They should have used a weighted base. the base is hollow molded plastic. Monitor is top heavy. Height adjustment is 2 position, no incremental height adjustment (you'll need a big telephone book under it if you need more height beyond portrait height). 1 Egg off for the sub-standard Base/Stand.

Overall Review: I only have this monitor for a week -- so longevity is unknown, but 3 year warranty provides a nice piece of mind. at full 1080p resolution, the characters (default size) is a bit smaller to read for someone in the 40's, but shouldn't be a problem for teenagers. Overall I am satisfied w/ my purchase. I have held off purchasing an IPS 1080p LCD monitor for a few years waiting for value, and I hope this will be a happy purchase. I didn't use the USB stuff, and you should already know there are no speakers or HDMI connections. As a comparison, I just put away a Sony Multiscan 520GS (21 inch Trintron CRT Tube) as comparison but will be keeping it as well. Hard to beat CRT for true colors, and this thing uses 40watts versus the CRT for 160watts (less heat in summer).

Most Critical Review

Oh man. Did I get hookwinked?

Rosewill RIWC-11001 2.0M pixels UVC Webcam
Rosewill RIWC-11001 2.0M pixels UVC Webcam

Pros: I was all excited that Newegg was finally selling (according to their own "overview": 1920x 1080 pixels@ 30 fps 1080P HD 1280x720 pixels @ 30fps 720P HD) a full 1080p/30frames webcam at a decent price through Shellshocker introduction. But -- 5 hours after ordering, I wonder if I may have been deceived by Newegg exaggeration. Hear me out now, I promise to be fair... When you think 1080p, you expect 1920x1080 pixels at 30 frames/second, right? That's what I think of too, and my expectation of "2.0M pixels" to be 2,073,600 pixels (1920*1080), not anything less -- Like 1,920,000 pixels. (read below)

Cons: But -- 5 hours after ordering, I think I may have been deceived by Newegg exaggeration. I just checked (at 1AM) clicked on the on Manufacturer Product Page from the product details tab, then searched the product model, then clicked on specifications, and Rosewill's own web page clearly says: >>> Image Sensor: 1600 x 1200 pixels, CMOS <<< Would it be so hard to put this spec in the product description so perspective could decide? Clearly, 1600*1200 = 1,920,000 pixels is not "2.0Mega pixels".

Overall Review: I want to give the benefit of the doubt to Newegg & Rosewill the benefit of the doubt, and do the right thing to step up and do the right thing -- if it's their mistake, to make it right. I wanted to buy a webcam that according to the Feature description: "Support Full HD 1080P". If this item doesn't do it, they should allow me to return this thing un-opened on their dime, or send me a genuine "Support Full HD 1080p" webcam. If this webcam has a 1920*1080 CMOS Sensor, let them step up and clarify and I would be happy to keep this item when it arrives. I am rating this product 1 egg based on the above. I hope the readers will make fully informed decisions base on Facts, and not be potentially misled.

11/20/2011

Good for almost 3 years, then went downhill

ViewSonic VX2370Smh-LED Black 23" Full HD 1080P IPS Monitor, 1000:1, 250cd/m2, HDMI&VGA&DVI-D, Build-in Speaker
ViewSonic VX2370Smh-LED Black 23" Full HD 1080P IPS Monitor, 1000:1, 250cd/m2, HDMI&VGA&DVI-D, Build-in Speaker

Pros: I purchased this when this model (23") was first released about 3 years ago (2013), and it worked with nice sharp images at a reasonable price at the time (shell shocker). Previously I also owned a ViewSonic IPS Monitor but CFL/IPS for two or so years before this so I thought it would work okay, but I started to get a "purple /pink hue" on the left 1/3 of the screen where the right 2/3 screen would be pure white. I contacted ViewSonic for RMA, since this model has 3 year warranty, and it cost me about $30-40 to send it back to CA to fix it. They sort of fixed it. but the fix did not last long. The panel that was replaced (I can't tell if they replaced it or just fixed it) did not fit 100% flush on the top edge, and pops out about 1/8 of an inch of the frame (indicating a poor QC of their own refurbishment process), but I don't want to send it back again. It has been about 4 months since I have gotten back the RMA repaired model, and I am seeing some evidence of poor performance, like I will see some "grey horizontal striping" that is about 1/8 inch high in a pure white web page, but if you "maximize the window", it disappeared, but if you "restore" the window so it is not "full screen", the grep striping returns.

Cons: I originally really disliked the control setup (adjust contrast, etc) but it was seldom used beside power-up/down, so lived with it as a "not superb" design, but did not want to nick-pick as long as the IPS monitor worked well. Now that I have it for 3 years, and went through an RMA process, I can say definitely that the QA and the longevity of this item is questionable, at least in my case. Therefore, before you buy it, expecting some discounting before you take the leap.

Overall Review: I bought this from newegg, so you should be seeing my review as a "verified purchase."

Nice upgrade for my 3-4 yrs old XPS 8300

Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 System Specific Memory Model KTL-TC316/8G
Kingston 8GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 System Specific Memory Model KTL-TC316/8G

Pros: I didn't buy them here at Newegg, but I just installed two of these sticks into my 3 years old Dell XPS 8300 (which is technically DDR-1333 spec, while these support up to 1600). I tested the 2 new sticks with the Memtest (version 4), along with the two of the 2GB that came with the system (removed 2 2GB), at speed of 9-9-9-24. It took about 1.5 hours to thoroughly test the 20Gigs (I wanted to test both for compatibility). After one full round of the memtest test was successfully concluded, I booted into Ubuntu, was OK (see 20Gig). Then I booted into Windows (Win7 Home premium), Windows sees 20Gig, but only gave me 16 but that was an artificial limit by the OS. So, It works good! The XPS 8300 wasn't on the "Officially" support list, but it does work.

Cons: No Cons.

Overall Review: I'm running 2nd Gen i7-2600 / XPS 8300 (was 4 x 2 Nanya GB Sticks). Put two new sticks of these in the slots labelled 1 & 2, and they work fine with 2 original sticks left in slots labeled 3 & 4 I hope this will help other XPS 8300 owners who's looking for an upgrade, but don't see the XPS in supported system list.

Crazy Prices compared to 9/2009

Western Digital Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital Black WD7501AALS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: This is a commentary both about the reliability & the current "Flood Pricing" of HD's. I bought two of these in Sept of 2009 for $69.99 each. Not typo, less than $70 each. I am typing this with my order history in another screen. I got these installed for a Small Business and use them for data repository, and they serve their purpose well. No doubt they work; no doubt they have been reliable. but should everyone's wallet take that big of a hit?

Cons: I would suggest if you don't need hard drives right this second, wait until 1Q or even an announcement of the pending production increase in Asia, so all vendor can stop price gauging. Even Intel announced a big miss on 4Q,2011 sales because of HD availability.

Overall Review: Current pricing is for these one giant Benjamin more than what it was two years ago. It makes me thinks really hard on whether I really want to buy them right now.

12/12/2011

Solid CF Card, Factory could have Formatted it!

ADATA Speedy 2GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model Speedy CF 2G UPC
ADATA Speedy 2GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model Speedy CF 2G UPC

Pros: Solid compact flash card. I bought this to store the USA + Canada Map for my Garmin 2610 (bought in 2003), replacing a 3 year old Hitachi 1GB Microdrive (which was working fine, just didn't have enough room to store 2GB). I will probably never write to this CF again (as it'll be mostly for map (read only) applications.

Cons: Does not come pre-formatted ready for use. I had to buy a CF reader just to format it (to Fat16) . Deducting 1 egg for that.

Overall Review: I had to buy a "Transcend TS-RDM5W USB 2.0 Card" (also from newegg to properly format the CF card before I could use it. Originally I thought it was already formatted (I needed Fat 16 format), but it was not. I didn't not have a CF reader, so I had to shell extra $20 for a good reader. Just something to be aware of it doesn't come already formatted.