Joined on 03/15/04
Excellent deal
Pros: * Excellent screen: clear with wide viewing angles * Good keyboard: backlit keys look nice and keys feel high quality * Quiet: doesn't get that loud when gaming * Powerful enough to run modern games on decent settings
Cons: * The size is large enough to have difficulty fitting into some bags * Lots of crapware; I reinstalled the OS entirely to get a clean machine
Overall Review: This one doesn't have the SSD but I found that boot times are still very quick. The machine does have lots of crapware installed. My solution was to download the Windows 8.1 ISO from Microsoft and do a fresh install. This worked perfectly. Windows installs quite quickly now so this doesn't take long. Asus has the drivers on their website listed and thus getting all of the hardware recognized didn't take much effort.
Replacement Unit Still Has Problems though a Workaround Exists
Pros: * Clear, bright and vibrant picture * 3 HDMI inputs * Universal remote * Low price
Cons: I am on my second n3751w; I sent the first back after the unit would display only a blank screen. I received a 2nd unit that did the same thing. I have now identified the issue and have a workaround (read below). The issue is a result of two problems: 1) The TV remote and control panel are non-responsive for the first 30 seconds after being turned on. 2) If you turn off the TV when on an HD channel, then it will display a blank screen when turned back on. Here is the workaround, do the following if the screen is black when you turn on the TV: 1) Turn on the TV 2) Wait 30 seconds (remember, the remote and control panel are non-responsive for the first 30 seconds) 3) Select channel up to go to non-HD channel, or select another input. The on-screen display will not appear so you will have to blindly select another channel or input. 4) The display should now appear.
Overall Review: The TV is great once you figure out how to get around the blank screen problem. I am quite disappointed that Viewsonic engineers seem to be unaware of the problem when a consumer can figure it out rather easily.
Good overall deal
Pros: * Good price for a PC with this specs (which is easily enough for gaming, including VR) * Excellent packaging. I have had issues with previous PCs due to parts that became loose during shipping. This one came with foam within the case in order to make sure parts didn't move. * Solid build quality. Everything was correctly connected and the PC booted the first time. This might seem like a minor point, but I have had issues with PCs with loose video card power or disconnected case fans. This one had nothing like that. * Didn't have lots of bloatware installed.
Cons: I don't have any major issues, but just a couple of small points: * The fans can change colors but not through the Dragon app. The app shows that the motherboard supports changing the fan colors but the installed fans can only be adjusted via the button on the case. This isn't a big deal, it just struck me as odd since the app can adjust the colors on the mouse and keyboard. * The Dragon app didn't work correctly (which is MSI's software for configuring fan speeds, keyboard/mouse colors, etc.). I had to reinstall it to get it to work. This is minor point though.
Overall Review: I have purchased many gaming PCs and this is definitely one of the higher quality ones.
Good deal
Pros: Low price Quiet Drive was shipped well enough (bubble-wrapped)
Cons: Not much space (40 GB doesn't get you that far)
Overall Review: The box comes with the drive only; no cables or manuals
Good Deal
Pros: * Water resistant (can be rinsed) * Quiet * Low price
Cons: None
Overall Review: It's seem a little harsh against your skin the very first time you use it. However, after a couple times it's very smooth and comfortable.
Acceptable performer; but not great for an HTPC
Pros: * Can handle HD video, but only if MPEG2 (since the GMA 950 can help decode it). Note that recorded TV (e.g. ATSC HD) is MPEG2 and thus works ok in Media Center. * Low power usage * Video card good enough to handle Windows 7 Aero at 1360x768
Cons: * CPU not strong enough to handle full screen Hulu at 480p, HD youtube or many H.264 encoded videos (the video card is no help with Flash video and thus leaves the CPU to do all the work). Even struggles with Hulu at 360p when fullscreen. Note that it does not appear that the GMA 950 will be getting support for GPU acceleration in upcoming versions of Flash; thus, this is not going to improve much with time. * Does not support S3 (suspend-to-RAM) but only s1. Thus, the fans always run in standby. Fortunately, it can wake itself up from hibernation (S4) so I use this instead (see "Other thoughts" for workaround). * It works fine in Windows Media Center except that it stutters badly when the menu overlays are shown over a running video; then memory spikes to over 1 GB for some reason. This is strange because Media Center works perfectly fine everywhere and the CPUs don't appear to be heavily taxed. This may be a bug in my setup (driver problem?). * Only 1 Dimm slot @ 533mhz
Overall Review: Note that Jetway's site refers to this as the "NC91-330LF" not "JNC91-330LF" as Newegg calls it (I kept searching for "JNC91-330LF" can could never find it on jetway.com.tw). Workaround for Lack of Standby Support: You can get the system to use hibernate instead of standby (which does stop the fans). It will still wake itself up to record TV shows, perform backups and respond to keyboard events; this way, it functions nearly identically to hibernate. Here is how to set it up: 1) Move the two jumpers on the motherboard to allow USB devices to wake it (see instruction manual for details) 2) Modify the BIOS configuration such that PS2 and USB keyboards can wake it up (this allows the remote/keyboard to bring it out of hibernate) 3) In Windows, change the power options such that the system hiberates instead of going into standby The system should now wake itself to record video and respond to your TV remote power on command (or mouse/keyboard keypress).