Joined on 06/02/11
Where's the Beef?
Pros: 24x7 uptime without incident
Overall Review: I'm surprised reading many of these reviews. I've been running it generally around the clock for two years without a hiccup. I haven't measured I/O information but it happily serves up 4K video to multiple screens. Found these reviews shopping for a second one and felt I ought to say mine runs great.
Largely Incompatible with iOS
Pros: Reliable router that I'm not sure I've ever had to reset (rare!). Lots of silly little tools in the interface that are simple to understand even if you don't know much about networking. High efficiency in that it only loses about 1 Mbps from direct cable connection to running through the router and on to a PC.
Cons: Can't maintain a download rate more than 0.16 Mbps on any iOS devices - two iPhones and two iPads. Works fine on PC laptops and of course wired desktops (30-50 Mbps). I've tried turning on and off 5MHz signal, device prioritization, etc, updated firmware. Since the iOS devices make up half of my usage, I would throw this thing away if I hadn't overpaid so gratuitously for it. Zero assistance from Linksys' website. Another company whose products just can't be trusted - great. I'm a shareholder too - how embarrassing!
Overall Review: Furious that I paid almost two hundred dollars for this science fair project. My five year old Netgear outperforms it in every way, so I may daisy chain it on just for my Apple devices. Would LOVE to hear from Linksys and get it working, but my two emails to technical support must have disappeared into the ether or much more likely were deemed either unimportant or too difficult by the recipient. Buy a different router fellas. There are hundreds of them out there. The cheaper and simpler, the better in my experience. My two $50 routers are still at my fingertips and my two $150+ routers are in or on their way to the landfill.
Overall great value
Pros: This is a great machine for the money, and it runs Autodesk Revit 2025 even without a video card. The tablet mode is a nice feature and includes a stylus.
Cons: Ugh the keyboard... two sins. First, the keys are not backlit. I never knew I cared until I tried working late with this laptop. They also removed one of the two Ctrl buttons (right side) and replaced it with a CoPilot button I never use.
Overall Review: Great device that has some frustrating cheap details.
Attractive, Easy, 100% Pixels, Cables Included
Pros: Moving from 1080-style monitors to the 4K is quite a thing - it's like a giant iPhone or something. Crystal clear. I bought a 24" and a 28" and neither has a dead pixel (more of a feat with 8x the pixels). Maybe I'm jaded but was very surprised to find a Displayport and HDMI cable included. I had already ordered them separately. They're beautiful displays. Text is awesome. I'm a photographer so obviously I love the resolution. The stand is still big but the footprint is very unobtrusive on a desk - you can sort of see from the picture. Basically they used physics rather than bulk to make it work - nice.
Cons: Weird (power and everything else) button, but actually I'd rather have it on the back. Hardly the world's most adjustable monitor stand. Turned up to 11 out of the box (SO bright) - about to turn my calibrator loose on it.
Overall Review: The pros here are every day, and the cons you deal with about once. This is an awesome monitor, classy bevel, discreet operation, produces no heat to speak of and comes with its own cables. Savvy shopping gets good prices on this 2015 item. Whoever said you can't mix one 4K and one 1080 is only sort of right. A window spread across both monitors is wonky, but each in its own is fine. I'm running the 28" and 24" of this same monitor off an EVGA 1060 with no complaints at all. As I noted, I also tried the 1080 as a secondary monitor with equal success if you only want to upgrade one at a time.
Set It and Forget It
Pros: I installed these in probably half a dozen machines in my architecture firm, and the extra muscle over i5 chips when rendering is appreciable. They stay cool even with the lousy stock heatsink, but cooler with almost anything else. Haven't had any failure or overheats on any of them over three years. A well-made chip that is still state-of-the-art five years into its life.
Cons: I would rather have a $5 voucher towards a real heat sink than the one in the box.
Overall Review: I have one at home that I overclocked to 4.0 a couple of years ago out of curiosity and it has never overheated, failed or complained either (it does have a Hyper212 after-market heatsink).
Firmware? Really??
Pros: Anyone who has upgraded from an HDD to an SSD needs be told little about the pros - wonderfully fast, power-thrifty, etc. Prices have gotten much more reasonable.
Cons: I run the server and workstations for an architecture firm and deployed these based on their five-star reviews in several workstations in our office. Sure enough, I've had three of the five I've bought fail, all between 6 and 12 months in. I emailed Crucial a few times requesting an RMA but haven't heard one word back from them (their online RMA form doesn't apply for SSDs). I've read anecdotally about upgrading the firmware, and will reluctantly try it, but I will never use Crucial SSDs moving forward as system discs given their >50% failure rate and complete silence from customer service and tech support.
Overall Review: Crummy product from a crummy company with nice packaging. Have enjoyed a 0% failure rate from the dozen or so OCZ SSDs we have deployed, so I certainly have to recommend those for now.