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William B.

William B.

Joined on 04/28/03

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Works Great - Server 2003

SANS DIGITAL TR4M RAID 0, 1, 10, 5, 5+spare, spanning and JBOD 4 3.5" Drive Bays eSATA 3Gbps (via Port Multiplier) 4 Bay SATA to eSATA (Port Multiplier) JBOD Enclosure
SANS DIGITAL TR4M RAID 0, 1, 10, 5, 5+spare, spanning and JBOD 4 3.5" Drive Bays eSATA 3Gbps (via Port Multiplier) 4 Bay SATA to eSATA (Port Multiplier) JBOD Enclosure

Pros: I have two of these units configured as RAID5+Hot Spare on Win2003 server. Both units on single supplied controller never miss a beat. The hot spare fail-over seamlessly moved data from a dead drive. Tech support from Sans Digital is excellent, helpful and understand their product.

Cons: Supplied eSATA cable too short for my setup. Purchased a 6-foot cable here at Newegg.

Overall Review: Drives easy to install, access and replace.

Most Critical Review

WD Pitiful QC

Western Digital Blue WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital Blue WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: None

Cons: 2 DOA out of 4 purchased. Failed WD's own diagnostics. Hard drive technology isn't rocket-science any more, especially at the < 1TB level. No excuse except for poor QC.

Overall Review: Sent them all back. Nothing puts a customer off more than a premature HD failure.

Short Life Cycle

OPTI-UPS Enhanced Series ES1500C 1400 VA 980 Watts 8 Outlets UPS
OPTI-UPS Enhanced Series ES1500C 1400 VA 980 Watts 8 Outlets UPS

Pros: Inexpensive and does the job powering a 2003 server and external RAID drives.

Cons: I have had (2) of these units malfunction and die at about 2-years. Like others have said, it's a relay or similar that chatters for a few seconds and the power goes off - even with brand new batteries.

Overall Review: I still have a few of these in service that have not yet died. However, I'm not going back to OPTI-UPS. Replaced the most recent casualty with a Cyberpower pure sine wave unit which is well built and has USB connectivity to my server at about the same price.

Really Nice Unit!

Raidon GR3630-2S-SB2 (+) RAID 0, 1 2 3.5" Drive Bays eSATA & USB 2.0 2-Bay eSATA / USB RAID 0, 1 Enclosure
Raidon GR3630-2S-SB2 (+) RAID 0, 1 2 3.5" Drive Bays eSATA & USB 2.0 2-Bay eSATA / USB RAID 0, 1 Enclosure

Pros: Very high build quality and nice looking unit. Looks great on my desk. Setup mine with 2 x 2TB. Completely automatic operation. I pulled a drive to test it. Automatic rebuild took several hours which is to be expected. No CPU overhead, no controller cards - what's not to like?? Already ordered another one of these units.

Cons: None so far.

Overall Review: Yes, I can hear the fan. Not loud at all though. Blue lights are bright however does not bother me at all.

Disappointed - Slow

D-Link DSL-2320B ADSL2/2+ Ethernet/USB Modem 24Mbps Downstream, 3.5Mbps Upstream ADSL Port (RJ-11) 10/100 Ethernet Port (RJ-45) USB 1.1 Port ADSL Standards: Multi-mode  Full-rate ANSI T1.413 Issue 2  ITU-T G.992.1 (G.dmt) Annex A/C/I  ITU-T
D-Link DSL-2320B ADSL2/2+ Ethernet/USB Modem 24Mbps Downstream, 3.5Mbps Upstream ADSL Port (RJ-11) 10/100 Ethernet Port (RJ-45) USB 1.1 Port ADSL Standards: Multi-mode Full-rate ANSI T1.413 Issue 2 ITU-T G.992.1 (G.dmt) Annex A/C/I ITU-T

Pros: Very easy to setup in bridge mode for ATT DSL (0/35). Online in 2-minutes from deboxing.

Cons: Not nearly as fast as the Speedstream 5100b it replaced. Even let the D-Link "train-up" for a few days. Put the 5100 back in and realized an instant 3M speed increase.

Overall Review: Get an old 5100 from FleaBay for $20 and save your money.

11/24/2009

I'm Hooked!

GARMIN 3.5" Mobile GPS system
GARMIN 3.5" Mobile GPS system

Pros: Sweet price point for a fantastic first GPS. Suction cup is illegal in Calif., so picked up the Garmin dash mount for 1/2 price on fleabay. Works great. The c330 always know the way to grandma's and home from wherever you are. Even downloaded the traffic cams for my county so I get an "alert" when I get close. This unit is a winner!

Cons: Some screen washout in direct, bright sunlight - no big deal.

Overall Review: I'm not easily impressed with tech gadgets, but the c330 (for the price) blows me away. Very easy to operate and understand. I like that it is right up on the dash so I don't have to look away to see the nav screen.