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Brice B.

Brice B.

Joined on 03/24/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

Simply. Amazing.

Acer H233Hbmid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 40000:1 (ACM) Built in Speakers
Acer H233Hbmid Black 23" 5ms HDMI Full HD 1080P Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 40000:1 (ACM) Built in Speakers

Pros: Flawless picture, intuitive interface for changing inputs (auto-detects and cycles through available sources), great value, perfect for TV/Monitor combo. Comes with all cables, including a generous-length HDMI cable. I currently use it as my main monitor in a 2 monitor setup, and also have my Xbox 360 hooked into it via HDMI, I switch between the two effortlessly and with great results.

Cons: Dust magnet. And I don't mean it collects and shows dust easily like what most people associate "dust magnet" with... I mean it is literally electronically charged to collect dust and will find dust particles at all costs. Also, I'm 99% sure this is my system's fault, but just in case: I've had two BSOD's since I've had this monitor. Also, you can't use the audio-out for HDMI sources, I'm not sure if this is lack of development on Acer's end, or if it is just a function of the nature of HDMI. All very minor things and still well worth the overall value/enjoyment.

Overall Review: Maybe I'm just a moron, but I had the hardest time figuring out where the volume control was, so I have to mention it in case there's anyone else like me out there: it's the two arrows that you would think only operate the on-screen menu (they function as the volume when you're not in the menu).

Most Critical Review

Good, not great

ZALMAN ZM850-HP 850W Continuous @ 45°C
(Maximum Continuous Peak: 1050W) ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Modular Heatpipe-Cooled SLI Power Supply
ZALMAN ZM850-HP 850W Continuous @ 45°C (Maximum Continuous Peak: 1050W) ATX12V V2.2 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Modular Heatpipe-Cooled SLI Power Supply

Pros: Works well as a bottom-mounted PSU (I'm using mine in an Antec 902 case), fan is very quiet and it keeps very cool.

Cons: NOT MODULAR as falsely advertised. This PSU has optional moduar SATA Power plugs, but everything else is fixed cabling. WHINING NOISE. I can deal with fan noise (which this admittedly doesn't have, btw) but this PSU emits a high pitched dentist-drill electronic whining when the CPU gets under even mid-level loads. I would RMA it but I noticed that several other people experienced this as well. Pretty disappointing for a PSU to be producing that type of noise.

Overall Review: Disappointing overall due to the noise and false advertising, but it still gets the job done with plenty of clean power.

Why was this even released?

Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 5000
Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop 5000

Pros: Excellent physical design and feel of keys.

Cons: Unfortunately none of the above matters if it has shoddy reception, as several others have already mentioned. If you attempt to troubleshoot or research the problem, you will find that Microsoft acknowledges the problem as a "known issue." Yes, seriously. Why would you even release a product with a known issue like this? Trying to get the mouse to work without super-gluing it to the receiver is like trying to heard cats while juggling chain saws.

Overall Review: Wish it performed reliably.

Rock Solid Awesomeness

OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK

Pros: These things are wicked fast, handle heat very well, fit fine--even under a HSF, and are a great price.

Cons: They don't have 4G x 1 stick yet :P

Overall Review: Have 3 of these on my GA-EX58-UD5 running with an i7 920 (with a Vigor Monsoon III installed) and will likely buy 3 more eventually.

Icey Cold Case Whale

Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Socket 1366 Ready
Vigor Monsoon III LT Dual 120mm Fan CPU Cooler Socket 1366 Ready

Pros: COLDNESS!! I sit with my legs right next to my case, and I'm not even kidding when I say I get chilly sometimes. Using it on a slightly overclocked i7 920 and I my temp never goes above 40C. FORTY. Granted I don't run Prime95, but this thing is REALLY impressive and surprisingly quiet.

Cons: You're probably expecting to read something like "HUGE" or "MASSIVE" here, like everyone else wrote. And while that is certainly true, allow me to better commentate on the monstrositous girth that is the Monsoon III. If this is this first thing you install on your motherboard, you will fail and probably kill yourself in the process. Think of it like installing a giant square mushroom that covers up everything below it. They should call it the Monsoon Eclipse. Like a few others, I had to install RAM into my first RAM slot before I mounted it because it becomes entirely blocked. Installation is also rather cumbersome but not impossible. There are very helpful guides on youtube, but if you have a friend around, you will see where having 2 people would make it significantly easier.

Overall Review: Installed onto my Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 with i7 920 in an Antec 902 case with little but ample room to spare.

Excellent! But not worth $20

Icy Dock MB882SP-1S-1B | 2.5" to 3.5" Bay SATA HDD & SSD Converter / Mounting Kit /Bracket | EZConvert
Icy Dock MB882SP-1S-1B | 2.5" to 3.5" Bay SATA HDD & SSD Converter / Mounting Kit /Bracket | EZConvert

Pros: Rather ingeniously engineered device! I won't bother trying to explain the mechanics of it, but you just set the bare SSD in the box, and when you close the lid, the internal connections are hooked up automatically! Came with adequate mounting hardware.

Cons: The lid doesn't have quite as much resistance as I'd like to keep it shut. This wouldn't be a problem except that the internals connectors disconnect whenever you open the lid; so I'd like for it to be a little harder to slide the top lid off. Also, it is slightly inefficient in that SSD's are TINY tiny, and this is a 2.5" box, so it wouldn't be that hard to engineer a similar box that holds two, or even four SSD's, essentially creating a 2.5" or 3.5" RAID box.

Overall Review: I got this for free in a combo deal with a 120G OCZ Vertex SSD. It's nice to have, but I don't think that it's worth dropping $20 on. If you're looking for a good solution to mount your SSD in your desktop and think this is your only option, it's not. A 3$ adhesive strip will work just as well.