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Robert M.

Robert M.

Joined on 08/17/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 4
Most Favorable Review

Everything I expected, and more

hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with 270W FLEX Power Supply
hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with 270W FLEX Power Supply

Pros: Small, Quiet, gets the job done. Even better quality han I expected. Both 'intakes' have a filter, should keep most dust out (MY $200 antec fusion HTPC case that I am not a fan of is full of dust after 2 months of use... it has NO filter at all). Cooling is good enough as far as I can tell, with cool'n'quiet set, the fan almost never goes on high. Stock AMD cooler is 75% under the intake vent.. is pulling cold air straight to the CPU.

Cons: If I install a second HD in the external 3.5" bay, the drive extends about 1 mm too far, just pushing the right clip on the 3.5" cover to extrude just a little (might just be te HD i tested.. only tried 1 WD green) You really NEED to get a right angle SATA POWER and DATA connectors for the DVD drive to fit against the stock heatsink (For me, this is really the only 'tight' fight in the case, everything else is ample or as expected) I am also using a Blueray drive, I have not measured to see if it is longer than 'standard.'

Overall Review: If you want to build a HTPC, or home server, or even a desktop not for playing new games, this case is PERFECT. This comp performs amazing for how cheap it was. I bought low power components, and am currently loving the PC. Built as an HTPC/Server that will take care of my downloads, etc. Installed Windows 7 x64 RC, couldn't be happier. With onboard video, and windows default drivers, I am currently playing a 1080p mkv in mpc, using 80% of cpu, playing flawlessly. GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H 780G (my second, i like it more than my full atx mobo! it has everything you could need, other than s-video or rca out) AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.6GHz 45W Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB LG Black 6X BD-ROM 16X GGC-H20L - OEM 2 x 2GB name brand (I forgot which, too lazy to look) RAM stock heatsink and fan, onboard video and audio (maybe a video card upgrade soon, and wireless. Still looking for the best solution to get s-video/RCA out, as well as HDML, VGA, and

Most Critical Review

Why you should spend money on a radar detector

Cobra 6 Band Radar/Laser Detector
Cobra 6 Band Radar/Laser Detector

Pros: First off, this unit does cover all the signals you need to worry about, X, K, Ka, and Laser. For those of you that don't know, ANY LASER detector wil simply tell you that you were hit by a laser... THERE IS NO POSSIBLE WAY to give you a warning ahead of times 99% of the time. So.. I dont think you should be very worried about its laser ability, which works sorta. Pretty standard everything. Radar detectors are liek a 3rd eye.... it sees things you can't... so it can be helpful.

Cons: No where near the quality of detectors, that do cost 10x the amount. BUT a speeding ticket can cost you A LOT, and very simply put, cheap detectors like this one give you a "FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY"... as in, you think the detectors gonna always pick up everything, but theres a reason it costs so much less than others.

Overall Review: Now, I must say, I DISAGREE with ALL 3 reviews for this product. The person giving it 1 star because it has a lot of false allerts.... well... guess what... even the BEST, most expensive unit, is going to pick up A LOT of false a lerts. in fact.. a more expensive unit will pick up MORE false alerts. Automatic doors, among other things, use X and K band. Other radar detectors will even show up as Ka band (expensive detectors KNOW the deference between a cop using Ka, and a radar detector interfering with the Ka band...) All I can say is... you need to understand how this product works as compared to other detectors. Yes.. it does detect things, and yes, it may save you once in a while. But, its nicer to have a detector that will save you EVERY time a cop is using radar. In fact, the ONLY speeding tickets I have, are because I was hit by Laser... in which case, I DID know I was hit, but I was speeding when I was hit. I DO NOT USE THIS DETECTOR DAILY, I like my v1.

Very happy I bougt one of these, wish I had grabbed 2

TRENDnet 5-Port Unmanaged Gigabit GREENnet Desktop Metal Switch, Ethernet-Network Switch, 5 x Gigabit Ports, Fanless, 10 Gbps Switching Fabric, Lifetime Protection, Black, TEG-S50g
TRENDnet 5-Port Unmanaged Gigabit GREENnet Desktop Metal Switch, Ethernet-Network Switch, 5 x Gigabit Ports, Fanless, 10 Gbps Switching Fabric, Lifetime Protection, Black, TEG-S50g

Pros: Works just like it should. I don't need to purchase a gigabit router now, since I use this guy on the LAN side, and my WAN definitely doesn't exceed 100 mbit. VERY sturdy enclosure (as much as this doesn't really effect its functionality, it is definitely a nice plus to me... make me feel like its better quality than ones in cheap plastic enclosures). The price is also VERY reasonable to me (tho I hate mail in rebates, and did not send it in... the price was still very low)

Cons: None... makes my router's enclosure feel really cheap in comparison.

Overall Review: I bought this pretty much randomly.. saw the price, the good reviews, and thought it would be nice to have my comps connected via a gigabit connection. I kinda wish I either bought a second one, or one with more ports. SOO convenient... and since I am in the market for another router, it makes it so I don't need to buy one that supports gigabit LAN (as noted above)

Great motherboard, my second

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-US2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: This pretty much has everything I could possibly ask for on it. Every connector I need, none of the really old school ones wasting your space.. buy a usb adapter if you really need a parallel port, etc. Surprisingly good on board video, and definitely adequate sound. I am currently playing a 1080p video, using the drivers windows 7 installed automatically. It is playing flawlessly. It automatically detected when I switched from my DVI monitor, to my HD TV via the HDMI (and even tho I believe you can only run one with the VGA at a time, it is still very convenient) I love the color and markings on the rear panel.

Cons: No s-video out... but who am I kidding, nothing else in its class has it either! (atleast as far as my research has gotten me).. I originally planned on buying a video card ( I still might), but right now I am thinking it is not necessary at all.

Overall Review: My comp: hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.6GHz Socket AM2 45W Western Digital Caviar Green WD6400AACS 640GB LG Black 6X BD-ROM Combo LG Blu-ray/HD DVD-ROM & 16X DVD±R DVD GGC-H20L