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Carl M.

Carl M.

Joined on 04/01/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 66
Most Favorable Review

A great router for the price

TRENDnet TEW-812DRU V1 AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Router
TRENDnet TEW-812DRU V1 AC1750 Dual Band Wireless Router

Pros: The Router has a lot of settings which you can config for your home network,Including support for all Wireless standards like 2.4ghz, as well 5ghz including the older wi-fi standards It's easy to set it up for wireless networking with the wizards. Whats good about this router too is that it's also can be used for a virtual server The Wi-fi performance is great. I used to have a problem where a computer in another room would loose connection if the door was close. Now with this router that problem no longer happens. It doesn't have external antennas for the wi-fi but that's a good thing, as they wont be in the way, when you go to set the router up. So Far the router been working great in my home network, I been sending files back and fort thru the home network. Using it Gigabit function, files are transferred very fast. One of the biggest plus to this router is being able to share music and other media with it acting like a media server. Which I find very neat, being able to config a home media steaming server, without having to leave my comp on. To steam videos and music to the front room tv. Or other computers in the house which is neat to have. Can also be setup as a File server as well. I gave it a try with a USB flash stick I had laying around,I didn't have any issues with configuring the router up as a sharing server. The CD that comes with it gives you all the info you ever need to config the router as well to config the advance settings. They also give you a Ethernet cable in case you don't have a short one laying around to use.

Cons: The Router is confusing at first when you first go into configing it for your home network The options are also layout in a compact format. Wheres the D-link Router I was using, had it seperated into its own tabs, making it easier to fine everything. Unlike the router which i switch from this router WPS function on this router as well the pin medthod doesn't work that well, as it doesn't let me connect the printer wirelessly easy, like I did on the older router I was using. It took alot of tries before it connected. I was running back and forth trying to get it connected. I guess it felt I gotten a good enough workout, since it decided to work finally. Doesn't seem that it very durabable, since its made outta plastic, I would had thought it be made outta toughter maternals and its very light as well. It would also been need if it had a stand on it, so you could stand it up on it sides. Instead of laying it flat.

Overall Review: The first thing users should do is set a Wi-fi protection and a key for the wi-fi network. As users tend to not do that and have um-protected networks. Its important that you do config it, that way you dont have random people connecting to your Wi-fi network doing harm as well as leeching off your internet service, with out you knowing.

Most Critical Review
XFX Double D Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card FX-795A-TDFC
XFX Double D Radeon HD 7950 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card FX-795A-TDFC

Pros: Been using this card from a year, been working great in the first part of that time. It didn't give me any problems while gaming, nor did the drivers. It handles all the games I play very good, I haven't used the HDMI 5.1 audio as I don't need it.

Cons: The major issue is the fact that the card over heat, I don't have any thing in the front of the graphics card, so air can still get to it. But I been fighting it heat issue for a while now. Also one of the fans started to make noise, I don't know which one it is, but I hear it when ever I play a game. I just wish they did a better job with the design of the cooler, and used better quality fans.

Works very well, very good quailty.

5 Pack Braided Sleeving 25CM Molex TX4 4pin Connectors CPU PWM Fan Power Extension Cable,4 pin Molex Plug Backword 2 pin 3pin Case fan
5 Pack Braided Sleeving 25CM Molex TX4 4pin Connectors CPU PWM Fan Power Extension Cable,4 pin Molex Plug Backword 2 pin 3pin Case fan

Pros: The quality of the cables was very good, I didn't expect it to feel durable. I had no problems with them as they work like they suppose to. They was long enough to reach the fan headers from the rear of my motherboard tray.

Cons: None

Overall Review: I found me some good extenders, if I ever need more in the future.

Nice and roomly case, but not pefect

Thermaltake Core X71 Tempered Glass Edition Black ATX Gaming Full Tower Tt LCS Certified Gaming Computer Case CA-1F8-00M1WN-02
Thermaltake Core X71 Tempered Glass Edition Black ATX Gaming Full Tower Tt LCS Certified Gaming Computer Case CA-1F8-00M1WN-02

Pros: I was in the market for a new case and this one looked like it would work very well for my needs, as my current case became less roomy for my needs. I was kinda worried about the tempered glass that it used. But that all went away when I held the tempered glass door in my hand, It felt more durable then I thought it would be. The side door metal frame around it felt aright. The motherboard tray’s top wire cut out’s could be a bit better, such as either being a little bit more bigger, as I had an issue with my Corsair H150’s 3 fan cable plug making thru one of the openings. Never less I did get it thru the hole. I did have a big problem with the wires for my top 3x 140 mm case fans, trying to route the rest of the wires thru the hole, to get them out the way of the blades. Due to the holes not being a tad bigger, but that was the fan’s cables fault and not the case. One of the things I like about the case, is the HDD cage slots behind the motherboard cage. Being ablt to remove the main cage from the inside of the case, and use the HDD plastic mounts on the rear of the tray into the holders, is hardly. Since it allowed me to install my H150i into the front, and still have a place to put my two hard drives, there even a 3rd spot to put another hard drive, the only problem with it, is the location, you would need to get a hold of a longer Sata cable to reach it. There are plenty of spots for fans, I was amazed that I had all of these spots to install case fans if I need to in the future. I have a total of 11 fans installed, 6 on my AIO in a push-pull configure, 3x140mm at the top, 1x140mm at the rear and 1x 140mm at the very bottom. So far I find the air flow in this case to be great, better then the air flow in my old case, this even with my system heavily overclocked. With the heat being pushed out of the case quickly. I had a minor issue with installing my power supply at the bottom part of the case on it’s side, but that was due to me not realizing there was rubber feet that came with the case to set under the PSU, which would had made it easier. Routing cables with all of the cut outs on the rear of the case, the motherboard tray and the bottom of the case, made it very easy to route and hide all the cables, it was so much easy to make my case inside neater then it ever was with my old case. This was also the first time I ever had the inside of my case wires neat. Usually they would be a mess due to lack of room in my prior cases.

Cons: Now sadly the case isn’t perfect as it has some faults. The side door’s are hard to get back on, when you get them off, Some how one of my bottom side doors came bent, I had to bent it back into shape just to get it to screw back onto the frame. I noticed it when I was removing the doors off, none of the doors are flush with the case. There are even gaps between parts of the case, lucky they are very small but still. I still wasn’t able to get the tempered glass side back on evenly. Even the screw holes them selves are not right. I did evidently get every thing back on, but it took some work to get it screw back in, even then it wasn't perfect.

Overall Review: If they improve the issue with the case sides so every thing will be flush with the case and goes on easier, then this case would be better.

Affordable VR and gaming phone with good performance

Asus Zenfone 2 4G LTE Unlocked Smart Phone 5.5" Glacier Gray 16GB 2GB RAM
Asus Zenfone 2 4G LTE Unlocked Smart Phone 5.5" Glacier Gray 16GB 2GB RAM

Pros: One of the things that caught my eye was the fact it could handle VR and supposedly had good gaming performance. Which was good for me since I play a lot of games and then there was a lot that didn’t do that well on the existing phone I was using, that I wanted to play. When I got the Zenfone 2 in my hands the first thing I did was see how well it handle gaming and VR, to my surprise, it did a great job with both. Games that worked slow on an LG Leon Ms345 that I was temporary using, was much more smoother, and VR worked better, as I tried to do it on my older phone which couldn’t do it at all. The screen looked very good, and was a nice size, games was easier to see and look at on a bigger screen at 1920×1080, in comparison to the LG Leon MS345’s low res screen. The screen also looked like it could take a beating, tho I still evidently place the phone into a protection case, since I didn’t want to rely on that. The camera quality was better then what I thought it would be, not to mention having features and functions that I didn’t have before. HDR photos looked really nice and the picture quality was very good for a phone, I would say even better then the camera that my mom owns which I didn’t expect. The audio quality of the build in speakers was ok, but they was a lot better then the one’s on the Leon. But the headphone jack sound quality was what I noticed the most. I have some Nuforce HEM2 IEM’s, which when I originally tried with the Leon, it didn’t do a good job with them and sounded badly. With the Zenfone 2 on the other hand, it sounded much much better and was a good match with them. The audio wasn’t tinny at all or bright, it was over all good. Over all the phone performed great, nothing was sluggish, including the 5Ghz wireless performance. Bluetooth worked very good and I didn't have any problems with it.

Cons: Taking off the Back cover to put in your sim card or micro SD is hard, if your not careful you can crack the back cover. Curve shape of the back, makes it hard to put into certain VR headset's. You may have an problem where your sim card won't stay into the sim card slot 1, I had to use an thin piece of paper to keep it in. Rmaing it to asus or their repair center is your only choice,unless your handy with tools. It gets hot when your gaming and using VR, which is only useful if you're standing out in the freezing cold and need to keep your hands warm.

Overall Review: Even through there are some issues, you may not have them your selves. honestly I would only recommend the zenfone 2 if you can get a hold of it for an good price, since it was the only phone I saw in this price range that had good specs and did Vr very well.

Great motherboard

ASUS TUF X299 MARK 2 LGA2066 DDR4 M.2 USB 3.1 X299 ATX Motherboard for Intel Core i9 and i7 X-Series Processors
ASUS TUF X299 MARK 2 LGA2066 DDR4 M.2 USB 3.1 X299 ATX Motherboard for Intel Core i9 and i7 X-Series Processors

Pros: The first thing I going to say about this motherboard is, It has all intel based sata 6.0 plugs. The config I came off had only 2 and the other 2 was an nightmare(marvell). Right away my Sata SSD performance was better as my Sata SSD drives worked much better then before. I thought they was going bad as they was always slowing down but not this time. I haven't tried the M.2 slots yet due to not having an M.2 drive for now so I don't know how it perform. But the motherboard performance so far is very good, also my 7800X is doing an very good job overclocked on this board. Turns out it was compatible with the CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 8GB which isn't on the memory compatible list at the time I checked,I didn't not have any issues with using this memory with the board, which I thought I would have. Glad it working great. The RGB lighting options in the software is very neat and the function of having the RGB going while the computer is sleep or shut down is an good feature, but you can turn them off if you not into the RGB style or want an night light in your room or office. On-board audio supporting 32bit/192khz is an bonus as is it support for Blu ray DD-MA and DTS-HD audio format, I have tried it for an while and it does sound good, and have an decent headphone amp, it's not perfect as it still doesn't replace the need of having to own an sound card, but it makes for an temporary solution til you get an sound card. The software side needs some improvement. But the onboard hp amp will work with easy to drive headphones such as the Audio Technica A/D #00 series, DT##0 32 models for example. Plus it does give you the option to change the amp gain. I love the number of USB plugs it has on the rear which is great for those who uses an lot of usb based devices, but that PS/2 plug is an waste. Another set of USB,Ethernet or wifi would have been better served in that spot then having an PS/2 plug which most people don't use in this day or age.

Cons: The on-board audio software is very lacking with the options as it is the same software suite as the other models of realtek and it's need an overhauled. While the on board does have an headphone amp, it's an decent one but it will not power most 400-600ohm headphones let alone not providing power for any headphone that needs a lot of power. So don't go plugging in an pair of Hifiman HE-500s or some Audio technica R70X's into the onboard audio, because it won't be able to handle it. I know I tried the R70X to see how well it would do. The HP amp gain doesn't explains which setting is for which headphone ohm setting, Which is important, so you know which gain setting does what and which one to set it to. Because it's auto detect won't be perfect and can suggest the wrong gain setting. There should be no PS/2's on an motherboard in 2017, unless it is one of those special gaming mouse PS/2 plugs, which also includes having serial port options in the bios, which also isn't needed. One of the M.2 connectors is in an bad location, Having an M.2 sticking up even while installed into an bracket is asking for trouble due to having an chance to hit your hand into it and bent it or breaking it off the motherboard. I looked at the motherboard and they could had easily placed it around the PCi-E sockets where the other slot is located. One will have to be careful while working around it.

Overall Review: Even tho I listed a lot of cons, Since I can't give an 4.5 rating I gave an 5. But really the on-board audio did sound good but not compared to an sound card such as the ST/X's SBZ's or AE-5's etc. Only exception is if that sound card is from the audigy era or an Xonar DS/DGX or original X-FI. I know it wasn't going to be perfect, But I wanted to give enough info, so those who are going to use it, will know the type of headphones that will work and the one's that will not work with it built in headphone amp. But if you don't care about audio and just want something that works then the onboard audio will be perfect for you.

12/31/2017