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Brien K.

Brien K.

Joined on 03/21/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 19
Most Favorable Review

Great so far

ASUS 15.6" Intel Core i5-3230M 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 Windows 8 64-Bit
ASUS 15.6" Intel Core i5-3230M 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 Windows 8 64-Bit

Pros: Nice construction and feel. The screen on mine does not have a matt finish but glare is not as bad as others I have used and it is nice and bright. I bought this because I used one at work and liked it.

Cons: haven't found any yet other than the way windows 8 is initially set up.

Overall Review: The hardware is great. But this was the first computer I have bought with windows 8 installed. It took a day to tweak windows to my liking. Windows 8's initial setup is geared toward a tablet/ultrabook that has a touch screen and is totally worthless on a computer with out it. To get the system running efficiently in desktop you will need to download a few things. I used "classic shell" this will give you a start button as well as other tweaks. I also downloaded a windows 7 theme as the default ones are horrible on the eyes.

Most Critical Review

Artifact Monster

XFX PVT73AUDE3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card
XFX PVT73AUDE3 GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card

Pros: It looks cool.

Cons: After around 10 months the card will not play games without artifacts. I have tried just about everything to resurrect it. Drivers, Bios, Clock settings. Installed it into a different system. No change.

Overall Review: Over the past year I have not played nearly much as I used to. I never over clocked it as it was super fast for Q3, ET and fast enough for me in Q4 and COD2. I guess it's time to build a new system anyway. My suggestion is to save your money and build a new system with PCIE. Or if you just want to be stubborn like I was find the LEADTEK version of this card. I still have my old LEADTEK GF2 GTS , A LEADTEK FX5900 and there still working as good as new over all the years.

Nice mouse

GIGABYTE M6800 GM-M6800 Noble Black 4 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Gaming Mouse
GIGABYTE M6800 GM-M6800 Noble Black 4 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical Gaming Mouse

Pros: It is a full sized mouse with a natural grip and comfortable feel. Has worked flawless since I plugged it in. I use this on my CAD workstation. Just bought another one to replace an old Logitech that is well over ten years old and the wheel has stopped working.

Cons: None

Awesome

SAMSUNG 840 EVO 2.5" 500GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7TE500BW
SAMSUNG 840 EVO 2.5" 500GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7TE500BW

Pros: Fast! Easy and silent!

Cons: Didn't come with a 3 1/2" HD bracket so I had to use my old Intel drives bracket.

Overall Review: I did a fresh install on this drive so I didn't use any drive tools to copy an old drive.

Nice

Windows 8.1 Pro - Full Version (32 & 64-bit)
Windows 8.1 Pro - Full Version (32 & 64-bit)

Pros: Very fast installation! This has got to be the fastest installing windows yet. Feels quite a bit faster than 7 in pretty much everything. It does take a bit of tweaking after setup to get the desktop to function and work to my preferences. Almost all of my old apps still work and joining it to my network domain was super easy.

Cons: Behind my network firewall none of the metro apps will connect to the internet. The metro apps don't use the same TCP/IP authentication methods as the desktop apps "i don't think they use any for that matter". This is not really a big deal as I never use the metro interface and some times even forget that it is even there.

Overall Review: I have used windows 8 for a while on my laptop so I knew ahead of time what I was getting myself into.

Nice

SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520 W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply
SeaSonic S12II 520 Bronze 520 W ATX12V V2.3 / EPS 12V V2.91 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Pros: Very nice construction with a quality feel and look. It runs nice and quiet as well.

Cons: none