Joined on 03/28/06
Solid Drive
Pros: Solid, quiet and accurate. What more does it need to do? None of that lightscribe nonsense. I'm done with that. Good riddance.
Cons: If it lasts? None
Overall Review: Get one!
Solid PNP; needs some advancement
Pros: Straight-forward plug & play installation. Fast menu response and intuitive layout. Reliable connectivity. Diminutive package design.
Cons: Good but nothing spectacular in terms of wireless range. Designed to stand-up but lacks any type of stability plinth. No physical power button. No physical wireless on/off button. No USB 3.0
Overall Review: Installation of the TEW-812DRU AC1750 was straight-forward and painlessly quick. Having used a variety of wireless routers in both the work and home setting, ease of installation and quick maneuverability of the configuration pages is an absolute MUST and this router delivers. For the less than tech savvy end-user, this package should provide an easy installation experience; everything is there that should be expected - clear written instructions; out pop-up of the configuration wizard at the start; helpful labeling for preset wireless settings - pretty much everything most companies provide and should be expected to provide these days. Much has been covered in previous reviews, so in an effort to focus on my "care abouts", I'll only summarize what others have already stated in so far as stating this router presents & performs with a certain amount of mediocrity beyond the essentials. Wireless connectivity in my 2000 sq/ft, relatively new home is more on par with run-of-the-mill "N" class routers; @ ranges of 25 ft and through passage ways & walls, connections maintain a "Good" status but connection performance drops off at distances of 35 to 40 feet. I use multiple Home-Plug based connections throughout my home and routing speeds matched my default router, maintaining ~ 150Mbit/sec connection speeds without any hiccups, so interoperability is up to snuff. My only real gripes about this router are these: For the roughly $150 cost of admission for this router, it seems a tad bit under engineered. Because of the low-mass design, it's footing is unstable when you connect a full compliment of (4) cables to the port side and oddly enough, this router isn't designed to lay flat if one chooses to do so [no provided feet]. A simple low-cost solution would be to provide a mass adding/stability providing snap-on plinth. Next up, I personally believe all routers should come standard with a front panel wireless on/off and WPS buttons, as well as USB 3.0 support - especially at this price point. A power button for hard-resets is also something I would expect to see on router these days and this puppy lack one. All-in-all, this router is solid entry level a/b/g/n/ac device in terms of features & performance but it is obviously priced too high for the offerings. Kudos to Trendnet for the solid installation routine, well thought out internal configuration pages and reliable, albeit mediocre, functionality.
Pretty close to perfect
Pros: Covered by all the other reviewers so I won't repeat the obvious other than to state that this case was well thought-out and designed - for the most part.
Cons: My only beef is with the top-mounting of a liquid cooling system. I went with the Corsair H105 and the screw/washer arrangement (provided with the cooling system) doesn't work with this case; the screws are too short due to the depth of the grommets present in the case. You can manage to get things snug if you omit the recommended washers but then you are compressing the grommets from a mechanical engineering stand-point.
Overall Review: In a nut-shell, it is obvious that Corsair engineers aren't talking to each other. There is no reason for a premium cooling system not to integrate with a premium case design from the same manufacturer. Docked one egg because of this glaring oversight.
Not ready for Prime Time
Pros: Lower power than the GTX 580 SC I had been running. A tad bit shorter making positioning better. Max settings on games produces beautiful results.
Cons: Resumption from sleep mode failure is totally unacceptable. My gut tells me eVGA knew this but went forward with RTM anyhow. Disappointing considering the price point.
Overall Review: Another eVGA product that didn't get the full benefit of internal compatibility testing. Rightfully disappointed. I've been through this before with eVGA. My system would not come out of sleep mode no matter what I tried. My X58 Classified had been running perfectly with a GTX 580 SC since upgrading last year. The X58 has the latest BIOS. Swapping between the 580 and the 680 proved without a doubt that this platform combination has issues. Contacted eVGA tech support and they were great. The bonus this time is that they were fully aware that this issue exists and the support agent was, no-bones-about-it, quick to point out that my card was defective. Would have been a great card to keep based on the utter performance but I pretty much have had it with eVGA sleep issues - on multiple products. Compatibility issues between the same mfg's mobo/graphics solutions is not good. Stick with the 500 series until they address this folks. I will no longer be exclusively eVGA
Not Fully Matured
Pros: Solidly engineered from a mechanical standpoint. Dimensionally exacting for easy installations. The little things like electrical insulation on support plates is a nice touch.
Cons: No true Raid0 speed benefit. Reset button configuration method doesn't work. There has been no firmware update on this rig since early 2011.
Overall Review: I can concur that this dock doesn't support FULL Raid0. Tried a few different drive combos and it always tests at Raid1 speeds even when you stripe. This is a big boo-boo but more than likely a implementation issue between Marvel and Icy. Hopefully a future firmware update will rectify this bug. Testing throughput and comparing Raid0 to Raid1 yields the same results. What's the point of having a Raid0 stripe option if it doesn't work? Beyond that glaring issue, this dock is well engineered and thought out. Internal connector alignment is a no brainer, the addition of insulation layers on the internal plate metal surfaces to the form factor foot-print this dock has mostly everything going for it. When I struggled to get the reset configuration process to work, the online chat support was quick to connect and the cs agent immediately directed me to using the software configuration method. That worked. Too many detailed questions and they will defer to the installation video.
Wrong Description
Pros: This is not a F.T.W. (For the Win) card as outlined on this site. This is just the Superclocked (SC) card.
Cons: This is not a F.T.W. (For the Win) card as outlined on this site. This is just the Superclocked (SC) card.
Overall Review: This is not a F.T.W. (For the Win) card as outlined on this site. This is just the Superclocked (SC) card.