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Stephen M.

Stephen M.

Joined on 04/10/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

Last of a Dying Breed

Intel Pentium 4 2.8 - Pentium 4 Northwood Single-Core 2.8 GHz Socket 478 68.4W Processor - RK80532PE072512
Intel Pentium 4 2.8 - Pentium 4 Northwood Single-Core 2.8 GHz Socket 478 68.4W Processor - RK80532PE072512

Pros: Cheap upgrade, works well in my parental unit's Dell Dimension 4550. Went from a P4 1.8 to this with no problems.

Cons: Description could have said it was a pulled chip-no big deal but nice to know. Also had 1 bent pin on the bottom left corner. You and I both know the drill (bend it back and pray it works-it did!).

Overall Review: This and 1 Gig Pqi memory was a cheap way of upgrading Mom's old Dell for a Christmas gift. Gives me a couple years to put together a new system for her. Don't forget the Arctic Silver!

12/25/2006
Most Critical Review

Beware, Beware, Beware

connect3D Radeon X1600PRO 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Graphics Card 3049
connect3D Radeon X1600PRO 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Graphics Card 3049

Pros: Video display looks good, install was easy (should be, right?). Onward for the bad....

Cons: FAN VERY NOISY!! Sounded like a modem locked up while connecting-constant whine. Also, previous reviewer is correct-will not update past driver version 6.4. Switched cards with another machine running 6.13, this card would not function in that machine while the other card ran fine in both and allowed drivers to update to 6.13 in the first machine. Switched cards back to original machines, this card would not work in updated driver machine-rolled back driver to 6.4 and worked but NOISY!!

Overall Review: Looked good. Works with old drivers, but who wants old drivers, as there usually is a reason for updating, right? If the fan was OK I probabaly could have lived with being stuck with old drivers for the price of the card. Oh, well. Guess there was a reason this card was cheap.

12/25/2006

Does what it's supposed to

HP LaserJet 2420DN (Q5959A) Duplex 1200 dpi x 1200 dpi USB Mono Laser Printer
HP LaserJet 2420DN (Q5959A) Duplex 1200 dpi x 1200 dpi USB Mono Laser Printer

Pros: Very fast, very crisp printing. Easy setup.

Cons: Price is still pretty high for the network version, but HP is not alone in this.

Overall Review: Just have to wonder why network printers are so expensive still. Also,why are wide impact printers are still several hundred dollars even though the technology is 20+ years old?

12/29/2006

Check your other stuff first

Linksys WMP54GX Wireless-G Adapter with SRX IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Up to 108Mbps Wireless Data Rates
Linksys WMP54GX Wireless-G Adapter with SRX IEEE 802.11b/g PCI Up to 108Mbps Wireless Data Rates

Pros: Great signal pickup, lots of antennas. But.....

Cons: Beware if you don't have a Linksys router-you will not get 108Mbs, only 54Mbs. Did not find this info in the description or on the Linksys website.

Overall Review: Will work great if you have a Linksys 108Mbs router. If not, it's just another 54g card.

12/29/2006

Works great, not for beginners

ZyXEL X-550 Xtreme MIMO Wireless Broadband Router IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g
ZyXEL X-550 Xtreme MIMO Wireless Broadband Router IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g

Pros: Set up in basement and signal strength is excellent 75 feet from the house (full bars). Works at full speed with my ZyXEL M-302 card and Netgear USB dongle. Has many security features if you choose to use them, and gives serious control over pretty much all aspects of wireless setup/control.

Cons: Setup can be a little bit of a pain if you are not used to setting up network security items. Not really hard, but it is time consuming as you must reboot the router after each setting change. Once setup, however, I've had no problems or reboots in almost 4 months of operation.

Overall Review: Very fast, not very big. Be careful what other hardware you pair with it-I tried a Linksys card with it and could only get 54Mbs. The problem was not with this, though. I later found out the Linksys card will only get 108Mbs with a linksys router. RMA'd that baby and got the ZyXEL M-302-all is well.

12/29/2006

WOW - Free stuff !

Newegg CD/DVD Wallet with "Verbatim" Logo
Newegg CD/DVD Wallet with "Verbatim" Logo

Pros: Free, too ugly to lose or have someone steal them.

Cons: Didn't come with blank Verbatim media.

Overall Review: Too tired to think. Turkey makes me sleepy. Still looking for the "any" key.

12/25/2006