cover
Ed M.

Ed M.

Joined on 12/01/10

0
0

Product Reviews
Seller Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

Works well

CAT5e HDMI Extender Cable Self Powered HDMI Support DVI Cat5 Cat 5e/6 UTP AV Extender HDMI 1.3 Maximum Resolution 1080p
CAT5e HDMI Extender Cable Self Powered HDMI Support DVI Cat5 Cat 5e/6 UTP AV Extender HDMI 1.3 Maximum Resolution 1080p

Pros: Low cost, simple installation, works with Cat5e or Cat6. I'm using two 40' runs of Cat6 with these units to an older Toshiba wall-mounted flat-screen TV (model 40RV52U) and the picture quality is very good. I had an installation question and the company who sold this to me (MyStore365) was very responsive.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I reviewed more expensive solutions that took a similar approach and took a gamble that this inexpensive unit would work, and it did.

Most Critical Review

Problem with DHCP Reservation

TRENDnet AC2600 MU-MIMO Wireless Gigabit Router, Increase WiFi Performance, WiFi Guest Network, Gaming-Internet-Home Router, Beamforming, 4K streaming, Quad Stream, Dual Band Router, Black, TEW-827DRU
TRENDnet AC2600 MU-MIMO Wireless Gigabit Router, Increase WiFi Performance, WiFi Guest Network, Gaming-Internet-Home Router, Beamforming, 4K streaming, Quad Stream, Dual Band Router, Black, TEW-827DRU

Pros: Powerful WiFi - has better coverage than my old ASUS NT-R66U. Simple and inituitive admin UI. Works ok at stock settings.

Cons: I encountered a serious bug which makes this router useless to me. When I added a DHCP reservation (for a network printer) the router's DHCP server AND DNS quit working - nothing on the LAN will get a DHCP address and web browsing doesn't work. If I take out the DHCP reservation everything starts working again. Trendnet tech support could not reproduce the problem so they were thinking that I had a bad router. I returned it to Newegg for replacement. The replacement router I received had the SAME issue. The serial numbers between the two units differed by ONE. Trendnet tech support now thinks that there is a "bad batch" out there, and offered to send me one that they have already tested if I buy one off of their website. I'm going to pass on this offer and move on to another router. I don't want to possibly have to go through an RMA a third time. One thing that is disturbing to me is that there has only been ONE release of its firmware, the initial version, version 1.00b011 dated 11/2015. New firmware always has bugs. There should have been at least one patch by now.

Overall Review: Finding a good consumer router lately is like rolling the dice. The rush to market is clearly showing. What I need is a simple router with the networking basics that has a single but powerful 2.4GHz radio. What I don't need are all of these "fluff" features like "MIMO", "beam-forming" and multiple bands and a gazillion SSIDs that end up not working very well.

Defective right out of the box

PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKIII Series 400 Watt 80+ Bronze Semi-Modular Active PFC Industrial Grade ATX PC Power Supply (PPCMK3S400)
PC Power & Cooling Silencer MKIII Series 400 Watt 80+ Bronze Semi-Modular Active PFC Industrial Grade ATX PC Power Supply (PPCMK3S400)

Pros: Modular. White color blended nicely with ASRock's X370 Taichi mobo. Came packed very nicely with things packed in white drawstring fabric bags.

Cons: It was defective right out of the box. With my new Ryzen 7 1700 build, on first power-up the system powered DOWN right after POST. After that, it either repeated this behavior or wouldn't power up at all. I took the PSU to a computer shop and they tested it with a PSU tester. It had zero volts on the 4x2 (or 8-pin) CPU plug. They put another power supply in my new build for testing and the system powered right up and stayed stable. I requested a refund. Now I've got to find something else. This delay is going to bite.

Overall Review: I'm sick of having nothing but low-quality, chinese-manufactured JUNK to choose from. I would gladly pay twice or even three times the cost if it were American-made with good QC so I know what I'm getting will work. It's to the point now that I really don't know which power supplies or manufacturers to trust. Sometimes I wonder when one of these chinese PSUs is going to flame and burn my house or building down.

Failed

TP-Link Archer C3200 AC3200 Wireless Tri-Band Gigabit Router
TP-Link Archer C3200 AC3200 Wireless Tri-Band Gigabit Router

Pros: Easy setup, intuitive and easy-to-use admin UI, attractive design, good reviews.

Cons: The router suddenly became unstable a few weeks after installation. Both wired and WiFi throughput was severely crippled, complex webpages that had encryption would not load, and WiFi power dropped markedly. Rebooting and power cycling the router did not resolve the issues. Taking the unit out of service and replacing it with the old router it had replaced immediately solved the problems, which points to a failure in the AC3200.

Overall Review: This is a huge disappointment to me. The router initially had very good WiFi coverage of the very large house and yard and had respectable speeds. That all ended in an instant. I considered doing some extended troubleshooting and tweaking of the UI settings to try to find the problem but decided against it since the wired connections were crippled as well. Another factor was that I had only a few days left in the 30-day return window. In my experience, brand-new equipment that suddenly malfunctions without any changes being made to it or to its environment/infrastructure is an ominous sign to return it while you still can and not waste any more time on it.

Horrible Vibration, runs hot

WD Black 2TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD2003FZEX
WD Black 2TB Performance Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD2003FZEX

Pros: None, Well, maybe "inexpensive".

Cons: About a day after the installation I noticed that the machine in which it was installed was emitting a low, but loud hum. The whole computer case was vibrating, and was causing the case parts to rattle and emit the hum. Feeling around, I found the source of the vibration and it was this drive. Diagnostics, however, showed nothing wrong, but nonetheless I know this drive is headed for failure. I also noted that the drive temps were about 6 to 8 C higher than other WD drives in the machine, two earlier-model WD2002FAEX's which have been rock-solid for years.

Overall Review: I know you sometimes get a lemon, but I'm seeing a general negative trend with current HDDs. I'm having to return more of them, they are failing sooner, and therefore wasting more of my time dealing with them. Do I have to spend way over $200 now for the old stalwart, the WD2002FAEX? Not sure where else to turn now - many of the older, more reliable 2TB drives have been discontinued.

seller reviews
  • 3

Fast, accurate seller

I recommend this seller.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory

No issues

No issues with the purchase or delivery

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory

Very Responsive

I had a very pleasant experience with this vendor. The item I ordered was received when promised. I had an issue with the item and I called them and left a message. They called me back in a short period of time and resolved the problem (it turned out that I had made an error). I would highly recommend this vendor.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory
11/29/2013