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Chad C.

Chad C.

Joined on 06/16/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 12
Most Favorable Review

Works great in Linux

TRENDnet TBW-105UB USB 2.0 Compact Bluetooth Adapter
TRENDnet TBW-105UB USB 2.0 Compact Bluetooth Adapter

Pros: This USB Bluetooth Adapter has great range, good reception and works great in Linux, in small and easy to take around, and does exactly what you expect it to.

Cons: It wasn't free? It doesn't do laundry? It can't sing me to sleep while basking under the Tuscan sun?

Overall Review: Using Ubuntu Linux (dapper specifically) I was able to just plug the device in, and transfer music and pictures from my Bluetooth phone to my Desktop with a few clicks to OK the connection.

Most Critical Review

Does not work with M2NPV-VM

Wintec AMPX 512MB DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Desktop Memory Model 3AXD2533-512M1S-R
Wintec AMPX 512MB DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Desktop Memory Model 3AXD2533-512M1S-R

Pros: Price, heatsink is neat looking.

Cons: RAM doesn't work with M2NPV-VM. The BIOS checksum errors after the system is unplugged rendering any changes undone. Even the time gets reset. What good is RAM that cannot perform a basic function in the BIOS? As long as you never have to change *anything* in the BIOS, this RAM would be fine.

Overall Review: I build Linux DVR systems. The Asus M2NPV-VM is a great board for DVR systems, and I thought this RAM would be a good bargain to throw with it. I was dead wrong. The BIOS will not retain any settings once the device is unplugged and new checksum is performed (this is performed to check the data integrity from the CMOS). I need all the devices to work, consistently and long term. This is not one of those devices.

Nice case this side of 2 Benjamins

hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with 270W FLEX Power Supply
hec Black 0.7mm Thickness SECC 7K09 Micro ATX Media Center / HTPC Case with 270W FLEX Power Supply

Pros: These cases are awesome! I would give it a 10 if the scale went higher. The price is perfect, the size is excellent, the included parts make it an excellent deal.

Cons: Very, very tight. I could not fit my Thermaltake Orb AND a DVD drive in there without physically modifying my Orb. Fans are somewhat quiet, but too loud for my customers. I replaced them with SilenX, worked great. The PCI Access slots are half-height, I would have preferred some type of riser card or ribbon-cable pci adapter.

Overall Review: Well worth the money, similar quality and size is typically 3 times more money. Easy to figure out, comes with plenty of stuff you wouldn't expect. In the bag of screws are nice thumb screws for the lid. 80mm fan, decent power supply, good overall quality.

Works great in Linux

Koutech IO-RCM620 USB 2.0 3.5" Card Reader
Koutech IO-RCM620 USB 2.0 3.5" Card Reader

Pros: These little things work great in Linux. The changeable face plate is a huge decision maker. I love that the light only turns on when a card is in the slot.

Cons: No 5.25 adapter plate, and the black plate should come default rather than beige/white.

Overall Review: The beige is a little light, I would call it white rather than beige. The added benefit of reading the MicroSD without an adapter was what sold me on these readers.

Very quiet drive

ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-2014S1T
ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-2014S1T

Pros: This drive is extremely quiet. I use it in my DVR builds and they rarely produce much noise if any even when spinning at full speed or burning. Looks great, works great.

Cons: Non-removable face plate

Overall Review: I love these drives, they do a great job and cost is just about right.

I keep buying more of these

Thermaltake CL-P0257 Blue orb II CPU Cooler for LGA775 & K8
Thermaltake CL-P0257 Blue orb II CPU Cooler for LGA775 & K8

Pros: These things are huge! This means they will be quieter and cool better. It does a great job at dissipating heat even in tight quarters. It provides a nice low blue light that helps identify the case in low light conditions without distracting from other things. Considerably quieter than the stock hs/fan but pushes even more air and cools much better.

Cons: These things are huge! The massive heatsink makes it difficult to install anything else in a tight case such as an HEC HTPC case. They are not as quiet as they advertise, but for their cooling ability, well worth the somewhat extra noise.

Overall Review: I will keep buying these things for all my HTPC builds. My customers love them, I love them, I think they are well worth the money. I would like to see some variation on size and a realistic noise rating, but really it's still relatively quiet.