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MATTHEW S.

MATTHEW S.

Joined on 07/16/03

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

Great ESXi Host

HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 MicroServer Server System Intel Pentium G2020T 2.5GHz 2C/2T 2GB DDR3 No Hard Drive 712318-001
HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 MicroServer Server System Intel Pentium G2020T 2.5GHz 2C/2T 2GB DDR3 No Hard Drive 712318-001

Pros: Bought this for a home ESXi lab. Considered building a whitebox, but I like that this has out-of-box driver support and HP iLO (more on that later). In contrast to some other reviews, I find it to be really quiet (which was important since it's in a guest bedroom). The case is compact and aesthetically pleasing. Internally, it's definitely heavily engineered. Removing/shifting components isn't always intuitive, but it was expected given the small form-factor. Runs ESXi quite nicely with relatively quick boot, it has an internal USB connector which I use for a USB thumb drive to host ESXi.

Cons: To use iLO's full functionality, you need to buy a license from HP. Max RAM supported is 16GB, would be really nice if it was 32GB. There's no easy way to mount a 2.5" SSD. I tried purchasing a separate Thermaltake drive caddy with the idea of mounting the SSD in one of the removable drive bays, but it still didn't fit. I ended up unscrewing a pair of the SATA connection boards and pulling them up so that the SSD can rest on top of the inner metal housing. Not ideal, but it works fine.

Overall Review: Despite the cons, I'm generally happy with the Microserver. It handles my vSphere environment reasonably well and I'm considering purchasing another one for HA and more capacity. When purchasing RAM, the microserver requires Unbuffered RAM. I used Kingston 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM ECC Unbuffered DDR3 1333 Server Memory Model

Most Critical Review

Bad tracking, defective

Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2000
Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 2000

Pros: Cheap, its Microsoft so it SHOULD work with Win XP/Vista with no additional drivers

Cons: Tracking is HORRIBLE, cursor would only inch along the screen, no matter how close it was to the receiver. I tried updating the drivers from Microsoft's web site to no avail.

Overall Review: Microsoft is 0-2 on hardware. I purchased a wired router in the past that was DOA as well. I've learned my lesson, NO MORE MICROSOFT HARDWARE. Thanks to the egg for refunding my purchase price, I'll take this as a lesson and stick with Logitech

What a Deal!

Hanns-G 22" Active Matrix, TFT LCD WSXGA+ LCD Monitor 5 ms D-Sub, DVI-D Hi-221DPB
Hanns-G 22" Active Matrix, TFT LCD WSXGA+ LCD Monitor 5 ms D-Sub, DVI-D Hi-221DPB

Pros: Striking contrast and brightness, DVI connection is crystal clear, support for both DSUB and DVI, no dead pixels, cheap.

Cons: Muddy picture/image with VGA/DSUB, configuration menus are bit difficult to traverse, stand a bit flimsy

Overall Review: GREAT DEAL! Bought these to replace an old clunky 17" SVA LCD, and they look great. I may end up buying a new video card (right now am using onboard Radeon HD 3200) so I can have both monitors on DVI as the monitor on the analog VGA connection is noticeably muddied compared to the one on the digital connection. Haven't tried the integrated speakers

Works Great!

Logitech Cordless Mini Optical Mouse
Logitech Cordless Mini Optical Mouse

Pros: Plug and play (no drivers to install), GREAT tracking for the money, low profile dongle (not one of those huge receivers you see with other mice)

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: Its a little smaller than I anticipated, but that's why its called a Mini, plus its for my mom, who has smaller hands. I bought this mouse to replace the defective Microsoft wireless mouse I bought for my mom for Christmas. The Egg refunded my purchase price and I learned my lesson and went with this one. Set up took literally no more than 20 seconds, Windows recognized the mouse right away.

Apollo FX5500

Apollo GeForce FX 5500 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Graphics Card FX5500
Apollo GeForce FX 5500 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Graphics Card FX5500

Pros: For basic display, offers clean crisp graphics, easy to install drivers

Cons: Where to begin... I can't play any of my PC games such as Halo: Combat Evolved or Microsoft Train Simulatar. Games go through intro videos, then freeze, with a blank screen, but with audio in the background. My Tv Tuner card (ATI TV Wonder Elite) will not work with this video card... I get audio from the TV but not video, leading me to believe that the probelm lies with the video card. I updated the drivers from nVidia's website with no improvements. Apollo's website is impossible to find (I never found it) when looking for updated drivers/support.

Overall Review: If anyone has any possible solutions, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm going to try and contact Newegg about exchanging this, but unfortionately I just moved and the box is at my old house.