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Paul B.

Paul B.

Joined on 01/05/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Good stuff

G.SKILL Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) AMD X370 / B350 Memory (Desktop Memory) Model F4-3200C14D-16GFX
G.SKILL Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) AMD X370 / B350 Memory (Desktop Memory) Model F4-3200C14D-16GFX

Pros: Overclocks easily to 2933 Mhz

Cons: None. I guess I could whine about the price but all DDR4 is expensive right now.

Overall Review: I'm using this on a Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 with BIOS F6 and Ryzen 1700x. The BIOS only recognizes one XMP profile for this kit, 3200 Mhz and the board will not boot up with it enabled, falling back to 2133. You have to disable XMP then set the voltage and timings to those listed on the package. Then you can manually set the memory multiplier to 2933. It boots up and was rock solid under memtest64 for several hours. I'm looking forward to the May BIOS update with hopes to hit 3200 Mhz but, frankly, 2933 is no slouch.

No surprises

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Desktop Memory Model F4-2133C15D-32GVR
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Desktop Memory Model F4-2133C15D-32GVR

Pros: Bought this for a Ryzen 1700x build with a Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 motherboard. The G.Skill Ryzen certified memory was not available at the time but the timings of these sticks, 15-15-15-36, are identical to memory that is on the Gigabyte certified list for this board. Works great.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I've been buying G.Skill memory for about 9 years now and I've never been disappointed. I would definitely recommend this product.

Excellent

Apple Magic Mouse MB829LL/A
Apple Magic Mouse MB829LL/A

Pros: No moving parts. Very much like a trackpad in mouse form factor. Very responsive (at least in current OS X versions) and seemingly durable. I own two of these, one for 6 months and one for 3 months. I've never cleaned either one and they don't really need it. I use rechargeable batteries and change them about once a month, or so. I consider the battery life to be more than acceptable, particularly using rechargeables.

Cons: After the 10.6.5 update, every now and then the mouse stops registering single clicks and has to be disconnected from bluetooth and reconnected. It's more than likely a driver bug that I'm sure will probably be fixed before you read this.

Overall Review: I recently had a chance to try the Magic Trackpad. If I'd never bought a Magic Mouse, I'd probably prefer the trackpad. The problem, though, is that the multi-touch/gesture interface differs just enough between the two as to be annoying. At least for me, it's a one or the other thing. I was already used to the mouse and I'm more than happy to stick with it.

12/14/2010

Not much to say others haven't

Antec P183 Black Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec P183 Black Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: The main reason I'm leaving this review is to respond to Brian's review from 10/8/10 below. I've done two builds with this case since August 1st, both bought from Newegg. Both cases came with all the special screws necessary to fill the 3.5" drive bays. If you only have 4 of these screws, you need to complain to someone.

Cons: You really need to use Antec's CP series of power supplies with this case (I'm using the CP-850). I tried an Antec Earthworks 650 but the power cables were *way* too short to reach through the motherboard tray cutouts. That's not really a fault of the case, though, as it's designed for the CP power supplies, and visa-versa. More a heads up than a con.

Overall Review: It's not a gamer's case (the "P" in P183 is for Professional). It fits my HD 5770 card just fine but it might be a tight fit for the high end cards unless you remove the middle drive bay (at least it's an option with this case). The stock fans keep things cool at stock processor speeds but anyone doing serious overclocking would probably find it a bit wanting. That said, it is a remarkably well designed, attractive, unit with lots of flexibility.

10/26/2010

It works well

Rosewill RCR-IM5001 - 75-in-1 Internal Card Reader Hub - 3 x USB 2.0 Ports / eSATA Port / Extra Silver Face Plate / Molex Power Cable - Fits 3.5” Drive Slot
Rosewill RCR-IM5001 - 75-in-1 Internal Card Reader Hub - 3 x USB 2.0 Ports / eSATA Port / Extra Silver Face Plate / Molex Power Cable - Fits 3.5” Drive Slot

Pros: Very easy install. No drivers required on OS X and all slots I've tried have worked fine (CF, SDHC, eSata, USB).

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: Perhaps some of those with complaints got a bad unit but the eSata port works just fine. The fact is that whether it is hot pluggable or not depends on the controller and driver for the motherboard sata connector you connect it to. If the motherboard connector isn't hot pluggable, you have to connect your eSata device then reboot to see it. That's not Rosewill's fault.

Solid, fast, cool, reliable

LaCie 2big Quadra 2TB USB 2.0 / Firewire400 / Firewire800 / eSATA 3.5" External Hard Drive 301352U
LaCie 2big Quadra 2TB USB 2.0 / Firewire400 / Firewire800 / eSATA 3.5" External Hard Drive 301352U

Pros: Solid build quality. Easy to setup. Runs cool and quiet. So far has been extremely reliable.

Cons: None, really (see other thoughts).

Overall Review: Would be nice if LaCie provided managment software to monitor the health of the device from a local or remote host. The ?big line of raid are apparently designed for desktop users but I use both a 2big and a 4big on a server located in my basement. Being able to monitor the health remotely, and not have to rely on being able to see the flashing LEDs to learn of a problem, would be a nice touch. Not really a con since the device works great for its intended audience but it does limit its flexibility. Other than that, I've been very happy with both the quality, reliability and performance of the 2big and 4big I own and would definitely buy them again.