Joined on 09/17/14
This thing is a beast!
Pros: Very easy to set up! Works basically out of the box Updates go really well with it. Having multiple channels is really nice (especially for legacy devices that don't support newer standards) I have only had to reset it once since I got it (literally over a year ago at this point).
Cons: I wish the friction that maintains the antenna angle was slightly greater. As it stands sometimes the antennas will topple over if you tap them.
Overall Review: It isn't a cheap piece of equipment, but then sometimes that can be a really nice thing.
Great laptop
Pros: Really quick startup. Quick shutdown, quick reboot. All the good things. It actually uses an NVME drive for its internal SSD; this could be a pro or just a note, but it is interesting since it was in use before NVME was really a thing. Nice touchpad. Backlit keyboard
Cons: Non-serviceable hard drive. Now, I haven't opened it up to verify, but according to what I have read the hard drive isn't serviceable. Doesn't use USB-C for charging. This would have been a really nice feature to have, and in fact the laptop is capable of charging other devices via USB-C, just not itself. Windows 10. I know that I am in the hater camp here, and I won't actually count this against the product's rating, but Windows 10 really detracts from this laptop. That isn't to say that you should just jump to Linux as I have had some interesting driver quirks on Linux with this laptop as well; but I don't think Windows 10 was the correct operating system to put on such a magnificent machine.
Overall Review: I understand that I purchased this for a different reason than most people who are looking at it probably did, that's fine by me as it fulfills my intended purpose. I am not gaming on it and not expecting to. I actually use it primarily for text editing and to run a Linux VM that I can do work on (compile and run code).
Very nice sound card
Pros: Relatively nice software to use. Successfully boosted and cleared up my mic levels to something far more intelligible than I was previously dealing with.
Cons: The driver software isn't quite as user-friendly as I had hoped. Volume levels are skewed horribly on my headset (where I used to run my machine's volume at ~63% I now have to run at ~6%, which I assume means that it is driving just that much more current through the cable than the on-board was, but I don't know enough about audio to say for sure). This is relatively minor, and is something I can easily work around.
Overall Review: Maybe I should have prefaced the review by stating that I purchased this as a first-time upgrade from on-board audio to using a sound card due to streaming applications not picking up my mic, so I don't have too much experience with sound cards. However, it did everything I wanted it to and more!
A lifesaver when liquid cooling won't do
Pros: Small, compact, quiet, and fits nicely even in a tight/ small case.
Cons: None
Overall Review: It isn't liquid cooling, and I generally prefer liquid cooling my boxes, but sometimes the case just doesn't support that. So far this product has saved me on two different builds in which the motherboards built-in heat sinks meant liquid coolers just wouldn't fit (this is due to a combination of the liquid coolers' size, the box -- used in both a workstation build and media center build, and the motherboard's heat sinks). Very nice little CPU cooler, and it runs quiet.
Great workstation box
Pros: Compact, this thing fits nicely between my other machines and doesn't draw too much attention to itself. Everything goes in well. One of the major things I was looking for in the build I put together was having a motherboard that I could insert and work top-down (or at least turn sideways to do so) and this provides it. It also has a nice separator between the motherboard side and power supply/ drive enclosure side with all the cable management you need. Actually has (plastic) sleds for all the drives it claims to support (6). Very customizable!
Cons: Power LED is really bright, this makes it a little annoying at night. Second drive bay (the 2.5 inch bay) requires you remove the side and top of the case to get access to everything you need. The thumb screws don't quite align as nicely as I would like, meaning sometimes it is difficult to get them fastened securely (or to release when opening the case).
Overall Review: So far I can say that this has been a great product for what I purchased it as (a workstation box)! It is small, sleek, and looks nice all while having good airflow and having all the drive space I need (plus some).