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Steven B.

Steven B.

Joined on 01/18/11

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 36
Most Favorable Review

Not convinced I actually bought a Pentium

Intel Pentium G3258 - Pentium Haswell Dual-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1150 53W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80646G3258
Intel Pentium G3258 - Pentium Haswell Dual-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1150 53W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80646G3258

Pros: - Price for speed is insane - Integrated graphics

Cons: - I asked it to marry me, instead it ripped a movie

Overall Review: I use this for an HTPC. I mainly use it for playing video from the cablecard tuner and ripping blurays to play back on the HTPC. I've had it running WMC in the background, ripping a movie, and browsing the web and no issues. My old HTPC couldn't do more than one of those at a time (and had a hard enough time with that one!). It's not my i5, but that's obvious. It's an awesome computer for someone who doesn't need extreme power for things like games/CAD/etc. I'm contemplating building another machine for work with this. Can't recommend it enough

Most Critical Review

DOA

EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-3967-KR 4GB SSC GAMING w/ACX 2.0+, Whisper Silent Cooling w/ Free Installed Backplate Graphics Card
EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-3967-KR 4GB SSC GAMING w/ACX 2.0+, Whisper Silent Cooling w/ Free Installed Backplate Graphics Card

Pros: -Looked like it would have been nice -Packaged very nicely -RMA process was smooth and easy

Cons: -DOA -One of the PCIE pins(the gold connections) wasn't soldered on (or was ripped off some how) which caused some crazy things to happen with boot up of my machine. I'm actually just lucky that nothing was damaged on my machine.

Overall Review: I thought hard about giving a 1-star review for the product being DOA. The almost perfect 5-star reviews on this makes me feel like I just got one that slipped through QA. It happens. It's actually probably for the best. The day after I purchased this, new lines of cards were announced. Silver lining and all. I will say, the RMA process was great. This is the first time I've had to do an RMA. Couldn't have asked for it to go any better.

Good for office work. The power cable is weird

LG 25UM56-P 25" Class 21:9 UltraWide IPS Gaming Monitor 2560 x 1080 5ms GTG 60Hz 5,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio with Black Stabilizer and Dynamic Action Link, SRGB Over 99% and 4-Screen Split
LG 25UM56-P 25" Class 21:9 UltraWide IPS Gaming Monitor 2560 x 1080 5ms GTG 60Hz 5,000,000:1 Contrast Ratio with Black Stabilizer and Dynamic Action Link, SRGB Over 99% and 4-Screen Split

Pros: - I use it to look at documents and emails, so move along if you want to know about gaming. - No dead pixels

Cons: - See comments about the power cable

Overall Review: I like this monitor. It's a separate monitor where I keep some documents open for quick reference while I'm coding, so I can't speak to it's "performance" for gaming/editing/etc. One thing that I did not expect was the power cable. It's not a typical AC power cable like I have seen on the majority (if not ALL) monitors I've ever dealt with the in past. It's basically a wall wart like power cable. It's not a huge problem, but I do have several long AC power cords that I like to use for monitors since they are usually a good ways from the power strip. In this case, I had to get an extension cord so it would reach. I also need to make sure I don't lose it. It wasn't worth taking an egg off for this. I had have looked at the images closer, I would have likely noticed that, but I just didn't even know that was a thing now a days. Just a warning if others are more peculiar about those types of things.

Good stand

Single Monitor Desk Mount Extra Tall Fully Adjustable Stand for up to 32" Screen
Single Monitor Desk Mount Extra Tall Fully Adjustable Stand for up to 32" Screen

Pros: - Tall height was just what I needed - Sturdy - Easy to move the screen - Easy to assemble

Cons: - N/A

Overall Review: I have bought one of the 2 monitor stands from VIVO before and was impressed with the quality for the price. This one is, as I expected, the same quality as the other one. I have a few 42" 4k TVs I use as daily montiors, and I had a 25" ultrawide that I wanted to mount where it would be over one of the monitors. The height of this was just enough to get me over that 42" scree. Screen adjustment is also pretty easy if you need to move it around. I may get another for my office.

Works

Wavlink USB 3.0 to HDMI Universal Video Graphics Adapter with Audio Port Displaylink Chip Supports up to 6 Monitor displays, 2048x1152 External Video Card Adapter Support Windows & Chrome OS
Wavlink USB 3.0 to HDMI Universal Video Graphics Adapter with Audio Port Displaylink Chip Supports up to 6 Monitor displays, 2048x1152 External Video Card Adapter Support Windows & Chrome OS

Pros: - 2560x1440. Not sure why the description says 2048x1152 - Good framerate at 2560x1080 with USB3

Cons: - Nothing to report

Overall Review: Needed an extra monitor just for documents, email, etc so I could use my larger screens for work. Didn't have any more ports on the GPU, so just what I needed. I've used these before and are always nice for situations like that and laptops without many expansion ports.

Great case for low demanding PCs

Fractal Design Core 1100, Black, Micro ATX, Mini Tower, Computer Case
Fractal Design Core 1100, Black, Micro ATX, Mini Tower, Computer Case

Pros: - Price - Clean look - Ease of building

Cons: - No 120mm fan on the back (I boo booed and didn't read the specs thoroughly before I bought, so that's my bad. No eggs deducted)

Overall Review: Used this case for my wifes new computer which is a G4260 Pentium based PC. Even with only the 120mm in the front, I don't have any cooling issues, and this is in a desk where the door is shut most of the time. It was easy to build in. Cable management is obviously not the best, but at the price, only so much to expect. If you don't use any of the 5.25" bays, you should be fine to tie up the cables in there. All in all, would buy again for lower budget PC