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Ron R.

Ron R.

Joined on 01/10/02

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Product Reviews
Seller Reviews
product reviews
  • 47
Most Favorable Review

Re: "Doesn't Maintain User Settings"

Brother HL-2240D Monochrome Laser Printer
Brother HL-2240D Monochrome Laser Printer

Pros: There is a solution to maintaining driver settings.

Cons: None

Overall Review: I stumbled on the way to make the driver remember settings. *Don't* click "OK" after making changes. They don't take. The driver isn't written correctly. If you click "Apply" and then OK, the settings are maintained. The most recent setting chosen in Printers and Devices is the default for all applications.

Most Critical Review

Full featured but performance is unexceptional

Linksys WRT1900ACS Open Source Ready Smart Wi-Fi Gigabit Router Supported by DD-WRT, eSATA / USB 3.0 (WRT1900ACS)
Linksys WRT1900ACS Open Source Ready Smart Wi-Fi Gigabit Router Supported by DD-WRT, eSATA / USB 3.0 (WRT1900ACS)

Pros: One of the fastest dual band AC routers by specs, USB 3.0 and eSATA ports, printer server capable

Cons: Performance doesn't exceed that of router half its price

Overall Review: This is Linksys' current flagship router and since it is "open source ready" it's possible that a third party firmware such as DD-WRT might improve the mediocre performance I experienced testing the unit with the latest stock firmware (I did not test it with any 3rd party firmware). As it is, this is another disappointing product from Linksys, particularly given the manufacturer's hype and the high price. I compared the 1900 which retails for $229 with the TP-Link Archer C7, retailing at $99. While the C7 is widely considered to be one of the best values available, the 1900 on paper exceeds it in almost every specification. Unfortunately when compared head to head in my environment the 1900 performed either the same or slightly worse than the much less expensive router. I used an LG G3 android smartphone to compare signal strength and internet download throughput in every room of my smallish New York City apartment. The G3 includes 5GHz wifi ac and supports all of the same bands as the 1900. Testing software was Wifi Analyzer, which measures signal strength, and Ookla's Speedtest app, which replicates on a phone their gold standard browser-based site. Although my space is small, because of the layout and because the walls are old and thick, I get very poor performance in two rooms, even though they are only about 20 feet from the router. Given that 5GHz signals are notoriously weak, the C7 is only usable on the wireless N band in those rooms. Unfortunately the 1900 was no better. Download throughput for both channels was about the same as the C7, although oddly signal strength measured a little bit better. The wired connection to my desktop reached the 350mbps maximum from my Time Warner Cable connection, as did the C7. Is the 1900 a bad router? To the extent that I am reasonably happy with the C7 given the problems with my space, and given that the 1900 performed about the same, its performance is certainly adequate. But given its top position in the Linksys line-up and the expectations the company raises in its promotional literature, I would expect more for the price. Of course, given the vagaries of any wifi environment, your mileage may vary and the 1900 might turn out to be the best router for your purposes ever.

10/31/2015

GIve Thermaltake a break; the BM2 is a good PSU

Thermaltake Smart BM2 550W 80+ Bronze Intel Skylake’s C6/C7 States & ErP Ready 140mm Quiet Fan Japanese Capacitor Semi Modular Power Supply 5 Year Warranty, PS-SPD-0550MNFABU-1
Thermaltake Smart BM2 550W 80+ Bronze Intel Skylake’s C6/C7 States & ErP Ready 140mm Quiet Fan Japanese Capacitor Semi Modular Power Supply 5 Year Warranty, PS-SPD-0550MNFABU-1

Pros: Price is more than fair for decent components and design I found the flat ribbon cables easy to work with Very quiet Same PSU "platform" by CWT as Corsair's cx-m line which is universally recommended Five year warranty

Cons: Not the latest and greatest LLC platform used by many more expensive Gold rated PSUs Variants of this CWT CSB-A platform from Corsair and XPG have better capacitors (partly responsible for reliability over longer time) It's not a Corsair :(

Overall Review: This is probably the best and cheapest available (stressing "available") option for home office, igpu based systems that aren't used for (serious) gaming. I'm confident that if not pushed beyond its rated limits, the BM2 will last at least as long as its warranty and has the circuit protections required to run safely without risk of damage to other components. This is not a top tier psu on any list for a very simple reason having nothing to do with its Bronze efficiency rating: its "topology" is not the up to date preferred LLC design that qualifies for the top tiers. What does a psu with LLC do that this one can't? It can deal with the surges that come with a powerful "modern" gpu. You cannot cheat physics. If you want to run the latest video card as it is intended you will need a design that matches the requirements of your technically advanced equipment. The models that fit the bill will cost you 3x what I paid for this *if* you can even find them in stock. The days of manufacturer rebates are gone for now. And you may have noticed that prices for the preferred Corsair equivalents are ridiculously high. I think the reason Thermaltake has such a bad reputation is that their "Smart" (non-BM2) PSUs are consistently among the cheapest you can buy for a given wattage. Customers that buy them expecting to push expensive GPU's to their limits will stress the power supply beyond what it is intended to do and things break and burn. Not the PSU's fault the user exceeded the speed limits. People who run these cheap PSU's within spec usually have no problem. I used the widely scorned Corsair cx430 in a dusty case over ten years and never had a moment's problem with it. In contrast, the BM2 is actually very similar to the highly recommended Corsair cx550m, also made by Channel Well Technology (albeit with somewhat higher quality parts). Both psu's feature double forward topology (adequate but inferior to llc) and DC-DC converters (a good thing missing from the cheapest psu's). Googling the subject to death reveals no pc part deaths attributed to the BM2 series. So far mine has called not attention to itself. There's actually a very positive professional review of the 750 watt version of the BM2 here: Thermaltake Smart BM2 750W Power Supply Review | Tom's Hardware https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermaltake-smart-bm2-750w-power-supply-review "CWT's CSB platform is a good choice for an affordable PSU line. Instead of group-regulated schemes or mag-amp amplifiers... PSUs like the Thermaltake Smart BM2 750Q use DC-DC converters to generate the minor rails, so they are more efficient and can handle unbalanced, among the rails, loads more effectively..." Again, price. Oh, and if it matters, the BM2 is listed on the latest Tier ranking as class C, suitable for IGPU systems and modest gaming. PSU Tier List rev. 16.1A - Cultists Network https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/ "Thermaltake | Smart BM2 / DPS G Gold X50W / G / Gold X00W / Pro RGB / M =>750W / SP-P 750W Toughpower DPS G RGB Gold / GX1 (RGB) / SFX [non-TT Premium Edition]" (the other TT psu's are either unavailable or more expensive).

Good while it lasted

Team 128GB microSDXC Flash Card with OTG/USB reader Model TUSDX128GUHS36
Team 128GB microSDXC Flash Card with OTG/USB reader Model TUSDX128GUHS36

Pros: Relatively inexpensive, useful otg adapter, responsive customer service

Cons: Died after a year

Overall Review: I own several Team sd cards because they are usually the least expensive from a name brand. The others have been reliable while this one stopped working after a year. However, the card has a lifetime warranty and replacing the defective card was fairly quick and easy. It's true that the email address for an RMA goes to China but the return email tells you to send the card back to them in California. They sent out an improved version of the same card about a week after they received it, so not too bad.

Excellent value, mainstream performance

Toshiba OCZ TR150 2.5" 240GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) TRN150-25SAT3-240G
Toshiba OCZ TR150 2.5" 240GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) TRN150-25SAT3-240G

Pros: price, OCZ SSD utility

Cons: no cloning software, drive is unformatted so some knowledge required for storage replacement scenario

Overall Review: When I bought my first SSD drive for my primary desktop pc back in 2012, cost was a major consideration. I ended up with a Samsung 830, which was very highly rated at the time. 128GB cost me $90 from Newegg. The drive was always a little small for my purposes; since many apps store their cache and data on the C: drive (email, for instance) I never had more than about 15GBs to spare and was always a bit concerned about having so little free space. Not only have SSD prices come down dramatically over the years, but TLC technology has enabled a new class of "value" drives that are less expensive than the MLC-based "performance" drives that have until very recently been the gold standard. Aimed at cost conscious mainstream users (like me) current drives like OCZ's Trion series offer an attractive option where top-notch specs aren't required. In the recent past OCZ suffered from quality control problems that made SSDs from the competition, such as Samsung, Sandisk, PNY etc. a more reliable choice. Not to mention that almost every company that produces flash memory now sells SSDs as well, and like flash memory, SSDs are much more a commodity item than they were four years ago. Toshiba took over OCZ, revamped the line to use Toshiba developed and manufactured parts, and is doing its best to re-establish OCZ as a major player. Given that the Trion is marketed as an entry level product, performance compared to my old Samsung 830 was quite an improvement. Since I use the SSD as a boot drive the performance of the drive is more than adequate and the price makes it an easy purchase. Recommended.

State of the art range and bandwidth with some useful and unique features

TP-Link RE590T IEEE 802.11ac 1.86 Gbit/s Wireless Range Extender - 2.40 GHz, 5 GHz - 4 x Network (RJ-45) - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet - Desktop
TP-Link RE590T IEEE 802.11ac 1.86 Gbit/s Wireless Range Extender - 2.40 GHz, 5 GHz - 4 x Network (RJ-45) - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet - Desktop

Pros: Effectively boosts wifi signal to difficult spots, touch screen provides a lot of functionality, excellent Android management app, extremely easy set up via multiple methods, excellent fit and finish, helpful documentation

Cons: Somewhat expensive, unattractive industrial design, touch screen can be fiddly, large for a range extender, provides more bandwidth than many buyers can use or take advantage of

Overall Review: Tp-Link is my favorite provider of home networking gear. The performance of their products always compares favorably to those from better known manufacturers and usually at a lower price. I have used their Archer C7 router for the past couple of years, always returning to it after I've tried equipment that looks better on paper but doesn't perform any better in real life. Over time, their packaging, documentation, design and ease of set up have significantly improved. In fact the RE590 was probably the fastest and easiest network device I've ever set up. My New York City apartment is small but the walls are very thick and no router has been able to provide a usable signal to some rooms without help. I have used Tp-Link's TL-WA850RE range extender in my kitchen to great effect, although it is the company's least expensive range extender at $20. However that unit is limited to the Wireless N 2.4 GHz band at a maximum of 300 mbps. This is adequate for older devices that don't support the 5 GHz band or Wireless AC. It is also adequate for most internet connections. However more recent phones and tablets do support dual bands and Wireless AC and the theoretical difference in performance is dramatic, particularly when streaming media or transferring files within the home. Unfortunately the benefits of AC vary significantly from environment to environment; the 5GHz signal is just not very robust when it has to go through walls, etc. In my apartment the inexpensive Tp-Link range extender provides an adequate 2.4GHz signal throughout but there are still rooms where the 5GHz signal is unusably weak. I don't fault the Archer C7 router for this but the layout of my home. If the TL-WA850RE is the least expensive Tp-Link range extender, the RE590T AC1900 is their most expensive and fully featured. Although it includes useful bells and whistles like external antennas, a large well thought out touch screen, and multiple ethernet ports for connecting to media devices, what you are paying for is a theoretical throughput of 1.9Gbps vs the 850RE's top speed of only 300mbps. And such power does not come cheap at $129, although the RE590 is priced competitively with 1900 AC range extenders from other manufacturers. Whether or not you can use or need this much bandwidth depends on how many devices you have that support 5GHz AC, how many of them will be in use at the same time, and how much of your networking is done locally as opposed to over the internet. The real advantages of the RE590 will be appreciated if you need to stream high definition media over significant distances to otherwise dead spots in the home. For a family that plays demanding video games in more than one room the range extender might also be a good investment. If your bandwidth needs are more modest and/or you are only using your devices for non-streaming internet use, the Tp-Link makes range extenders at almost every price point that will perform up to and beyond their specifications. My personal needs are simpler and more straightforward; I merely wanted to get 5GHz reception in rooms that the C7 couldn't reach on its own. The RE590 has solved that problem admirably.

seller reviews
  • 2

Good price and communication

Seller shipped item quickly but system did not email a tracking number. However messages to seller were answered quickly and item actually arrived sooner than expected.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory
12/31/2022

Good seller, recommended

"Refurb" tablet in as new condition, shipped very quickly and packaged adequately. Very pleased with purchase.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory