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Daniel K.

Daniel K.

Joined on 09/07/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 7
Most Favorable Review

Great for MythTV

PNY Quadro NVS 300 VCNVS300X16-PB 512MB DDR3 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Graphics Card
PNY Quadro NVS 300 VCNVS300X16-PB 512MB DDR3 PCI Express x16 Low Profile Graphics Card

Pros: This is a fanless card that supports two DVI monitors with VDPAU level C support. I have two of these, one on a myth frontend end using one monitor connection and another on a workstation using two monitor connections. No problems on either one.

Cons: I did have to install the drivers from nVidia's website. The drivers that shipped with Ubuntu were too old to support this card.

Most Critical Review

Not reliable

NETGEAR 8 Port Gigabit Business-Class Desktop Switch - Lifetime Warranty (GS108)
NETGEAR 8 Port Gigabit Business-Class Desktop Switch - Lifetime Warranty (GS108)

Pros: When these work they work.

Cons: Bought four, in less than two years, only one is left.

12/10/2009

Solid

Antec NSK 6582B Black 0.8 mm Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply
Antec NSK 6582B Black 0.8 mm Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply

Pros: Nice solid case with plenty of room and easy access to the 3.5" drives with some vibration damping built in. I bought this to duplicate another machine with an Antec case that wasn't being produced anymore; and I like this case more. Big and relatively quiet case fan. Never have trouble popping extension cards in and out.

Cons: With the drive bays all full it would be nice if the case already had a fan in the front, but I believe there is room to add one. The front drive assembly isn't as easily accessible as it could be, some Dell optiplex cases handle this better.

Overall Review: In the next generation maybe they should add a couple 2.5" slots for SSDs so adapters aren't necessary.

works only with side mount

Mushkin Enhanced MKNSSDBRKT2535 2.5" to 3.5" drive adapter bracket
Mushkin Enhanced MKNSSDBRKT2535 2.5" to 3.5" drive adapter bracket

Pros: Inexpensive and works well to secure the drive when the case accepts it.

Cons: The clean design means it only works with the typical side screws not bottom screws.

Works well

NETGEAR WGR614 Wireless-G Broadband Router 802.11b/g up to 54Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4
NETGEAR WGR614 Wireless-G Broadband Router 802.11b/g up to 54Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4

Pros: Was able to set up three of these to get good coverage in my old brick house, bypassing the built in NAT was much simple than in other devices I've used in the past.

Cons: The only con is with the case. It doesn't stack well on top of other things and due to the translucency of the case the one in the bedroom can't be dimmed with electrical tape so I need to turn it off at night.

No problems

EVGA P55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA P55 SLI 132-LF-E655-KR LGA1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Good number of PCIe expansion slots. Hasn't frozen on me, everything worked out of the box, no need to update the BIOS to get going, etc.

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: I'm not trying to overclock or run anything out of spec. But looking at the BIOS it appears it could do that. I have not tried to make any power saving measures so I don't know how complete the ACPI tables are. My use case is as a development box for a video encoding machine, so I wanted something that could give me enough PCIe slots and enough CPU grunt in a cheap quad i5 to do the tasks that a i7/Xeon box is intended to do down the road with power to spare. The OS is Ubuntu 9.04, so I don't know if MS Windows requires dealing with drivers, etc.

11/12/2009