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Christopher Y.

Christopher Y.

Joined on 07/11/10

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 36
Most Favorable Review

Was actually a lot of fun to build

XION XON-720P mATX/ ITX Slim Desktop Case, USB 3.0, 5 in 1 Card-reader, 300W PSU, Black_Retail
XION XON-720P mATX/ ITX Slim Desktop Case, USB 3.0, 5 in 1 Card-reader, 300W PSU, Black_Retail

Pros: -Very small dimensions (if it were less deep it would be a literal game console) -Attractive as a HTPC case, especially with nice faceplate -Comes with USB 3.0 support and card reader -Power supply is relatively quiet, able to support a AMD triple-core processor and (low profile) HD 7750 easily

Cons: -Build quality is pretty poor -Case can be flimsy, made of really thin gauge metal and therefore easy to bend particularly near the back PCI ports -Extremely sharp corners in the case. Be very careful while building it, take your time, and use some tape or knock the edges down near the PCI screw-downs especially -Cannot stand upright unless feet are used, due to power supply orientation facing downwards- must use 90 degree power cable -include 80mm fan is molex only, you will need a separate fan controller or better yet, simply replace with better fan -fan "cage" used to hold 80mm fan is very brittle, it actually cracked a bit during shipment -PSU does not come with PCI-E connectors for graphics cards, be sure to use a low profile card that can draw power directly from the port, or plan to buy an adapter. PSU also only comes with 2 SATA and 2 Molex connectors, which may not matter because... -There's only really room for one hard drive. If you don't use the optimal drive, you can mount an additional drive there. If you're using this as a networked HTPC, I'm sure it won't really matter but it's just something to be aware of

Overall Review: I had a lot of fun building with this case. The instructions it comes with are sparse, but essentially you take off the side panel (Ikea would be proud), take off the front panel, and then take out a "cage" that holds the card reader, front panel connectors, optical drive... then you are free to put in your hard drive and motherboard, etc. There is really only provisions for one hard drive, and it's pretty ghetto because you screw it into the case chassis. On the other hand, there is plenty of room for a micro-ATX motherboard, and plugging connections in was not difficult. Obviously, there's no provisions for cable management in a case this small, but you can easily stuff the unused bits of cable next to the hard drive under the cage when you're done and put everything back together. Relatively clean looking. A couple of bad things about the case: First, the power supply outlet faces the BOTTOM of the case if you're keeping it upright, so you need to use the included feet and 90 degree cable in order to have it in this orientation. The 80mm fan is molex only so you need a separate fan controller for it... I just swapped it out for a PWM fan I had (Btw, you can't really use other fan sizes because of the fact that it's held to the case grill using the fan "cage"). This is where I discovered that the fan "cage" that holds it against the top is also made of brittle plastic- be careful handling or you WILL crack it. The back panel wasn't very well manufactured either- the bends aren't completely perpendicular, bends easily, and punching out PCI-slots is hazardous without a pair of pliers. In general, when you're building the case I advise you take your time and plan things out, because if you hurry you can easily hurt yourself as the case is made of thin gauge metal with sharp edges, and again bends easily. It also kind of hurts my brain that the side panel doesn't sit flush against the top panel of the chassis because it wasn't manufactured very well! If the case weren't black this would be glaringly obvious. Once you are done building it though, I think the case is extremely attractive and fits right at home as a HTPC computer or a portable LAN-party computer. The front face is very slick. I think this case is really a "you get what you pay for" exercise. With the mail in rebate and free shipping, I feel it's worth the price; I would not buy it otherwise. I would not recommend this case to the first time computer builder either because of the extra work needed to plan the build and "compensate" for its flaws. But overall, I had a lot of fun putting it together and seeing it on my media case!

Most Critical Review
Manufacturer Recertified OCZ Vertex 2 3.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSD3-2VTX90G
Manufacturer Recertified OCZ Vertex 2 3.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) OCZSSD3-2VTX90G

Pros: -Really inexpensive on shell-shocker

Cons: -Died after a month of use -Prior to death, would cause random system slowdowns while playing video games, a symptom that did not occur with the other SSDs in the other systems around the house

Overall Review: I'm in the process of RMA-ing this hard drive because it had died on me (luckily OCZ extended the warranty on these guys). I verified that the issue was isolated to the SSD as windows 7 recovery cannot even locate the SSD. I had installed with TRIM enabled and in AHCI mode, and had updated the firmware prior to OS installation. This is quite disappointing but I knew I was rolling the dice with a refurb drive (luckily my data was backed up prior to this happening). I have now bought another SSD and will be using the RMA-ed Vertex 2 in the HTPC as it's a less critical application.

Excellent value

ASUS Google Nexus 7 First Gen 7" 32 GB Android Wi-Fi Tablet
ASUS Google Nexus 7 First Gen 7" 32 GB Android Wi-Fi Tablet

Pros: -After rebate, probably the best value for a tablet you can find -Reasonably snappy as long as you don't flip between several applications too fast -Great compromise between screen space and hand-holdability. I can palm this device -Great build quality -OTA update for Android 4.4, nice and clean

Cons: -Can chug with some applications, a result of the fact that it's using 2 year old technology -No expandable memory slot. 32 gb is sufficient for most things however -Perhaps not entirely fair, but battery life is nowhere as good as it is with the iPad Mini. Of course, considering the price...

Overall Review: Honestly, I don't have many complaints about this device. I've been looking for a tablet, but since I don't really intend to use one very often other than occasional browsing in bed, at a coffee shop, on the toilet ;) and on trips, I didn't really want to shell out any substantial amount of money on one. I have a laptop as a "command center" of sorts on trips for multitasking and photo editing, and of course desktop computers for real work at home. But I wanted something that was simple and lightweight to to pick up, and while my Nexus 4 is good for quick glances for data, the screen is too small for longer term video and article viewing. Again, a tablet would be useful for me but fits into a specific niche. Therefore, not worth shelling out big bucks for. When newegg had this one on shellshocker with a hefty rebate, it was basically a no brainer for me- coming straight from Asus and Google, this is a "reference class" proven Android tablet with Android 4.4 (after update) and 32 gb of internal memory. I'm not sure you can do any better at this price. Sure, the newest models have better screens, are more powerful, and possibly have better battery life... but if you need a tablet to do very basic tasks. Even though this is a refurb, it looks completely brand new to me, and it updated and downloaded all of my apps wit zero issues. I have no choice other than to give this thing 5 stars.

Update on my original review

BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight Black Steel/ Plastic Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight Black Steel/ Plastic Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case

Pros: -My original thoughts on the case have not changed as it's mostly positive, however, see below

Cons: My original thoughts have not changed as it's mostly positive, however about a week since I received the case, one of the included fans started to make a ticking sound. I started an RMA process with bitfenix on the fan, but after they gave me some initial feedback, they stopped responding altogether. It has been a month now, and recently the fan completely froze so I had to replace it with one of my own. While the case is awesome, the customer service was extremely poor, and since it's been a month I don't expect to ever hear back from them. This has been by far the worst customer service I've ever had from any vendor on newegg (the fan on my cooler master hyper 212 evo froze in similar fashion and Cooler Master sent me a new fan, no questions asked). If you're buying this case, this is something to be aware of- if you have any issues with the case, go with newegg's return policy and don't trust Bitfenix to take care of your issue.

Much Improved over the Original

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls PC Game
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls PC Game

Pros: -Loot 2.0 is much better than the original game, which was frustrating in that it was difficult to get rare loot and loot that made sense- a crossbow with witch doctor abilites?- , meaning you had to troll the auction house. Now that the auction house has been removed and legendaries/set items drop more often, it's not as frustrating. Item affixes also make sense now (i.e. crossbow with dexterity and critical hit damage) and some pretty snazzy gear is now available for grabs -Underutilized assets from the original game has been beefed up, with the mystic now allowing you to re-roll item affixes and the blacksmith having an expanded repertoire of legendary and set items you can craft -Game balance overall has been fixed. -Still my favorite game to just hop online to just casually hop online and join friend's open quests -Adventure mode is the #1 big story, as randomized quests means you're never playing repetitively through story mode anymore

Cons: -This is a very pricey expansion, particularly as the original game also received the loot 2.0 system (albeit no adventure mode and no act 5) -Act 5 wasn't exactly rife with story and didn't offer much variety from the other 4 acts. You do get to explore the backstory of your followers and other surviving characters from the previous acts

Overall Review: Overall, a massive improvement from the original Diablo 3 video game- in fact, you could say this is what the game should have been from day 1. I find myself logging online battle.net again to jump into friends games (made easier with their new launch app). Adventure Mode is just a great move, as well as the removal of the auction house. It's just too bad that Blizzard is asking you to pay $40 for the 'privilege' of them fixing every single one of their mistakes. Newegg's promotional offer on launch did soften the pain quite a bit, as it allowed me to stretch my money to buy some computer upgrades =)

Works

XIGMATEK eXTREME SILENT Series XSF-F1252 120mm Case Fan with FCB (Fluid Circulative Bearing), 4 in 1 package CFS-SXGJR-KU3
XIGMATEK eXTREME SILENT Series XSF-F1252 120mm Case Fan with FCB (Fluid Circulative Bearing), 4 in 1 package CFS-SXGJR-KU3

Pros: -Very good noise to performance ratio; noise levels are quieter than my current fans and airflow has been increased resulting in a few deg C drop in average case temperatures

Cons: -Would be nice if they included rubber mounts. However, 4 sets of case screws are included

Overall Review: Not much to say about these fans except that they are priced right and offer a good noise/performance compromise (both noise and performance being better than the fans my case came with). This is a great go-to option if you have need for multiple fans at once and don't need anything extremely fancy.