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Andrew M.

Andrew M.

Joined on 04/21/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

EXTREMELY satisfied!

Sylvania 32" 720p LCD HDTV
Sylvania 32" 720p LCD HDTV

Pros: Well packaged. VERY fast shipping. Despite being used, the TV was in like new condition. I received a manual, 2 remotes (accidental?), and brand new batteries for said remotes. TV is slick looking and does not look cheap. TV has every input I could imagine (VGA, 2xHDMI, COAX, Component, A/V, S-Video, etc)! TV user interface (software) is very intuitive and elegant. Most importantly, the TV responds without lag when using the remote (My cheap DTV converter had a lot of lag when switching channels). A very nice feature is that it will seamlessly navigate through analog and digital channels as you go up/down through the channels (ie. it supports analog AND digital TV). Brightness is uniform across the screen (no bright patches). Sound quality is very nice for integrated TV speakers. I am VERY satisfied with this purchase and am going to recommend it to my friends (and I am VERY picky).

Cons: I can honestly say that I found nothing negative about this purchase.

Overall Review: I ordered this item 3 days ago, and was shocked to have it delivered to my door yesterday after I got home from work (used free shipping)! Now to the TV. I am incredibly surprised and impressed with the quality of this TV. For the price I paid and the brand I was getting (ie. not a Sony or other high end), I was not expecting such a nice TV. The picture quality is excellent. The most impressive thing about this TV is the user interface. I turned on the TV, and it immediately asked me what language I prefer. Then, it asks a few other simple questions (to optimize the picture quality for my tastes) before automatically setting up my channels. I hooked up my PC (yes, it has a VGA interface!), DVD player, surround sound, Wii, and everything worked perfectly and simply without my needing to look at the manual.

Lives up to the hype.

Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound AS5-3.5G

Pros: Very noticeably reduced max cpu temperatures of my laptop CPU during stress test. I like the small, plunger system they use as opposed to the squeeze tubes I used to deal with. Not overly thick, so it's easy to spread the optimal thickness.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I bought this because I heard "it was the best". After I fixed an overheating laptop with this stuff (after removing the OEM junk), I became a believer. Running SuperPI on a Core2Duo brought max temps down from 178 degrees F to 158 in a room with 78 degree ambient temperature.

Very nice product

Rosewill RX-358 V2 BLK - Black, 3.5" SATA to USB & eSATA External Enclosure with Internal 80 mm Fan
Rosewill RX-358 V2 BLK - Black, 3.5" SATA to USB & eSATA External Enclosure with Internal 80 mm Fan

Pros: When the fan is switched on, my drive (WD Green 1 TB) runs near room temperature consistently. The fan runs at a nice, low RPM so noise is acceptable. Construction is VERY solid and high quality. In fact, this is the highest quality hard disk enclosure I've ever used. Supports both USB and eSATA.

Cons: Not really a con since this device was designed for a wider range of environment temperatures, but I wish I could lower the RPM of the fan to a trickle, since that would be enough to keep my drive cool in it's normal environment (65-80 degrees F). I may just add a resistor to do this, to make it near silent.

Overall Review: I needed an enclosure that provided a LITTLE bit more than passive air cooling, since my previous enclosure reached temperatures that came within a degree or 2 of the rated maximum for the drive. The switchable fan on this enclosure was perfect for this task. I'm glad Rosewill did not succumb to peer pressure and put an obnoxious fan in this device. Even the fastest hard drive only uses 15 watts of power when stressed (after spin up of course), so an 8000 RPM fan would be a complete, noisy waste.

Works perfectly

Cables Unlimited - High Speed HDMI Cable - 6 FEET
Cables Unlimited - High Speed HDMI Cable - 6 FEET

Pros: Cable connected perfectly between my 720p tv and PS3. No video glitches or loose connection problems. It was cheap, and it works.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I have not disconnected / reconnected this cable yet, so cannot comment on durability in that respect.

Stylish and inexpensive

IN WIN IW-BT611T.300SL Silver/Black Best Performed 0.8mm SECC Japanese Steel metal Micro ATX Desktop Computer Case 300W Power Supply
IN WIN IW-BT611T.300SL Silver/Black Best Performed 0.8mm SECC Japanese Steel metal Micro ATX Desktop Computer Case 300W Power Supply

Pros: Looks GREAT as a home theater PC. Case comes apart very easily, and all drive cages pop out for easy access. Internal airflow design works very well for cooling and noise reduction. Quality is very good for the price.

Cons: Front door for drive bays is a little flimsy. Case may be a little long for some people.

Overall Review: I'm VERY pleased with this case. When doing your build, make sure you take out all the drive cages to make installation easier. The power supply output is on the low side (300 watt), so avoid running it at it's limit (huge graphics cards, etc) in order to improve power supply lifetime and reliability.

10/15/2009

Runs cool and quick.

AMD Sempron 140 - Sempron Sargas Single-Core 2.7 GHz Socket AM3 45W Processor - SDX140HBGQBOX
AMD Sempron 140 - Sempron Sargas Single-Core 2.7 GHz Socket AM3 45W Processor - SDX140HBGQBOX

Pros: Very surprising performance for an inexpensive, single core CPU. Coolest processor I've ever owned. Runs at 85F under high load with stock (small) AMD heatsink/fan. CPU fan runs quietly. Uses very little power, which makes it perfect for a home server or HTPC. This little gem has made me take a deeper look at AMD for future purchases.

Cons: I was expecting to have at least a few, but this CPU has surprised me. No cons to mention!

Overall Review: If you want to build a home server or home theater pc that runs quiet and uses very little power, this CPU is perfect.

10/15/2009