Pros: Very small, even for a M-atx case Takes a standard ATX power supply Seems fairly rigid More attractive in person E-SATA on front panel Light weight for a steel case

Cons: Annoyingly bright blue power LED 80mm fan in 90MM slot No buzzer or reset, but I don't miss them No front intake fan slot

Overall Review: Some may complain about the need to use screws to install things, but I personally prefer them. Honestly, I'm not swapping components in and out of a machine this small. I have big ugly server cases for those sorts of machines. I bought this case to be my always-on machine to live on my desk next to my also shiny monitor. I find that I have trouble installing card readers or getting drives to line up properly with most forms of screwless drive bay arrangements. I can operate a screwdriver. Additionally: I had no trouble installing a hard drive in the vertical bay provided. Be it not for the card reader I used, it would be no trouble to install up to four standard hard drives in this case. Does anyone even own a floppy drive anymore?

Pros: Features! This board is loaded. You won't find more options and goodies for the dollar. 4-phase power, solid caps on PWM Stable at default speeds, attractive looking Superior onboard GPU that runs nice and cool with the low-profile heatsink.

Cons: Watch out if you don't want to use Vista. XP drivers didn't install from the CD. It was a PITA to track down the drivers online, and they didn't work either. The installer generated an undefined error with both versions. After mucking around for a few hours the drivers were finally installed, but the system acted buggy, with unexplained lagging, and randomly occurring access bogs over the SATA. Apart from the problems I had with the chipset drivers (not really ECS' fault) the bios was just about useless. Most of the overclocking settings were either described improperly, filled with meaningless numbers, or didn't work when enabled. This left me running at default speeds on a system I specifically intended to overclock. That coupled with the warnings I've already read about the bios released in May bricking the thing made me somewhat bitter towards this board.

Overall Review: Bottom line is that this seems like an immature product. If the chipset is going to support XP, they should do it properly and completely. If the bios is going to support overclocking, the settings should work. With my X2-5000 BE not one different multiplier setting allowed the machine to boot. On a different board, multiplier adjustment worked perfectly. I'm no rank amateur either. I've been building computers since before the invention of the ZIF socket, when memory timings were set with jumpers or DIP switches. I'm usually pretty good at deciphering engrish too, but this bios was unintelligible to me. I might just hold on to this board until the next bios and chipset driver release. If those problems were fixed, this would be a fantastic deal on a board with a knockout chipset.

Pros: Overall look and feel of quality Nicely managed wiring for the complexity involved Bright, easy to read display Addressable RGB on fans Silent, cool-running pump Low resource utilization for monitoring software

Cons: Digital component is a multi-segment display with animations that can't be changed or disabled, lending it a somewhat playskool feel Driver software is on product page, not in indexed list of downloads on the manufacturer's site No fill/drain port or serviceability of any kind

Overall Review: I primarily bought this to take apart, because there was a lack of any information available about it, and maybe to use the AIO pump in a custom loop if I liked the display. Overall, I think it is a stunning value. Well-packaged, well thought out, and apparently suitable for its intended purpose. As I will not be using it as such, I can't currently comment beyond the initial impressions (i.e. longevity, cooling capacity, etc.). The jury is still out on whether I'll install it before thoroughly disassembling it, but I have confidence that it would cool my mid-level CPU in the short-term. The monitoring software is very basic, with a small resource footprint. No customization of the AIO display is possible via the software. It will always report in Celsius, with a fixed polling interval, and blinky lights on either side. No documentation for the software is available that I could see. Manually modifying the values in the .ini file seemed to have no effect beyond switching the HUD on the desktop readout from Celsius to Fahrenheit. Short of full disassembly and circuit-bending, the display will be as shown in my video.

Pros: Lightness and portability Superior keyboard HDMI Trackpoint (for some) Battery life Build quality Being plastic, the screen bezel is a bit flexible, but the screen seems well-protected. The screen image isn't distorted when the angle is adjusted, and it takes a concerted finger poke to disrupt the LCD. The case is quite rigid, and the keyboard seems springy and durable. I like the finish personally, and can accept a lesser degree of thinkpad perfection for the accompanying weight reduction benefits.

Cons: No HDD activity LED Power port placement (due to battery) Lenovo Bloatware The monitor does have a mild 'screen door' effect at certain viewing angles, but it's not terribly jarring or even easy to detect. Otherwise the screen is bright, colorful and has good contrast. It's not going to win any color reproduction awards either, but it works well, has good horizontal viewing angle, and seems to be efficient. I'm a bit annoyed with the fact that they can wire up an LED to the "i" in "ThinkPad" on both the case and screen, but they can't give me a HDD activity light, or a charging status light. Some things should simply be there as a matter of course. The placement of the mic is also dubious, it being where your hands naturally rest while using the machine...

Overall Review: Firstly, this is a laptop I carry to class every day. I use it to study, write papers, and watch streaming video for web classes. For my purposes, I don't think there is a better option for these categories under $800. For my purposes portability and versatility are most important. Gaming graphics and HD video aren't important to me. Something others haven't mentioned: this has a very compact power supply as well, which helps in the portability factor. One caveat though is that it gets quite hot when charging whether the system is running or not... like, can't hold it in your hands hot. The practical upshot is that it charges the battery very rapidly. About 1.5 hours from 25%. Never discharge your laptop battery below 25%. I get about 6 hours of normal usage from that upper 75%. Which is simply glorious to me, for such a capable machine. I think the battery is fine with the rapid charging, as it gets only barely warm, so it should last quite a while.

Pros: Runs cool Can take up to 2.1v according to the EPP profiles

Cons: 667 base profile in SPD

Overall Review: Mine's running happily at 880mhz, with 4-4-4-12 timings, 1T command on 1.95v. That's good enough for me! There might be more overhead, but I try not to push my luck. Sure, if you're not able to tweak those settings or use EPP profiles, you're stuck with 667... But why buy performance memory then?

Pros: Does what I wanted it to do Lots of wifi options Fair range Only consumes ~7 watts of power

Cons: Only works for about 6 hours at a time for me Antenna isn't removable/upgradeable Only supports newish EVDO modems

Overall Review: With my USB720, the device loses the EVDO connection around every 6 hours, until I can walk over and reset it. It may just be that my particular modem disconnects more frequently or malfunctions at this rate, but the router just tries to reconnect endlessly until it's reset. Since this isn't returnable for a refund here, and the problem is currently listed as a known issue on Netgear's site "Router sometimes does not recognize modem malfunction and does not try to re-establish internet connection. Workaround – eject and re-insert modem." I'm stuck with this problem, and an expensive device sitting in a box until netgear can sort out their firmware. Currently there are 8 unfixed, known issues listed on Netgear's site regarding the firmware for this device. I am disgusted when I'm unwittingly used to beta test firmware for an unfinished device that I've paid for. For that, It's unlikely that I'll purchase any Netgear products in the future.