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Colin A.

Colin A.

Joined on 02/14/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 12
Most Favorable Review

Recommended

Seasonic SS-850HT 850W ATX12V v2.31,EPS12V v2.92 80Plus Silver Certified, Active PFC Power Supply
Seasonic SS-850HT 850W ATX12V v2.31,EPS12V v2.92 80Plus Silver Certified, Active PFC Power Supply

Pros: Stable, runs cool, consistent power flow. Cooling fan is quite and does it's job. All cables are finished off with 'snakeskin' and there is a sence that Seasonic really put some thought and pride in their craftsmanship.

Cons: See other thoughts:

Overall Review: The only thing that I don't like about this power supply is Seasonic made the cables so long. However, if the cable was 2" short, I'd be pulling my hair out. So I don't really see extra cable length as a con - esp. if you have a full tower - and as such can't see pulling any eggs. This is a great PS for the price and if you don't have a glass side on your case can't recommend it enough.

Most Critical Review

Barely Acceptable

Jawbone Over-The-Ear Bluetooth Headset Black Bulk (Jawbone 2 II)
Jawbone Over-The-Ear Bluetooth Headset Black Bulk (Jawbone 2 II)

Pros: Noise Assassin (NA) works very well in most environments. Small and lightweight. Professional look. Charges up quickly and has a respectable battery life. People on the other end have no issues hearing me when I speak normally. Absolutely no need to yell with this little guy, even when walking by an idling bus.

Cons: Expected a better fit with the rubber earpiece. With all the earbuds floating around now with iPods, etc. I really expected a more comfortable fit from the actual earpiece. Along those same lines, I expected a better sound response from the speaker. When you first answer the phone, the sound is very low (read other reviews). When you answer, you have to pause for ~2 secs before you can expect to hear the other party. Largest annoyance, the buttons take one a life of their own when attached to an LG Dare. Sometimes the power button works, other times it just gives a single beep. The rear button (volume and NA toggle) when held in is supposed to toggle NA, however sometimes I get my voice dialing from my phone. My wife's is just sitting on the counter, she will not even use it anymore...

Overall Review: All in all, it came very well packaged and looks great. However, even with the sizing options, I have yet to find a combination to perfectly fit (may just be my weird ear). So, -1 egg for the fit and -1 egg for the quirky functionality. At $70, I would still say that it is a pretty good buy compared to other headsets I have used/tried. At MSRP of $140, I would have felt violated :)

Nice for the price

Logitech Harmony 510 Advanced Universal Remote Control
Logitech Harmony 510 Advanced Universal Remote Control

Pros: It's programmable via computer so what buttons it does not have you can reassign. It can intercept the signal from the original remote, replicate the command and allow you to assign to any button.

Cons: No 'input' key finds you scrolling through pages to find the right command. No Blu-Ray category (they still are calling it DVD). Didn't quite sync up with my 3 y/o Vizio 52" TV without spending an hour messing with the programming.

Overall Review: Changing inputs on my TV were not working so I put the remote into 'learning' mode, assigned an unused button to mimic the proper command sent by the original remote (the Logitec actually reads the command from the old remote and allows you to assign whatever that command is to virtually any button).

Disappointing

GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 Intel X58 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: USB 3.0, easily overclock-able, can turn on or off ability to charge USB peripherals, can charge some USB items faster with more available power than standard USB ports.

Cons: Don't buy this board if you are expecting fantastic SATA 3 speeds. If you do some Googling, the Marvell SE9128 chip (providing the SATA 3 functionality) is only faster than the Intel ICH10R in burst speeds AND only in a single drive configuration. If you are planning on using a RAID 0 configuration, you will actually see faster speeds on the Intel SATA 2 chip than the Marvell. From HardOCP's review: "When buying your new motherboard there is no performance reason we can point to that suggests you should select a motherboard with SATA 6Gb/s. In fact, if you are running a RAID 0 setup, you are actually better off going with Intel's ICH10R solution."

Overall Review: Running two WD 1tb Blacks in AHCI RAID 0 and W7 I keep getting OS stalls. Everything will be chugging along just fine and suddenly the mouse is the only thing that will respond. In non-AHCI mode, the stalls would last about 30-45 seconds, with AHCI on, it lasts about 5-10 seconds. Not too bad unless you are rendering video. Then you get to stop and start the whole process over again and hope it does not stall again. Gigabyte's tech support has been less than helpful in resolving this issue with other customers (search their forums) and after opening a ticket was told to RMA the board - a process that (according to their RMA policies) can take 3-5 weeks and IF they find a problem can send me a refurbished board back. My advice: If you receive the board and have issues, don't waste your time with their tech support. Just let NewEgg's phenomenal service take care of you and send it back immediately. Of my new system build, I am most disappointed with this board. I wouldn't recommend it.

Nice case

Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec Three Hundred Illusion Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Includes 4 adjustable speed fans (three of which are LED lit - which everyone knows makes it go faster). Solid construction and there is plenty of room on the 'back' side of the case to stash extra cables and keep things clean where it counts. Good eye-appeal and best of all, fantastic price.

Cons: No firewire port in the front.

Overall Review: There are two things that I don't like about this case. The lack of a firewire port in the front and none of the bays are quick mount. I can't take eggs off for these things though because all that is in the specs and I knew it when I bought it. If you need those things, then the 600 or 900 Illusion would be more your style. All in all, as cheap as this case was, it is a great buy.

Nice!

Intel Core i7-950 - Core i7 Bloomfield Quad-Core 3.06 GHz LGA 1366 130W Processor - BX80601950
Intel Core i7-950 - Core i7 Bloomfield Quad-Core 3.06 GHz LGA 1366 130W Processor - BX80601950

Pros: Good price for one gen back cpu. Fast. Reliable. When overclocked, this baby screams!

Cons: I can't mount it to the back of my head.

Overall Review: This is a great buy and since it's a Bloomfield on the LGA1366, when the new 6-core procs eventually cost less than an ounce of gold, I can easily upgrade! Thank you Intel for re-using the socket!