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HARRY M.

HARRY M.

Joined on 08/20/03

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product reviews
  • 24
Most Favorable Review

Addendum to previous review of 11/23/11

Corsair Graphite Series 600T CC600TM Graphite Grey Mid-Tower Gaming Case
Corsair Graphite Series 600T CC600TM Graphite Grey Mid-Tower Gaming Case

Pros: I'm writing this to provide some additional information from my previous review (which for some reason posted my name as "NA"). Pros are still as before. This is a beautiful, roomy case loaded with features. It is wide enough for tall CPU coolers which will still clear optional side fans if you want them. Cable management, drive bay flexibility, and fit and finish are all top notch. Despite my four egg rating, the best case I've ever worked with, bar none.

Cons: Corsair makes you jump through hoops and sends you a VISA credit card which is stamped DEBIT on the front, then tells you that you must have the retailer use it only as a credit charge. Their rebate website doesn't work to activate the card, so you have to do it by phone. Most annoying rebate ever. Besides the sour rebate experience my chief gripe with this case is the faulty analog fan controller on the front/top of the case. Mine never worked well and I basically turned it all the way up when gaming, then all the way down the rest of the time. It worked for just under four months then failed entirely, stopping all the fans. Corsair's forums have posts from owners with similar experiences. Corsair's only solution: RMA the case. They have no means of sending you the hardware to repair the device, and the repair job would probably be beyond most home builders anyway, as the control panel is very hard to access from inside and is not a removeable assembly.

Overall Review: As I noted in my previous review, I'd have preferred a simple HI-LO switch instead of the analog knob fan controller. Guess what? In Corsair's new Carbide series cases, they use a HI-MED-LO fan switch. (The Carbides have two USB 3.0 ports on the front but no USB 2.0, otherwise I would buy them for other builds.) RMA'ing the case is out of the question for me. WAY too hard to dismantle/store the guts and wait a week for a new case. Any other part I'd RMA. Not the case! I ended up plugging the front and top fans into MOBO fan control ports. My side fans are now rigged to a simple ON/OFF switch; I turn them on for gaming and leave them off otherwise. The cooling performance is exceptional, but it irks me I didn't get the desired functionality from the (now useless) case's fan controller. Yes, I still recommend the case. It is worth buying, despite the rebate hassle. Just don't rely on that fan controller to work in a smooth, linear fashion or to last through the warranty period.

11/25/2011
Most Critical Review

Didn't do as well as we'd hoped

SteamFast SF-141 Steam Mop
SteamFast SF-141 Steam Mop

Pros: I put my tech knowledge at average for this product because other than being a retired swabby, I'm no expert with electric mops! Got this on a NewEgg special deal for a super cheap price, so that's a pro. As someone else mentioned in their review, if you don't like this thing, you can toss it without feeling like you wasted a lot of money. You can always say, "Hey, it was worth a try anyway."

Cons: We got this hoping it would do a reasonable job cleaning the grout in our ceramic-tiled kitchen. Sadly, it doesn't. Dragging it slowly and repeatedly over the grout lines doesn't get the dirt or stains out of them. Worse, even though we used distilled water in accordance with the directions, the steam mop left water spots on the tile. It did a fair job cleaning the tile but you can definitely see the water spots if the light is right. The cord is short. If you use this in a big room, you'll end up walking over the wet floor to unplug and move the cord to another outlet. Consider a heavy-duty extension cord. The little container used to fill the tank holds less water (8.5 oz.) than the tank (10 oz.)... so you have to fill the pouring container more than once. Who came up with that design? Makes it easy to over-fill it when filling it up on the second pour. Would have been better to have a container near the same capacity as the tank.

Overall Review: We're not going to toss it, as we may still use it on certain areas we need to mop, like in the bathroom. Even though it doesn't do what we bought it for, it may prove somewhat useful. I'm sure it would work well on vinyl or linoleum. We didn't try it on carpet. To use this thing you put water (distilled, preferably) in it and plug it in to heat for a minute or two. Then you drag it slooooooowly over the area you want to clean. If it runs out of water while you're cleaning, you have to unplug it and wait for it to cool for 5 minutes or so before you can open it to refill it and continue. Large areas can thus take you a longer time to finish.

12/31/2011

Nice fan, exactly as described

Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-2000, Heavy Duty Cooling Fan, 3-Pin, 2000 RPM (140mm, Black)
Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-2000, Heavy Duty Cooling Fan, 3-Pin, 2000 RPM (140mm, Black)

Pros: Moves a lot of air Noctua quality -- this fan will last

Cons: None

Overall Review: Fan is not silent, but I knew that when I bought it. It moves a lot of air. Noctua fans are high-quality workhorses which last a long time. I have had plenty of experience with cheap fans that get noisy and fail. I only buy Noctua fans now as their reliability warrants the higher price. It is an example of getting what you pay for. Fan came well-packed and included mounting screws. Would buy again and recommend these to anyone who wants to install a top-quality air mover. If a silent system is your goal, check out some of Noctua's slower speed models instead.

Thrilled with the Airdog!

Pros: The washable filter element is the biggest selling point. No expensive paper HEPA filters to buy, store, and dispose of. It's effective. It filters smaller particles than HEPA filters and tells you when it's time to wash/clean the filter element. Love the silent/dark "sleep" mode so I can run this in the bedroom at night. The "Auto" mode is also nice because the machine only speeds up the fan when it detects higher pollution levels, so the machine is whisper quiet almost all the time.

Cons: Some have noted difficulty with the smartphone app or complained about a lack of instructions. I didn't bother with the app as the unit comes with a small remote control which works just fine. A detailed owner's manual (.PDF) can be downloaded from their website and it has all the info you need. The only con I can think of is that when the filter needs cleaning, a large letter -C- shows on the display. After cleaning the filter, you must reset the display using either the remote or the smartphone app. There is no way to reset the cleaning reminder using the single power button on top of the unit. The other functions (fan speed, sleep mode, auto mode) can be selected with that power button but the child-proof lockout feature and the cleaning reset function must be accessed by a separate device. It's a minor gripe, but a reset button hidden somewhere inside the unit would have been nice.

Overall Review: Bottom line: I love this thing! A lot of people may report miraculous relief of allergy, sinus, or hay fever symptoms or make even wilder claims ( "It's a miracle! I can WALK again!!!" ) but my house was pretty clean to begin with. For me, this buys peace-of-mind, knowing that germs, mold, dust, and even bad smells are being quietly eradicated in my home air. It's worth it to me, even without curing any ills. NewEgg had these on sale for $459 with free shipping and I bought two of them. They're still pricey but for the quality and technology I would have been willing to pay more. Since there is no need to buy replaceable filters for the Airdog, the overall life cycle costs will turn out to be much less than forced-air filtration units which end up costing hundreds per year to operate and maintain. In the long run, even if you don't get it on sale, it's a bargain. I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase. Five eggs, highly recommended, and as always a pleasure to buy from Newegg.

Nice wide-angle webcam at a terrific price!

Genius 32200312100 WideCam F100 USB 2.0 WebCam
Genius 32200312100 WideCam F100 USB 2.0 WebCam

Pros: Easy set up. I'm one of those guys still stubbornly clinging to Windows 7. Plugged in this webcam and Windows installed all the drivers. No disc or downloads from a strange website. Turned on Skype and it's there. This is what Plug 'n Play is supposed to be! As stated, Ultra Wide View. Shows me, the room I'm in, the ceiling fan above, and my keyboard in front of the monitor below it. Decent resolution (1080p), quality glass lens, good low light level performance, large depth of field (focused from about four inches to infinity.) Tilts and swivels. Aim it wherever you need it to go. Comes with an extra USB extension cable if you need it. Small, easy to perch atop my monitor, though the clamp on the base doesn't secure it tightly (see below).

Cons: Not really a con, but you should realize this little webcam is a fixed focus ultra-wide camera. You can't zoom it in for a tighter shot or turn a manual focus ring for a close-up. My gripe about that is that now I have to clean up the room I'm in before I go on Skype, because my friends can now see the whole room and it's all in focus! If you're looking for a webcam for a tight head-and-shoulders shot for video conferencing, this is probably not the camera you want. The clamp to hold the camera onto the top of a monitor is a little weak. That said, if you park it atop your flat screen and don't mess with it, it shouldn't go anywhere. No lens cap. Maybe I'm paranoid. I made a little cover for it so that I can cover it up when I'm not using it. I don't want my computer looking at me unless I tell it to and I don't want to unplug the USB cable when I'm not using it. Easiest answer is to just make a little cover for it. Microphone(s) are not that great. It has stereo mics on either side of the lens, but the sound quality was inferior to the nice desktop mic I use. They do work, but the voice audio seemed muddy by comparison to a quality microphone and it had no noise rejection for ambient sound like my computer fan.

Overall Review: My trusty 10+-year-old Hercules webcam broke and I needed a replacement for Skyping with friends. Compared this Genius Ultra-Wide webcam with various Logitech and Microsoft webcams which had reviews complaining about drivers, software, compatibility, reliability, and difficulty with set-up. The good ones were twice the price of this one so I took a chance and I'm glad I did. The Genius Ultra-Wide provides a high-quality image at an inexpensive price and no set-up issues. It would be fantastic if you need one for a room security monitor, which seems like the niche it was designed to fill. As long as you're okay with the super ultra-wide field of this camera (it's something like a GoPro set to wide angle) it will work fine as a webcam. The mic pickup is passable but not stellar. As I mentioned in the Cons above, if you're looking for a cam for personal video calls you might want to find one with a smaller field of regard, i.e. NOT a wide angle camera, and with an adjustable focus for better close-ups. I was going to take off an egg for the weak monitor mount and absence of a lens cover, but they didn't promise either of those things, and they DID provide the USB extension cable (which I didn't need, but it was thoughtful.) If you're looking for a nice wide-angle webcam at a terrific price, this is a good bet. The Pros far outweigh the Cons for me. Does what it promises, so Five Eggs.

The Saga of Two Dead Fans

ARCTIC COOLING F14 TC ACFAN00081A 140mm 3-Pin Temperature-controlled Fan with Standard Case
ARCTIC COOLING F14 TC ACFAN00081A 140mm 3-Pin Temperature-controlled Fan with Standard Case

Pros: The only Pro in this story is NewEgg. They have always done right by me.

Cons: Ordered this fan dazzled by its promise and price -- a temperature-controlled "ultra quiet" 140mm case fan with a 6-year warranty for a great price. Got it, and it was DOA. RMA'd it to NewEgg and they sent me another. (...I think. Maybe they sent me the same one?) The second one was also DOA. Two bad fans in a row -- see story below.

Overall Review: This was a frustrating purchase. A close friend had the case fan in her computer fail and she was scared hearing the buzzing fan speed alarm coming from her computer case. I disabled the BIOS alarm for her, reassured her there was no danger, and ordered this fan for her on a Friday. NewEgg's free shipping got it to me the following Thursday, whereupon I installed it in her computer and found it didn't work. Tested it on two known good motherboard fan connectors and it was completely dead. RMA'd it back to NewEgg for a replacement the next day. NewEgg wouldn't ship the replacement fan until they received the defective one, so I had to wait until the Thursday after that for them to get it and ship out Fan Number Two. This one arrived the following Wednesday, nearly three weeks after I ordered the first one. I decided to test this second fan on my own setup to be sure it worked before I took it to my friend's house, and was stunned to find this one was also dead! Now it has been 20 days since my original order was placed and she still doesn't have a fan. Rather than waiting for a third replacement and taking my chances, I'm returning this one for a refund. I'm just going to my local brick-and-mortar store where I'll buy one that works. It may not be as quiet, might not have the nifty temperature probe, and probably won't have the 6-year warranty... but I can get it today and it will work. Very disappointed with this product - one egg. There must be serious QC issues for me to get two in a row that didn't work. But as always, pleased with NewEgg for their RMA policy which is about as easy as it can be for an online store.

seller reviews
  • 5

Timely shipping, good tracking info

Ordered an APC UPS. Arrived on schedule intact and undamaged. Overall good experience with this seller!

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Satisfactory
12/16/2020

Best quality fans

I only buy Noctua fans now... guess that makes me a Noctua fanboy! They stay quiet and last a long time. The company packs the product nicely and I've never received a bad one or had to return one. I've bought two in the last month and many over the years for various builds. Newegg's free shipping on my last order took 10 days to get from them in California to me in Florida. Not their fault -- they sent it out the day I ordered it, but it went by some UPS Ground / USPS Smart Post combo, arrived in my city on a Friday and then wasn't delivered to me until the following Wednesday. I was starting to worry it had been lost or misdelivered. I didn't want to pay more than the cost of the fan for overnight or two-day shipping, so I ended up waiting a week and a half to get it. I wholeheartedly recommend this seller and their products. Good luck with the free shipping though; sometimes it's really slow depending on your local postal sorting facility.

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Satisfactory

Nice fan, exactly as described

Fan was well-packed. Good air flow. Not silent, but I knew this before I bought it. Relatively quiet considering the amount of air it pushes. Have had other Noctua fans before. They last a long time. Will continue to buy Noctua fans rather than wasting money on cheaper fans that get noisier and fail.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory