Pros: Quiet, fast, good price

Cons: None

Overall Review: I was able to use this drive as both a stand-alone backup and connected to my NAS to use as a backup target. Connecting the drive to the machine and using Seagate’s software was probably one of the easiest things I have done. You basically click PC Backup and then you can just choose protect now, after that it creates a continuous backup of all your user files. You can also create a custom backup plan and choose your own folders, I know that I don’t always save everything to “My Documents”. Copy performance was very good, average file copy was around 135 MB/s for reading and 123 MB/s for writing. This drive was also fairly quiet and didn't appear to get hot to the touch. I’m currently using this drive as a backup destination attached to my NAS, so far everything has been running well. If I have any issues I’ll make sure to update my review.

Pros: Price

Cons: Screen, bloat ware, runs outdated android version, relatively unknown company

Overall Review: Let’s see, where to begin with this tablet. At first glance you read through the list of hardware specs and it really seems too good to be true. Octa core processor with PowerVR GPU, 10.1” IPS screen, dual camera front and rear all for around $100. I was sold just reading the specs and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! When I opened the box I noted how heavy the tablet was and that it looked well packaged with a good amount of included extras. However all of that died the minute I turned it on and looked at the screen. Right away I noted how washed out, pixelated, and really bad viewing angles the screen had. I thought this was an S-IPS screen? I have to assume that this isn’t an IPS screen and that was misleading marketing. The android lock screen has a circle that you move up to unlock the device, on this screen it doesn’t look like a circle as the lines are pixelated and slightly stretched. After getting past the screen I started the setup process, I’ve setup android devices before and was taken aback that I had to sign in with an email address and accept a EULA before I could even get to signing in to google. You have the option to skip but I realized too late that this wasn’t the google signin process but something custom from IRULU. This and the included bloatware apps that have WAY too much access to different parts of your phone make me extremely scared to use this device or trust it with my google info. I couldn’t stop there though, I had to keep digging to see if there were any redeeming qualities of this device. The octa core processor seems fast enough as does the GPU, the cameras are terrible and seem like devices that were used 7 years ago in the first G1. Build quality also seems a little suspect, it feels heavy in your hand which would make you think it was a solid device but the top of the tablet where the screen is connected to the rest is a really big lip which creaks when you hold it with one hand. I think if you knocked this off of a table on accident you would be left with something that opened up along this seam. Android KitKat 4.4, this was release nearly 2 years ago, 5.0 has come and gone and now Android 6.0 marshmello is out. Having a new tablet with something this old is unacceptable. Given that you can now get tablets from well known companies for $50 I see no reason to spend the extra $60 for this device. You could buy two tablets for the same price and get a much much better tablet for your money.

Pros: Single +12V rail, high efficiency, low noise

Cons: Not modular, only 80 plus white certified

Overall Review: The Corsair VS series is the bottom tier of Corsair’s lineup and is intended for general usage on a budget. The PSU comes in a nice box with useful info on the outside and is well protected from any shipping damage. Inside the box you get the PSU, a power cord, mounting screws, and a warranty document. I would have liked to see a few cable ties for cable management. The PSU itself is well made and has a good heft to it. The paint job is a superb black powder coat finish but I wish they had included the technical specs of each rail listed somewhere on the PSU itself, it is listed on the box and available on their website but years from now when I work on the PC sometimes that data is useful to determine which hardware I can stick in the PC when it comes to upgrade. Inside the PSU we have an 80 plus white certified power system, a single dedicated +12V rail, and a thermally controlled sleeve bearing fan. The sleeve bearing fan is fine but I would have liked to see a fluid dynamic bearing fan. This is probably one of the reasons that the warranty only lasts for 3 years. One thing to look for when purchasing a PSU is to check the warranty length, the longer the warranty the less chance of failure. Corsair is usually very good in this regard and 3 years is a long time. I have used Corsair power supplies for a long time now and they have always served me well. The VS600 is a great value option and would be great in any general use desktop. If you’re building a new PC to use for gaming I would suggest going with one of their other models that are 80 plus silver or higher rated, these usually come with a longer warranty and will deal with the strains a graphics card will put on the system. I mainly recommend this because a few years after the system is built you can upgrade the graphics card and get higher performance while the PSU will still run the new card fine.

Pros: Good capacity, quiet, power efficient, uses solid state cache

Cons: 5400 RPM

Overall Review: The Seagate FireCuda is a normal 2.5” form factor mechanical hard drive that uses 8GB of NAND flash to cache the most accessed data on the drive. This helps speed the drive up over normal mechanical hard drives. This does NOT make it nearly as fast as a full SSD but the price is much lower. It also has 128 MB of cache with multi-tier caching technology (MTC). MTC technology adds various caching layers to further improve both read and write performances. NAND flash is used to store most-often-read data to increase read performance while media cache is used to merge small block writes. Since the NAND flash size is in the order of gigabytes compared to the hundreds of megabytes found on DRAM, cache hit is higher by order of 100 times. For fragmented write operations, media cache boosts performance as DRAM reaches its limit. Media cache can sustain a near-sequential data rate of up to scores of gigabytes to better handle burst workloads. All user data are protected and moved in and out of the main store storage without host intervention, making the MTC Technology completely transparent to the user. Installing this in to your PS4 isn’t very hard but you should look for instructions either on playstation’s site or use google to find a walkthrough. Some things you will need are a screwdriver, a USB storage device with enough free space to back-up your current data, a PC to download the PS4 software, and a PS4 controller connected via a USB cable. After installing the drive I did see marginally better load times than the stock hard drive and it seemed quieter than the stock one as well. The biggest benefit of upgrading the drive is to increase the storage space on your PS4. Before this upgrade I was using the full space of my 500GB drive, now I have 2TB and should be good for a while before I need to upgrade again. If you need more space on your console then the Seagate FireCuda is a good place to start. The price is relatively cheap and performance is good overall.

Pros: Adjustable position for side buttons, Very High DPI, 12 (Side) buttons, RGB lighting

Cons: No weight adjustment, nowhere to rest your thumb

Overall Review: I have to say that getting used to this mouse was challenging at first. I came from using a normal gaming mouse that just had the 2 side buttons. This one has 12 on the side and no place to rest your thumb. Not having the thumb rest and also not having the default back/forward buttons took time to get used to. After the adjustment period I was able to use this mouse to great advantage, the side buttons can be mapped and I was able to use them for the MMO I’m currently playing. Having the buttons adjustable was a huge plus, it allowed me to move them forward to adjust to my longer thumb. I did have some issues with this mouse. Tracking from the sensor had issues on my desk which is a light colored wood, I had to use a mouse pad which I did not have to use on my previous mouse. Also since there isn’t a place to rest your thumb my hand would cramp if I used it for too long. There’s a lot going on with this mouse. Textured keys, lighting indicators, button position adjustment, RGB lighting, and Corsairs CUE software come together to make a great package.

Pros: Cherry MX Silent switches, backlit keys, USB pass-through

Cons: Media keys require FN key, does not come with wrist rest

Overall Review: This keyboard is based on the Cherry MX switches, I got the red one. They also have a Cherry MX Brown version but not blue. The keys are open and raised but they are not sitting on top of an exposed plate like the K70 keyboard but rather sits within a low profile frame. Cleaning the keyboard is easier than most keyboards but can’t compare to how easy it is to clean the K70. They keyboard came in a well-designed, thick cardboard box. Alongside with the keyboard, Corsair supplies a very basic manual, a keycap removal tool and two sets of gaming keycaps. The first set is supposed to be for FPS gamers and the second for MOBA gamers. Both sets are contoured and textured. Two keycaps, the W and the D, exist in both sets but have different contours as a result. From what I have been able to find out this keyboard uses the Cherry MX Red Silent switches. Corsair has an exclusive on this switch at the moment so if you want this type of switch Corsair is the only place to get it at the moment. They STRAFE is a regular sized keyboard with a standard layout. The only new keys are two keys at the top right, one controls the lighting and the other locks the windows key. Media functions for volume and track controls have been inserted as secondary commands in the F5-F12 keys, and are accessible by holding down the FN key. There are no dedicated media keys or the much-loved metallic volume control wheel that is found on their higher tier keyboards. In terms of quality the strafe rates pretty high compared to other keyboards I have used but can’t match that of the K70 and K95 keyboards. The keys are very sturdy and the cross supports reduce wobbliness. The feel of the keys is pretty similar to standard Cherry MX Red switches but to me they feel ever so slightly harder to press. I feel that the STRAFE is a quality keyboard at a fair price but has some cons compared to the higher priced K70 model. No wrist rest and no dedicated media keys might be a big deal for some people.