Joined on 08/27/08
Great NIC Card for your money
Pros: Super slim and very small, perfect for a small factor computer or a self build media console device. I love how it comes with both small factor pc and a regular bracket. Price is not bad either for a card that does the job. Transfer rates differ depending on your connection speed and locations but it wasn’t a huge delay that made it a big deal after all it is a low profile NIC card. Installation on Windows 7 was easy but you will need to go to the website for Windows 8 drivers because they are not in the CD even though it says it should but I might have gotten a wrong disc. It has 2T2R MIMO technology, so yeah welcome to the future of connectivity for only $25 bucks.
Cons: Not a Dual Band or AC device but you can’t beat the price for your basic low profile NIC card. The Antennas are small and don’t look great but if you update them to better 7dpi ones now it looks awesome. Not being Windows 8 friendly makes it harder with a not so friendly operating system as it is. Speed depends on your file size anything between 3GB is a bit sluggish anything below that is ok.
Overall Review: This card is easy to install for Windows 7 but not Windows 8. The factor works for someone who is looking for a NIC card that needs to fit in a tight space, especially if you have bulky video cards. Antennas need to be updated to different ones if you want your friends to stop making fun of your small antennas coming from your bad /-\55 computer. I would recommend this card to anyone with a budget but also that needs a reliable card.
Not for Gaming but basic will do
Pros: The design is very stylish to accommodate your devices look, at least in my case. No big antennas sticking out like an eye sore, also very light. The set-up was a breeze and was connected in less than 5 minutes and that is including the registration of the device. Comes with a pre-program password so your secure out of the box for those who aren’t tech savvy. The other best thing about this router is that it has dual band connections, so if interference is a problem in your area this will solve the problem. I went from 4 bars to 5 bars easily anywhere around my house with no lag what so ever, something that was able to obtain in my old router at close range. WPS button was the best thing on this router being that most of my devices have that option so I didn’t have to spend time typing my long protective password on some of the devices. The AC Dual band connection type was something that was new to me and was surprise on how fast it was when I used the D-Link Wireless AC Dual Band USB Adapter with it. I use this USB adapter on my laptop instead of the internal one that comes with it because the connection is so much faster, especially if you’re watching HD video on N3tfl1x. But HD streaming does lag on my other devices that do not have this technology, hummm.
Cons: The price for this 10/100 is way too much, I would love to see the price slash about $20 because there are better routers for this price range that are a Gigabit Ethernet connections. Of course some of the extras do accommodate with the price but when it comes to blue ray video streaming it lags a bit. Transfer connections between devices are a bit sluggish but when you run AC Dual Band there is a slight jump. I guess that if you buy devices that are compatible with this D-Link that happen to be D-Link than there a bit of a problem because you’re trying to upgrade your router not your entire network. I ran this router for a whole month before I decided to make this review and I notice that from time to time it will disconnect then connect back again but it frustrating if you’re playing games, I notice that it was running hot but that is because I have other devices near it, so do not overlap other items or devices with it or it will overheat easily.
Overall Review: I would recommend this item to people who are upgrading from their old G router to this one but I would not recommend this router for gaming or a business network. This is your basic router with some extras and nothing more. I ended up connecting my old router back because of the inconsistencies I had with it as far as gaming and video streaming that didn’t have the AC adapter. Not to mention the lack of that 1000 Ethernet connection which I need for my cameras around my house. As far was the Cloud app I didn't see much use of it since I don't really keep track of my network but if you want to know when your kids connect to the internet than this is a perfect spy app.
No Noise
Pros: Great airflow and will keep your CPU cooled if you use the Corsair Hydro Series CPU coolers. These are 120mm and there is two on this package.
Cons: The price is very expensive for fans but this fans are really good, I bough some more for my case, I now have 6 install in my case. There is some noise but I rather have them humming and knowing they are working than constantly checking on them to make sure if they are still doing there job. There is no long screws to screw these to my case so I had to buy them separate which means more money.
Overall Review: buy them, they are awesome.
Not a bad Wireless Adapter
Pros: This item works well with the D-Link Wireless AC750 Dual Band Cloud Router, so if you want to experience a faster connection that what you have this application with the router mention above will fix your problem. This adapter is very light and not to small so if you drop it you will be able to locate it. You will be able to connect with both 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz frequencies especially if you have reception problems. Installation is a breeze, especially with Windows 8; I don’t think I had to install the driver for this thing. Also connecting to the router using the WPS button made it even better since I have a huge password, there is a lot of WI-Fi thieves in my area.
Cons: The price, I wish it was 29.99 but can’t argue since I got it for free. This device works great with other routers but since you’re paying that high price for that high solid connection and the only way to obtain it is if you buy that AC750 Dual Band router for an extra $80 bucks or any other Dual Band Router. So if you just need to get a replacement Wireless USB Adapter and your router is still a 2.4 GHz don’t get this one unless you’re going to invest in converting your old router too.
Overall Review: I would recommend this item to anyone, it works like it should, and the size is perfect. Especially if you lose all your small computer components, like I do. Works great with other routers so compatibility is not an issue but if you want to get that extra juice you need to update your current router.
The lightest Portable Drive I Have Owned
Pros: Price for this massive 500GB USB 3.0 portable drive with a slim and lightweight design is a huge plus. There are others for less but you will be carrying a brick with you at all times. I also like the transfer rates it gave me with my current PC. I was able to copy my music folder with about 20GB of music in less than 5.5 minutes @ 48MB/second. I am running an Intel i5 2500K with 32MB DDR5 RAM the hard drive I was copying it from was a SATA Drive @ 3GB Speed rate. I transfer the same folder from my SSD drive @ 6GB speed rate to the Slim Drive and it took about 3.3 minutes @92MB/second. Now coping the same folder from the Slim drive to the SSD Drive took less than 2 minutes and from the Slim drive to the SATA drive it took about 4 minutes. It all depends on your hardware speed. These test speeds where from a USB 3.0 connection directly from the back of the computer which would be directly to the motherboard. It’s also compatible with USB 2.0 but your speed test may differ.
Cons: The drive gets a little bit hot after a good use so if you’re connecting this drive for a long period of time more than likely the drive’s lifespan might be short. There is no off button and drive is made out of hard plastic which is why it runs hot. Drive is not as thin as Seagate claims but it is really light and can be put on your front pocket kind of like we do with cell phones anyways. I think my cell phone weights more than this thing. The plastic that was covering the bottom of the drive is hard to take apart I don’t know why they have it there make sure you take it off because if you don’t the drive gets hotter than normal after taking that plastic out it should run much cooler.
Overall Review: I am running Windows 7 64Bit Ultimate so for any windows user you must first go to support.seagate.com/crossplatform to install the HFS+ driver for Windows. If you’re running a MAC its pretty much plug in play for its design for MAC more so than a PC.
Inexpensive Camera with Potential Results
Pros: This camera is awesome, simple, inexpensive and easy to use once you get everything down. I will not go technical like some people because some of these items are mention on the overview tap of this page. But if you need a camera to spy on your neighbor because you suspect them of poisoning your dog or something simple like want to watch your newborn while there are sleeping while your in the kitchen cooking or simply watching your favorite soap opera and want to make sure everything looks good and SOUNDS good, this camera is for you. I personally use it to watch my nieces and nephews and I could hear what they are doing while I am in the computer writing this review.
Cons: Although this is a very inexpensive camera I think that the viewing quality could have been better, I personally think that the night vision options seems to be better for me then color because the room that I use this item most of the time has too much light and not enough windows to let natural light come in. The software on the Android APP is hard to find even when you use the bar code it’s a waste of time. Search it instead and you have to type it exactly like this “TRENDnet Cloud” without the quotes. The scan info is more like a manual and YouTube videos which take forever to load. I have a Samsung Galaxy S III and have no problems with the software; I guess if you have an older phone it might not be able to connect but any 4GLTE phones should have no problems with the Cloud software.
Overall Review: Once you get the TRENDnet Cloud APP installed on your phone is very simple to use from anywhere in the event that your want to check on the house, I wish the mic portion worked but that is another camera and more money. The SecurView Pro software for your computer is a bit complicated but you do need to configure that to be able to record things. Make sure that when you set it up you first follow the direction on the small sticker with all your information. Make sure to go to Administration button which will get you to a different window which will display the assigned IP Address your router gave to your Camera write it down because you’re going to need it to configure SecurView Pro on your home computer. Also if you change the username and password make sure you write it down because you will need it also. Once you have that info run the CD follow the prompts just make sure that when you get to Camera device properties make sure you hit the Properties button and make sure that under the Access tap you have the IP Address and the username and password you set up at the beginning for it to be able to connect and record. Also on this same window make sure you go to audio and set it to Internal Audio Source by default is at No Audio Source and you need that to record sound. If you are planning on recording you’re going to need more space I will recommend getting another hard drive where all the video and audio will be store and you could configure that under Data recording click on Global Recording Properties and choose the hard drive you want to have all the information saved in. Another thing you need to do which a lot of people don’t mention here is that in some routers you might need to open your NAT to be able to stream a little better specially in wireless mode. I had a little bit more connectivity issues with it but after opening the NAT and updating my routers firmware everything connects fine although I prefer the Ethernet connection as a better option. I did have this camera connected to switch which also worked great.