Joined on 06/25/01
Easy to install, A+ upgrade from onboard memory, makes Vista usable...
Pros: Inexpensive, small card for tight cases, makes Vista usable!
Cons: Could be cheaper?
Overall Review: My neighbor's new eMachine Vista box came with only 1 GB of RAM and had an onboard NVIDIA chipset. By adding another 1 GB of RAM and -- in about 20 seconds -- installing this PCI x16 graphics card -- suddenly made this box usable. Prior to these minor upgrades (coming in under $100, thanks NewEgg!) reduced boot/shutdown times from more than four minutes to approx. 35 seconds, and made the Vista Aero interface actually work without reducing the entire computing experience to a crawl. If you must run Vista, 2 GB of RAM and a card like this -- if you have an x16 PCIe slot! -- will take your lower-end box from crazy slow to prefectly usable in a matter of seconds. Well worth the investments, and a solid card to date all around.
Great PSU, needs 2 more sets of PCIe VGA cables to be perfect
Pros: Easy to set up, love the new Universal ports to make plugging in everything super-easy.
Cons: There are not enough VGA (PCIe) cables in the box to use all the ports. Need to more sets (4 total) of what they label VGA cables to max out the ports and 1000W load.
Overall Review: If you're making a PC with one graphics card, this is a great choice. If you're trying to run more cards, then avoid it and grab a Corsair - they've been around long enough to sell after market cables to add multiple graphics card to a rig.
e-Auctions Mode + Super Macro = WOW
Pros: Taking pictures for e Bay? You've found your camera. Its Super Macro mode allows you to take crazy-close shots, and when you turn in the e-Auction mode, it takes three pictures automatically at three different picture/exposure settings, then saves them in smaller Web-ready size/quality. The screen is large, the menus are equally big/easy to read, and the shutter times are fast.
Cons: Only comes with a single battery, and it uses Olympus XD memory only.
Rugged, rubbery, fast, and GOOD...
Pros: Cheap, fast, with a huge capacity, works perfectly on my MacBook at USB 2.0 speeds, and on my XP PCs.
Cons: I didn't buy one sooner! Burning 3-4 data DVDs for shipment is a pain. Now we do our video projects/swap large files, using this keychain.
Worth it just for HORDE multiplayer...
Pros: Like Gears 1? You'll like Gears 2. While the multiplayer suffers from some balance issues, and anyone with a life will find most of these modes hard to enjoy/being killed a ton, it's worth the cover price for the new HORDE multiplayer mode. You and four others are dropped onto a map and fight wave after wave of Locust -- together. Using the chat and left btn to find your pals, you'll spend hours wiping out tons of Locust and have a blast. Makes Live worth the price for this game/mode alone!
Cons: Balance issues on the other multiplayer modes and open exploits make it hard to enjoy.
Cheap, fast memory...
Pros: Inexpensive, reasonably fast, works with most modern motherboards.
Cons: Could be cheaper, I guess!
Overall Review: Bought 2 X 1 GB sticks for my neighbors new Vista machine, made by eMachines. Took the PC from 1GB to 2GB, and with Vista taking up nearly 1GB just to run, adding the second stick made all the different. Booting and shutting down went from 4:20, to under 35 seconds. When Vista is running, 960K is taken up with nothing running, leaving 1.1 GB or so open for applications and processes. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if you insist on running Vista with some of the goodies enabled, your PC needs a minimum of 2 GB of RAM to have a good computing experience. This product will make it happen.