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Ryan B.

Ryan B.

Joined on 07/23/03

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Its Corsair, need I say more.

CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS2GBKIT400C3
CORSAIR 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model VS2GBKIT400C3

Pros: Its Corsair, you don't get much better than that. Installed the memory, booted to a MemTest86 disk and ran a 12 hour burnin test of the memory, not a single error. PC has been on and performing number crunching activities 24/7 since with not one issue.

Cons: None yet.

Most Critical Review

Cheap and you get what you pay for

ATRIX PSCI-480 480 W ATX Power Supply
ATRIX PSCI-480 480 W ATX Power Supply

Pros: Cheap. Cann't say much more than that.

Cons: Where to start. First, there was a fair amount of RFI leakage that my sound soud speakers picked up on and the resulting high tone made sitting near the PC for more than an hour unbearable. Second, the PC this PSU was installed in runs 24/7. After a mere 6 weeks, I had to shutdown the desktop to add additional memory, when I powered up I smeleed burning electronics. I shut down the PC and that was the end. Opened up the PSU and found a Variable Potentiameter had fried itself. Replaced PSU with a $50 PSU, no more RFI bleed or smoke. Third, cheap price = cheap construction.

Overall Review: Stay away, spend a little more now instead of a lot more later.

Comfortable and just what I needed.

pacific DESIGN Black/Gray 17" Action II Backpack XL Model PD0167
pacific DESIGN Black/Gray 17" Action II Backpack XL Model PD0167

Pros: Plenty of room to place all my required laptop accessories in. Padding on the backpack makes it suprising comfortable to wear, even when ridding my motorcycle.

Cons: Designed to fit most 17 inch wide screen "cookie cutter" laptops. Unfortunately I have a custom Hypersonic (same basic case as an Alien Ware) 17 widscreen. While the laptop will fit in this backpack, it will not fit in the pouch.

Could not ask for better

TRITTON TRI-UA501 USB Connector 5.1 USB Audio Thunder headset
TRITTON TRI-UA501 USB Connector 5.1 USB Audio Thunder headset

Pros: Volume and Mute controls on the base unit as well as seperate volume controls on the cord itself (Front, Rear, Subwoofer and Vibrate). USB driven means highly portable from system to system. 5.1 sound experienced on all movies and games tested. Lound and good sound throughout most of the volume ranges. No noticable hum or other ghost effects from the USB port. Mic is awesome and very flexable. The ability of these to fold up into themselves makes them very portable to throw into my laptop backpack and go.

Cons: USB driven, on older systems these could cause a slight increase in processor usage. On tested systems ranging from a 1.8G AMD to an AMD 64 X2 3800 and a few Celerons inbetween, Processor usage for the audio was never more than 1% and those readings were only spikes on the graph because it rounds up to the nearest percentage point, stayed under .5% most of the time.

Overall Review: I now own several different 5.1 headsets and these are by far the best.

When used right these are great

LTB LTB-AC97-M 3 Stereo Plugs & USB Connector Circumaural True 5.1 surround sound headphones with Mic
LTB LTB-AC97-M 3 Stereo Plugs & USB Connector Circumaural True 5.1 surround sound headphones with Mic

Pros: Sound is great at low to mid volumes. Can effectively hear the 5.1 sound on all tested movies and games.

Cons: Go to high on the volume and you can get a fair amount of distortion. No volume control on the base unit or cord. Had to get a keyboard with media controls. Microphone jack is not fed into the base unit but rather a seperate cable, a few tie wraps added to keep the cords together and organized and all was better. Base unit is powered by a USB port, unless your MB powerfilters the USB ports, get an externalaly powered standalone, you will get a hum and everytime anything spins up (ie HD or DVD) you can hear it in the hum in the headphones. this is not that big when watching movies as they ussually have enough background music and noise to drown out the hum, but for us serious gamers that need that super quiet audio to here those footsteps, the hum can be annoying. In-box documentation sucks, had to to LTB's website (which wasn't the greatest either) to get better information on connecting all 4 jacks correctly.

Overall Review: Once I set these up on the audio output and got an external USB hub that had its own power supply and then a keyboard with volume controls on it, these were just what I needed to really step up my gaming and movie experience. Did not notice any background noise on the mic. Would recommend these to an above average PC user but not the novice.

Cheap, quiet, and a 6 pack

COOLER MASTER SAF-S83-E1 80mm Silent 80mm Case Fan Value Pack With 6 packs
COOLER MASTER SAF-S83-E1 80mm Silent 80mm Case Fan Value Pack With 6 packs

Pros: Cheap, quiet, and a 6 pack, if only it was a wife and beer. Not much more I can say, the price is right, you get a few extras as spares if you need them or get a friend to donate a couple bucks and share the rest. Biggest Plus for me, NO annoying leds, just plain black and functional, a rare commodity indeed.

Cons: Non yet.