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Joel A.

Joel A.

Joined on 09/20/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 19
Most Favorable Review

Nice board but a few issues.

GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H (rev. 1.2) LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD3H (rev. 1.2) LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: 1) Supports Haswell Refresh Procs and most likely Broadwell next year... 2) Decent Layout and Can Do x8 and x8 for SLI/XFIRE which is more than enough bandwidth for the present time. 3) Board is actually not as wide as regular ATX which is nice. 4) Has M.2 and SATA Express available. 5) Lots of USB 3.0 ports. 6) Decent Audio with ALC1150 with a noise reduction design. 7) Has a really nice BIOS.

Cons: 1) Found a major issue (at least for me) where if you are using a graphics card with DisplayPort Outputs like I am (MSI 760 ITX), the computer will wake up immediately after shutting down unless you turn off the monitors beforehand. This is a real annoyance because I like to keep my monitors on and they go to sleep mode and I hate having to push on/off buttons all the time. I have tried a bunch of BIOS settings and nothing has resolved the issue. I believe Gigabyte needs to update their BIOS to fix this. 2) There is no LED on the board to indicate power (unless I don't see it or mine is defective). I always like to know when my power supply is on and there is standby power so that I don't accidentally start pulling cards when power is still active. 3) If you use a 2 slot card in the x8 express port, you cover up your only PCI slot on this board. 4) Limited SATA ports on this board (only 6) so be aware of this fact (probably not an issue for most but I could have used 2 more) 5) No eSata ports at all so I cannot connect my eSATA external backup drive however if you have a case that has an external SATA port on the front you can just hook it up to one SATA port if you have any left over.

Overall Review: Overall, a decent board but you may want to give the UD5H a look instead if you really need to use a PCI expansion card on an SLI type config and hopefully the UD5H has an onboard Standby LED? Also, the display port issue is annoying but I'm sure it will be fixed by a BIOS update either via Gigabyte or MSI? I made a mistake and should have got the UD5H instead to be honest. If you need more expansion, get that instead. That has 8 SATA and 2 PCI slots although still lacking that eSATA port on the back which would be nice.

Most Critical Review

Way too tight. Cannot recommend.

Sennheiser - Professional DJ styled - Closed Dynamic Bass Headphones (HD 202)
Sennheiser - Professional DJ styled - Closed Dynamic Bass Headphones (HD 202)

Pros: Okay sound for the $$ but nothing spectacular. To be fair, I've worn much more expensive pairs of Sennheiser's so maybe it is because you can't really compare a ferrari to a pinto. The headphone cable alone cost me as much on my more expensive pairs. Good throwaway pair here if that's what you need I guess?

Cons: Way too tight and earmuffs are too small for me. Painful to wear for very long so despite any good things to say about the sound, they are unwearable for me personally. Don't know maybe I'm a Gnome and have big ears?

Overall Review: Well you get what you pay for so don't expect too much here. If you really want a quality pair of Sennheiser's, spend more money and get a better quality model. Your ears will thank you for it.

Amazing Value! Buy One YESTERDAY!

Sony PJ350 Wi-Fi Full HD/60p 1920x1080 Projector Camcorder Soft Bag Steady Shot
Sony PJ350 Wi-Fi Full HD/60p 1920x1080 Projector Camcorder Soft Bag Steady Shot

Pros: Great little camera, super lightweight, built in memory 32GB at a HUGE discount! Came looking "like new" even though it is a refurbished product and the seller shipped it super fast and in a beautiful new camera bag with all original accessories! (Thank You.) So the sensor is tiny and you're not going to get the best low light performance out of this one however if you are looking for a great family cam that is easy to take along, has built in storage (32GB), and is easy to use, this is it! Has a built in projector that is fun to use and a built-in usb cable for charging and data transfer. Recently took this to the museum and was able to take digital stills while recording video! An absolutely amazing deal so grab one before they are gone! Great as an extra camcorder for all kinds of things! Did I mention the "slide show" mode that will automatically put in transitions and music and cut all your videos on the internal storage for you automatically? Very neat! The Sony Handycam brand has been around forever and what I had as a kid was way more expensive on small 8mm tapes with video and audio quality that would be laughable compared to today's cameras! I'm blown away as to what you can get for the money these days. We are truly spoiled today.

Cons: The picture won't be as good as more expensive cameras with larger sensors but it is good enough for most uses like family videos, blogging, an adventure cam, etc.

Overall Review: What a great deal! Buy One or Even Two Now! What are you waiting for? Thank You for this great Camcorder deal!

Yes, works with 1150 and latest i7 4970

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heatpipes
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus - CPU Cooler with 4 Direct Contact Heatpipes

Pros: NewEgg has old info. This works with 1150 chips and I just put it on a 4790 chip. On the box, it even states 1150 compatibility. The new EVO cooler has a better fan but less metal and technically is cheaper IMO. Goes on great. Fan clips on easily. Doesn't block ram but super tall ramsink nearest proc might be problematic however then you can just move the fan further up the heatsink or put the fan on the other side and have it pull. Very Nice Design by cooler master. I have an old Xigmatek with a similar design but terrible method of putting fan on sink, and blocks ram. All kinds of problems compared to this beauty. Get This.

Cons: Only has 1 fan. If you want push/pull config, you'll need to put another fan on the back.

Overall Review: Really great esp. with $10 rebate it's a no brainer.

Nice Processor. AMD fanboy but Intel wins.

Intel Core i7-4790 - Core i7 4th Gen Haswell Quad-Core 3.6 GHz LGA 1150 84W Intel HD Graphics 4600 Desktop Processor - BX80646I74790
Intel Core i7-4790 - Core i7 4th Gen Haswell Quad-Core 3.6 GHz LGA 1150 84W Intel HD Graphics 4600 Desktop Processor - BX80646I74790

Pros: So, I was going to hold off till June 2nd for the "K" version or even next year for the more energy efficient 14nm die shrink aka "Broadwell" but then I thought to myself, life is too short and hey, this is already a bit faster than a stock 4770K and I'm not going to over clock anyways. Not to mention this is $25 cheaper than the 4770k and has the new TIM from what I read and using an inexpensive Hyper 212 EVO and some Arctic Silver 5, I'm getting 40C/104F idle with 25.6C/78F ambient and prior to break in which I'm sure is not stellar by any means but decent. This uses a lot less energy than my previous AMD 1100T and even though I still feel that AMD will have a major comeback in the future, for now, they are sadly not competing well and have essentially jumped ship with the enthusiast desktop market and have thrown in the towel. This is understandable since Intel is kicking everyone's behind on the process technology front. I mean to already be ready to launch 14nm tri-gate is amazing. Next year is another historic milestone. Hopefully they'll hit the Silicon wall soon and then finally realize that Graphene is the way to go. Or maybe Quantum Computing on the desktop will overtake Intel at that point? :) just kidding...

Cons: It's not 14nm Broadwell and its not unlocked

Overall Review: Get this now and sell it when Broadwell arrives. If you have a Z97 board, you'll hopefully be ready to just drop that nice 14nm chip in at that point next year. Life is too short and computers are still too slow compared to what they will be in the future.

Don't miss out on this one!

HP Smartbuy ZR2740w 27" 12 ms (GTG) WQHD IPS Panel Height & Pivot Adjustable Widescreen LED-Backlit LCD Monitor 380 cd/m2 1000:1, Brushed Aluminum
HP Smartbuy ZR2740w 27" 12 ms (GTG) WQHD IPS Panel Height & Pivot Adjustable Widescreen LED-Backlit LCD Monitor 380 cd/m2 1000:1, Brushed Aluminum

Pros: High res - 2560x1440 H-IPS or S-IPS LCD PANEL LED BackLit Professional, Rugged Stand with Tilt, Swivel, and Rotate (unlike most Korean builds) Built in Cable Management in Stand No PWM dimming!!! (rare on LCDs and eliminates headaches and eye fatigue - look this up if you don't know what I'm saying) You can use this all day long. 1 Year Warranty Great viewing angles 10 bit capable (although truly an 8 bit panel) Rugged Design and looks great Ordered 6 for business use and 4 were perfect pixel (2 with 1 or 2 dead ones in corners) Minimal light bleed on some, latest one has no light bleed and has very dark blacks and is perfect pixel (just saying the latest batch may be the best thus far!) High Quality Cables including DisplayPort Great color accuracy once calibrated (You can find a review online with ICC profiles already done using professional calibration tools on this monitor for FREE!)

Cons: No OSD (just basic source switching, brightness, contrast, and power) Internal power supply (if this goes bad, you have to fix it unlike the Korean external supplies which can be swapped out pretty easily). I'm assuming there was a defective component in the PSU causing these to be refurbed in mass. Only 1 year warranty vs. a new monitor but this is the risk you take buying refurb

Overall Review: We purchased six (6) of these and would buy 6 more if needed in a heartbeat. Best deal we've seen in over 10 years as Newegg clients on Pro grade LCD's and Newegg shipped them lightning fast. Don't waste your time with lower res TN panels, terrible Korean builds with iffy return policies and horrible stands, and even cheap 4k displays like Seiki with terrible input lag. Even the latest Samsung (TN PANEL) 4k @ 60hz has problems. This is a truly pro grade panel and monitor build. This is where your research stops. This is the perfect res, build, etc. This is the time and the one to buy now before they are all gone. These are perfect for video editing, photoshop use, programming, stock trading, etc. (even gaming yes - input lag is actually less than advertised in use) Can be used in Eyefinity setup with AMD card since these are native displayport meaning no need for expensive active adapters (just MST hubs if doing more than 4 on the latest cards)... Thank You very much HP & Newegg.