Pros: I like this particular UPS… it’s 5 x 5 configuration (5 outlets battery / surge protected and 5 that are only surge protected) is already a step up from the CyberPower UPS that I have for our home theater system (which is only a 4 x 4). It also doesn’t have a blindingly bright LED power button on the front (which would make it ideal for a home theater setup). This UPS, like many others will protect all sorts of connections from power spikes / surges such as ethernet, coax (cable connection), and RG11 (plain-old-phone line). This UPS can communicate with the included PowerPanel software via either USB or serial cable (depending on your computer setup). The included PowerPanel software is not required to use the GX1325U, however it “enhances” your experience with it. The software installed just fine on my Windows 10 x64 Pro operating system and was connected to the UPS after I hooked up the USB A to B cable from my computer to the UPS. You get a ton of information… all events the UPS has been through, live statistics, you can even test the UPS right from PowerPanel. Using the included software sure beats climbing under my computer desk to cycle through all the stats on the front LCD panel. The USB ports on the front are a huge added bonus. I could see charging a few cellphones on these ports if the power ever goes out for an extended period of time. The GX1325U information states that it outputs pure sine wave output… so for folks that have newer power supplies that support Active Power Factor Correction, you’re in luck!

Cons: None so far!

Overall Review: Great shipping by Newegg! Comes packaged in a retail box and then packaged in another cardboard box. Included in the box: GX1325U UPS USB A to B cable RG11 cable Coax cable PowerPanel software install CD User Manual Most UPS’s are very easy to setup and the GX1325U doesn’t stray from the rest of the pack. Plug all of your devices into the UPS, plug the UPS into an outlet. Hold down the power button until you hear a long beep followed by a short one and you’re up and running (the power button hold trick is a “safety” feature so the UPS isn’t accidentally turned on in shipping). Haven’t had any power outages / incidents… but ran the UPS test through the PowerPanel software and everything worked perfectly. It just works… and that’s a good thing; that’s exactly what you want. If you’re going to spend your hard earned money on building the perfect computer… a UPS to protect all of your components is probably the last thing on your mind when you’re selecting parts for your build. HOWEVER, you never know the quality of the power in your living space… so getting a proper UPS to protect your investment is critical. Get this CyberPower GX1325U and sleep easy knowing whatever gear you plug into it will always be protected.

Pros: - This switch is more than over-kill for a regular home network… however I do like the fact that it is very energy efficient (shuts off ports that aren’t active, adjusts power based on cable length). - Boots quickly; Plug it in and let it rip. It’s default IP address is 192.168.0.1. Configuration is done from the web-UI. - The newer V1_131023 firmware is easily obtained and contains several notable updates including: Support for management by the Easy Smart Configuration Utility (which has a Java dependency… *sad trombone*), support for the Loader upgrade, optimized web interface and enhanced the stability of web page browsing, optimized “Port Trunk” feature, and fixed bugs of web managing when 802.1Q VLAN is on. - It’s a fanless switch so it will stay quiet forever!!! - The web UI is not as slow as some switches I’ve used and administered… it’s actually quite punchy. - Comes with useful layer 2 features: IGMP Snooping V1/V2/V3 Link Aggregation Port Mirroring Cable Diagnostics Loop Prevention MTU/Port/Tag VLAN QoS Support Port-based/802.1p priority Support 4 priority queues Rate Limit Storm Control

Cons: - I would have like to have seen more options for mounting this switch… you can rack-mount it or put the little rubber adhesive feet on it and park it on a desk… but there aren’t any cutouts or holes to wall mount it. The NewEgg description even says: “Metal Case, desktop/wall-mounting design”... maybe that’s what the hardware V2 version is capable of, but the V1 is either desktop or rack-mount only. - It should be noted that the version of the TL-SG1016DE switch I received was hardware V1. TP-LINK has since come out with a V2 that has more recent firmware updates than the V1. The latest firmware update for the V1 is from 10/2013. The latest firmware update for the V2 is from 12/2015. - Management by the Easy Smart Configuration Utility (has a Java dependency… *sad trombone*) - As others have stated… this switch can only be managed via the web-UI (HTTP)… no console port, no HTTPS, no SSH. All of that pretty much cements this as a So/Ho switch... bigger companies would be better going with a HP or Netgear.

Overall Review: The TP-LINK TL-SG1016DE ships in a thin cardboard box, wrapped in plastic and cradled by foam. It comes with the following items: TP-LINK TL-SG1016DE 16-Port Gigabit Easy Smart Switch Power cord Rack mounting brackets Screws Rubber “feet” Installation Guide Purchasing Guide Resource CD Wrap-Up: Affordable layer-2 switch with decent feature set.

Pros: - It is a HUGE case… I was transferring a micro-ATX motherboard, a 2.5” SSD, and a 3.5” HDD… and it is definitely overkill for such a tiny board. - The motherboard stand-offs came pre-installed for an ATX motherboard… had to remove one and relocate another to accomodate my micro-ATX motherboard. - The cable management is what you would expect from a nicer modern PC case… Most cables run behind the motherboard tray. There’s a few hook and loop ties to keep things tidy AND tiny cable ties provided in the accessories for this PC case. - PSU mounts in the bottom and has its own magnetic air filter at the bottom of the case to keep things clean. - There is a drive bay with two drive sleds that can accomodate two drives… either 2.5” or 3.5”. (I chose to mount my drives here to keep the cabling clean and NOT use the SSD plate that can accomodate two 2.5” SSDs. - Plenty of spots for fans… comes preinstalled with one in the front and one in the rear. - Lots of magnetic air filters… one covering the entire front, one on the top of the case and one on the bottom for the PSU. - The overall build quality and paint-work are very good for the price of this PC case… I’ve built other PCs with much more expensive cases and the spray paint was coming off on my hands. Not with this case… everything is very good quality.

Cons: - The entire case hums slightly when my system is at full power… not a huge deal, but it is annoying. I imagine if the fans were rubber-mounted, it may help mitigate some of the overall system hum. (This would likely get worse once you add a discrete GPU… depending on what model you get). - The glass side panel gives it a little “wow” factor… but it isn’t very practical. There’s a sizable gap in between the glass panel and the main chassis (⅛”, if not more)... so what’s the point of all the magnetic air filters and what not if the glass side panel is going to let in a ton of dust anyways??? I’ve heard that some PC case companies do this as the “tempered glass” side panel is VERY fragile and may get damaged if it were flush with the main chassis. So.... who knows?!?!? - Not that I was intentionally looking to get cut or anything… but in the process of transferring the guts of an older AMD micro-ATX build into this PC case… I did NOT find any sharp edges like some other reviewers have mentioned. Perhaps I got a good case? - CALL ME OLD FASHIONED… I guess it’s been a while since I’ve built a PC… but this is the first case I’ve had that doesn’t accommodate an optical drive. *sad face* Pour some out for the optical drive… may you rest in peace.

Overall Review: Packaging and Un-boxing: - Comes in an appropriately sized cardboard box with pre-cut handles. PC case is wrapped in plastic and padded very snuggly in the cardboard box by molded styrofoam at either end. The glass side panel is protected by a sheet of tear-away plastic on either side. Wrap-Up: - This is a great case for the price… It comes with two large fans pre-installed, it is a modern PC case setup bottom mounted PSU / motherboard towards the top of the case. It’s a shame they went to all the lengths of air filtering with all the magnetic filters to leave the glass panel with such a huge gap. Other than that… It is a very good PC case that can fit everything you’ve got (except the optical drive).

Pros: - The screen is absolutely one of the best I've ever used on a laptop... the refresh rate makes everything look smooth as buttah! - RTX graphics... can't get any better than that. - It's thinner and lighter than other "premium gaming laptops". - IT HAS STATUS LED'S!!! Remember when laptops came with lights to tell you the status of the Power / Hard Drive Activity / Battery / ETC??? THIS HAS THOSE!!! It even appears that the ethernet port has Link / Activity lights too!!!

Cons: - This thing is LOADED with bloat-ware. McAfee LiveSafe Anti-virus, ASUS Giftbox (discount app store), ASUS GameFirst V (packet prioritization software that only works with ROG routers), ASUS HELLO (product registration, create an ASUS account, create a DropBox account, create a McAfee account...), XSplit Gamecaster ("turn-key" game streaming / recording software.... I can keep going. At a premium price like this, I'd expect a lot less junk. - A complete lack of documentation as to what ASUS apps are actually necessary to change settings / manage stuff on this laptop. Through my own trial-and-error and with help from the internet... here's what I've figured out so far: ASUS Aura is used to control most of the lighting effects. ASUS Armoury Crate controls different profiles for laptop performance. ASUS GameVisual controls different profiles for the LCD screen. MYASUS looks for BIOS / driver updates straight from ASUS. - I encountered this several times... even to this date: BSOD referencing "Driver Power State Failure" whenever I select "Battery Saver" from the Power Options. This thing is a battery hog whenever you're not plugged into AC power, so I figured, I'm just doing light internet browsing... I'll put it into "Battery Saver" to try to stretch the power. System is okay for a few minutes then locks up hard and WHAM... BSOD "Driver Power State Failure". I've tried every combination of Windows updates, Intel Driver Updates, BIOS / Driver updates from ASUS... still nothing fixes the issue. Perhaps this is an issue that slipped passed the devs??? - While it is smaller / thinner than other gaming laptops... it's still a beast. Good luck finding a descrete backpack that doesn't scream "I HAVE A GAMING LAPTOP IN HERE!!! COME STEAL ME!!!"

Overall Review: It has RGB lights all over the place and a half-camo / half carbon-fiber texture on the palmrest... but it severelly lacks in the finer details of the overall execution of what could have been a KILLER gaming laptop... read on to find out what makes it just a middle-of-the-road system at an extremely premium price.

Pros: - Extremely affordable ($/GB) - Large capacity (2TB)

Cons: - It's a spinning 5400 RPM drive... it's not going to win any speed races: MIN. 66 MB/sec, MAX 152.5 MB/sec, AVG. 115.2 MB/sec, BURST RATE 1.4 MB/sec I'm not kidding you... it did a 1.4 MB/sec for BURST RATE on HD TUNE Benchmark test... same result even after running several benchmarks in a row.

Overall Review: - Given the high failure rate of Toshiba laptop drives and spotty performance of their desktop drives... coupled with non-support and a 2 year parts / labor "warranty"... take the money you WOULD have spent on this drive and invest in a quality SSD from a reputable manufacturer.

Pros: - The screen is freaking amazing… there’s some light bleed during darker scenes, but dang, it looks good every other time - I didn’t think I’d enjoy the fingerprint sensor as much as I am… it’s a super luxerious feature and I’m glad Windows 10 fully supports it at log-on without some kind of manufacturer application - Have not really used the internal speakers much at all… but the sound on a decent set of headphones is AMAZING - Mass storage hard drive (or at least the spot for one) is easily accessible by removing the small plastic cover on the back towards the bottom of the laptop (one Phillips head screw to remove) - OS drive is a Intel SSD 600p Series SSDPEKKW256G7 (256 GB, M.2 80mm PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4, 3D1, TLC) - (Sequential Read (up to) - 1570 MB/s; Sequential Write (up to) - 540 MB/s; Random Read (8GB Span) (up to) - 71000 IOPS; Random Write (8GB Span) (up to) - 112000 IOPS)

Cons: - Battery is internal a not easily removable like most laptops (can be replaced if it ever goes bad?) - Full of bloatware… tried to retain as much “factory, out-of-the-box” condition as I could without just bombing it and re-installing Windows. I thought I cleaned it all up as best I could… but an application called “shop eBates shortcut” kept appearing on the desktop, even after I had uninstalled it. Come to find out… it was the application “Acer Jumpstart”... who’s only function is to link you directly to the Acer website… KEPT INSTALLING the dang “shop eBates shortcut / application”! Other notable bloat-ware include such classics as “WildTangent Games” and “Norton Security”. I GET IT… I GET IT… money has to be made places…. However… when you’re paying this much for a premium gaming laptop… couldn’t you have just respected the folks that are going to buy this and not junk it up with a bunch of non-sense???? - Ethernet port does not have Link / Act indicator lights - The keyes on the keyboard are nice that they are lighted, but need adjustable controls… for right now it’s either ON or OFF… depending on the angle you’re using the laptop at… some of the LEDs can catch you square in the eye from under a row of keyes - The bezel at the bottom edge of the palmrest is SHARP, like other reviewers have noted… can’t wear a watch and type on this thing and be careful how you’re sitting… feels like it might try to slit your wrists LOL - It is huge… let’s be real… this is a DESKTOP REPLACEMENT that can go mobile if you ever find a backpack / bag big enough to fit it and the massive AC power brick - It’s pretty noticeable… but it’s like there’s some sort of “adaptive brightness” setting enabled… SUPER annoying with the screen dimming / brightening whenever the image on screen changes… (more noticeable whenever on battery) SOLVED: disable power management non-sense in Intel Display properties.... Stops the constant dimming / brightening - This thing is a battery hog… If you use it without the AC adapter, you don’t get to use the GTX 1060… and the battery does NOT last long at all. So basically, always keep it plugged in.

Overall Review: I'm not sure I'd seriously consider making this my EDC laptop (mostly due to the fact I'm having a hard time finding a backpack that will fit it AND doesn't scream THERE'S AN EXPENSIVE GAMING LAPTOP IN HERE!!!) but this thing got game. It is a premium gaming laptop for a crazy good price. Take a look at the specs… then the price… then add it to your cart and complete your purchase. You will not regret it. The only thing I can “ding” this laptop for is the massive amount of bloat-ware that comes pre-installed out of the box. Uninstall all of the junk or re-install Windows and you’re golden!

Ordered a Dell Optiplex for my father-in-law on 1/29/14. Received package on 2/1/14... except the desktop in the box was an HP Compaq. Called Blair Tech. Group on 2/3/14 to arrange a RMA / refund. Tech support didn't get back to me until 2/5/14. Wouldn't offer me a refund... said they could only do a replacement. Shipped HP Compaq back to them on 2/7/14. RMA delivered to Blair Tech. Group on 2/11/14. Writing this on 2/17/14 with no idea where my replacement is or what the tracking number is. This is the WORST Newegg Marketplace transaction I have ever experienced. In the time all of this has taken, I've already ordered and received another Dell Optiplex purchased from NEWEGG (not a re-seller on the Newegg Marketplace). I would NOT recommend anyone buying from Blair Tech. Group.