Joined on 07/19/06
Docking Station
Pros: Stationary, sleek and brand you can count on.
Cons: Only SATA dock.
Overall Review: This is exacting what i was looking for. No more getting out the usb and power brick for my HDDs.
Not what I expected
Pros: Its quiet, never hear fans run. Blue light 256-bit 4GB Newegg's super fast shipping. Got it in three days!
Cons: Fans never turn on unless I turn off automatic and set the speed myself. Paid too much for the problems I have.
Overall Review: I really wish I would have researched more into this card. I'm getting random mouse distortions before login, artifacts and screen tearing in some games, regardless of what settings I apply. And I cannot go above medium of anti-aliasing in any game or I will get lots of vertical lines and imprints stuck on the screen. I am not huge fan for anti-aliasing but, would like the option too since it has enough memory. Updating or lowering drivers does not make a difference. I have run a few benchmarks (free versions) and getting a lower score to that of a R9 380? This is the first time I have bought an AMD/ATI card in 18 years and gone with Gigabyte brand. My major decision was 256-bit, 4GB and chipset that was made in the last year or two. Since I am getting more problems then that of previous cards this was a BAD buy. Save that $50-100 more and go with an Nvidia based card. And go with another brand since the support does not seem to exist.
Dell Latitude 5410
Pros: Like all Dell latitudes this one, runs well. It is a mix of 5400 chassis and 5420/30 with somewhat better parts. What is described is exactly what was given, Windows 11, 16GB RAM, 512 SSD, non-touch screen minor scratches, wear tear like a grade B would be - used. Has the old stick pointer in the middle of the keyboard, 2x left, 1x middle, 2x right buttons plus a track pad. All buttons functioning. Type-c or the old cylinder type charger port and both works independently. A webcam, speakers (used - not brand new), battery life - (excellent status -BIOS read out), dell brand type-c 65w charger (brand new, new design).
Cons: 16GB Memory: Crucial - @2400mhz, @3200mhz is super cheap for this brand and is highest speed this model can use. Dell provides Hynik, Samsung and Micron (rare). Crucial is great brand but not at @2400. 512GB Acer FA100 SSD: super cheap and runs like not what is expected. Other brands run way better. I ran user benchmark and all showed green. SSD and Video Card were below average. Video card is a given but the ACER come on! Being a B-Key on PCI-E x3 gen 4, SLC would not make this run better than M-Key slot. That is like saying I have GTX 3060 TI running on 64bit, card runs fast but bit rate? Dell provides Hynik, Samsung, Patriot (rare) and scores far better in benchmarks. Windows 11: Runs like slow on this machine. Had to reload Windows 10. Prior too, I Factory Defaulted BIOS. It would not boot - just black screen. Bit of trial and error; pulled the drive out of it socket and booted with it out. Went back into BIOS, changed SATA Operations to AHCI save, exited, shut it down and put the drive back in the slot. Booted back up and low and behold back into the OS. Applying the Factory default caused SATA operation to RAID ON instead what was set before, AHCI. I have troubleshooted 100+ of these working at corporate and being bench tech. I knew what to do and where to go to get it working again. Now if the original part was installed it would not cause this. I could Factory Default, BIOS Default and Last Known Good Configure and none would be black screen and non - bootable! I have seen some boards be only able to set to AHCI but are rare and would be of bad motherboard. Other things would not be working right either; ability set and save or BIOs upgrade does not take. It is the ACER drive. SSD not booting: I original did call support from paper in the box. Unfortunately, it was late and did not get a hold anyone. Just left my number to call me back. And he did call me the next day, told him of my findings and how I fixed them. He was more than happy to help me out in any way possible. SSD makeshift slot: When pulling the drive out it was not fasten down, this make shift socket slot had somehow moved - probably in shipping. Having done 100+ of the these I have never seen this, cleaver but not ideal. It was soft smear sticky glue with metal bracket screw block. All Dell chassis have molded slot for m.2 drives made of plastic with a little metal tin to ground it. I unstuck and repositioned so the screw would keep the SSD in its slot. Service Tag: bottom chassis service tag sticker does not match motherboard service tag. When looked up the warranty I have another 8 months or so. Huge bonus, that is $400 value, free!
Overall Review: Despite my disagreements above this is a good system. The bottlenecks are minor and only techs like myself notice the imperfections that this is. Do not let this discourage you from buying from the seller. That fact that I was called back the next day and would help with anything failing or not working is huge plus in my book. Would I recommend this to someone else? Yes, why? 1. It is a Dell 2. CPU and motherboard are great 3. Its silver, light weight, thin, the design is little bit of old school with new style. 4. Has a webcam with a shutter. 5. It is perfect for what I need, freelancing.
Expected more out of a Refurbished System.
Pros: AMD 3700x processor, Asrock B550M-C motherboard, 16GB XPG Gaming D10 Memory @ 3200mhz, Gigabyte Gaming Pro RTX 3060Ti 8GB, 1TB SSD, Ringed RGB fans: 19 color modes, Thermaltake Smart 600w PSU, Thermaltake H200 TG RGB case.
Cons: What was advertised is not in the box.
Overall Review: I found 3 major overlooked issues and 2 minors. 1. The front panel light and RGB fans where not on when system powered up. Nor could I get them to turn on with the on/off RGB button. The problem was not that they didn't have power; either RGB button, I/O panel or cables were bad or circuit was open. I did my own troubleshooting by following the fan power cables to where they all connected. I found that the 5pin mini power connector was disconnected to the front panel. Once I connected it and powered the system back on. All was working, which means that 5pin mini is a jumper to close the circuit. I am so glad it was not RGB button, I/O panel, broken or cut cables. As a tech I know these are a pain in the behind to find. Hot glue would probably melted the 5pin mini connector. 2. The 3700X retail processor comes with Wraith Prism RGB heatsink/fan. Why was this off brand "Cooler One" put in? Its a 5/6 LED light base with whitish/clear fan that only changes into 3 color modes. The only choices I had from PolyChromeSync were Random, Wave and Rainbow. I did get the Static color mode to turn on once before the PolyChromeSync software update. I would have rather seen the Wraith Prism RGB ring heatsink/fan in place then this $15 fan. Which I could only find on that other site as non-RGB type. 3. Advertisement on Newegg site was a 1TB NVMe SSD and what was given was a 1TB SATA SSD. Checking the system history in Device Manager shows there was Gen4 NVMe attach at one point. So either QA removed it or Newegg does not have the right information to put on the site from Skytech. The downgrade of SATA read/writes/random/IOPs vs NVMe is way lower. NVMe is about 2000-3000MB/secs read/write/randoms and about 500,000 IOPs compared to 80,000 IOPs. Even a lower grade NVMe stick is faster then SATA SSD. Price comparison is $20 less. But when you say NVMe is in system and get something else "I the consumer/customer feel cheated!" If anyone wants to check comparisons: wdc 1tb sata ssd vs wdc nvme sn550 ssd. **Update** Contacted Newegg about what was advertise and what was actually sent. After a few emails I was refunded the cost difference. Instead of having to send the whole unit back. Thank you NewEgg for allowing this a an option. 4. A minor issue and does not reflect performance of the computer. Keyboard bump keys are left index finger F and right index finger J. Who creates one right index finger K? Skytech apparently. I kept goofing the spelling my own name and I had to go back to my Magegee keyboard. I did not want to relearn what took me almost 20 years to perfect in typing because of one letter off. It also goofs you up on the letters above and below that row. Same goes for the gaming mouse it felt unnatural so I unconnected and reconnected my magegee mouse. Not even Canadian keyboard layout keys have K as the right index finger! 5. Another minor issue and does not reflect performance. One of the front Ringed RGB top fan housing has slight vibration noise when computer is first turned on. If I tap the top grill a little bit, noise will go away and continues to be silent after that. I guess this is acceptable being refurbished computer. All in all not a bad system just a lose connection, choice on processor heatsink/fan, 1 bad advertisement of SSD (**been refunded), molding of keyboard key bump on K not J and one vibrating housing of RBG fan. This system should have been right around $1200 not what was asked. I cant really change out anything as the warranty does not cover changing of parts thus breaking the seal. One thing I can say is, I as technician would have never let this leave testing bench knowing these issues, New or Refurbished.
Antec VP450
Pros: Worked great for about 3 years. Quiet. Heavy-Duty Protection Circuitry
Cons: Low respond times (under 200ms) when using a psu tester. But that was after 3 years.
Overall Review: This the first PSU that started to fail on me compared to the 6 other ones I bought in the past. Now trying to get this replaced is huge pain and still has not been resolve. Thanks to newegg customer support for stepping in and giving the information to that what was needed for service. So after that I delayed on pursuing a resolution cause the service plan was awful. I dealt with PSU problems until I could not take it anymore. So I put a claim into service waited a 1 week thinking ok, it is waiting in process. Well come to find out at the 2 weeks later AIG contacted me and says they will be helping you with this matter ok, and asked him about status and I was supposed to send in the product which I never got a email or was never told to do that in the first place. So many hoops! I didn't want to wait. I ended buying another PSU to replace. Since they will be sending me a prepaid instead of replacement. Awesome/Not! Now it is sitting in the box which I am debating because I already spent the money and fixed the issue.
Decent card for a 400 Series
Pros: Fan is quiet, plays the basic 2D/3D games; hoyle games, flash games, etc. Never bogged down like the Radeon HD5450 fanless card prior too. Would have given 5 stars but the bent bracket!
Cons: Metal bracket was bent when I got it. Would have thought that quality control would see that, since the box it came in was see-through plastic.
Overall Review: I would have returned it for the bent bracket but, did not want to wait. I removed the plating from the card. Re-bent it back to best I could with a small hammer and, put it back together. When I first installed it, the PC would not post. I knew what the problem was. So I looked on manufacturer's website for PS requirements, which was nowhere to be found? I ended up seeing the real PS requirements on another wholesaler's website. So yes you need 300 watt but you need 22A on 12v rail. I thought that maybe this card had a 6 pin plugin and I could use the y adapter but I was wrong. O well, now it awaits in a box for the next build.