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Kevin B.

Kevin B.

Joined on 09/10/01

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 26
Most Favorable Review

Typical Canon

Canon imageCLASS MF8280CW wireless Color Multifunction laser printer, 14 ppm
Canon imageCLASS MF8280CW wireless Color Multifunction laser printer, 14 ppm

Pros: Wifi, Ethernet and USB, Fast, Crisp printouts, Color laser, All in one

Cons: Louder than some, not really a bad thing.

Overall Review: I bought this printer to replace a competitors color laser printer. I use this printer on my home wireless network. The network is setup in WDS (wireless distribution system) mode using the same SSID for all access points. This printer sees all access points separately and connects without any issues, just as it should. Setup was a breeze and you can access the settings from the built in web interface. This makes fumbling through the settings on the printer unnecessary. The printer is a bit loud when it starts going through the print process. For me, this is no issue since the printer is on wifi and not located in the same room. I wouldn't consider this a deal breaker an I do recommend this printer for an inexpensive All-In-One printer. So far, I have owned this printer for about a week and printed several text documents and photos. The starter toner cartridges do produce nice prints. I will update this review as time passes.

Most Critical Review

A very expensive novelty product.

Lian Li UNI FAN TL LCD  120 RGB 3 pcs Pack Black Color ( controller included)- 12TLLCD3B
Lian Li UNI FAN TL LCD 120 RGB 3 pcs Pack Black Color ( controller included)- 12TLLCD3B

Pros: Quite, very simple to cable manage, daisy-chained, rubber frames and screw covers, clear LCD

Cons: Short lifespan

Overall Review: I ordered both versions of these fans, the standard and reverse blades in 120mm sizes. I have 6 total in my system, 3 of each variant. At the time of this review, one of the 3 standard blade fan has lost all communication with L Connect, OpenRGB and FanControl. I am not able to control its LEDs, LCD or RPM. I confirmed this by removing the 3 fans that are daisy chained and swapping them around to the main connector and different ports on the LianLi controller to determine which and how many fans quit. Only one fan has failed so far and the others are starting to produce bearing noise. In my chain of 3 fans, the middle fan has stopped receiving data, is undetected by any software and fails to pass through to the 3rd fan causing it to be invisible to the system. I think these fans should have lasted much longer than 3 months. I have contacted Lian Li via their support page so lets see how well they stand behind their warranty. This is very disappointing for a product that costs as much as it does to start failing this early in its lifespan. I will update this review and egg rating pending my contact with Lian Li.

Great Features and LayoutBut Fitment Issues

ASRock X870E TAICHI AM5 AMD X870E Extended ATX Motherboard
ASRock X870E TAICHI AM5 AMD X870E Extended ATX Motherboard

Pros: The board looks fantastic and feels premium, with a clean design, heavy-duty heatsinks, and a solid backplate that gives it real weight and rigidity. It includes an excellent selection of headers for fans, ARGB, AIO coolers, pumps, and USB connectivity, making it well-suited for high-end custom builds. One of the main reasons I chose this board is the PCIe lane configuration, unlike other boards in this price range, it doesnt use shared lanes that disable certain ports or features when slots are populated. Its a well-thought-out feature that gives more flexibility when planning a fully loaded system. The BIOS was easy to navigate, and during a quick test build with spare parts, everything posted, updated, and installed Windows without a hitch.

Cons: Unfortunately, I ran into fitment issues during the actual build. My EVGA RTX 3090 Ti FTW3 with an EKWB Vector2 active backplate block would not physically fit into the top PCIe slot. The GPU block is thick and collides with the M.2 heatsink above the slot and ASRocks EZ Release latch, making installation impossible. I also ran into problems with the dual M.2 slots next to the chipset. I had planned to use two WD SN850X drives with factory heatsinks (which I already owned from a previous build), but the slots are too close together to install both at once. The SN850X heatsinks add a bit of width compared to bare drives, and that small increase is enough to cause interference. Removing the heatsinks might technically fix the problem, but theyre difficult to take off and may void the warranty, so its not a realistic solution.

Overall Review: This isnt my first ASRock board, and Ive generally had good experiences with them. I chose the X870E Taichi specifically for its non-shared PCIe lane layout and its wide array of headers and connectivity options. From a design and feature standpoint, its a very capable and well-built motherboard. However, the physical layout around the top PCIe slot and lower M.2 stack creates real limitations when using certain high-end components. Ive temporarily confirmed the board works by testing with spare parts. BIOS updated fine, Windows installed properly, and everything seemed stable, but I havent been able to complete my build with my final components because of the clearance issues. For some builders, these layout problems could be a deal breaker. In fact, Ive seriously considered returning the board because of them. If youre working with oversized GPUs or heatsinked M.2 drives, definitely double-check your fitment and clearances before committing to this board.

Overly disappointed in this board, especially from ASUS!

ASUS TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI AMD X670 AM5 Ryzen Desktop 9000 8000 & 7000 ATX motherboard 14+2 Power Stages, PCIe 5.0, DDR5, 4x M.2 slots, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, USB4 support, WiFi 6E, 2.5Gb
ASUS TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI AMD X670 AM5 Ryzen Desktop 9000 8000 & 7000 ATX motherboard 14+2 Power Stages, PCIe 5.0, DDR5, 4x M.2 slots, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C, USB4 support, WiFi 6E, 2.5Gb

Pros: Plenty of M.2 ports

Cons: Slow booting, updating bios is a pain, hangs when using EXPO anything, no onboard power or reset buttons.

Overall Review: I ordered this borad back in October 2022. Since then, I have experienced multiple issues. My system has an AMD 7950X, 32GB of G.SKILL Trident Z5 Neo RGB (2x16gb) and EVGA GTX 3090ti FTW3. I have been trying to keep up with the current BIOS updates until recently. I'm currently on 1614 and cannot get this board to update to anything newer. It just reboots and hangs after reading the BIOS file. I've tried multiple USB drives, file naming schemes, 1 or 2 sticks of ram in different slots, resetting the BIOS, you name it. Nothing works to let me update the BIOS. Another big issue, when setting the RAM to EXPO I, if the computer is unplugged, it will not boot. It doesn't matter if its just unplugged while in Windows, Linux or porperly shut down. Anytime the computer is unplugged from AC power, the board will not POST and I have to reset the BIOS, redo all of my settings and boot into whatever OS I want to use. Out of the box, this thing wants to install Armory Crate by default. This is absolutely the worse software. This is a setting in the BIOS, but it should default to OFF. I have always used ASUS boards in the past for my personal builds. This board is overpriced and very problemsom for me. This whole AM5 platform seems to be horrible when it comes to memory learning and booting. I'm regretting this upgrade after a year of problems. I may try for a warranty replacement, thinking this board is just somewhat faulty. If that doesn't work, then its on to a different brand or just wait and move away from AM5 and AMD all together.

I'm on my 4th replacement

Corsair Gaming Sabre RGB Gaming Mouse, Light Weight, 10000 DPI, Optical, Multi color
Corsair Gaming Sabre RGB Gaming Mouse, Light Weight, 10000 DPI, Optical, Multi color

Pros: Fits my hand pretty good, comfortable and has RBB

Cons: 70% of Windows bootups, I have to unplug and replug the mouse for it to work. Weak switches, after about 6 months of use, the left and right mouse buttons start to get very soft and just looking at them causes them to click. Annoying cursor skipping, in Windows, I just cannot get this mouse to move smoothly. It feels like I have to put extra effort into landing the cursor on what I'm aiming for.

Overall Review: I ordered 2 of these mice and 2 of the Strafe rgb keyboards. both of the mice I have ordered have been RMA'd multiple times. One mouse is on its 4th replacement. As I stated in the Cons and some other reviewers have stated, the mouse just doesn't want to load correctly with Windows. I have to unplug and replug it in to get it to work. Works fine in the UEFI, works fine during a Windows install. I'm sure its the CUE software (Corsair Utility Engine). Unfortunately for this mouse and Strafe keyboard, it is needed to control the RGB, as these devices do not have built in profiles. You cannot save the RGB settings to the devices directly. At the time of purchase, these were the best priced RGB devices that allowed full RGB control. For me, I like having a mech keyboard with backlight and its hard to find something that is comfortable for me. Now I have to begin this search again since I've had enough of this mouse issue. Hardware is only as good as the software that supports it. This goes for any piece of hardware/software.

What JUNK! Why can't it just flippin WORK!?

ASUS ROG STRIX X99 GAMING LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS ROG STRIX X99 GAMING LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: LEDs, all black PCB, lots of fan headers

Cons: USB problems out the *** on this one.

Overall Review: Let me start by saying that I have owned this board for a little more than 5 months as of this review. I have done several clean installs of windows and different versions of drivers on a Samsung 960 Pro 512GB M.2, Intel 5930K CPU, 64GB of Corsair Vengance LPX DDR4 2133 RAM and WD Black mech drives. These issues infuriate me!! My issues 95% happen only on this board. I have 2 Logitech C920 webcams that I used on another X99 system, at the same time, with no issues. When I plug them into this board, no matter which 2 USB ports I use, no matter what I do with drivers and software, I cannot get both, or get one of them to work. I plug one or both of them into another system, instantly installs and they just work, no Logitech drivers or software. I also use Corsair Sabre RGB mice and Strafe RGB keyboards. Nearly every time this system boots, no matter what state it boots from, I have to unplug and replug in the mouse to get it to work in Windows, not so much for the keyboard. I have multiple of these devices and they ALL do it, despite multiple RMAs of the Corsair mice, this issue plagues me. Normally I flock to ASUS for products since its mostly what I have used for nearly every single computer I've built since 1996. I have to say, stay the **** away from this board. It feels like ASUS has gotten sloppy with their driver page of their site as well. I really wanted this board to work well since it is aesthetically pleasing to me. I like all-black PCBs since they are basically universal to 90% of color themed builds. I have to dump this board and look at other brands now since I refuse to pay 500 bucks just for an all black mobo.