Joined on 04/20/04
Good
Pros: Got it for half the current price. Seasonic quality. Modular.
Cons: Older internals; not Seasonic premiere line.
Overall Review: Corsair HX650 died after 2 years of 24/7 use. Corsair had sent it to me as a warranty replacement for their very first PSU that made it days short of the 5 years of warranty; so I basically got 7 years of Corsiar PSU for about a hundred bucks. Anyway, I replaced it with this Seasonic. Apparently it is an older design, with respect to the internals (i.e., a 'group-regulated' design). It's still, however, a high-quality Seasonic unit. So saying it is older is like saying you have an older BMW. Very nice at the price I got it, but would choose another at its current price point.
One year later
Pros: Classic design. Bloated but versatile and easy to use mapping and macro software. An OK choice for midrange gaming. Top-notch Logitech support.
Cons: Overall fit and finish. Durability. Software-interpolated DPI stepping. No braided cable.
Overall Review: I've had two of these, now. A year ago the first one I received had a click problem; the shell you press on top of the button had space between it and the actual actuating button, resulting in an annoying sort of double click. Logitech support was quick and sent a replacement that did not have an issue. Good on 'em. This replacement however, almost exactly one year later, is now failing-- the cable is going bad, the USB cutting in and out. Several years ago I spent about $35 each on an MS IE 3.0 and a Razer Diamondback. Those two legends are still going strong after even heavier use. Basically the G500 should be at the G400 price point, and this mouse should be cheaper. If you do your homework, you can find good choices-- but less popular and without the Logitech nametag (and the bloated price that comes with it)-- for less money than this G400. That's what I'll be doing in replacing this mouse.
LED ain't blue
Pros: Cheap and came with a 3-pin to molex adapter, which is the real reason I bought this.
Cons: LED IS WHITE
Overall Review: I actually got this fan for the adapter, with the intention of using the fan, although it didn't really need it. Fan works fine, doesn't seem too loud, doesn't seem to move any more air than the 120mm I replaced with it. The LED ain't blue. The fan blades are, but the LED itself is white. A big deal if this matters to you.
Does it need to be this wide?
Pros: Smooth. Looks nice.
Cons: Not a major negative-- could be thicker?
Overall Review: Nice. Works fine. But why is it so wide? It's 11 x 17. Do people really move their mice left to right 50% more than up and down? 4 eggs. Anyway, dimensions aren't optimal. to me, because it feels like it should be a little 'taller' and the 17-inch width is overkill.. 12 or 13 by 1 5 or 16 would be just right for a large pad to me. Still a good mousepad.
Nice
Pros: Nice grip texture-- like a superfine sandpaper; non-intrusive extra shootin' macro button; fairly thick braided cable; nice buttons; nice wheel; good weight; skates are very slick for out-of-the-box; un-bloated mapping software with some pre-loaded macros (most for Counter-Strike); 3600DPI laser; LED color-changing DPI button; medium-sized body-- not too big or too small.
Cons: DPI switching goes one direction-- have to cycle through; not a big deal, but eh...
Overall Review: This A4Tech Chinese company makes a metric ton of different, but visually similar, mice. It seems to me that this one, the XL750BK, is (was) probably their best. It has been around for something like four years now, and they don't make it anymore. If you look at all the ones they offer, this one, I think, has the highest DPI laser sensor at 3600DPI. It was this one that was once branded and sold by OCZ, and made a few well-deserved fans that way. I'm not sure I would pay current asking price for it. If I was spending that, I'd go ahead and get a mainstream brand-- not because this mouse isn't high quality, but simply because of the name, and what one can assume would be better customer service if something went wrong. Moreover, in the past, this mouse has been available for a fraction of its current price. If you can find it for, say, 40% of what's typical, which was once common, then it is by leaps and bounds the best mouse you can get at the price point. It's out of stock here now at Newegg, but I got it before Christmas from an unusual site on the internet for even less than that %40 shipped. If your Google-fu level is over 9000, you might be able to get one of the four still remaining for that price. My previous mouse was a Logitech G400, which is a piece of budget junk compared to this mouse, and I paid almost twice as much for it. If you can find this particular A4Tech XL750BK for a nice price, and if you are on a budget and are looking for a solid gaming mouse: jump on it as quick as you can.
Update from below on unlocking
Pros: Same as my old review a page back-- ah, I'll give it another egg. Protip: if you are aiming at a 4Ghz overclock and nice round numbers all-around on CPUZ, get some DDR3 2000 for a build with this processor. I wish I had.
Cons: Same 5 cores makes temps unreadable in AMD Overdrive monitoring. That's not really their fault, though.
Overall Review: I had thought that both hidden cores of this processor were dead. I was wrong-- one of them works, making my 960T a five-core. In the bios of my Gigabyte 970A, the 'Manual Core Control' lists processors 0-3 initially, with Core 0 unchangeable-- as in, it must always be on. This led me to believe that turning on cores would mean that cores number 4&5, once they appeared in the list after enabling them, must be the two extra that were just enabled. This is not the case. Disabling Core number 2 individually, allowed the remaining five to work-- I had tried only 5 and 6 in the list before, assuming they must be the 'new' cores. Long story short: If your unlock won't load windows with both cores unlocked, try disabling all the other cores one at a time, and see if you have 5 working. My final overclock, Linpack stable, is: 1.4vcore/1.3NB-CPU 250FSB 2000mhz HTT 3000mhz NB @ 4.0Ghz It will pass Linpack @ 3.75 Ghz w/1.35v and default NB-CPU volts-- but I wan