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Timothy P.

Timothy P.

Joined on 03/11/03

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 19
Most Favorable Review

Slim keyboard with Quiet Keys

i-rocks RF-6572-BK Piano Black 104 Normal Keys 2.4 GHz RF Wireless Slim Keyboard/Mouse Combo w/ Travel Pouch
i-rocks RF-6572-BK Piano Black 104 Normal Keys 2.4 GHz RF Wireless Slim Keyboard/Mouse Combo w/ Travel Pouch

Pros: Keyboard is a slim design, and typing is very easy on your fingers. The keys are "soft" or "quiet" keys, which is a very nice feature. Gets good wireless range. Compatible with almost any standard Windows computer. (haven't tried it on other OS's) Plug N Play - no drivers needed to load, allowing for seamless installation. Mouse has a smooth scroll wheel with a "track" on it for finger grip while scrolling. Also has on/off switch to turn it off when your not using it, to conserve battery life. Has "back" and Forward buttons on the left to navigate while browsing the net. Comes with a carrying pouch for portability.

Cons: Backspace key is the size of a letter key, not a wider key like most keyboards. Hence, the backslash key is the same, and the Enter key is an "L" shaped key. This makes it hard for me to press the backspace button, but it all depends on which keyboard layout you're used to. Mouse isn't laser, its only optical. But it still has very good tracking---800DPI.

Overall Review: Great combo kit if you're looking for a basic wireless keyboard/mouse set to take with you or keep at home. Price could be cheaper, but get it anyway. Its all about the product's quality.

Most Critical Review

Kodak C190 camera

Kodak EasyShare C190 Blue 12.3 MP 5X Optical Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak EasyShare C190 Blue 12.3 MP 5X Optical Zoom Digital Camera

Pros: Affordable price, takes standard AA batteries, large viewing screen

Cons: They took away the time/date stamp feature where it is ALWAYS on every photo. Macro (up close) pics are terrible. Horizontal lines and "white out" conditions on every pic no matter what setting you choose. That is what I use most and it simply wasn't acceptable.

Overall Review: I currently have two other Kodak digital cameras. One of the first, the DC4800 3.1 Mp and was awesome for its time (1999/2000). Then seven years later I got the C913 9MP camera and has been flawless from the start. I was really hoping that the C190 would also be just as good. Hopefully the one that was shipped to me was a rare "lemon" and others are fine.

12/17/2009

works great

Diablotek DA Series PSDA250 250 W ATX Power Supply
Diablotek DA Series PSDA250 250 W ATX Power Supply

Pros: Used to replace a dead power supply in an older (2006-ish) eMachines computer. It didn't draw much power at all, so the small 250W size was perfect. Obviously this power supply isn't a super decked-out high power box- it's designed for a simple baseline computer, which is exactly what I needed it for. Includes a vibration absorber (rubber power supply frame) that helps to decrease noise.

Cons: Cable lengths between connectors are way too short. (~6") I extended them by cutting off a connector from the old PSU and taping the wires to a new connector to make it long enough. Not exactly the proper way to do it, but it served its purpose. This is especially problematic if you have 2 optical drives and a hard drive not adjacent, or depending on your case design, you have devices scattered all around. Something to consider before buying.

Overall Review: Besides the short cable lengths, the power supply functions fine. It's relatively quiet, and works great for any basic computing needs. If you're replacing a dead PSU on a budget, this works perfectly.

strong wireless router

BELKIN F5D8235-4 802.11b/g/n N+ Wireless Gigabit Router up to 300Mbps
BELKIN F5D8235-4 802.11b/g/n N+ Wireless Gigabit Router up to 300Mbps

Pros: This router stands out from many others I have tried. It has an excellent range in terms of distance-signal ratio. It has penetrated through steel walls that other weaker routers could not. I could not be happier with the performance. Connecting a flash drive or USB hard drive will auto-mount the drive to \\192.168.2.1\<drive_label> replacing drive label with whatever the disk drive is called. This also works if you have a hard drive with more than 1 partition or a USB hub connecting several disk drives together as separate network shares. Effortless drive-mounting. Gigabit ethernet works nicely.

Cons: USB network storage can be flaky depending on your needs. With the v1 and v2 version of this router, the speed was roughly 2-3MB which is rather slow. These are likely v3 models so perhaps this slow transfer speed is resolved. Download meter worked for about a week and quit. This is purely cosmetic if you like to see when your network is under high load, however this may have been fixed in the v3 version. Guest network feature is useless. I have had instances where the router confuses "guests" with "secure users" and presents secure users with a guest landing page. This is more of faulty firmware than it is router defect, but it's worth noting for potential buyers. Also, if you plan on using the guest network feature, don't plan on using as an open public network...the belkin firmware prohibits this.

Overall Review: Overall, this is a really good router despite some mishaps in the firmware. The excellent range and Gigabit ethernet ports had me sold on it. If your looking for a fast router that travels long distances, this would be the one.

decent router for most applications

NETGEAR N600 Dual Band WiFi Router (WNDR3400)
NETGEAR N600 Dual Band WiFi Router (WNDR3400)

Pros: Generally speaking, I have been very happy with Netgear routers for some time. This is no exception. The router performs very well under most load conditions regardless of the internet speed that is going into it. The top blue dome is LED-illuminated which is very pretty and it also serves as a WPS 'connect' button. Contrary to the DD-WRT website, this router actually DOES support DD-WRT. For those individuals who want to install DD-WRT on this box, see instructions here: http://cyberpunx.com/2011/11/installing-dd-wrt-on-netgear-wndr3400-n600/

Cons: Performs poorly in metal-rich environments. This is probably a con that applies to most internal-antenna routers, but it is certainly worth mentioning. I bought this router in hopes to establish a centralized wireless network for an office building. However, there are a few offices that are literally lined with steel supports from ceiling to floor. Everywhere else this router put out a full 5 bars, worst case 3/4 bars. In the rooms with steel, at greatest 1 bar. Keep this in mind when placing this router in a steel-rich environment. Otherwise, it works perfect for home use.

Overall Review: Relatively fast considering that it is only Fast Ethernet and not Gigabit Ethernet. For most users this will suit fine in the average home/office application. Minus the issues with steel interference, this router works great- both with the stock Netgear firmware and DD-WRT.

quiet power supply

Rosewill -300-Watt TFX12V Power Supply - OEM - SL-300TFX
Rosewill -300-Watt TFX12V Power Supply - OEM - SL-300TFX

Pros: its cool, and runs very quiet. perfect for low profile MicroATX builds. Used to replace a factory PSU in my aunt's PC from 2007. it has been running great since 09 and hasn't quit since. It also does get quite a bit of use.

Cons: On 1 occasion, the fan came ajar and made a vibrating noise. A few good hits to the power supply and it quieted back down. Nothing too significant. Needless to say it is still cooling as it should---quietly.

Overall Review: 25 bucks, small, cool, and quiet. All you could ever ask for in a MicroATX PSU. Good buy from Newegg.