Joined on 03/07/04
My Purchase
Pros: I just wanted to write this review to confirm that this card does indeed work in ESXi 5.0. Also, mine came with the low profile bracket. Both, big pluses for me.
Cons: Came in a box that wasn't S*BA, was a little concerned at first, but everything works so I won't complain too much. When I first plugged in the LAN cable on both ports, one port would only connect at 100 Mbps - half duplex under ESXi; but I changed the setting from auto negotiation to 1000 Mbps - full duplex and it switched right over, verified with the virtual OS that this was correct. I then went back to auto negotiation and it connected at 1000 Mbps, something to look out for.
Overall Review: I have a Virtual Host Server with two virtual machines installed and I wanted each to have their own port, which is why I bought this. It won't do all of the cool stuff the more expensive cards will do, but that's probably why the price is so nice. I don't need any of that stuff, I simply needed two gigabit Ethernet ports on the same NIC because I am out of slots in my machine; perfect for me.
Works great, did lost of testing
Pros: I also bought this because of the gigabit switch, like most others, and the wireless N. Small footprint (vertical) and easy setup.
Cons: Not supported by WW-DRT, but I suppose this would be pointless bacause it's not a router, although I could think of some options I would like to see that seems to be only offered by third-party firmware.
Overall Review: Setup was easy but I didn't use the wizard, decided to do it manually. I use the 5Ghz band to get maxium bandwidth, but found with WPA2 that I lost connection periodically, did some testing and found that WPA allows me to have the security that I want, plus the full speed offered by my ISP (15Mbits/s) without any drops. Between the bridge and router (Linksys WRT600N) I really don't know who is at fault, but never had any other problems with my other wireless devices using either band.
Usual Review
Pros: They are shiny, and looks cool when you have all of your slots filled with them.
Cons: Really can't enjoy the shinyness when you're looking at the top of them. Unless you have a bench case, that would be cool.
Overall Review: Was able to get my to run at 1066 on a Asus M3A78 PRO, which is actually only rated for 800 but does list the capability to overclock to 1066. I only mention this because I know some people are having a hard time getting these to run at there rated speeds. Like most, all I had to do was change the voltage and manual set the clock speeds and they were good to go.
Almost gave up
Pros: I have had this router for about two years, then about two days ago it just stopped working. So, I guess the only pro is that I did get some good use out of it. I should mention that all I use this for is to connect two wired computers to the interweb. I do game, but nothing complicated like P2P or wireless.
Cons: Well, when I realized that the router was the problem and not the ISP, I went ahead and went to Linksys for support. Never called because I knew that would be a waste considering how long I have owned this. I decided that maybe the first thing I should do is update the firmware, well that did nothing. I went ahead and considered this a brick and started shopping for a new router, maybe one that would last longer than two years. That is when I came across this DD-WRT thing that is constantly mentioned, well now I know why. I installed the new firmware, changed the IP because you have to and finally I receiecd a DHCP and now everything works.
Overall Review: First, I do have a version 4 model, which is said to be one of the good ones. I rated this a 4 because I had to install a third party firmware to get it working again. However, if it wasn't for Linksys being willing to give up their information, this would still be a brick. Although, I do think that maybe they should have done a better job with their originals. Two years ago this was very easy to setup and I didn't even have to change the router's IP to get it working. In fact, I didn't even need to run the wizard or the managment console. Plugged everything in, made a cup of coffee and everything was up and running when I came back. I have no idea why I had to do all this now. But, I did get working again after about five hours of research, rebooting, and cussing.
I buy it for the removable cap
Pros: Of course price and size, although I really don't carry music or videos on my flash drives (have an external for that); so I'm finding it very hard to fill this up. Also, I like the blue, I've owned many PNY flashes of this style starting from 512 and up, and this is the best color yet.
Cons: Yes, it's slow. But the drives that are "high speed" are usually advertised as so, of course the price is also an indicator. But I really don't need the speed, just value.
Overall Review: I agree the fellow below about PNY gving this a one-year warranty, but haven't had a problem yet their products, and we're talking years since I bought the 512. But, it's all I've ever bought from the company. Finally, I buy this for the removable cap. I'm always carry files for other people who don't have internet but need drivers. So, I leave the cap on the desk, and it reminds me not to forget it.
Yeah, get this
Pros: Well, as everyone already said the interface is awesome, long overdue. I was one of the lucky to get it from Newegg before the halt. I like Vista because you can definitely change more settings than I ever thought Microsoft would allow.
Cons: Alright, this is were it gets fun. I got this four days ago, and already had to download seven critical updates. After we waited all this time, and we are all still going to have to deal with long lists of updates, and I feel this is going to happen in the next couple of months. Of course, I shouldn't complain...at least we know Microsoft is trying.
Overall Review: I just wish people wouldn't complain so much, I drop my bills down totally knowing I was going to have trouble with it. To be honest, that's half the reason I went ahead and bought so quickly...just to watch this OS mature. It's like having your own baby, I just don't think this one is ever going to college though. Also, I'm having the same problem with Firefox as the guy down there somewhere.