Joined on 11/23/04
Basically the coolest thing ever
Pros: Super fun. I can measure the temp of pretty much everything. My wife is always worried about the temperature of various baby-related things (bottles, bathwater, etc...), and she can use it without worrying about things getting too hot.
Cons: None thus far.
Overall Review: It survived being dropped into a full bathtub.
OK
Pros: Moves a lot of air. Good bargain, especially with the included controller.
Cons: Too loud at most speeds.
Overall Review: I bought this fan over other 120mm fans, with the tie-breaking being the included controller. As it turns out, I didn't use the controller and probably should gone with something else instead. I'm controlling the fan with the software included with my Zalman HTPC case, and running it at anything more than 20-25% is too loud for my tastes. Unfortunately, at that speed it doesn't move any more air than a 80mm fan running just as, or even more, quietly. If you want quiet, I'd go in another direction.
Buggy?
Pros: If nothing else, it was a good value. When it works, it works well. I'm using it with an Athlon II X3 450, and I've played some reasonably demanding games with the onboard video without problems. Media Center is working fine as well for playing video files and live/recorded over-the-air TV.
Cons: I'm just assuming this board is haunted at this point. After replacing virtually every component on the board and still having problems with locking up (both in Windows and at POST), it seems to be working now. Either the exorcism worked or it's the network drivers, because installing the version from the MSI website rather than the included CD seems to have done the trick. On the first half-dozen installs, Prime95 would lock the machine up without fail within a few minutes, but it will run solidly now.
Overall Review: It's fairly odd that a motherboard also for either HDMI or DVI, but not both at the same time. Changing the jumpers is simple, but it would be a pain if this was a machine that would be used with different monitors.
Works great so far
Pros: I replaced the two stock 1TB drives in a Seagate Black Armor 220 with two of these. So far, I have no complaints. The drives run cool and quiet, and my measured power consumption was lower than nearly all of my other drives. So far the performance is not noticeably different than with the 7200RPM drives it replaced, although the bottleneck in such a system is not likely to be the hard drive in any event.
Cons: None so far, although I guess we'll see after the couple of years I'd expect these to last.
Overall Review: Replacing the drives in the BA220 was a pain, but that's no fault of the WD drives.
Just buy it.
Pros: Unlike many other tuners, this one actually works. Like so many other people, I tried to save money by buying a cheaper solution -- in my case a Hauppage 1600 that I fought with for a year, and ended up not really using in the end. The HDHomeRun flat out works. I'm using it with Windows 7 Media Center and a cheap antenna, and it records 2 HD channels simultaneously without any problems. Set up in Media Center was very simple, just follow the directions on the Silicone Dust website. Being able to attach it straight to my router is a big plus, as it can be more easily hidden than it would if it had to fit behind the HTPC. I think that some day I'll probably buy a second to permit the recording of 4 channels at once.
Cons: I suppose it costs more than other tuners. But it's worth it. If you're thinking to yourself, "I kinda want the HomeRun, but it's so expesnive, I bet the XXXXXXX will work just as well." Stop, just pay the extra money.
Overall Review: They include 2 decent quality coax cables in the box, which I appreciated.
Works.
Pros: Runs what I need it to, and does it without much heat. I used the included fan and I can't hear it over any other (fairly quiet) components, which pleasantly surprised me.
Cons: None really. Sure there are faster chips available, but this will get the job done for 99% of everyone out there.