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Robert F.

Robert F.

Joined on 04/30/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

Encore saves the day - again

ENCORE ENHWI-2AN3 Wireless Router With Repeater 802.11b/g/n up to 300Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4
ENCORE ENHWI-2AN3 Wireless Router With Repeater 802.11b/g/n up to 300Mbps/ 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Port x4

Pros: Inexpensive, solid like an old Buick. I have a problem location where interference from both wifi density and inductive loads wreaks havoc. Two different Ubiquity products have failed to maintain a stable network in that building. The Encore is pretty much unaffected.

Cons: I've heard these are eol'd, though I haven't contacted Encore to verify.

Overall Review: To Draagonfly and other mouth breathers...yup - this router probably isn't for you. Hint: Set your ip to the same subnet as the default (192.168.0.0/24), pop open a browser, and go to 192.168.0.1 and set the router up via the web interface - like every other router on the planet.

Most Critical Review

Quality materials - poor engineering and execution

Rosewill RK-9000RE - Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Red Switches
Rosewill RK-9000RE - Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Red Switches

Pros: Top quality components from Cherry. Price is good. You can disassemble to repair without it falling apart.

Cons: Components are wasted due to poor design and construction. Like others, I ended up with a detached usb port. I thought it was one of my users doing something stupid, until I pulled it apart. The design is flawed in that it uses a detachable connector without providing for strain relief. With the cable coming out the back, it acts as a lever that pries up on the surface mount connector. That's the design problem. Additionally, when I opened the kb up to repair it, ALL of the solder joints look dull like cold solder joints. They aren't - or I would have dead keys, but it shows where the fault is created - poor soldering technique, applied to a poorly engineered connector.

Overall Review: Rosewill, don't bother offering me an RMA. What would be the point? It's clear I'm more competent than you guys are, and I hadn't touched an iron in years until today. The repair is fairly easy if one has done any electronic soldering at all. If your soldering technique is heralded by the smell of burning flesh, you might want to let Rosewill have another shot at it.

Time for this one to go away

StarTech.com S354UFER Steel and Plastic 3.5" Black 4 Drive eSATA USB FireWire SATA RAID Enclosure
StarTech.com S354UFER Steel and Plastic 3.5" Black 4 Drive eSATA USB FireWire SATA RAID Enclosure

Pros: Solid construction other than the front door. Multiple connection options.

Cons: Anemic usb performance. No usb3

Overall Review: I am transferring files from this enclosure to a storage server and MAN does the usb suck. Started out ok - around 30mbps - which is typical for usb2. Unfortunately, it then degrades to about 5-6mbps.

Review update

HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf MFP Up to 25 ppm Monochrome Ethernet (RJ-45) / USB Laser Multifunction Printer
HP LaserJet Pro M1536dnf MFP Up to 25 ppm Monochrome Ethernet (RJ-45) / USB Laser Multifunction Printer

Pros: Airprint Surprisingly rugged Good speed

Cons: Consummable cost

Overall Review: I took a chance on this printer, and it's worked wonderfully - for our usage. This is the designated fax device for the office - thankfully, our fax volume is low. I initially had misgivings, as HP's quality has taken a serious hit over the last decade, but this has held up very well, as in I haven't had to touch it. I'm ordering another for one of our retail locations for staff use. Their print volume is low, faxes are rare, and it will save them a trip to the main office.

Put down the pipe and learn how BR works

BUFFALO USB 3.0 MediaStation 12x External  Blu-ray Writer Model BR3D-12U3
BUFFALO USB 3.0 MediaStation 12x External Blu-ray Writer Model BR3D-12U3

Pros: Works ok - playback is what I expected. Blu Ray's end to end security can lead to some odd effects - like not being able to open the tray is the usb port isn't working.

Cons: overpriced currently I have an actual work requirement to mess around with some BR media. No way I would buy this to copy commercial movies - that's a waste of my time. For archiving movies, I just rip to mkv and store on large hd's.

Overall Review: The poster who slammed the product because he doesn't understand that the BR playback problem on Macs is generated entirely in Cupertino is an embarrassment. So is the tool who can't figure out how to pirate his movies. Here is a clue: You aren't allowed to "back up" your movies, so expect to have to make at least a token effort at getting around the copy protection that you know existed when you bought the disc.

Please have an idea what something is before you buy it

Emulex LPE111-E Network Adapter 4Gbps PCI-Express 2 x LC
Emulex LPE111-E Network Adapter 4Gbps PCI-Express 2 x LC

Pros: Previous troll clearly has no idea what he's talking about as he states no support under win/lin, when in fact these are the only OS's under which some of the management tools can be run.

Cons: 5 stars to offset troll review

12/27/2011