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Steve E.

Steve E.

Joined on 06/20/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 30
Most Favorable Review

Inexpensive, works great

GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Great price, simple board, perfect for the "server" that I used it for. Easy to install, zero problems. Tons of USB ports, unobtrusive heatsink makes for easy install.

Cons: Minor: Does not come with USB header for extra external ports. This was not an issue for me, since I had an extra one from a prior system. Also, since the board has 8 onboard USB ports, and I have 2 on the front of my case, you only need the USB header if you want to use all 12 ports.

Overall Review: This is my third or fourth Gigabyte board and I plan on sticking with them in the future. You get alot for your money and they have been very stable and reliable. I'm currently using this in a Windows Server 2008 x64 system to host Hyper-V virtual servers, so I'm not bothering to load all of the drivers, have disabled the onboard audio and LAN and am using an Intel Pro 1000 PCI NIC. I tried to use OCZ Platinum 1066 memory (OCZ2P10664GK), but they are apparently NOT compatible with this board at 1066. I switched to G.Skill (F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK) and they worked perfectly.

Most Critical Review

Okay router for basic users, Not recommended for advanced or heavy users

TP-LINK TL-WDR4300 Dual Band Wireless N750 Router, Gigabit, 2.4GHz 300Mbps+5GHz 450Mbps, 2 USB port, IP QoS, Wireless On/Off Switch
TP-LINK TL-WDR4300 Dual Band Wireless N750 Router, Gigabit, 2.4GHz 300Mbps+5GHz 450Mbps, 2 USB port, IP QoS, Wireless On/Off Switch

Pros: Nice looking device, good features on paper, very nice web interface, good configuration options. Wall mountable.

Cons: Three antennas are relatively large and take up a fair amount of space. The wireless signal strength was average at best--about the same as three other routers I have used. The router exhibited some odd behaviors--i.e. after reboot, a machine with a static IP couldn't ping DNS or connect to anything on the Internet until the IP was changed. The router repeatedly disconnected an AT&T Microcell device, even after the device was assigned to the DMZ. The router would disconnect Cisco VPN Client traffic mid-session, preventing me from using the VPN client. The TP-LINK support seems to be non-existent. I e-mailed them, and it took two and a half days to receive a reply (from China) of "I will try and get some help from our senior engineer." Two days later I haven't received another response. I confirmed that the TP-LINK was causing the problems by replacing it with my old Linksys WRT54GL, and the problems went away. Bringing the TP-LINK router back caused the problems to r

Overall Review: This router is probably fine for a basic home user that only has a few PCs and doesn't need anything fancy. But with the current v1 firmware, I would NOT recommend this product for anyone that has a wide variety of network devices or is a heavy business user. Not being able to have the AT&T Microcell and not being able to use the Cisco VPN Client are deal killers for me. And the very poor response time from TP-LINK support is not a good sign. They can probably fix the Microcell / Cisco issues with a firmware update, but if they aren't even talking to their customers to look into the problem, I'm going to pass on TP-LINK from now on. This router is going back to NewEgg for RMA. I'm going to stick with the good old Linksys.

Great office productivity monitors

NEC MultiSync EA243WM-BK  Black  24"  5ms  HDMI Pivot, Swivel & Height Adjustable Widescreen LED Monitor250 cd/m2 DC 25,000:1 (1,000:1) 1W x 2 - Retail
NEC MultiSync EA243WM-BK Black 24" 5ms HDMI Pivot, Swivel & Height Adjustable Widescreen LED Monitor250 cd/m2 DC 25,000:1 (1,000:1) 1W x 2 - Retail

Pros: Relatively high resolution, nice large size for a desktop monitor. Relatively narrow bezel around edge. 4 USB ports. Touch sensitive controls that are located on front of bezel (not on the side). "Human Sensor" motion / presence detection allows for great power savings (can turn off 60 seconds after you walk away from the desk) while LED back lighting allows for rapid display from sleep.

Cons: Minor con is that I have two of them side-by-side, and it is nearly impossible to manually adjust them so that they look the same in terms of brightness, color, etc. Even if the settings are set identically, the displays are slightly different. They are close enough for my purposes, but you can tell that the colors aren't quite the same.

Overall Review: Fantastic monitors--exactly what I was looking for, and the highest resolution for the size. Excellent for office productivity tasks: Browsing, email, software development, and watching streamed video. These are not intended for serious photo or video work. These are budget office productivity monitors, not pro displays. Do not expect a ~$400 monitor to be a great photo monitor. I mounted two of these on desktop monitor arm mounts, so I can't comment on the included monitor stands.

Decent hardware, but old software. Very hard to justify the price.

Kodak Scanmate i1120 600 dpi Document Scanner
Kodak Scanmate i1120 600 dpi Document Scanner

Pros: Solid hardware, easy to use, quite a few features and highly configurable software, feeds documents well.

Cons: The first unit I received had a bad sensor--color documents had vertical yellow lines. NewEgg replaced it and although the new one was better, it is definitely not usable for scanning photos--there are always vertical white lines on the image. Drivers and software have not been updated for Windows 7. Software is almost unusable on x64 Windows. The software has been updated a few times, but when installing on a new computer, you have to install from CD first, and then install the updates. The scanner and software worked fine with XP, but on Win 7 the scan button on the scanner no longer works (very annoying), and on Win 7 x64 the software barely works at all. On Win 7 x64, I have to kill the Kodak Scan process and restart the system tray helper several times before it will work. I've tried all of the compatibility options in Win 7, but I'm ready to scrap the scanner and buy a different brand that has current software.

Overall Review: I bought this scanner on sale from NewEgg in January 2009 and have used it alot. Worked great with XP, but not recommended for Windows 7 or x64 Windows. Great hardware, but very disappointing that the software has not been updated.

12/15/2011

Great heatsink

ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

Pros: Seems to work well, not too difficult to install once you figure out the process. Very quiet fan.

Cons: The first time you install one of these, it will probably seem difficult. Once you figure out the process, it isn't too hard. Be careful touching the fins, they are sharp and can cut your hands and fingers. When dust collects on them, they are tricky to clean because the fan blocks access to the blanket of dust on the fins--it takes some patience with canned air to clean it off.

Overall Review: I think I have installed four of these heat sinks over the last 5 years, so this last time was very simple and quick. I haven't bothered to measure how much better they are than a stock Intel heat sink, but the design leaves no doubt that it must work better and quieter than the stock coolers.

Phenomenal case

LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI Lancool PC-K62 Black 0.8 mm SECC, Plastic + Mesh ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Lots of drive capacity. Fantastic design. Power switches and external USB ports on top. Lots of massive fans, tons of airflow, with mesh filters on everything. Being able to route cables behind the mobo makes for a super clean build--the difference is amazing. Tons of add-on parts from Lian Li--I bought the EX-33X2 drive cage so that I can have 7 hard drives. Probably the most truly "tool-less" case I've owned. Only mobo and PSU needed a screwdriver.

Cons: I'm not a fan of the PSU at the bottom. Motherboards still have power connectors at the top left corner and right edge, making the cables a stretch when the PSU is at the bottom. And the SATA plugs on my Seasonic PSU are upside down when the PSU is at the bottom. I don't like LED fans or case lighting, but I'm willing to tolerate it because this machine will be in a server room and I won't have to look at it.

Overall Review: Probably the best mid-tower case I've ever purchased or used. Brilliant design, excellent quality.