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Garrett R.

Garrett R.

Joined on 12/15/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 8
Most Favorable Review

Lightning fast and CHEAP!

RiDATA Lightning Series 16GB Micro SDHC (MicroSD) Flash Card w/2 Adapters (SD/Mini SD/Mini SDHC) Model RDMICSDHC16G-LIG-2
RiDATA Lightning Series 16GB Micro SDHC (MicroSD) Flash Card w/2 Adapters (SD/Mini SD/Mini SDHC) Model RDMICSDHC16G-LIG-2

Pros: Lightning fast. I moved 1gb onto it in less than 15 seconds. It's the cheapest 16gb available. Reliable so far, but I'm also very careful.

Cons: None

Overall Review: Some users report that it's slow - maybe their card readers are slow. Using it in my 2004 card reader with the adapter provided was slow, but that's because my card reader is USB1. I stuck it in my 8gb Sansa to make it 24gb. Works like a charm. It's incredible that this little index-fingernail shaped device can hold 16gb.

12/16/2009
Most Critical Review

Garbage

HP Photosmart C4780 Q8380A Up to 29 ppm Black Print Speed 4800 x 1200 dpi Color Print Quality USB / Wi-Fi InkJet MFC / All-In-One Color Printer
HP Photosmart C4780 Q8380A Up to 29 ppm Black Print Speed 4800 x 1200 dpi Color Print Quality USB / Wi-Fi InkJet MFC / All-In-One Color Printer

Pros: Prints quickly and looks pretty... well when you can coax it into printing

Cons: I have NEVER, EVER, EVER gotten this to print a single item without fighting with it. The error messages are trivial if non-existent. Sometimes it just 'locks up' but the console still responds. I am about to go office space on this thing. Now ink cartridges are complaining? I've printed less than 50 pages, no way their out.

Overall Review: HP, I am severely disappointed in this piece of junk you sold me. I have a 930c from the 1990s that still works great... I think I need to invest in a good parallel port to USB adapter for it and go back to it because this printer is seriously a big shiny paperweight.

Impressive for the price

2.4G Wireless Keyboard, Mouse and IR Learning Remote Controller for DVD/CD Player, TV, Smart TV, Set-top Box, Google TV, HTPC
2.4G Wireless Keyboard, Mouse and IR Learning Remote Controller for DVD/CD Player, TV, Smart TV, Set-top Box, Google TV, HTPC

Pros: Does everything it claims to, and VERY well for the price. Completely plug and play for the keyboard. Remote works well enough for the buttons it possesses. Rechargeable is very nice as well. Instructions are in very amusing engrish.

Cons: Somewhat clumsy to use, mouse is overly sensitive. Both forgivable flaws for the size and price.

Overall Review: Overall I am blown away by this little device. I really had my doubts since it was so cheap, but I've been using it all day and it really does it all. I hid my mouse, keyboard, and 2 other remote controls that normally sit next to my HTPC and replaced them with this one little device. It's no Logitech Harmony, but it is also 1/10th of the price. I am extremely happy I took a chance on this; even if it breaks in 6 months, I honestly think I will just buy another because it does what I need it to. Read the entire manual, it's very amusing.

ThinkPad reliability at a very good price

Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530c 33662UU 15.6" LED Notebook - Intel - Core i3 i3-2328M 2.2GHz - Black Textured
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E530c 33662UU 15.6" LED Notebook - Intel - Core i3 i3-2328M 2.2GHz - Black Textured

Pros: ThinkPad reliability, i3 speed, Win7 Pro, HDMI, USB3, but otherwise mostly barebones system that will be a good reliable machine for most people. This thing is built like an 80s Toyota pickup, not very pretty, but extraordinarily functional and reliable. It has 3 screws to access most major components, VERY convenient. NON-glossy screen Num Pad on the left

Cons: Seagate hard drive. 2gb RAM is a bit low for 2013 (hardly a con though, since the stick in it only takes up 1 DIMM slot, and I added 4gb to it for $25). Creating recovery discs was a media-hungry and time consuming task. I suggest just calling IBM and ordering some (they were free when I called).

Overall Review: The touch pad takes a little getting used to. I had to disable all the 'gesture' features because the way I move my fingers constantly would activate random features. I immediately bought an additional 4gb ram for this laptop (for $25 extra, why wouldn't I?). I also immediately bought an SSD for it, which further increases reliability and made the speed absolutely phenomenal.

I have lost faith in WD quality

WD Elements 2TB Desktop External Hard Drive
WD Elements 2TB Desktop External Hard Drive

Pros: 2TB, reasonable price, simple, Western Digital has been "historically reliable"

Cons: Died after 2 weeks. The drive spools up, cannot be detected. I tried to remove the drive from the case and put in my computer, still nothing. Upon removing the circuit board, it appears that a controller on the board has burned up. I bought this to replace a 2.5" elements drive that I dropped a few times and seemed to have some connectivity issues. I copied everything to this new drive; the old drive failed a week later, so I ordered a second one of these since you can never be too safe. Unfortunately, before the second drive arrived for me to backup my backup, this one failed too. So now I have a SECOND one of these drives with nothing to put on it.

Overall Review: Between this drive failing after 2 weeks and my 2.5" elements drive being 100% USB-ONLY I have lost faith in WD quality (USB port wore out after a year, and it's NOT an adapter on a SATA drive in the case). That being said, I'd still buy WD over certain other brands any day (we constantly are swapping out one particular brand of drives in our mainframe DASD at work when we get reports that they have a 47% failure rate in a year, etc...) but I am actively seeking a new brand to put my faith in.

Overheating, incompatible, overpriced junk

Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1.5TB USB 2.0 3.5" External Hard Drive ST315005FDA2E1-RK Silver
Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1.5TB USB 2.0 3.5" External Hard Drive ST315005FDA2E1-RK Silver

Pros: 1.5TB in a box, USB, Firewire and eSATA. Very fast while working... but these were all nixed when it died.

Cons: I've barely used this drive, I use it purely for backup, like, it's plugged in once a month for 4 hours. I've only had it 6 months. Well one of my hard drives died, so I plugged this in to restore, and what do you know it's dead too. Hard drive spins up and can be 'read' but to no usable extent. I've tried it in several computers, it shows me all my files, but all the icons are like broken link icons, nothing lets me add or subtract anything from the hard drive and even my drive recovery program says something about 'bad translation'. I've read several other complaints about the same problem. I just took it apart, maybe the hard drive is still usable. Also hates macs and under-powered USB ports (some DELLS and COMPAQS) (even though it's self-powered?)

Overall Review: Under engineered piece of junk. Needs some method of cooling. Needs a better case.