Joined on 04/19/06
This receiver is a pleaser
Pros: 1) sound quality. 2) Versatility. 3) Value. This AV receiver has plenty of HDMI inputs and more DTS and Dolby audio modes than I expected. It works great with our PS3, Wii, TV and WD TV Live media center. The Audyssey sound setup makes it easy to setup the 3 most prominent listening locations. The surround sound on this even has our dog jumping to attention occasionally to hear where those surround sounds are coming from in some action soundtracks. The included remote controls the AV receiver and our Samsung 46" LCD TV directly. The remote control is well organised and easy to use. I like that this receiver is not gimmicky with internet apps (for that i use a WD TV Live) or an inbuilt CD player (our previous HTIB had a 5 disk carousel that failed hence this purchase) and offers respectable sound quality and versatility. The included wiring kit and manuals (! read the manual !) made installation doubt free and easy to understand. The powered sub woofer hits it!
Cons: HDMI provides great audio and video, but not all brand names provided compatible CEC commands, Fortunately the included remote control can do BOTH HDMI media control and direct IR control. HDMI media control codes with our Samsung TV wasn't complete but the direct control works perfect. The included speaker wires are nicely color coded but a thin wire gauge, We opted to buy a couple of 100' rolls of 14 gauge speaker wire from Home Depot for our listening area. The unit runs warm and needs air flow ventilation. Like most home AV equipment the front panel controls are not illuminated so are hard to identify in a darkened room. It arrives in one big heavy carton so you may need help getting it inside.
Overall Review: The newegg 'priice in cart' discount varies so keep an eye on it. This is a great AV receiver, way better than the one it replaced. If you are shopping for a HTIB pay attention to audio specs like T)otal H)armonic D)istortion (THD) and speaker ohms, some system use very low resistance speakers (2-4 ohms) which pretty much prevent you from adding alternative speakers later on if you wanted to upgrade. The Speakers in this system are 6 ohm and they accept typical 8 ohm as well.
Pros: small cheap works wps button activity LED 802.11d for other countrys
Cons: nowhere to put USB cap when it is removed
Overall Review: I didn't use the included install CD, I Plugged it in to windows 8.1 with an internet connection and it installed quickly and worked without problems. It gets warm after use, I saw transfer speeds of 7.8 - 8 MB/s from my intel I5 PC <->Thecus raid. it is a single band wireless N. ease of use is.. perfect almost as easy as a wire, or actually maybe easier.
all joy
Pros: ordered 2 sets of dual channel ram and received 4 consecutive serial numbered pieces, how sweet was that! *very* happy, the ram works as expected / advertised. running 8GB 4,4,4,12 @ 1.9V, dual channel unganged on quad core AMD phenom with W7.
Cons: none
Overall Review: these chips run so cool they probably don't need the impressive looking heat spreaders but hey.. i can live with that :-D