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Matthew S.

Matthew S.

Joined on 08/10/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Perfect for Fixed-Disk Use

Transcend 2GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model TS2GCF266
Transcend 2GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model TS2GCF266

Pros: Very fast, runs at rated speed (40MBps) and is recognized in fixed disk mode in my PCI CF card reader. Running two of these in software Raid0 under linux nets over 80MBps in multiple tests, NOT cached speed, actual read speeds. Excellent price. Perfect for fixed disk usage. Write speed was about 15-18MBps (per card).

Cons: Not a problem with this card, but many cheap card readers (Mostly USB-based) will never support the full speeds of these cards. Make sure whatever card reader you get supports UDMA4. These work flawlessly with any Addonics CF-to-(IDE/Sata) adapters.

Overall Review: ~40MBps (non-cached) read speed confirmed in windows and linux, <1ms access times. Used IOstat, roadkil's diskspeed, and HDtune in windows. Tested in linux by mounting 1gb ramdrive, filling it with a random data file, clearning cache (sync && echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/dropcache), then copying data to card with dd. Please note that any CF-IDE adapters with raid or dual-CF functionality WILL run into the 45-60MBps limit on UDMA4.

Most Critical Review

Works, Barely

SIIG CE-KV0111-S1 4x1 USB HDMI KVM Switch
SIIG CE-KV0111-S1 4x1 USB HDMI KVM Switch

Pros: -Reasonable price - if it's on sale. -No proprietary connectors/cables. -USB switching works.

Cons: -Only two sets of cables included. -Cannot use with a Mac. -Audio connector is Mono ONLY, even though the included cables are stereo. -PC will detect the monitor disconnecting when you switch selections, causing all open windows to move to the other screen and icons to re-arrange.

Overall Review: This is pretty much only acceptable if you only have PCs and don't switch very often. Otherwise you will constantly have your windows & icons get rearranged. Certainly not worth it at the price these run at. It also caused my video card to detect the wrong overscan setting, causing the screen to appear much smaller than it should have been. It was easily fixed in the driver options, but should never happen in the first place.

Good case.

Cooler Master Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Cooler Master Centurion 590 RC-590-KKN1-GP Black SECC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Very good airflow, plenty of room to work, and good fans included.

Cons: Plastic PCI-holders are kinda flimsy, will not work on anything larger than average (Video cards, ect).

Overall Review: Drive holder clips work well enough, but are only for 5.25" drives, 3.5" still use screws. You can bypass the plastic PCI slot holders, although they work well enough for regular PCI cards. No PSU, but I prefer to choose my own.

Component Disapointment

KWorld PVRTV-PE360-A PlusTV Analog PCIExpress Pro
KWorld PVRTV-PE360-A PlusTV Analog PCIExpress Pro

Pros: Multiple inputs, Component (if it worked, see Cons), price.

Cons: Component video is spotty, even at 480P. Occasionally blacks out or goes partially offscreen. Software is very buggy, settings are unintelligible or just plain useless. Kworld's US site is completely broken, had to search for their global site to find any real downloads. Full Linux support is held back by Phillips (chip maker), although the driver is partially written.

Overall Review: Cannot get component input to work in Media Center, so cannot compare. Do not go to kworldcomputer.com, use http://global.kworld-global.com instead.

Good Price, Works Great

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: Works perfectly, I have 3 in an Intel ICH7 Raid5 setup. No issues or failures yet. Very fast read speeds.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: My only worry was that all three hard drives seemed to be from the same batch, there may be an issue if all three suffer from the same manufacturer's defect. The drives are working perfectly though.

Good Price, Perfect Function

Wacom UP710E Tablet PC Eraser Pen
Wacom UP710E Tablet PC Eraser Pen

Pros: Works great with my Wacom-enabled Fujitsu T-3010 tablet/notebook. Should work perfectly with any other Wacom "Penabled" notebook.

Cons: Does not fit pen-holder on the side of my LCD, but that is due to Fujitsu's older design.

Overall Review: Make sure to update to Wacom's newest drivers, especially if pressure sensitivity is not working. Most (if not all) Penabled units support Pressure sensitivity, if you have the newest Wacom driver. Just go to wacom.com, under downloads and Tablet PC.