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Shane R.

Shane R.

Joined on 01/15/14

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 4
Most Favorable Review

My Favorite Purchase So Far

Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey Silent ATX Mid Tower Case
Fractal Design Define R4 with Window Titanium Grey Silent ATX Mid Tower Case

Pros: Much space. Cable routing built right in. Nice looking. Insulated against noise. Wildly expandable and up-gradable.

Cons: I might have preferred the adjustable internal disk rack to turn so that the power and SATA sockets faced the back instead of the front, but I do not yet have them all filled up and perhaps that would pose a problem if it were so.

Overall Review: I just built my first computer since 1996. This case made the chore about as little of a chore as it is possible for such a chore to be. Plus it runs so quietly, and looks so clean and elegant. I really just love this case. I anticipate it being my case for years.

Most Critical Review

Onboard Ehternet Driver Issues

MSI Z87-G45 Gaming LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Pro Gaming with Killer Networking & Sound Blaster Intel Motherboard
MSI Z87-G45 Gaming LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Pro Gaming with Killer Networking & Sound Blaster Intel Motherboard

Pros: I like a lot of the built in features, and I am something of a sucker for the logos and bells and whistles that go with "gaming" hardware.

Cons: According to the documentation, drivers for the ethernet are available from the website "if supplied by vendor". What website? What vendor? Why are all the available drivers not on the included disk with a link to updated drivers for all OS's commonly used on desktops?

Overall Review: As a Linux hobbiest trying to put together a little graphics workstation, I tire of being treated like a third class citizen by hardware manufacturers. How hard would it be to supply drivers on the disk sent with the hardware in case I am using Mac or Linux? Ethernet works fine under SteamOS, so I have to assume there is a driver out there for Debian Linux, but apparently MSI only gives such information conveniently to large corporations, and those of us who just assume something as ubiquitous as an ethernet driver will be included with the hardware are out of luck. Very poor service IMHO.

Predictably poor customer support

Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro PCIe Capture Card, Stream and Record in 1080p 60 FPS
Elgato Game Capture HD60 Pro PCIe Capture Card, Stream and Record in 1080p 60 FPS

Pros: -Streams without taxing your processor. Nice way to avoid upgrading to i7 or an entire separate computer for hi def streaming of pc games as well as its main purpose of streaming console games.

Cons: - Who knows what is wrong with it? It has intermittent issues creating white noise on the game stream. Almost a week later and Elgato is still saying "we'll get back to you in 3 days." Getting back to people every three days saying you'll get back to them in three days is not getting back to someone in three days. This could easily be a Windows 10 problem, but Elgato doesn't care enough to support its product to the point that you can know what is going on. And of course neither does Microsoft.

Not Keen on the Mic

SENNHEISER PC 310 3.5mm Connector Supra-aural Headset
SENNHEISER PC 310 3.5mm Connector Supra-aural Headset

Pros: Wonderful sound. Comfy. Does not make my ears hurt even with long wear.

Cons: The mic boom is worthless. It is simply not long enough to get the mic to the proper position in front of my mouth. If I take the left earphone off of my ear, I can get the mic positioned and it works fine. In the process of experimenting with some sort of work around, the mic boom BROKE at the end. I bought this thing SPECIFICALLY to be able to talk in video games. It is has been a complete fail in this regard, and while they will be nice as a stand in until I get another pair, the simple fact is I might just as well have set $50 on fire.

Overall Review: I just can't imagine why the mic boom is this short. My head is by no means large. I would say I have very nearly the perfectly average sized head for hats, etc. I have had jobs aplenty where I had a mic boom that worked perfectly fine. It is a real blight on a product that would otherwise have gotten a 4 or 5 from me. Lesson? I really hate being sold on something that nearly but doesn't quite do what it is supposed to.