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SETH W.

SETH W.

Joined on 04/01/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 11
Most Favorable Review

Pretty reliable overall

TOSHIBA PH3300U-1I72 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Retail Kit
TOSHIBA PH3300U-1I72 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Retail Kit

Pros: I've had pretty good luck with these drives, I have 6 of them (total) split between two different servers. One of them is a rackmount 4U server with a 3 x 5.25 -> 5 x 3.5 bay enclosure added in, another case just has built in slide rails that lock the drives in place. They've been running smooth since September/November 2013 in 24 x 7 operation and have handled multiple terabytes of data being written/read. In the one server they are part of a RAID-6 array along with some WD Red 3TB's, and in the 8 drive array I can typically get several hundred MB/s read speeds (yes, that's MB, not Mb).

Cons: One of the drives I had set aside as a spare, so was never actually used. It failed after 2 months of actual usage. Toshiba was good about the returns process (was able to request RMA online, everything went smooth) but I hate having to pay for shipping when a part breaks within the warranty period.

Overall Review: Realize that failures like this can happen with any drive from any manufacturer. The replacement drive they shipped me has been up and running for at least 6 months now, no problems. In addition to the other 5 that have not failed, i'd say the odds are pretty good. I just ordered another one.

Most Critical Review

Not bad, not great.

Changhong 40" Class 1080p LED HDTV - LED40YD1100UA
Changhong 40" Class 1080p LED HDTV - LED40YD1100UA

Pros: Relatively inexpensive for the overall quality you get. Nice sturdy and heavy base. Small side bezel. Video quality is pretty decent for television, and sound isn't the worst built in I've ever heard. TV itself is light weight without the base.

Cons: Arrived with 1 stuck pixel (not the worst thing in the world, you cannot tell from the distance we sit at but it's a pet peeve of mine). Backlighting looks uneven especially around the edges on black scenes, almost thought the screen was cracked at first because of a visible difference in light quality between two sections of the TV. Does not have a "PC" mode for HDMI like most Vizio models do, so text is grainy and not crisp. The menu did some funky thing to me when I first set it up and it kept popping up in a "Demo" like mode with a message bar across the top of the screen touting the "LED Backlighting" features. Was very annoying for a while and kept coming up over TV shows. Did a factory reset from the menu and re-configured the TV, seems to be fine now.

Overall Review: I am happy to have this in my bedroom where the family rarely watches it, but I would not want this as my primary viewing TV in the house.

Stay away from this product

Collection LED CL-G60E-6W (W) 40 W Equivalent LED Light Bulb
Collection LED CL-G60E-6W (W) 40 W Equivalent LED Light Bulb

Pros: They are LED lights.

Cons: I bought 8 of these lights in September 2014, only 2 are still running 5 months later. The rest just flicker or don't light up at all any more. I used them in non-enclosed fixtures like 4 bedroom closets and several "open" lighting spaces since I knew LEDs are heat sensitive. Still didn't help.

Amazing Case

LIAN LI PC-Q25B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI PC-Q25B Black Aluminum Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case

Pros: This case is incredibly well designed for the price, I currently have 5 3.5" HDDs and 1 2.5" SSD in there. It uses a backplane for the hard drives to plug in so you don't need as many power ports on the power supply, which is kind of nice. The way the whole 5 drive bay system works with the rails and locking mechanism is really creative. The way the fans are designed to cool, including using the power supply fan, gives the case a real good amount of air flow.

Cons: Cables going to the back of the hard drives are a little snug, but that's to be expected in a more compact case design. No USB port on the front of the unit, which makes it more inconvenient for booting off a flash drive. The standard ATX power supply was a little tight due to the way the cables come out of the front of the supply. It puts them directly against the drive cage.

Overall Review: The case sides pop off without screws which is both a pro and a con. I had to maneuver my cables a little more because the pressure they were putting on the side behind the drive bay was causing it to pop out a little.

Slow Hitachi

TOSHIBA Canvio Desk 3TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive HDWC130XK3J1 Black
TOSHIBA Canvio Desk 3TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive HDWC130XK3J1 Black

Pros: Inside the case is a rebranded 3.0TB Hitachi hard drive which is 5700RPM. Case is a clip on clam shell, theoretically you can remove it without actually breaking any components.

Cons: Very slow write speeds. Writing to this got me 22MB/s, whereas my Western Digital Green drives were writing 60-80MB/s, and Red drives were 70-90MB/s.

11/16/2012

Pretty nice case.

Rosewill RSV-L4000 - 4U Rackmount Server Case / Chassis - 8 Internal Bays, 7 Cooling Fans Included
Rosewill RSV-L4000 - 4U Rackmount Server Case / Chassis - 8 Internal Bays, 7 Cooling Fans Included

Pros: Upon initial inspection the first thing I noticed was that this case is sturdy. It has a nice thick cross rail for support, as well as the fan array providing additional support. The lid and sides are not flimsy at all, and do not "flap" like other cheap aluminum cases. The fact that it came with fans was great, as it has several (3 large ones in the middle of the case, 2 in front of the hard drives, 2 smaller 80mm in the back of the case) and the fans alone would be a few bucks. They aren't the best fans, however (molex connectors, can't plug any to system board for throttling based on temperature). The front flap with a washable mesh filter and lock is also very sturdy. The fact that the hard drive bays can be pulled out (each bay holds 4 drives) with a quick release is nice. The 3 5.25" bay slots will be nice if you wanted to shove another 4 hard drives in with some of the internal drive enclosures you can buy, but these bays do not have front fans. I personally had no issues with the power connection, but I bought a power supply with a boatload of connectors and it had good length to reach the bays.

Cons: The drive trays are horrible, cheap flimsy plastic. They don't fit the hard drive properly (It fits, but then the little rubber stopper that holds the screw in kind of pops out and makes it hard to re-insert the tray) and I really had to work hard to get the tray back in the bay without breaking it. When I tried to remove the tray as a test, I seriously thought I was going to snap the thing holding it by the handle. I had to hold it by the sides to remove it successfully. There is no cable management. Several server systems have a hole that you can fish cables through to run behind the system board plate so you can hide the cables and reduce air flow obstruction. There's not even a proper spot to channel and zip tie it down. It does not come with the rails.

Overall Review: Could really benefit from the following improvements: Individual hard drive release. Screwless top lid removal. Fans that can plug into the system board (not all of them, just some of them). Much better drive trays. Cable management paths in the design.

10/31/2012