Pros: - Bright and vibrant RGB - Relatively subtle design allows the lighting to be the focal point - iCUE software gives adequate control and runs well - Default memory profile enabled and ran without issue

Cons: - A bit tall for "Compact" - Disabling the RGB on sleep requires a workaround - Visible hot-sports on RGB diffusers

Overall Review: When I put this memory into my system, I was not expecting the RGB to be as bright as it was. With the overall subtle aesthetic of the sticks themselves, I was expecting a bit more of a subdued light, but this memory commands presence inside a system. The iCUE software that is used to control the RGB lighting and effects on this RAM, as well as other Corsair products, is one of the best lighting softwares available. While it is quite large, taking up just over 1GB of disk space for just this memory, it offers plenty of lighting customization options, it actually works, and it doesn't constantly crash the system like some softwares that shall not be named here. In my experience, iCUE has generally behaved itself and is one of the few softwares I typically allow to run in the background on my systems. That being said though, one of my favorite options with this memory is being able to set a lighting effect that will play when iCUE is not running. Now for my complaints, of which there are two. First, this memory is not very low-profile. I understand that the lighting takes up a fair bit of space and I have no problem with that; but I feel that marketing this memory as compact is slightly misleading. Sure, it may be lower profile than some memory, but it definitely isn't small enough to fit under something like a Hyper 212 Evo; however, huge props for listing a height dimension. The second complaint I have about this memory regards turning off the RGB when putting the computer to sleep. When you put the computer to sleep, iCUE is suspended, software lighting stops, and the RAM defaults to the hardware lighting effect. The way to turn off the RGB lighting on sleep is to set the hardware lighting effect to a static color of black (0, 0, 0). There are hardware limitations that cause this problem, but I would love for a better solution. Overall, this is good memory with a subtle yet impactful design that is controlled with the iCUE software that is strides ahead of many other lighting softwares. I would not hesitate to put this memory in future systems.

Pros: - Very solid construction and quality - Good surround sound - Control panel has nice volume knob and stays in place - Nice rubberized plastic parts - Cushions and padding is soft and compliant - Soft backlighting that is not too bright - Smoked windows to see into cans

Cons: - Decently heavy - No height adjustability - Too big - wide and tall - Needs audio tweaking (equalizer, individual driver volumes) - Could not get the software to work - Very large volume adjust increments - Mic mutes the highs

Overall Review: Let's start with the good. The build quality of this headset is solid. This is evident not just from the weight, but also the tolerances; there is almost no wiggle between the components of these headphones. The plastics have a nice rubberized coating, and the cushions and padding are soft. The multi-driver surround sound is very good; it is easy to place sounds when gaming. I prefer the in-line control unit on this headset far better than others. It is large and heavy enough that it stays in place on a desk, the volume knob is smooth and easy to click to mute, and only having two buttons makes it easy to use without looking. The backlighting inside the cans would go great with a red theme and is soft enough not be blinding even in a dark room. However, even with all the good aspects, this headset will not become my daily driver. To start with, this headset is a little on the heavy side. Couple the weight with the lack of adjustability and the sizing for a head far larger than mine (and I have a big head), this headset quickly becomes unwieldy on the head. It almost feels as if you are attempting to balance a brick on your head. My other big issue is that audio quality is poor. While it can be easily fixed by applying an equalizer and by adjusting the individual volumes of the different drivers (mainly bringing the center drivers down), I still find it lacking. The individual driver volume settings are also reset if the main volume is touched which is a shame. Now, this may be an option in the software, but I could not get it to work on my computer. I emailed GSkill, and got a prompt response the first time, but a subsequent email has yet to receive a reply. My other minor complaints are that the volume adjusts in very large increments (not what I was expecting when I first turned the smooth-turn volume knob), and mic quality is not the best (highs tend to be muted). Overall, I would not suggest this headset. While it has some nice features and is well built, the fitment issues coupled with the mediocre sound quality and decently large price tag really bring it down.

Pros: - Measured benchmark speeds meet advertised speeds - Heatsink is unlikely to interfere with components - 5 year warranty

Cons: - Included documentation could be more direct - No DRAM cache

Overall Review: Starting out with benchmark performance, this drive reached the advertised sequential read and write speeds with my benchmarks coming out at 7,000 MB/s read and 6,300 MB/s write. These sequential read speeds are on-par with most Gen4 drives and the write speeds are great. In my testing, I did note that random reads and writes fell slightly behind other drives, particularly those with DRAM caches, but this is still a very fast drive with ample performance. The design of the heatsink is a good compromise of cooling performance and compatibility. Temps in my setup stayed under 60C, but it is worth noting that there was significant vertical airflow across my motherboard from bottom mounted fans. While the height of the cooler does cause the drive to sit above the level of a PCIe slot, the drive did not interfere with my graphics card or network card. There are a couple things I would like to see improved, but they are very minor. First, I would like to see the included documentation be more direct and product specific - sending me to a generic landing page where I promptly scroll past the product selection thinking it is an ad isn't the best experience. The installation manual showing a 2230 size drive when I have a 2280 also isn't great. Aside from these flaws though, the support website is actually quite good putting manuals, software, and tutorials all on one relatively clutter-free page. Second, I would like to see the inclusion of an M.2 mounting screw in the box. Yes, this should be included with the motherboard / device and yes, you should have all your included accessories neatly organized and stored away. But for the majority of people, a 1 cent screw included in the box would save a lot of headache. Overall, this is a great drive in the upper-mid-tier M.2 drive space. If you are needing every bit of performance you can get out of a drive, the lack of a DRAM cache means you should look elsewhere (and increase your price range). But if you're looking for fast storage to put games on or a decent boot drive, this is a good option.

Pros: - Good read and write speeds - Much faster than typical external hard drives and USB sticks - Small size (65 x 50 x 10mm) - Branding and design are subtle and professional - 3 year warranty

Cons: - USB C to C cable has long connector ends - No ingress protection (IPXX) rating for splashes or rain

Overall Review: The physical attributes of this drive are nice. Overall size is compact and easy to fit in storage areas and pockets (fits in the coin pocket on mens jeans). While the housing is plastic and flexes a bit in the center, it isn't going to come apart or break. The overall design of the product and branding are subtle and would blend in just fine in a business environment. The USB C to C cable that is included is a good length for use with laptops. My main complaint about the cable is that the plastic ends are quite long at 28mm - this makes it stick out pretty far from a laptop. I would have also liked to see a USB A to C adapter just for the sake of compatibility. Speeds are good for an external drive, much faster than an external hard drive or USB stick. In my testing, I recorded maximum sequential reads and writes in the advertised 1 GB/s range. In real file transfers I saw between 450 and 700 MB/s speeds depending on the types of files being transferred. While it is several times slower than a gen3 or gen4 M.2 SSD, it is several times faster than most external drives. I tested speeds on a USB 3.2 Gen2x2 connection. A USB 3.1 connection would slightly reduce peak speeds, and while the drive would function on a USB 3.0 connection, speeds would definitely be limited by the throughput of the connection. I connected the drive to a USB 3.0 port and experienced speeds of around 500 MB/s which is the realistic maximum for a 3.0 connection. Overall, this is a good option for an external drive. The enclosure is sturdy while remaining easily portable and the performance is good.

Pros: - Unique chassis layout for great graphics card compatibility in a small footprint without a riser or extension cable - Quick and solid panel fastening mechanisms - Magnetic top panel is nice for accessing the power supply switch

Cons: - No printed instructions included with the case - The plastic top panel is a slightly brighter shade of white - No cable management loops on the bottom of the case

Overall Review: Let's start with the good stuff. This case offers room for good component compatibility while maintaining a relatively small footprint. Build quality is good with steel construction and very few sharp edges, but while building with the radiator and power supply brackets removed (very handy), I did end up with a slight parallelogram that I had to correct before reinstalling the brackets. The panels are solidly attached to the chassis yet easy to remove, especially in the case of the magnetic top panel that makes accessing the power supply switch quick and easy. Now for the stuff that is neither good nor bad. While the unique layout provides room for large components, the downward facing IO does present some challenges. There is no conventional slot for an IO shield, fixed mount antennas for onboard Wifi are not going to operate well in the horizontal plane, and in addition to being cumbersome to plug in, some cables are not going to fit - I have some sleeved display port cables that could not make the required bend. While there is decent radiator mounting support in this case, the small footprint makes it a challenge to fit the tubing. I was able to fit a 240mm AIO and the associated tubing and pump head with some persuasion and a 360mm would likely fit, but air cooling is a much easier option. If you opt to forego side fans, there is about 140mm of clearance above the CPU. While SFX power supplies are not too uncommon and can be had in gaming-computer-adequate wattages, I feel like there is room for a full size ATX power supply in this case. The "everything is an intake" method for cooling can work fine, but in some instances, it may be beneficial to not install a fan in every open slot. It is also worth keeping in mind that many 30 and 40 series NVIDIA graphics card utilize a "flow-through" design where, when installed in this case, one of the graphics card fans and one of the front intake fans will be fighting each other. This will not likely cause an issue, but with a side intake fan getting into the mix as well, there is definitely the potential for some poorly optimized airflow in the top of this case. And finally, the bad. I prefer printed instructions. Or at least a note directing you to the website. For a standard sized case, I could almost understand not including instructions, but for smaller form factor cases, some basic directions or at least a suggested build order would be nice. As nice as the magnetic top panel is, it would be better if it were the same color as the rest of the side panels. My top panel is a slightly brighter white than the rest of the side panels. My other gripe is that there are no cable management points on the bottom of the case for the front panel IO. If punching loops into a technically exterior panel isn't desirable, a couple adhesive zip tie mounts would be a welcome addition to the accessories package. Overall, I do like the case. The unique layout offers a relatively compact footprint while not compromising too much on space. I would have liked to see some better documentation and some more features, but if you keep the limitations of this case in mind, it is a good option for a compact build.

Pros: - The app is decent - Scout has good build quality and materials - Has object detection to (sort of) avoid crashes - Highly programmable

Cons: - Unique component selection - Actions and errors are not defined - Encountered numerous software issues that required restarts - Patrols lack repeatability and options

Overall Review: Lets start with the company / data side of things. The app required to use Scout requires account creation which entails email verification. Once an account is created though, accessing Scout from multiple devices both on and off network is as simple as logging in. As with most modern devices, there is also the Cloud. The cloud storage subscription is not pushed heavily during setup or use which is nice. However, cloud content is enabled by default to apparently allow for push and notification emails. Cloud content is not needlessly buried in settings and is relatively easy to turn off. A lot of this product hinges on a good app, and overall, Im mostly happy with the app in its current state. I installed the app on various devices a new very low spec Android tablet, an older flagship Android phone, and a new iPhone. I did have a couple crashes on both Android devices during manual control but the app was able to recover within a couple seconds and put me right back to manual control. The experience between the devices was identical with the same user interfaces and icons. On that topic, the buttons to access the menus and features are a bit small, especially on cellphones. My biggest complaint about the app is the excessive number of notifications. Moving on to hardware, Scout is a bit of a mixed bag. The overall build quality is solid with tight panel gaps, tactile buttons, a surprisingly good speaker, and not overly bright indicator LEDs. The camera is of okay quality, especially considering it is intended to be primarily streamed, and the IR / night performance of the camera is decent. But on the other hand, the camera could definitely use better stabilization (especially with the mecanum wheels), and there is a lot more gear lash and end play on the wheels than I expected. While the mecanum wheels offer acceptable capability on most household terrains and offer great mobility (strafing), they struggle over obstacles such as flooring transitions and make a lot of noise. The charging station is far more limiting than I would have liked and would be a great place for improvement. Despite claiming it can be mounted to walls, I see no way to do such a thing and no instructions are provided for it. This leaves the station only able to be attached to a hard floor (with adhesive). This would have been less of a problem for me if zone monitoring and motion detection were available when not docked. The camera is on wheels, let me easily set it to a non-docked location for monitoring. Another area that could use improvement is errors and messages. Scout will make noises and bong when it does things but there is no explanation of what those noises indicate. A prompt or log on the app indicating that Scout got lost or encountered an object on the patrol path would be very valuable information. Patrols. For a device marketed for monitoring, I expected the patrol function to be good. In my experience however, this is not the case. No matter how slowly or deliberately you set the path, Scout knows best and cuts the corners, shortens the moves, and offsets the entire path. Consistency is not great but with the gaps you need to leave when setting the path, it doesnt make too big of a difference. My biggest complaint about patrols though, is the lack of an ability to add a wait or monitor to the path. Overall Thoughts: As a home monitoring device Scout does not live up to expectations. The programming capabilities within the app are extensive but the out-of-the-box capabilities as a surveillance device are lackluster. As a device to remote control to check on your pet while at work or a device to enjoy some programming learning and fun, Scout is not a bad shout. The hardware is good, the software isnt bad, but to me the marketing seems misdirected. If you are looking for something to manually drive around your house to check on your fur critters, the Moorebot SC3100 may be right for you.