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John A.

John A.

Joined on 02/01/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 7
Most Favorable Review

Great Airplay Device

Panasonic SC-HC57 Compact Stereo System with iPod Dock
Panasonic SC-HC57 Compact Stereo System with iPod Dock

Pros: Seamlessly works with Airplay out of the box. Multiple setup options for different types of networks Solid sound in a small, relatively low cost, package AM/FM/CD/Aux/Apple Dock/Airplay means you can listen to anything Holds a great wifi signal

Cons: First unit DOA Panasonic support is UTTERLY CLUELESS. You think they'd get the message that its the 21st century and your support group should be able to do more then give a stock response that they read from the instructions. TRULY TERRIBLE SUPPORT.

Overall Review: I have to give this 4 stars because my first unit was DOA and Panasonic support sucks. Once you get a unit its great! Anyone can walk into my office and start sending music to the system which they love. I still can't get over the fact that I can walk around with my iPhone in my pocket and listen to Pandora in full fidelity. Good stuff, enjoying it. I hope it lasts!

Most Critical Review

Nice case but had some problems..

NORCO RPC-231 Black 2U Rackmount Server Chassis 2 External 5.25" Drive Bays
NORCO RPC-231 Black 2U Rackmount Server Chassis 2 External 5.25" Drive Bays

Pros: Nice size Low price Great build quality on the metal case service. Almost like a high-end Antec quality build. Room for full PSU and multiple drives.

Cons: Default motherboard stand-offs are not for micro-atx (at least not my SuperMicro) and two of the shorted the board, giving me an evening of troubleshooting before I realized the issue and removed them. System booted immediately after that. However, once it booted it made a hideous SCREECHING sound. It woke the dog up. One of the small high velocity fans was going insane. I pushed on the middle to see if it was lose and the pressure seemed to fully seat the fan in the housing and the noise went away. Heavens knows how long the bearing life on that will be now.

Overall Review: Nice build quality, great size, low price. I'd buy again but the bove problems were a bummer. If your buying a 2U case you can fix these things but not consumer friendly.

2 years in and its AWESOME

SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard
SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCM-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C204 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard

Pros: IPMI is to die for. Perfect ESXI host

Cons: RAM compatibility sucks. You will have to try a few times probably. Read other reviews for best RAM options.

Overall Review: I have been running this 24/7 in a data center for 2 years now with 6 virtual machines in a 16gb/3TB configuration and it never even hiccups. When I lost a drive earlier this year the IPMI was a life-saver (machine is 600 miles away). I'd build this machine again in a heartbeat.

Very nice

Microsoft LifeCam Cinema 720p HD Webcam for Business - Black
Microsoft LifeCam Cinema 720p HD Webcam for Business - Black

Pros: Wide field of view, great colors and fast response make this a great video conferencing camera when you need to get a wider and deeper field of view. Built in microphone is pretty good as these things go. Worked on my mac out of the box

Cons: While it worked on my mac out of the box its default setting is SUPER BRIGHT. Thats great at night but with any daylight at all the picture washes out immediately and the Mac can't deal with it out of the box. Fixed this with iGlasses, a 3rd party tool that intercepts the video stream (seamlessly) and lets you tweak the settings. It then remembers these settings and whenever you use the iGlasses camera it will apply them to the video stream in real-time.

Overall Review: So, 4 stars because I had to buy a piece of shareware to get it really working on my Mac properly but I really recommend this low-cost HD camera, its a great piece of hardware.

Gorgeous

Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" Full HD 1920 x 1200 60Hz 8ms DisplayPort VGA DVI-D 4xUSB 2.0 Pivot Swivel Height Adjustable LED Backlit IPS Widescreen LCD Monitor
Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24" Full HD 1920 x 1200 60Hz 8ms DisplayPort VGA DVI-D 4xUSB 2.0 Pivot Swivel Height Adjustable LED Backlit IPS Widescreen LCD Monitor

Pros: Huge resolution. I bought it specifically because it supports 1980x1200 which, when you are writing software, really is a big help. Crisp display, pretty fast response for what it is and low-power. Lightweight and good looks combine with a great price. Lots of easy to access USB ports.

Cons: You may have to fiddle with the settings to get it to match your environment but thats pretty standard with LED and LCD systems.

Skype Lifesaver!

ClearOne 910-159-001 CHAT 50 USB Speaker Phone
ClearOne 910-159-001 CHAT 50 USB Speaker Phone

Pros: Great sound quality, both as a microphone and as a speaker. Full-duplex means better conversations. With this device I and my business partner can stay connected all day while we both pace around our offices and discuss things. Its really a freeing thing to be able to walk far away from my computer and continue the conversation. Highly recommended if you are a regular Skype user. It should work with any apps though, it presents as a generic microphone and speaker but its anything but generic!

Cons: None really, its awesome.