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Michael L.

Michael L.

Joined on 04/24/01

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 20
Most Favorable Review

Good speed, cool and quiet

Western Digital WD Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital WD Green WD5000AADS 500GB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: I bought this drive as a low-cost replacement for a slightly smaller and supposedly faster WD Caviar Blue (320 GB, I don't recall the exact model). I've become increasingly a fan of quiet and power efficient components where they don't sacrifice performance unduly, but I was concerned that the slower spindle would hurt performance in some cases. This hasn't been the case in typical usage, where the extra cache and the additional "intelligence" designed by WD seems to more than compensate for the power-saving features. Maybe a benchmark would disagree, but even in gaming I don't think a user would be able to tell the difference. This thing is also far quieter and noticeably cooler than the WD blue it replaced.

Cons: None

Overall Review: If you're worried that the WD greens are significantly slower than the blues or even the blacks, don't be. Your typical desktop computer idles far more than it's active and even if benchmarks show the greens to be a tad slower I don't think most users will find a difference in practice. So save a few watts off your power bill and get this excellent drive.

Most Critical Review

Even the repaired set failed

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ

Pros: Absolutely none at this point.

Cons: The first pair of this ram that I had went bad after about 4 months. One of the sticks would no longer pass memtest86. The second pair I just received from RMA service boots inconsistently, causes double fault panics in Linux and often causes the BIOS to lower the speed on subsequent boots to DDR2-667. Needless to say I'm done with G.SKILL. The cheaper a.data sticks I got to run the machine while I was waiting for the warranty repair are much more stable and just as fast.

Overall Review: Hopefully I can get my money back from G.SKILL. The RMA program seems marginal, but if they can't get me a working pair, what other option do I have?

Satisfactory replacement for OEM

Rosewill RTCA-ML-2010D3 (ML2010D3) Black Toner Replaces Samsung ML-2010D3 ML-2010D3/SEE
Rosewill RTCA-ML-2010D3 (ML2010D3) Black Toner Replaces Samsung ML-2010D3 ML-2010D3/SEE

Pros: Works as well as the OEM cartridge and costs less than half as much.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: Is there an easy way to recycle these? Toner cartridges are so bulky it would be great if someone could reuse it, even if I give it away.

Simple awesome

Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930 with 7.1 Surround Sound, Wireless Headphones with Microphone
Logitech Wireless Gaming Headset G930 with 7.1 Surround Sound, Wireless Headphones with Microphone

Pros: I really deliberated about this purchase, because I do use my USB headphones a lot (largely for conference calls and music), and I wanted something with solid battery life, good construction, features that made sense. Most importantly I want something that works without any fiddling in Linux, OS X and windows. I'm pleased to report these are truly plug-and-play in Linux and OS X (and probably windows, but I installed the drivers anyway), and offer all the features they promise. They're a big heavy but comfortable nonetheless. I have a largish head, so your mileage may vary. I also love the fact that raising the microphone will mute it, plus you have a dedicated mute button and the mute light works in both cases. In my opinion, they sound fantastic, both for listening and for those that get to hear my dulcet tones in meetings. They have enough noise isolation that it makes hearing others easier in calls.

Cons: Of course, many of the touted features like 7.1 and the hot buttons won't work out of the box in any operating system, and not at all on Linux or OS X, but those aren't very useful things for me. Chances are if you care you're running windows and that's not a limitation for you. Range is good, but originally I was using them on a computer right next to my main wireless access point and it knocked some computers off the network when in use. Relocating it fixed the problem. They creak a bit when you're moving around. I don't think others can hear it though. It's a bit odd to hear yourself speak due to the noise isolation. I'll get used to it.

Overall Review: Somewhat pricey, but an awesome investment if you have to be on conference calls many hours a day. The fact that they're fairly large makes it clear I'm on calls and shouldn't be bugged. They don't need to know you're listening to music instead, just go ahead and lower that boom mic.

Solid purchase for Netflix

SONY Blu-Ray Disc Remote Control for PlayStation 3
SONY Blu-Ray Disc Remote Control for PlayStation 3

Pros: We use our PS3 for Netflix (among games of course) and the game controllers are pretty difficult to use with Netflix and it really goes through batteries. This was easy to setup, completely simple to use. It has made the PS3 and Netflix our favorite way to watch TV. It's inexpensive but is solid feeling and well designed from a user interface perspective. If you use your PS3 for movies or Netflix (or Hulu or whatever else you can get on it), just buy it already.

Cons: We now have two remotes, but that's more the fault of the PS3 for not having an IR interface or the fact that I went cheap on the Harmony, but one can hardly blame that on this remote.

Overall Review: We use a Logitech Harmony for everything but the PS3, and it wasn't worth purchasing the PS3 module when this was so inexpensive.

A amazing bargain

Sennheiser HD180 3.5mm/ 6.3mm Connector Circumaural Headphone
Sennheiser HD180 3.5mm/ 6.3mm Connector Circumaural Headphone

Pros: These are comfortable, lightweight, and have remarkable audio reproduction quality. I'm hesitant to even add "for the price" because though they are inexpensive, they are in every way better than the pair of AKG headphones they replaced that cost 10x as much. I'm sorry I didn't get them sooner.

Cons: None really.

Overall Review: I'm hard on headphones, so anything this lightweight makes me nervous, but there's nothing about their feel that indicates they won't be robust enough to last a few years.