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Jenna M.

Jenna M.

Joined on 04/23/13

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

Good changes made to this case over the original

Cooler Master HAF XB EVO - High Air Flow Test Bench and LAN Box Desktop Computer Case with ATX Motherboard Support
Cooler Master HAF XB EVO - High Air Flow Test Bench and LAN Box Desktop Computer Case with ATX Motherboard Support

Pros: I read through all the reviews on this case. I was at first concerned about some of the issues like the hot swap bays frying hard drives. This was due to a Molex power connector that some people were forcing plugged in the wrong direction. This connection has been changed to a Sata power connection, and there is no longer a possibility of plugging it in backwards. This is a good improvement. I like that they've changed the 4-bay 2.5" drive bay to a dual-bay 3.5" drive bay. You can get adapters to put two 2.5" drives in each bay, so people with a lot of SSD drives can still do that, but people like me who have only one or 2 SSD drives still have plenty of room for large data storage drives. This case gives me plenty of airflow where I need it. The case was well thought out and well designed. Quality of build is excellent. The PCB back plane for the hot swap bays is actually done quite well this time around. Customer Service is top notch. My case actually came missing 2 anti-vibration retainer pins for one of the hot-swap bays, and they are sending me a whole new bay for it. I guess I'll have a spare if one ever breaks.

Cons: Bill Gates still hasn't sent me that check for 50 Billion US Dollars I asked him for. It was for a good cause, too! "Cause I wanted it!"

Overall Review: Make sure you have your build well planned before you start. If you have a large, heavy CPU Cooler or if you have water cooling, then you'll want to make sure you get the bottom installed properly before you put in the motherboard tray. Otherwise, you'll have a more difficult time removing it with the cooling hoses and all when you have to access something on the bottom that can only be reached by removing that tray again. Lots of things can be reached from the sides, but you better have your SATA cables plugged into the hot swap bay PCB before you put that motherboard tray down, etc. This case should be standard issue for anyone that opens their case to tinker on a regular or even semi-regular basis. Just waiting for my new 200mm Blue LED fan to arrive so I can light it up.

Very impressed.

ViewSonic VX2270Smh-LED 22" Full HD 1080P SuperClear IPS 178/178 Viewing Angles Monitor, 1000:1, 250cd/m2, HDMI&VGA&DVI-D, Built-in Speaker
ViewSonic VX2270Smh-LED 22" Full HD 1080P SuperClear IPS 178/178 Viewing Angles Monitor, 1000:1, 250cd/m2, HDMI&VGA&DVI-D, Built-in Speaker

Pros: Picture quality is better than any I've seen. Blacks are truly black. I don't know why Michael G. says otherwise unless he got one that was dropped before he received it. It truly has 100% sRGB color, which means it matches the source. I've never seen better image quality for what the image is INTENDED to be. I have seen monitors that try to intensify the color to make it look better, but it makes it something other than what it should be when they do that. If you see it on this monitor, then that's the way the camera saw it, and that's the way it will look when you send it for prints. No surprises. True WYSIWYG color editing with this monitor. No adjustments needed to make this monitor look great. Can't beat it for the price when it's on sale!

Cons: It makes my old monitor look bad. I will probably have to buy a second one to pair with it instead of using my old monitor to pair with it.

Overall Review: Once the controls are set the first time, I don't need them. Monitor goes into standby mode when I power off the computer, so I don't even need to reach the power switch. It will power itself on again when needed.

PNY 128GB Turbo USB 3.0 Flash Drive (P-FD128TBOP-GE)
PNY 128GB Turbo USB 3.0 Flash Drive (P-FD128TBOP-GE)

Pros: Fast (I mean really fast), small, large storage capacity. I didn't get as fast of writes as some others, but got 192MB/s reads and 94MB/s writes using CrystalDiskMark. I've been able to transfer a lot of large files very quickly with this drive. It's actually faster than 2 of my system drives, so if I copy drives between one of those 2 instead of my SSD, it actually slows down because of the limitation of the slower hard drives. I can live with that. Tried it on a USB 2.0 port for kicks, and got 30MB/s read ad 20MB/s write. I suppose not bad for a 2.0 connection, considering my other flash drives are 2.0 only drives, and get between 2MB/s and 10MB/s. Got mine for 45% off with a special promo code. I'm happy on so many levels I just can't say.

Cons: Didn't come in Titanium with gold trim. Would have paid an extra $0.02 for that. ;)

Overall Review: I got this to replace a USB2 HDD that I carried while traveling. I kept a lot of portable apps on it, and all my data, that I would synchronize regularly with my desktop. The HDD failed, and this is a much better replacement. Faster, smaller (now I can carry it in my pocket with my keys), and only slightly less space than I had on my 6 year old portable hard drive. While this flash drive is made of plastic, and many people consider that to be a con, I don't think that's a con. The plastic is very sturdy. Not sturdy enough to break up a brick wall, but if you try that you deserve what you get. The plastic will be less likely to absorb heat from outside sources. It will also be less likely to get water condensation on the inside if it gets cold. Think about that next time you complain about a plastic, cheap feeling. It's called protection of an expensive item.

The right tool for the job, in my case.

Logitech M705 Marathon Wireless Mouse, 2.4 GHz USB Unifying Receiver, 1000 DPI, 5-Programmable Buttons, 3-Year Battery, Compatible with PC, Mac, Laptop, Chromebook - Black
Logitech M705 Marathon Wireless Mouse, 2.4 GHz USB Unifying Receiver, 1000 DPI, 5-Programmable Buttons, 3-Year Battery, Compatible with PC, Mac, Laptop, Chromebook - Black

Pros: Great battery life, great ergonomic feel, and the free scroll mode can save on carpel tunnel issues. But learn that the button below the scroll wheel turns it on and off, so you can learn to use the mouse!

Cons: I've heard some say that the button on the side for task switching is too easily hit, but I feel the button has enough tension to prevent this. If you're gripping your mouse that hard, you need to loosen up your grip, or expect to pay a doctor big money in the near future for carpel tunnel relief surgery. Learn how to properly handle a mouse, and you'll find this mouse is ideal. I have tested mice with lasers in various positions. I have tested them with the laser at the end of the mouse, directly underneath the left click button, and a the center. This mouse has it on the far right, midway down the mouse. I have found zero difference in how the mice track on screen between differing positions, when you use your hand in proper ergonomic position. It won't make a difference unless you're constantly dragging the mouse halfway off the right side of your mouse pad. if you are, get a bigger mouse pad, or just use the desktop.

Overall Review: I'm retired from the computer industry after 30+ years building/repairing computer hardware and computer programming. This mouse is solid, when used for it's intended purpose and used AS it is intended to be used. People should research what would be the best tool for the job for the way they intend to use that tool. @win2000: On your review, you complained about the tracking in your bed. Mice are designed for the desktop, not the bed. You should have bought a touchpad, as that would be the proper tool for the job. To anyone looking to use this for your HTPC, please consider a wireless touch pad, as a mouse is not good for a bed or a couch, or even a recliner. A mouse is great for a home office desk, or a student desk, where you have a solid surface to work with. A sketch pad is not a solid surface (flimsy and bends.)

Great card, but don't need it.

ASUS Radeon HD 6670 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 Graphics Card EAH6670/DIS/1GD5
ASUS Radeon HD 6670 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 Graphics Card EAH6670/DIS/1GD5

Pros: This card is rock solid. An absolute great entry level card, and you won't do better for the money. If you're a serious gamer, though, get a serious card and shell out some serious money. Installation was a snap, and my existing graphics driver software for my A10 APU immediately recognized it. Dual graphics was a snap, though had to be enabled first in BIOS and then in Catalyst Control Center. This card did improve my Windows 7 Experience for graphics from 7.1 to 7.3, and with Dual Graphics enabled I went to 7.4.

Cons: I have a game that wants more than the 1GB available for textures, so I'm constantly getting frame stuttering while textures are copied in and out of regular memory, which slows performance drastically. Though constant frame-rate is a tad slower using iGPU only with this game (by 6 FPS), it is still quite playable, and more so than this card which gives a lot of stuttering under the load. I really can't fault the card for this, because it is what you pay for. If I'd wanted a 2GB GDDR5 card, I'd have had to shell out $200 - $300 bucks for it and done it right. Not quite worth docking an egg, since it's my fault for wanting to push the limits. :)

Overall Review: Not the card's fault, but it's just a system redundancy for me, since I already have the A10-6800K APU, which has a HD 8670D built in. Though frame-rate benchmarks show this card to be faster then my iGPU, real world tests show otherwise when I have my iGPU setup for 2GB 1866MHz DDR3 RAM. 1GB is plenty for most games, however, there are some serious games that could really benefit from a 2GB card, but if you need the 2GB card, you should be going with something higher end anyway. I really thought this card would improve my experience using Dual Graphics. While it did improve it some, it didn't improve it enough to make up for the price of the card.