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Christopher B.

Christopher B.

Joined on 10/20/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANB Black Aluminum Full Tower Computer Case

GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: Very nice case. Sturdy yet light weight construction. Ample room for any future upgrades you may need to do. The case offers great airflow and looks very nice. The black solid aluminum face with blue LED projector on the front panel are a nice added touch by Gigabyte. This is my first case from Gigabyte, and I am very happy with it. It compliments there high quality motherboards nicely.

Cons: none

Overall Review: Make sure you have plenty of room on your desk or under the computer desk for this. It's a monster.

Most Critical Review

Very Glitchy

EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Graphics Card 512-P3-1301-RX
EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Graphics Card 512-P3-1301-RX

Pros: Cheap

Cons: From the time I installed this card in the system, I have had nothing but problems. It starts with graphical glitches during the POST process and memory tests. When the "Starting Windows" animation starts, the video cuts out 75% of the time and I lose video signal, even though I can see there is still hard drive activity. During the few times I was able to successfully login to Windows 7, I have had various things happen. The display sometimes displays at 640x480 and I am able to view the device manager. It shows the card isn't initialized properly. So much for the refurbished card.

Overall Review: Hopefully I can RMA this for a working card.

Extremely Disappointed

Lenovo IdeaPad 15.6" Intel Core i5-3337U 8GB Memory DDR3 1600 24GB SSD Windows 8 U510 (59RF0511)
Lenovo IdeaPad 15.6" Intel Core i5-3337U 8GB Memory DDR3 1600 24GB SSD Windows 8 U510 (59RF0511)

Pros: Fast shipping. I received it two days after I ordered it.

Cons: Where do I start. I flipped this laptop open after unpacking it and noticed the keyboard was just laying there inside the laptop. The two cables where still connected, so I popped it back in place. I plugged it in and powered it on. Great I thought. 2 minutes later the screen went dark. This happened gradually. I assumed that it may have something to do with the screen brightness Fn buttons. Pressing the buttons while holding down the Fn key did nothing, but strangely they work when not holding the Fn key. The screen still goes completely dark randomly. The "Fn" key is stuck on permanently. It doesn't work when holding it down, but works when not touching it. Until I figured this out, it was problematic getting into the BIOS menu by pressing F1 or the boot menu by pressing F12. So now I was able to access those two menus by holding down "Fn" along with the other keys. The touchpad is terrible. I'm in the middle of moving my cursor and the cursor just seems to jump to the other side of the screen. I know this is normally caused by having another finger or part of the hand resting on the pad while moving, but this wasn't the case. Also, why would they make the surface over the right and left click buttons touch sensitive? It's bad design when you're trying to click on an icon only to have the pointer move somewhere else while clicking. Windows 8 that it shipped with is not activated. And guess what? It won't let me activate online because it's "Not an authorized copy" and can't activate by phone because I don't have the activation key. The machine was refurbished. There are no labels affixed to the shell with an activation key. There is no booklet included with an activation key. The keyboard bezel is cracked near the top. Possibly the reason it wasn't installed properly when I unpacked it? The Caps Lock button decides to randomly turn itself on, even when you aren't touching the keyboard. Worst of all, Newegg will not let me do an RMA request for it. I'm guessing because it's a refurb. I have no information on how to return this hunk of junk to Lenovo for a refund or replacement.

Overall Review: I have never really had any problems with refurbished items I have purchased before. This Lenovo looks like it was just thrown in a box and shipped out again after the last person returned it. I am extremely upset with this purchase, and to make matters worse, it's a birthday present for a family member. I don't have time to deal with getting a replacement now.

Great for the price

EVGA GeForce 210 512MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Graphics Card 512-P3-1311-KR
EVGA GeForce 210 512MB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Graphics Card 512-P3-1311-KR

Pros: This is a great video card for a low powered media server. For a card that offers HDMI, DVI, and VGA outputs, you just can't beat the price.

Cons: None

Great Cost/Performance SSD

OCZ Vertex 4 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) VTX4-25SAT3-128G
OCZ Vertex 4 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) VTX4-25SAT3-128G

Pros: Great Price Very fast boot times

Cons: Adapter plate for installation into 3.5 inch drive bay will not accept guide rails required to slide rail into bay. Alleviated this by making my own bracket.

Overall Review: This is one of the best SSD I have seen for the price.

10/27/2012

Disappointed

ZALMAN CNPS5X Performa 92mm FSB (Fluid Shield Bearing) Powerful Cooling Performance CPU Cooler
ZALMAN CNPS5X Performa 92mm FSB (Fluid Shield Bearing) Powerful Cooling Performance CPU Cooler

Pros: Lightweight Good Price Doesn't interfere with RAM modules

Cons: - Does not completely cover the surface of AM3+ processor - Approximately 1/8" uncovered on each side of the processor module - Idle temperature of AMD FX-8150 Zambezi processor is 60C, and quickly rises to 75C under load. - Adjustment screw nut plates for side clips are extremely fragile and will strip out easily.

Overall Review: I have reseated this cooler many times now. I have used quick silver thermal paste, and I can not get this to perform at an acceptable level. The stock cooling fan/heatsink that came with the AMD FX-8150 Zambezi actually performs better than this, although it is extremely loud, which is why I wanted to replace it. I have used many Zalman products over the years and am generally happy with them, but I can not recommend this one, atleast not for AM3+ users.

10/27/2012