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Tristan H.

Tristan H.

Joined on 11/09/03

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

Cute but weak

ARCTIC Breeze Mobile USB-Powered 92mm Portable Fan, Portable Cooling Solution, Quiet Fan - White
ARCTIC Breeze Mobile USB-Powered 92mm Portable Fan, Portable Cooling Solution, Quiet Fan - White

Pros: It spins, fast. I'm in a rather hot office so it's kind of nice to have -- the fact it's USB and so portable allows a variety of angles to blow air, all in all it's just a fan though. It is almost completely silent however and that should not be overlooked.

Cons: The neck is too short and often contradicts the physics of the blades. No LED (but for the price makes sense) and no control of the speed. It's like using the wind turbines from SimCity 2000 instead of hydro electric powerplants to win over the favor of the local populace. ;)

Overall Review: I've seen hundreds of these but I ordered it on a whim, it gets funny looks and so do I, but I just wish it were capable of radiating cooler (and more) air.

Most Critical Review

"Best Buy Quality"

SanDisk 64GB 64G Cruzer Extreme SDCZ80 USB 3.0 Flash Drive with Free Bonus USB Lanyard
SanDisk 64GB 64G Cruzer Extreme SDCZ80 USB 3.0 Flash Drive with Free Bonus USB Lanyard

Pros: You get a free lanyard.

Cons: I went through two of these devices so I was certain I didn't receive a dud, but I'd find myself rebooting the machine at random as any USB port I'd stuck the drive into would suddenly cease working. The drive grew hot as well, more than it ought to for the kind of performance we are talking here. After a few reboots the USB slots simply stopped working despite several attempts at kicking the tire around in device manager and ended up having to do a system restore to (luckily I had one) the day before I began using it. All systems go now, so long as I don't use this drive. I should also add this gave me similar problems in my personal laptop as well. Work laptop is a Dell i5 E6400, my personal laptop is an ASUS K53E. I will not trust SanDisk for anything but the kind of memory I stick in a camera sadly -_-

Nice but..

Sentey Eagle Plus Extreme Division Tower Case - 2 x 120mm Blue LED Fan Cooler / HD Audio / 1 x USB 3.0 / Removable Aluminum HDD-SSD Tray / Screwless
Sentey Eagle Plus Extreme Division Tower Case - 2 x 120mm Blue LED Fan Cooler / HD Audio / 1 x USB 3.0 / Removable Aluminum HDD-SSD Tray / Screwless

Pros: I like the simplicity and the easy design for external water cooling. I also appreciate the grate on the bottom for reasons other PC builders will recognize. The price is unbeatable and the design is aesthetically pleasing without all the shiny bells and whistles.

Cons: The side door doesn't fit properly. After finally putting the machine together I fit the prongs into their rightful place and went to screw it in, I discovered a good two centimeter gap between the door with the hole for the screw and the actual case. nothing else was pushing it out or fitting incorrectly--it just happened to be built this exact way. I got it on another site but it shouldn't matter. QA is QA and Sentey dropped the ball on this. I can find alternatives to close the side panel but I shouldn't have to and it sends a very loud message of "what you pay for is what you get, see exhibit A." I built this for a friend, but use a higher end Sentey for my own rig, and I love it. I suspect I just got a dud, but I see no evidence of warping, pressure damage, or bad soldering--it literally appears to just be the wrong size--off by two centimeters. Very irritating, very unnecessary. If I weren't in a hurry to get the machine to a client I'd have thrown a fit.

Made of what, rice paper?

ARCTIC Breeze Pro USB-Powered 92mm Desktop Fan, Adjustable Fan Speed, 4-Port USB Hub - White
ARCTIC Breeze Pro USB-Powered 92mm Desktop Fan, Adjustable Fan Speed, 4-Port USB Hub - White

Pros: Compact, quiet, low voltage.

Cons: I unplugged it and set it on my desk at work. Someone walked by and knocked it off the desk and it fell maybe three feet and landed on the carpet. The CARPET. Two of the blades immediately snapped. Device is unusable. Beware of crappily made miniature fans like this. They also tend to loosen the USB port.

Sleek and durable

Transcend JetFlash 700 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive TS64GJF700
Transcend JetFlash 700 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive TS64GJF700

Pros: Dropped it by mistake not once but twice, not a scratch on it. I don't mind the cap, in fact I prefer it over those irritating sliding gadgets that tend to move when you don't want them to. It's not heating up like this miniature caldera I got from a filthy best buy, but I'm not very impressed with the speeds. It certainly trumps 2.0 but you won't see people celebrating its performance. That said I just ordered another a few hours ago.

Cons: A lanyard would be helpful when the design basically screams "We are just going to throw a small hole here and let the user figure something clever out, maybe with fishing wire."

Overall Review: I also ordered one of their 1TB external 3.0 drives based off my experiences with Transcend so far. Here's to hoping.

Stylish and clumsy don't mesh well

RAZER Lycosa Keyboard
RAZER Lycosa Keyboard

Pros: Like many other popular alternatives, it has illumination of some sort; in this case quite linear. It's Razer therefore it is shiny, and ten years ago I might have bought it with stickers amongst the accessories--the only thing missing is a lollipop, but it keys quite well for general typing.

Cons: Gaming with this is a pain, the lye of the keys are too low with no concave for said 'ergomatic accuracy'. The minimalistic design betrays itself when compared with the rhythmic response of say a Saitek Cyborg--all the bells and whistles are included, along with a sickening amount of illumination choices. I've found that in hectic moments of gaming I'll often slip off one of the lycosa's keys, usually causing a series of mistakes. The sleekness is a double edged sword: some gamers like it, others may have even worse experiences than me; the completely flaccid media keys are one of the largest touchpadfails of this generation of gaming perips. But hey, you get stickers.

Overall Review: I think they should include carpal tunnel wrist bands instead of stickers and registration information for the contents. We are all doomed.

11/15/2009