cover
Charles O.

Charles O.

Joined on 12/17/04

0
0

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Nice little box

Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11-U Intel Atom D510 NM10 Chipset 1 x 200Pin Next-Gen NVIDIA ION GPU Mini / Booksize Barebone System
Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11-U Intel Atom D510 NM10 Chipset 1 x 200Pin Next-Gen NVIDIA ION GPU Mini / Booksize Barebone System

Pros: 1. Small and quiet and aesthetically fits in my living room without looking like a big box computer. Perfect as a HTPC. 2. My wife can use it without questioning me constantly "so how does this work?" so we use it as a cable box/DVR replacement. Saves me $60/mo. 3. Streams HD Netflix and live video feeds with no problems. 4. Streams HD video from my regular PC through the homegroup connection. No issues with HD playback. (I use .mkv and .mp4 normally, just rename the files with .avi and WMP will add them to the library automatically) 5. The glowing blue circle matches my Samsung Plasma blue LED power button circle perfectly. 6. I installed 4GB of ram and 160GB HDD and Win 7x64 OS. No problems with heat or noise that I noticed. Both the LAN and WiFi worked out of the box.

Cons: Don't have any but Newegg would like something in this box. And there it is.

Overall Review: Would be nice to have two memory slots. Limitation of the architecture not the Z-Box in particular. The dedicated ion GPU really boosts the Atom processor from just "netbooking" capability to really being a compact entertainment system.

Most Critical Review

Too simple

Disneyland Adventures Xbox 360 Game
Disneyland Adventures Xbox 360 Game

Pros: Price was 1/2 regular price. Not really a reflection on the game. Or is it? See cons.

Cons: It was a Christmas gift for my little girl 8 years of age. After two minutes the game was back in the box and she kindly told me that it is just too babyish for her. She was clearly disappointed and felt bad for the situation. Not really what you want from a gift as the giver or receiver. Apparently what the player does is follow the Disneyland characters around the park and wave a hand when prompted. I would further elaborate on the details of the game, but that really is just it.

Overall Review: It may be entertaining for rhesus monkeys, but not people.

Not Exactly Windows 8 Ready

Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q702 (XBUY-Q702-W7-002) 4GB Memory 11.6" 1366 x 768 Hybrid Tablet PC Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
Fujitsu STYLISTIC Q702 (XBUY-Q702-W7-002) 4GB Memory 11.6" 1366 x 768 Hybrid Tablet PC Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit

Pros: One of the few laptops and probably only tablet which still has a VGA port. Hey manufacturers: OFFICE PROJECTORS STILL USE VGA AS A PRIMARY INPUT!!!!!!! Has antiglare coating so it works in bright office locations. but this can also be a con. Works good with win 7 (for what win 7 is; great mouse keyboard input, poor touch input) Battery life is okay. You might get 8 hours on both; 11 hours is only possible if you use it as desk art. (i.e. don't use it at all)

Cons: Has anti glare. This makes the touch input off putting. I don't like the textured feeling and when I run the digitizer pen over the screen I feel like I am scratching it because of the tactile feedback of the anti glare plastic coating. Glossy tablets have a much better pen input feeling. Loaded windows 8 and it works marginally well. In part it is failure of windows 8 to be a useful office tool and in part the hardware is not yet ready. For example the touchpad on the keyboard doesn't work correctly. You can use the touchpad but if the left or right mouse button is pressed then cntl-alt-del -> task man is required to save a hard reboot situation. Mouse and touch input becomes unusable because focus is lost to all applications. Maybe a driver update can fix this (fingers crossed it is soon) Usability of the touchpad on the keyboard is 50% of the point of having a docking keyboard!!!!! Finally the worst part is the auto dimming function. It basically turns the backlight completely off. At one point I had to plug the tablet into a nearby Plasma TV just to navigate to turn off the auto dim. That at least Fujitsu should have corrected before releasing the product as it is frustrating and completely makes the device useless unless you have a cable and nearby second screen to fix the problem. And windows updates may turn the auto dim function back on!!!

Overall Review: Should have included two AC power bricks, one for each battery. Fujitsu still needs a lot of work on the drivers to make it compatible with Windows 8 and releasing this tablet as Windows 8 ready was a terrible marketing mistake. It absolutely is not ready for enterprise use.

12/29/2012

Complete fail of Manufacturer Support

ECS Black Series A785GM-M AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
ECS Black Series A785GM-M AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: It did work, albeit with some trouble, for about 1 year.

Cons: A failure of one USB port on the rear panel started a month long unresolved issue with ECS tech support. Before buying this improperly designed product be prepared to completely tear down the computer system and reassemble piece by piece to ensure none of your other known working hardware is an issue, because this will be the tech supports first question. Did you completely tear down the system and attempt to diagnose the mother board? Why not suggest test points for my Oscilloscope to determine failure points! THE REAL TROUBLE EVERY BUYER WILL HAVE is the heat sink on the NB is insufficient and will cause random immediate shutdown of the computer. A failure of any other component rarely causes this problem. In the case of this board it is easy to correct by adding a fan pointed directly at the NB. I have 5 other perfectly reliable comptuers that have shared parts with the subject computer, however, with this ECS MB it is completely unreliable.

Overall Review: Unfortunately ECS fails to have a standard problem list for the tech support (if I am generous and don't assume it is intentional denial of warranty) so they are unable to provide realistic solutions or an RMA. I am stuck with a failed board and no RMA coming. I have only had one other MB failure and BioStar stood behind the warranty and replaced it. My problem with that machine was resolved. With the ECS machine using this MB I will SCRAP it for an MSI motherboard and go my separate way from ECS. I will never look back at ECS for a MB solution again. Please take this frank warning and DO NOT purchase this board!

Works good for the money

Adesso ARC-1100 MCE Infrared Remote Control
Adesso ARC-1100 MCE Infrared Remote Control

Pros: Easy to hold. Not real big and the buttons are easy to find with just one hand. Works at an okay range, not 10m by any measure, but maybe 5m. It works at boot even, so the mouse is useable during OS install and other low level operations.

Cons: Doesn't have text input capability. It would have been nice to be able to enter passwords without getting out the keyboard. Text keys could have been included with the number pad just like a phone. Also, it is not backlit, which can be tricky to find the right button in the dark.

Overall Review: When the gap in price/feature is $20 vs $120, this remote is a good value. I just can't swallow dishing out $100+ for a remote and this filled the gap nicely.

no warranty. no service.

Hanns·G HH-281HPB Black 28" 3ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 400 cd/m2 DC 15000:1(800:1) Built in Speakers
Hanns·G HH-281HPB Black 28" 3ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 400 cd/m2 DC 15000:1(800:1) Built in Speakers

Pros: none.

Cons: Hanns-g essentially has no warranty. Don't trust customer support that says the lcd is bad. The lcd controller is separate from the lcd and unless there are constant vertical or horizontal lines in the same place always or an uneven blotch on the screen the fault is in the controller board or main board or power board. Don't let them charge you for a panel that does not need replacement.

Overall Review: Don't buy it. Read the warranty closely. Talk to Hanns-g customer support before buying. Read the warranty. Don't buy it.