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Ryan G.

Ryan G.

Joined on 05/24/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Impressed by this card

ASUS PCE-AC56 2x2 802.11ac WiFi AC1300 PCIe Adapter
ASUS PCE-AC56 2x2 802.11ac WiFi AC1300 PCIe Adapter

Pros: Effortless installation Software/driver isn't annoying 45-65ms ping in shooters with the router being downstairs, using 5Ghz. I upgraded from a dinky USB dongle that gave me ping into the 120ms range. I'm very impressed with the performance of this card. I didn't know wireless has become so capable.

Cons: Very rarely I'll experience a momentary lag spike but there could be many causes for that. I am very satisfied with my purchase.

Most Critical Review

Broken Unit

PLEXTOR The Ultimate PVR for the Mac with NTSC Turner PX-TV402U-NA/MAC USB 2.0 Interface
PLEXTOR The Ultimate PVR for the Mac with NTSC Turner PX-TV402U-NA/MAC USB 2.0 Interface

Pros: Looks pretty nice. Composite inputs work. EyeTV provided is quality software.

Cons: When I received my first unit, 98% of the channels didn't work. They were heavily covered in snow and the sound was completely static. Only two channels worked. I emailed support, they were very helpful, and I RMAed the unit. The second one had the same exact problem, but it was a different unit number. Emailed them back and didn't get a reply. I tried the unit in two locations, and determined that it was the unit's problem.

Overall Review: I probably just got two faulty units, but I'm not trusting them again.

Some problems

MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB GDDR5 SLI Support ATX Graphics Card GTX 960 2GD5
MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB GDDR5 SLI Support ATX Graphics Card GTX 960 2GD5

Pros: Good performing card for the money, can overclock ok. 2GB is still sufficient for most games Blower enclosure is simple but it's a sturdy card. No sagging

Cons: Biggest problem I've had is that all three Displayports failed. Only one worked when I first bought it. That was all I needed so I didn't bother with an RMA. But after 4-5 months that last port died. In order to get high refresh rates I had to pick up a DVI-D cable.

Good piece of hardware

Rosewill Data Hub for 5.25" Drive Bays- 2 USB 3.0 Ports and Main Connector, Four USB 2.0 Ports, eSATA, Internal Six Slot Media Card Reader, Supports Windows ME/2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10 - RDCR-11004
Rosewill Data Hub for 5.25" Drive Bays- 2 USB 3.0 Ports and Main Connector, Four USB 2.0 Ports, eSATA, Internal Six Slot Media Card Reader, Supports Windows ME/2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10 - RDCR-11004

Pros: Nothing bad to say, it works and it looks sleek. I especially like that it only fills half the 5.25" bay, as my water cooler lines take up the other half. Some of these bay replacements consume the entire bay with a half empty box.

Cons: No legitimate complaints

Overall Review: SATA power rather than molex (or at least an adapter) would have been nice but that's being picky.

Solid Drive

Intel X25-M 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDSA2MH080G2K5
Intel X25-M 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDSA2MH080G2K5

Pros: I've had this drive for almost two years. It's served me well and has not been problematic in my Macbook Pro. Speed degradation exists, but that's only because OS X does not support TRIM. The drive is noticeably faster every time I wipe (using Intel's utility) every 6 or so months.

Cons: Intel utilities are Windows-only. I'm reaching for complaints here.

Overall Review: They've since upgraded the SSD line, but this is still a good product in the early years of consumer SSDs.

Works like a charm

Intel X25-M Mainstream 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDSA2M080G2GC
Intel X25-M Mainstream 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SSDSA2M080G2GC

Pros: I installed the drive last August. I use OS X so I have no opportunity to TRIM without a wipe. Even without TRIM I have not noticed much slowdown, but then again I am not a heavy user. Still boots in ~20 seconds. Best upgrade I've ever done.

Cons: It's annoying using machines with mechanical drives now.

Overall Review: If you're looking for a boot drive I'd go with a smaller size. I bought this to dual boot OS X and 7 and I've still got ~40GB empty, which by today's rate is about $100. If you want to be safe, 16GB for OS X and 32GB for 7 would be more than sufficient.