Best Computer Memory
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Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Final numbers: 16, 18, 18, 18, 36. Voltage 1.35. Frequency 3200. MSI B350 Tomahawk + Ryzen 1700x running at 3.9GHZ 1.425V."
"It's RAM, it has heat spreaders, this is a 2x8gb kit (16gb total)."
"I can confirm that I am successfully running the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 Desktop Memory Kit - White (CMK16GX4M2B3200C16W) on a MSI B350 Tomahawk at 3200Mhz. Anyway, hoping this info is helpful for other buyers and obviously, I'm giving this RAM 5 stars for working as intended with my motherboard."
"This is DDR4 memory, got the 3200MHz fastest one and it worked without problems in a dual channel machine."
"You can buy the highest priced memory out there and seriously lighten your wallet or determine if these specs will do fine and pay a more reasonable fare."
"puts me in the tier 1 category for benchmarks, performs nicely."
"Upgraded old computer and wanted speed."
"Excellent choice for any build and the 3200Mhz sweet spot for DDR4 is spot on."
All memory stick modules extensively tested at the component and function level.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I'm pleased to report that indeed, 16 GB of RAM does work correctly in the 2011 MacBook Pro, and, it is even recognized at it's full speed: 1600 MHz. As you can see if you peruse the web, there are many, many reports of users installing and successfully using a maximum of 16 GB of RAM in the 2011 MacBook Pro laptops. The reason why Apple specified only 8GB as a maximum is that when these MacBook Pros were released, RAM modules denser than 4GB were not available in the appropriate sized SO-DIMM."
"I found the RAM replacement video guide on crucial's site helpful, since the guy points out a few safety considerations like static discharge and the numbers and placements of screws."
"After following the advice of another reviewer here, I turned it back off, opened the memory compartment back up, and swapped the positions of the factory RAM and the Crucial RAM so it went like this: Slot 1: 4GB Apple RAM (Top slot if iMac is upright). Slot 2: 8GB Crucial RAM. Slot 3: 4GB Apple RAM. Slot 4: 8GB Crucial RAM (Bottom slot if iMac is upright). That worked fine and I now have 24GB of RAM installed on the Late 2012 27" iMac."
"First, you should know that this iMac is supposed to use the previous generation in terms of RAM speed at 1333MHz PC3-10600 CL9 (I believe), but this RAM here works perfectly on it, but of course at the lesser speed that my iMac can do. It's not faster to open an app or a file the first time, but as you keep working, it's much faster than before."
3 Crucial 4GB Single DDR3/DDR3L 1600 MT/S (PC3-12800) Unbuffered SODIMM 204-Pin Memory - CT51264BF160B
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Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My Y410P has two memory slots, and one slot was already occupied by a factory-installed Samsung M471B1G73QH0-YK0 8-GB memory card. The existing Samsung memory was PC3L/DDR3L, with the 'L' signifying that it is low-voltage 1.35V memory, whereas the standard PC3/DDR3 memory uses a higher voltage of 1.50V. To further maximize compatibility with my laptop, since it came equipped with CL11 1600-MHz memory, I likewise wanted to stick with CL11 CAS Latency speed, instead of going for memory with a faster (lower) CL rating. So I ordered this CL11 1600-MHz memory because I wanted to exactly match the specifications of my laptop's original 8-GB memory card to ensure compatibility since using mismatched memory can cause system instability. In real-world applications benchmarks, there is barely any difference between using CL11 memory and using some fancier CL9 memory, and the unnoticeable speed difference is not worth paying extra money for more-expensive models of CL9 or faster memory. Along with the CL listing, another important memory performance indicator is bandwidth, and this Crucial memory's DDR3 1600MHz has a very good maximum bandwidth of 12800MB/s. After I removed the original Samsung 8-GB memory from my Y410P laptop and added these two Crucial SODIMM cards, I reran the Windows Experience Index benchmark and got the same WEI "Memory operations per second" score of 8.1 that I had with the Samsung memory. This was not surprising considering that both the original Samsung memory and this Crucial memory have the same specifications. I also purchased a single 8GB card of this same Crucial memory to upgrade my HP Chromebox, which comes equipped with only 2GB in its single memory slot. Note that Crucial has two identical 16-GB 2x8GB kits with identical specifications, with each memory product having two different part numbers: CT2K8G3S160BM/CT2C8G3S160BM Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3-12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Mac Memory CT2K8G3S160BM , and CT2KIT102464BF160B/CT2CP102464BF160B Crucial 16GB Kit (8GBx2) DDR3 1600 MT/s (PC3-12800) CL11 SODIMM 204-Pin 1.35V/1.5V Notebook Memory CT2KIT102464BF160B."
"With these 2 upgrades (and a fresh OS X 10.10 install) the computer is better than the day we bought it. Another note: even though Apple claims 8GB being maximum amount of memory for this Mac, it can actually take 16 GB."
"The install was easy: - Unscrew 5 screws on the base with a little Phillips head screwdriver. - Take the cover plate out, that needs a little force as it is tightly secured. - Pull back the top RAM guides so the existing 2GB chip pops up, then pull that out. - Repeat for the lower 2GB chip. - Insert the new 4GB chip, needs a little force and the space is tight but they are robust so you would be doing really bad things to break them. - Put the guides back. - Repeat with the top 4GB chip. - Turn laptop on and check it boots and works and that you have 8GB installed. Yes?"
"The new stick worked (works) perfectly."
Best Computer Cases
Color: White/Black. Simple Interior Layout - large space with a grommet-less steel cable management bar. Detailed Engineering - Steel plated audio jacks, captive thumb screws, and over twenty cable management points. Compact and Functional Design - Full compatibility with our Kraken series X31 and X61 liquid coolers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love this case."
"The cable management was simple, it looks great, feels sturdy, and has a fantastic price point."
"My son has one, I have a Phantom in the movie room (love that case) and I just rebuilt my case in my bedroom with this case!! Best looking case I've seen. My case you see fans, gpu, and motherboard only!!"
"its a really good case i build my first ever build on it and i really like it i was even able to put one of the biggest graphics cards in here the 970 gigabyte gaming g1 edition which is really long."
"I purchased one with braided wire and its a bulky disaster - just barely able to pop the back panel on (and my cable skills suck) Overall a very nice looking case. Which means the fans are drawing cool air from the outside and pushing it through the rad into the case - which will then turn into warm air. If you have a blu-ray player/burner then this case is a possible no go for you. The Ugly: Their are some minor structure issues where the metal is a bit flimsy on the back of the case."
"Building this machine a little bit at a time as funds permit, but so far my build is as follows: - This case. - MSI x370 Gaming Pro motherboard. - MSI RX 470 Gaming X (8GB). - Cooler Master V750 80+ Gold Modular. - 3x Corsair AF140 LED (red). - 1x Corsair AF120 LED (red). - Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 2666 (PC4-21300) C16 for DDR4 Systems, Red LED (CMU32GX4M4A2666C16R). - 1x Samsung 960 EVO Series - 250GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E250BW). - 1x Crucial 2.5" SATAIII SSD (275GB) :: [I already had this laying around]. - 1x Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" (1TB) :: [I already had this laying around]. - Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut. - AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Processor (YD160XBCAEWOF). - Corsair Hydro Series High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H60. - I anticipate I will finish the between the end of February and mid-march depending on any expenses that may come up between then."
Best Computer Motherboards
To take full advantage of the improved power management on the Raspberry Pi 3 and provide support for even more powerful devices on the USB ports, a 2.5A adapter is required. Camera interface (CSI),Display interface (DSI), Micro SD card slot (now push-pull rather than push-push), VideoCore IV 3D graphics core.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am very inexperienced in building anything with computers, but I decided to forgo the kits and piece together my own Pi. With the help of Google and YouTube I was able to build my Pi exactly the way I wanted and am very happy with the results."
"this little raspberry pi is great."
"I'm expecting to order a second to build a wireless IRLP node just because they make it easy."
"I have always been very happy with the price/performance of the Pi; I bought these for digital photo frames, with the 7" touchscreen display, and they work great."
"Don't buy a pre imaged micro sd card for a hard drive."
"I had some issues installing retro pi and kodi on it, but it was my issue because I was using to big of an SD card."
"Absolutely amazing little device."
"Raspberry Pi's are great."
Best Computer CPU Processors
Style: Processor Only. Intel Hyper-Threading Technology1.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My games run great with it."
"Really great price-to-performance."
"Gaming couldn't be better, easy to overclock, runs better than a 4 legged animal."
"I love intel and I love the fact that they’re products are very speedy and reliable."
"Just wonder what will happen with intel release patch that will slow things down."
Best Computer Internal Modems
Color: White |. Size: Max Download Speed: 1.4 Gbps |. Style: 32x8 Cable Modem. Approved on Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum (Charter, Time Warner, Brighthouse Networks), Cox, Mediacom, Suddenlink and most other US Cable Internet Providers. 32 Download and 8 Upload Bonded Channels capable of up to 1.4 Gbps download and 262 upload speeds.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I called comcast and after BLAH BLAH everything (I am a network admin) I already did they said I have a 3rd party and its not a comcast modem, the modem in which its on there approval list. I called comcast again and asked to modem "activation" and let them know I need my modem "re-provisioned". They Are... Modem Activation. And. Re-provisioned."
"Once they have provisioned it, make sure that the service code on your account matches the speed that you are paying for."
"Your ISP may have already pushed out a Firmware upgrade dealing with this known latency issue, and especially users with 1GB speeds. Do NOT purchase this unless and until Arris and Intel have provided the firmware upgrade to your ISP and/or your ISP has verified to you that the firmware upgrade has been pushed out for this model."
"Arris has made an agreement with McAfee to install a filtering software on the modem. This "feature" was not part of this modem when I bought it and I have just received the firmware update from my ISP."
"I can't post a link, but search for: Intel's buggy Puma 6 chipset earns Arris a gigabit-modem lawsuit. for more information."
"I bought this modem some time ago, but it has a flaw that results in spikes in ping every 2 seconds and after a few days will result in 2-10% packet loss."
Best Computer Power Supplies
These power supplies take some of the best features from EVGA's award winning power supplies, like EVGA ECO fan mode for near silent operation, Japanese Capacitor Design and a highly efficient design, at an excellent value. Heavy-duty protections, including OVP (Over Voltage Protection), UVP (Under Voltage Protection), OCP (Over Current Protection), OPP (Over Power Protection), SCP (Short Circuit Protection), and OTP (Over Temperature Protection).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It comes very professionally packed with instructions and all sorts of wires that plug in the back of the power house using a modular system. NOTE: This power supply is slightly longer than my old one which made for a tight fit behind it where my DVD Drive sits. SUMMARY: Going modular is THE way to go when you want to avoid having unnecessary wire clutter in the CPU box and this EVGA SuperNOVA is perfect! (just double check physical size to make sure it will fit for you). My mission is to provide fair and honest reviews."
"I'm using a Corsair 780T case which has pretty normally spaced hard drive cages with a special place for SSDs in the back. For most people this won't matter, but I have a good amount of hard drives (around 7) and it was painful to get all this set up. If your hard drives are spread around or in strange places, this unit might make you invent new profanity getting all this plugged in."
"Other brands have a more "horizontal" configuration, which in my specific case, would've been much easier to tuck away behind the motherboard tray."
"I purchased this to install in a Dell Inspiron 3847 in advanced of purchasing a new graphics card that required a more capable power supply than came with from the factory."
Best Computer Graphics Cards
The EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 is loaded with innovative new gaming technologies, making it the perfect choice for the latest high-definition games. Real Base Clock: 1607 MHz / Real Boost Clock: 1835 MHz; Memory Detail: 6144MB GDDR5.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Review for: 1060 SC Gaming ACX 2.0 Single Fan 6GB. If you are as curious as I was to what the difference of single vs twin fan cards are, I found the simple answer browsing some PC build forums. -Single fan cards also don't stand up to overclocking as much as twin fans because of heat dissipation. You really don't need a twin fan model, or really anything above a 1060 if you're a basic gamer that doesn't care about looks and just wants a high performance card you don't plan on messing with."
"Runs everything I throw at it."
"I could tell my EVGA GTX 780ti was starting to get tired, but that was to be expected after 4+ years of solid usage gaming etc. It was a nice upgrade besides being faster, running a lot cooler, quieter (the fans don't even come on until the card is gaming or something like that) and it was smaller by at least 25%. In the end, give it a try if price is an issue, but you still want a solid gaming video card."
"I would say it's a given that you need a good, quality fan (or other means) to cool the graphics card for these high performance cards."
"This card will easily hit 90C @100% fan speed and thermal shutdown before cooking itself, thanks to GPU Boost 3.0. * For multi-monitor use during boot, the monitor I have plugged into the HDMI port will power off for power saving before I can get to the desktop because this card won't output to it until after I'm signed in and the Nvidia software can tell the card to start using it."
"This will run any game I love it, running Final Fantasy 14 online at over 100 frames per second I almost went for a 1070 or 1080 but I don't even see the point after using this it is just fine for any game and will even do virtual reality."
"After pulling it back out of my system and examining it closely, I see some type of residue on the circuit board that looks like something was spilled on it. The replacement had some grease on the bracket and a white sticker with pen hand writing stuck on the circuit board. I would like to be contacted directly by this seller so we can resolve this issue and I can get the product that I actually paid for."
Best Computer Internal Sound Cards
Creative Sound Blaster ZX SBX PCIE Gaming Sound Card with Audio Control Module The Sound Blaster Zx elevates the standards of technology and performance for the future of gaming and entertainment on the PC. 3.5mm gold plated headphone jack driven by the 600 Ohm Maxim MAX97220 amp 3.5mm gold plated microphone jack 3.5mm gold plated 5.1 channel connections TOSLINK digital audio input and outputs. SBX Pro Studio Technologies SBX Pro Studio sound technologies create unprecedented levels of audio realism, including stunning 3D surround effects for your speakers and headsets. Sound Core3D Audio Processor The quad-core Sound Core3D audio processor is to designed to offload SBX Pro Studio and CrystalVoice effects processing from your primary CPU, improving your overall PC performance, resulting in drastically superior audio and voice quality. Audio Processor 2x Sound Core3D. Sound Core3D. Sound Core3D Audio Resolution 24-Bit/96 kHz. 24-Bit/96 kHz. 24-Bit/96 kHz Digital Audio Converter TI Burr-Brown with Fine Gold Caps. Cirrus Logic. Cirrus Logic Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). (20kHz Low-pass filter, A-Wgt), @24-bi, 96kHz 124dB. 116dB. 116dB I/O Ports (Main Card) Headphone: 1x Amplified 1/4" jack. Speaker Out: 2x RCS (L/R). 2x 3.5mm jacks (Rear, C/Sub). Mircrophone In: 1x 1/4" jack. Headphone: 1x Amplified 3.5mm jack. Speaker Out: 3x 3.5mm jacks (F/R/C-Sub). Line/Mic In: 1x shared 3.5mm jack. Optical Out: 1x TOSLINK. Optical In: 1x TOSLINK. Headphone: 1x Amplified 3.5mm jack. Speaker Out: 3x 3.5mm jacks (F/R/C-Sub). Line/Mic In: 1x shared 3.5mm jack. Optical Out: 1x TOSLINK. Optical In: 1x TOSLINK I/O Ports (DBPro Card) Line In: 2x RC (L/R). Optical Out: 1x TOSLINK. Optical In: 1x TOSLINK. N/A. N/A Digital Audio Converter TI Burr-Brown with Fine Gold Caps. Cirrus Logic. Cirrus Logic Shielding EMI and Copper Plating. EMI. EMI Included Accessories Audio Control Module. (with built-in Beamforming Microphone). Audio Control Module. (with built-in Beamforming Microphone). Beamforming Microphone Creative Sound Blaster ZX SBX PCIE Gaming Sound Card with Audio Control Module View larger. Creative Sound Blaster ZX SBX PCIE Gaming Sound Card with Audio Control Module The Sound Blaster Zx elevates the standards of technology and performance for the future of gaming and entertainment on the PC. SBX Pro Studio Technologies SBX Pro Studio sound technologies create unprecedented levels of audio realism, including stunning 3D surround effects for your speakers and headsets. Sound Core3D Audio Processor The quad-core Sound Core3D audio processor is to designed to offload SBX Pro Studio and CrystalVoice effects processing from your primary CPU, improving your overall PC performance, resulting in drastically superior audio and voice quality. Features Sound Core3D Audio Processor for accelerating advanced audio and voice technologies.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Decent card for gaming, music and movies, sound quality is superb. If Creative simply added a cover to the open end of the card of gave a way of turning the the lights off, the card would be worth 4 stars."
"The cable on the controller is annoying in my setup as it is kinda stiff, but i need it to go over a 1 inch ledge so it wouldn't be a big deal to most."
"I'm a fan of modern and classic rock, and listening to music directly from this soundcard with good headphones (Sony MDR-7506) was like hearing it for the first time in my life, I can't believe how much I've been missing (even with the same headphones). I started the first tune and my headphones didnt reach my ears before I had to turn the volume down to 10 on a scale of 1-100."
"Anyways, long story short, if you are tired of onboard audio, lackluster music, and poor gaming, and have a budget of less than $100, this is probably the sound card for you. The included software gives you a nice bass boost option that performs very well and keeps everything sounding clean. I did mess about in Borderlands the Presequal and Warframe, and the sound improvements did help with pinpointing things. There is an FPS mode in the bundled software that is supposed to make it easier to hear footsteps and sounds around you for competitive games, but I did not try this extensively. You miss out on some of the extras like swappable op amps (also present in the $200 ZxR), but overall, I'm impressed. On top of the price tag that is 2.5 - 3 times higher than the Z, I don't think it's worth going more expensive than this, and if you do, I would recommend a desktop Amp/dac instead of an in-case option. If you've got nice headphones but a budget for an amp/dac and you are tired of onboard audio, this is an excellent choice and I don't think you'll beat it for the money."
"A big boost in sound quality, especially for music, after installation of this card--no matter what anyone says about the integrated sound in a new generation PC."
Best Laptop Computer Replacement Parts
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Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Then restored user accounts, apps, etc, from the HD just removed from the Mac, attached with this cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJZJI84/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (rather than using time machine backup). Will be interesting to see if there is any noticeable improvement in battery life and how the drive performs after a year or so (given TRIM is not permitted by Apple on third-party SSDs). I realize the case is superfluous and rather irrelevant in an internal SSD (it will never be seen again after re-inserting the back cover), but once installed amid the tidy MacBook innards, the drive looks perfectly at home, actually matching the other components in terms of aesthetics."
"Once done, I powered off and removed the back case of the Macbook- removed the four screws that retained the HHD and slipped the SATA connector off. I connected the new SSD via the SATA connector and replaced all retaining screws (after removing the hex screws from the HHD, I placed them on the new SSD)."
"I searched the web and there were many complaints that some systems will not recognize this device and suggest some far-out-there solutions whereas I found a simple, effective and without downloading anything. That is until I saw a Reddit article with a simple solution (I have Windows 7 HP 64Bit): 1. Reboot your computer and go into the boot manager, usually F12 and select DVD Drive as the first bootable device instead of your SSD. Reboot again and a program will load from the DVD where you will select "Startup Repair". Allow "startup repair" to fix the problem and reboot your PC. I really hope this works for some of you who have this irritating problem."
Best Internal Computer Networking Cards
Features Achieves a maximum theoretical throughput of up to 450Mbps Supports dual-band, 2.4GHz or 5GHz Seamlessly compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n products Experience smoother video streaming and online gaming by choosing the clearer 5GHz band for wireless connections Supports 64/128 WEP, WPA /WPA2/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK(TKIP/AES), supports IEEE 802.1X Supports Windows XP 32/64bit, Vista 32/64bit, Windows 7 32/64bit Supports ad-hoc and infrastructure mode Bundled utility provides quick & hassle-free installation. 150Mbps Wireless N PCI Adapter. 150Mbps Wireless PCI Express Adapter. 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Adapter. (This Product). 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter. 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Adapter. 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter Model TL-WN751ND. TL-WN781ND. TL-WN851ND. TL-WN881ND. TL-WN951N. TL-WDN4800 Speed Up to 150 Mbps. Up to 150 Mbps. Up to 300 Mbps. Up to 300 Mbps. Up to 300 Mbps. Up to 450 Mbps Range Good. Good. Better. Better. Best. Best Wireless N. Easy Setup. HD Video Streaming & Multiplayer Online Gaming Good. Good. Better. Better. Better. Best Antenna Type Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable CCA Technology. You are recommended to upgrade your router to the latest version of firmware and utility(USB Printer Controller) to support more printers and for better user experience.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Incredible."
"bought this for a friend, he says it works great, its strong, supports most setups if they are configured correctly, fairly easy to use, in our case it was pretty much plug in and use because windows 10 auto detected it and installed the things we needed."
"With the old wifi card, the speed is only 7 mbps out of 20 mbps when the computer is kinda far away from the wifi router."
"Works great."
"Exactly as advertised and not dicernable from a wired connection."
"This fixed the dead spot in my home office."
"In comparison, an older PCI Express was detecting 5mbps from the 2.4Ghz and this one was detecting at least 15mbps."
"They do not permit returns for some reason? I was able to return my N900 just fine but the N300 I got for my little brother Amazon says they do not accept returns of this particular product."
Best Internal Memory Card Readers
Offers a free download of RecoveRx data recovery software.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"That's why I purchased this Transcend Information USB 3.0 Card Reader (TS-RDF5K) just to try it out, even through all my computers only have USB 2.0 ports. Upon arrival of the RDF5, I benchmarked over one dozen of my SDHC and microSDHC memory cards, with speed rating from class-4 to class-10 and UHS-1. The Transcend 32 GB Class 10 UHS Flash Memory Card TS32GSDHC10U1E also shows nearly identical improvement. Once I upgrade to a new computer with USB 3.0 ports, I expect the benchmark results to be even better - at least for my fastest cards."
"I bought this to transfer data from a 64GB SanDisk micro SD card to a 64GB Transcend micro SD card newly installed in my BlackBerry Z30."
"The Transcend RDF5K memory card reader is available in black or white and supports SDHC UHS-I, SDXC UHS-I, UDMA6/UDMA7 CF and MSXC memory card formats. Transcend RDF8 Memory Card Features: Super-Speed USB 3.0 interface (also compatible with USB 2.0). Supports SDHC UHS-I, SDXC UHS-I, UDMA6/UDMA7 CF and MSXC cards. Transfer high-resolution images and video recordings to your computer faster and more efficiently. Utilize the full speed potential of your memory cards. USB powered (no external power or battery needed). Blue LED indicator light for card insertion & data transfer activity. Supports SD & CF built-in security functions. The body of the Transcend RDF8 USB 3.0 card reader is made from plastic and the top of the device has a glossy finish."
Best External TV Tuners
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Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Then restored user accounts, apps, etc, from the HD just removed from the Mac, attached with this cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJZJI84/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (rather than using time machine backup). Will be interesting to see if there is any noticeable improvement in battery life and how the drive performs after a year or so (given TRIM is not permitted by Apple on third-party SSDs). I realize the case is superfluous and rather irrelevant in an internal SSD (it will never be seen again after re-inserting the back cover), but once installed amid the tidy MacBook innards, the drive looks perfectly at home, actually matching the other components in terms of aesthetics."
"Once done, I powered off and removed the back case of the Macbook- removed the four screws that retained the HHD and slipped the SATA connector off. I connected the new SSD via the SATA connector and replaced all retaining screws (after removing the hex screws from the HHD, I placed them on the new SSD)."
"I searched the web and there were many complaints that some systems will not recognize this device and suggest some far-out-there solutions whereas I found a simple, effective and without downloading anything. That is until I saw a Reddit article with a simple solution (I have Windows 7 HP 64Bit): 1. Reboot your computer and go into the boot manager, usually F12 and select DVD Drive as the first bootable device instead of your SSD. Reboot again and a program will load from the DVD where you will select "Startup Repair". Allow "startup repair" to fix the problem and reboot your PC. I really hope this works for some of you who have this irritating problem."
Best Desktop Barebones
Also included in this Raspberry Pi 3 Starter Kit is a high quality Raspberry Pi 3 case as well as the recommended Raspberry Pi 32 GB Class 10 MicroSD Card pre-loaded with NOOBS. Made in UK Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3) Model B Quad-Core 1.2 GHz 1 GB RAM On-board WiFi and Bluetooth Connectivity 32 GB MicroSD Card (Class 10) - Raspberry Pi Recommended MicroSD Card with NOOBS USB MicroSD Card Reader CanaKit 2.5A Micro USB Power Supply with Noise Filter (UL Listed) specially designed for the Raspberry Pi 3 (5-foot cable) High Quality Raspberry Pi 3 Case Premium Quality HDMI Cable with CEC support (6-foot cable) 2 x Heat Sinks GPIO Quick Reference Card CanaKit Full Color Quick-Start Guide. 32 GB Micro SD Card (Class 10) - Raspberry Pi Recommended Micro SD Card pre-loaded with NOOBS, USB MicroSD Card Reader.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Was very happy with the shipment time and the Canna Kit Raspberry PI 3 kit product, but PLEASE be aware Canna Kit is sending out an older version of the Raspbarian OS software (pre Raspberry PI 3) on the MicroSD card, and out of the box this version of the OS software will not recognize the built in WIFI device."
"If you want to run Raspbian, Ubuntu Mate, Retropie, or any distro with a desktop, you'll need at least 3.5GB; making an 8GB card usable but not comfortable. To speed that up, grab a "Sandisk Extreme PRO Card Reader", which uses USB 3.0. I suggest the "Makerfire Raspberry Pi B+ Case Protective Case Enclosure Box with Mini Cooling Fan Heatsink Kit" (plastic, can easily remove microSD), or from EleDuino (aluminum, cannot easily remove microSD). The Canakit case, without a fan, was hitting 75 C / 167 F running FF7 on PSX in Retropie. I was really surprised, and re-ran the test, playing the game for 30 min each time to let it stabilize, and got the same results. The downside to running any Raspberry Pi is getting all of the USB dongles to fit. If you want to use the RPi3 to run as an HTPC settop media player box, check out OSMC, and grab a remote w/ USB receiver. The downside is that Debian and Ubuntu will not natively run Netflix, they just don't have enough GPU to process Silverlight through the browser. You can't expect high throughput from an embedded wifi chip without an external antenna. If you do want faster speeds with low latency, look into a wifi AC 600Mbps USB dongle."
"But this was the only way I was going to get one by Saturday, and besides, I get the newly required power supply, which I have to have anyway, two heat sinks, a case, and a pre-loaded micro SD. I got the Pi 3, a very nice black case with a laser cut Raspberry Pi logo, the power supply, the heat sinks, a very nice quality 6' HDMI cable that I was not expecting, a keychain style card reader which wasn't even listed in the product description, and not just any SD card, but a 32 Gb Kingston micro SD card, the only brand I use, pre-loaded with NOOBS. The presentation and quality was absolutely outstanding, a very nice piece of kit and of good value."
"I used mine to make an arcade."
"I currently have a nice large library of NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, PS1, Neo Geo, and Arcade (MAME) games installed."
Best External Sound Cards
Description: This Sabrent AU-MMSA 2.1 Audio Sound Card Adapter is a highly flexible audio interface, which can be used with either laptop or desktop system. No driver required, plug-and-play for instant audio playing and compliant with all mainstream operation systems. USB audio sound adapter Warranty information: Connectors: USB Type-A, Stereo output jack, Mono microphone-input jack.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"While I do stand by my original review, I felt it was right to add these new findings, since this review is rated as the top comment and will most likely be seen by future customers. ***ORIGINAL OCTOBER 25, 2015***. I had a damaged microphone port on my computer, so unfortunately, Neewer® 2X 3.5mm Hands Free Computer Clip on Mini Lapel Microphone (2X Lapel Microphone) that I had bought wasn't working. I even tested the mic on other computers, which it worked perfectly. In the Playback tab, make your built in speakers the default, and then go to the Recording tab and then make the USB the default for the microphone. Now I did test the audio capacity too, just to see how it was, and it sounds find."
"It seems the port is a weak point and the school lacks the resources to get them fixed (when you even can convince the teacher it's the port and not the headphones.)."
"Plugged it in, ran a 'pulseaudio --kill', to reset the sound, and my system was then able to detect this new usb audio output device."
"So after some research I found out that Its probably my sound card and or drivers that are giving me trouble."
"My laptop lost all sound when my home was getting 240 volts to all outlets because of a broken neutral wire from the meter."
"Her computer did not have trouble recognizing it and guiding you to make it the default sound device to output to external speakers."
"The sound card in my PC was outdated and I could not get drivers for it."
Best Network I/O Port Cards
Simply insert the adapter into a USB 3.0 port on your computer and begin to transfer large video, audio, and graphics files between your workstation and the network. 2.Windows7/XP/Vista, Mac OS10.6,10.11 El Capitan and above, Linux kernel 4.x/3.x/2.6.x require driver install via download or included disk. 3.Reboot your PC after driver installation,then connect this USB ethernet adapter to your computer and ethernet. 4.Not supported on ARM-based Windows,including Surface RT and Surface 2. 5.Mac System:System Preference--Network--Add a new network connection. 6. PROTECT OR REPLACE A BROKEN ETHERNET PORT: USB 3.0 to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter is a good accessory to protect the RJ45 Lan port in your expensive computer, or replace a broken Ethernet port. COMPATIBILITY: This USB to Gigabit Ethernet adapter work with Windows 8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Mac OSX 10.6/10.7/10.8/10.9/10.10/10.11/10.12, Linux kernel 3.x/2.6, and Chrome OS.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Works great on Nintendo Switch."
"Received unit quickly and it works great with my Macbook Air."
"I used a USB C to USB 3 adapter and connected that to this USB 3 network adapter."
"Excellent little device to provide a speedy Ethernet connection to a device without an Ethernet port or to give your current machine a faster connection port via USB."
"Works as described, on Win10, on Win8.1, on Win7, on my nintendo switch, its intended purpose (with out needed drivers). Will update with photos & mini video of the adapter in use on the nintendo switch."
"As the title says, works out of the box for Nintendo switch."
"The adapter provides an excellent increase to Internet speed for laptops without a dedicated RJ-45 port."
"Purchased for the Nintendo Switch due to its poor wifi."
Best Internal Fans & Cooling Components
Style: 4 Heat Pipes |. Color: Hyper 212 Evo. Well-balanced cooling performance provides fin optimizations with perfect balance between high and low speed operations. Well-balanced cooling performance provides fin optimizations with perfect balance between high and low speed operations.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Purchased the AMD FX-8350 with the intent of not overclocking it for now and stick with its stock heat sink and fan. For the first few weeks, the stock cooling ramped up on the RPM for fan speed when I played most games (ie. Built an identical system for the girlfriend but with a different case which included more case fans. I purchased a few 120mm case fans and installed them. This cooler only comes with one fan but includes the additional clips to attach another 120mm fan. I had to take out the top two 120mm case fans due to the case not having enough room but did place one of them as the second fan on this cooler and set it up to where the airflow goes through the heat sink for better cooling."
"Alignment of the heat sink makes it hard to install ram once installed if using all 4 slots, would advise to have ram in place before installed. Cons: Excess heat pipes at the top of the unit make it not fit in my Apevia Mid Tower."
"I've always used the stock cooler that came with my CPUs because my logic was that those coolers are designed to work with those CPUs and I don't over clock therefore did not need a bigger cooler. After doing some researching my two options were either get a new PSU as a failing power supply can cause the issues I was having or I could buy a new CPU cooler since I noticed that my computer was idling mid to high 50 degree Celsius. I used to not mind the minor fan noise that came from my PC, but compared to how quiet it is now those stock coolers are loud. This cooler does come with some thermal paste with which to apply and install the cooler but I had some higher quality stuff laying around from a previous mother board upgrade/replacement so I used it instead. I'm not sure of the quality of the thermal paste that comes with the cooler but I'd probably spend a couple extra bucks and buy you a high quality paste alongside your order of this cooler just to be safe. When I ordered this cooler I ordered a double pack of the fans found at this link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F6S10KK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. So this cooler isn't the sole upgrade I did and I have since ordered another single pack of the fan I linked and a molex adapter so I'll now go from just 2 exhaust fans to 3 intake and 2 exhast. My point is, your differences may not be as drastic as mine as I've made other cooling upgrades to aid this cooler, even then the cooler itself has proven to be putting in work."
"I'm hoping my new case, a deepcool tesseract, will resolve this issue and I will be able to overclock my CPU to where I want it to be."
Best KVM Switches
This advanced HD KVMP can increase efficiency and save equipment cost for applications where HD resolutions, large or widescreen HD monitors are used and required such as: Desktop Publishing/Graphic Design/Video Editing, Digital Home Entertainment, High-End Gaming, where high video resolution (1080p HD) is demanded IOGEAR’s 2-Port HD KVM Switch supports HD digital inputs from:, Home/Office Computers/Laptops, HTPC’s (Home Theater PC's) Game Consoles, such as PS3 Connect your high definition display or HDTV (flat panel, plasma, DLP, digital TV’s). Share a display with HDMI connection, a USB keyboard and mouse, with 2 USB computers ;Separate the Internet and Intranet with the click of a button. IOGEAR's DynaSync reads and remembers the monitor's parameters (EDID) so there is no delay or change of video resolution when switching between, or booting computers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I hooked up the laptop via HDMI to a big monitor while the tower was connected to the same monitor via VGA cable. Yes, as others said, there's some not so clear text sometimes and also some windows--especially on left panels--seem to go too far to the left. Oh, by using this device, I am able to get rid of the HDMI cable because I am using the VGA cable connections to both the tower and the laptop."
"My only gripes are that the cable for the remote is so thin, I'm afraid it might get damaged under constant wear, and tear, and that it would've been even better had the device indicator LEDs been on the remote, rather than on the very part of the cable system which is now tucked away, behind monitors, where it belongs. My only concern is that by adding cable length to USB devices, signal strength could degrade a bit, but I've not noticed any problems with just a keyboard, and mouse."
"Both my MacBook Pro and Windows PC were moving the desktop and resize windows every time I switched away from them because in both machines the desktop is setup to span 2 monitors. The GCS922U disconnects the monitor when switching, thus causing the computer to automatically move the desktop to the other, still connected monitor. Be aware that this model has the Mouse Emulation feature defaulted to the on position and if you have anything other than an ancient mouse you will likely need to turn the feature off (via keyboard commands) before your mouse will work."
"I had a different brand 2 port KVM, and added a computer, so I needed a 4 port. The 2 port device I had, had no latency(about a second), and the resolution wasn't messing with everything and moving all my windows around. And on the same PC's that a different brand 2 port worked fine without latency or display problems."
Best Internal Optical Drives
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Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"One thing I did not know about PC Blu Ray players is that the computer will need a third party software to play the media."
"The drive is quick and quiet as well, both in operation and when the tray opens and closes."
"it doesn't rip blurays any faster than my old 4x unit."
"Works perfectly."
"This is a UHD "Friendly" drive."
"Replacement drive for my old dvd burner LightScribe drive."
"It's nice and quiet, but contrary to what another reviewer stated, the version I received definitely had riplock features."
"This gets a LOT of use in digitizing all of my blu-ray movies for easy viewing, and having the faster speed (as opposed to my older drive that broke down) has been a huge plus."
Best External Optical Drives
Color: Black. Max 8x DVDR Write Speed.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"[Update 12/1/16] I can verify this works with the Surface Pro 4, and Windows 10 with no problems."
"I opened the box, plugged it into a USB 3.0 port (and no, this drive is USB 2.0, but DVD/CD drives just aren't fast enough to ever need USB 3.0) on my MacBook Pro, and I was good to go."
"I am not very computer savvy and I needed an external DVD because the new laptop did not come with one - my fault - I thought all laptops came with a DVD player."
"VLC media player works great and it's free open source software that plays DVD movies from the external player. I was tempted to rate player 4 stars because LG's customer service isn't conducive to folks on the West Coast and the Quick Set-up Guide doesn't seem to acknowledge that the user may need to install more software than the writer software that's included."
"It fits in nicely beside the drive in the carry case that I purchased to protect the drive when not in use."
"As many new PCs do not come with a DVD writer, but yet still need backup and rescue disks made, this is good insurance."
"This is a great working product, at first I had trouble and blamed it on the DDVR and was going to return but after talking to a friend it was my Video Player program."
"still working 8 months later with regular use - added to a desktop that the disc reader died - the case could be sturdier - use caution handling."
Best Internal TV Tuner & Video Capture Cards
Technical Specifications Interface: USB 3.0 Input: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Wii U (unencrypted HDMI) Output: HDMI (lag-free pass-through) Supported resolutions: 1080p60, 1080p30, 1080i, 720p60, 720p30, 576p, 576i, 480p Dimensions: 4.4 x 3 x 0.75 in Weight: 3.7 oz Comes with: Elgato Game Capture HD60 S, USB cable, HDMI cable. Instant Gameview: stream with superior low latency technology.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The only thing i concern about is the latency problem, because i use this product not only to record my gameplay but also use it as a real-time display to my iMac (yes, because i don't have an extra monitor and TV to play my game console, i hope this capture card can do both)."
"This issue presents itself very often when working with HDMI Splitters and HDMI Switches. I've noticed the type of. HDMI cable can makes a huge difference to how often it occurs. HDMI 1.0-1.4 cords used in Switch/Splitter setups have a high rate of this. occurring."
"Otherwise, I recommend Audacity for recording PC audio, including the Microphone, as the capture software records in pretty low-quality bitrates with audio but the video quality is perfect!"
"To work around this I have to use one to record/stream. I preferred using the elgato software on my previous capture card but this time with this particular capture card I cannot do that because of the horrible audio when any commentary is spoken."
"Works great and, best of all, works directly with OBS unlike a certain other device I have that recently died *cough* hauppauge hdpvr 2 *cough*. I would 100% recommend this over the HDPVR2."
"(A feature I REALLY appreciate, since I tend to forget to press Record) Also, if anything should happen to go wrong, or you have questions, the customer support team is top notch!"
"My Elgato would sometimes record everything and other times once I hit stop record would only save the last hour."
"The Elgato Game Capture works but the function that I needed was when it full screened, it took up the entire monitor."