Bren's stats
- Review count230
- Helpfulness votes1,732
- First reviewDecember 27, 2016
- Last reviewJuly 12, 2025
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.8
Reviews comments
- Review comment count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First review commentNone
- Last review commentNone
- Featured review comments0
Questions
- Question count0
- Helpfulness votes0
- First questionNone
- Last questionNone
- Featured questions0
- Answer count11
- Helpfulness votes1
- First answerDecember 27, 2016
- Last answerNovember 4, 2021
- Featured answers0
- Best answers1
You deserve the absolute highest quality HDMI has to offer, and Rocketfish is prepared to deliver. This Ultra High Speed HDMI Certified cable boasts an incredible 4K @ 120 Hz, 8K @ 60 Hz and even up to 10k video experience. It features a blistering fast bandwidth speed of 48 Gbps for flawless picture quality and is certified for in-wall use. It supports must-needed performance enhancers such as Quick Frame Transport, Dynamic HDR and Variable Refresh Rate for an overall unbeatable video experience. Sound quality is equally important, with support for DTSMaster, DTS-X and Dolby TrueHD/Atmos formats. It's also backwards compatible to work with all HDMI components..
Customer Rating
5
A professional and future proof HDMI Cable!
on September 21, 2024
Posted by: Bren
I have been on a journey recently trying to get the right HDMI cable for my home entertainment setup that actually suits my needs. I have a 4K OLED TV and a 4K Apple TV unit that I could just not seem to get the proper cable combination for in order to get the benefits of both HDMI Arc and a full 4K Dolby Vision picture. 3 cables later, I am pleased finally be using this cable and to know that what I have is a cable that is essentially future proof for the next 5-10 years. It is an 8K 48gbps cable, which means that this in-wall certified cable will be up to the task of providing in-wall certified connection as 8K televisions start to proliferate in the next years, and I eventually acquire one. This cable is pricey, but trust me, it is far cheaper compared to some out there. There are legitimately HDMI cables that run in the hundreds and THOUSANDS of dollar ranges. I would say this cable is an excellent balance of price to performance and is far and above any flimsy HDMI cable you are going to get included with a Blu-ray player or gaming console. 5 out of 5 stars for sure for finally being the cable to solve my connection issues and that will keep me supplied in gorgeous pixels and device control for years to come!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
-1point
1of 3voted this as helpful.
Discover the GMMK 3 PRO, the world’s most customizable gaming keyboard, capable of over 1 billion possible configurations. It offers gamers complete control over every aspect of their experience, enhancing gaming performance, typing feel, and aesthetics like never before. Crafted with a full aluminum body, the GMMK 3 PRO premium quality material. The CNC-machined top and bottom cases provide a robust weight and durability, while the sleek anodized finish ensures an enduring, sophisticated aesthetic that stands out in any setup. Customization reaches new heights with the GMMK 3 PRO’s 9 points of modularity. This highly modular design allows you to easily swap out parts, tailoring the keyboard’s look, sound, and feel to your exact preferences. The innovative Modular Gasket System (MGS) further enhances this flexibility, enabling you to adjust the internal gaskets for a firmer or more flexible typing experience. Whatever your preference is, you are in the driver’s seat. Take your typing experience to the next level with 5-pin MX hotswap support. Easily plug and play with a wide range of Glorious MX switch styles to define your GMMK 3 PRO’s typing sound and feel, all without the need for soldering. The keyboard also features sound-dampening foam, with two layers of dense foam within the case that absorb unwanted resonance, providing a satisfyingly clean acoustic profile. The GMMK 3 PRO is equipped with GPBT double-shot Keycaps, designed for durability and clarity. These keycaps are built to last, resisting fade and shine over time, and allowing your RGB lighting to shine through brightly, adding a vibrant and clear touch to your setup. Elevate your gaming and typing experience with the GMMK 3 PRO, where every detail is designed to provide unparalleled customization and performance.
Customer Rating
5
A factory pro level keyboard ready to customize!
on September 21, 2024
Posted by: Bren
I am incredibly impressed with this keyboard. It feels so good to leave the expensive but often underfeatured mainstream gaming PC peripheral companies behind to try out a keyboard from a company trying to do things differently for the price. The marketing for this device says that Glorious makes the world’s most customizable gaming keyboards, and I am pretty inclined to endorse this claim judging from what I am seeing.
This keyboard is fully equipped for users to try things out and get the experience they want from this device. It comes equipped in this model with Glorious Fox red linear switches, and they are absolutely some of the nicest red switches I have ever tried. The accuracy, smoothness, and repeatability of these keys are astonishing and refreshing in standard typing and gaming scenarios with frenetic and rapid key tapping. As if it wasn’t enough to have the factory switches ready to go out of the box, Glorious includes a sample pack of switches for you to sample, complete with puller tools and instructions. I found that the included sample of the Raptor (crisp and clicky) switch felt really good and that may be where I go in the future with my keyboard. Customizability features such as RGB and macros programming are excellent in the Glorious Core software. They are easy to navigate and far more intuitive than other competing gaming peripheral software I have tried, like iCUE. Good on you, Glorious!
A cool and unique feature of this keyboard is the true support it offers for MacOS users. Rather than just being a plug-and-play keyboard that misses out on some of the shortcuts and features of a proper MacOS keyboard, Glorious gives you the means to make that a reality! They included two option keycaps and two command keycaps (crucial for those great shortcuts in productivity work), and there is even a switch built into the keyboard on the back that switches it from Windows OS features to MacOS! That is super awesome and supports that this as a highly flexible and dynamic keyboard for all users.
The build quality of this keyboard is amazing and judging from what I can tell, is on par with some of the higher-end customizable keyboards out there. The all metal construction results in this being a solid and heavy keyboard which speaks highly to its pro status. I chose this specific wired model because, as a streamer and a gamer, I have realized that wireless devices often introduce reliability and connectivity issues into the mix that can mess up a stream or my gaming performance. Furthermore, battery life anxiety is something I don't particularly appreciate having to tolerate for multiple devices. My headsets are always wireless, but I do not mind my keyboard and mouse being wired, plain and simple.
Altogether, relative to the crap household brand companies are trying to stuff down our throats as a good value when they aren’t in this price range, I am going to give this keyboard a solid and well-earned 5 stars out of 5. I will be recommending this keyboard to all of my friends. Thanks for reading and hope this review has helped you out!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Hercules Stream 100 is a an easy-to-use and effective audio controller that lets you stop worrying about audio settings during your livestreams, and react quickly. Thanks to this audio controller with a built-in LCD screen, you can manage all your audio sources in real time: games, chat software, music, USB microphone, and more. Hercules Stream 100 lets you individually view and control the sound level of each audio track directly onscreen. Instantly enable, turn down the volume, turn up the volume, mute or unmute the sound! More than an audio controller, Hercules Stream 100 is also a command center: you’ll love using the 4 handy assignable action buttons to customize your controls (multiple mute, URL launcher, scene change). Stop worrying about audio settings and focus on your viewers. See your sound..
Customer Rating
5
Better value than big-name competitors!
on September 6, 2024
Posted by: Bren
This stream deck and audio mixer is honestly one of the better accessories I have added to my streaming gear arsenal. It is highly versatile, customizable for my purposes, and comes in at an excellent price that is perfect for an aspiring streamer who doesn’t want to spend too much money out the gate on something they aren’t sure they need. It is due for some optimization in the firmware, but I am confident that will come with time.
This Hercules Stream 100 is perfect for non-XLR, USB mic users like me who need a simple, physical interface for controlling the mix of audio in their computer and the ability to have some handy quick launch buttons for things like specific websites or actions like “push to mute” for their microphone. This audio mixer is really simple to set up with just one single USB-C to USB-A cable included to plug into your computer. From there, you download the software from the Hercules website. I will fully admit that I am not a fully optimized streamer with my audio. I use a simple Wireless Headset/Mic combo, and I usually only have a few things running in my streams like my game, Spotify, and Discord for communication. Thus, when I saw how intuitive the Hercules Stream Control software was to drag and drop my different programs into custom control slots, I was absolutely thrilled! Being able to have control over my most important audio sources in a stream without having to individually control them via their separate software interfaces or other digital means is amazing. I can turn them up and down with ease on this mixer. Furthermore, I have my three most commonly used websites set for quick launch: My Twitch page, Twitch Stream Manager, and Nightbot. Each can now launch with just the press of a button on my second page of controls on this mixer.
There is a small area for improvement. I believe it is related to the current firmware iteration 1.40 at the time of this review. I am having issues with the device going to sleep with my Windows 11 equipped computer but not waking up and being able to be interacted with from time to time. I have to physically unplug the back of the device and then plug it back in for it to work. It's not a huge deal to me, but it’s definitely rather irritating.
Overall, I will give this mixer a 5 out of 5 stars. Any trouble I am having is purely software/firmware related and has nothing to do that I can tell with this excellently built and eminently handy audio mixer/streaming device. Thanks for reading and I hope this review has helped you out!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Introducing a 27” QHD IPS gaming monitors that checks all the boxes with impeccable visuals, lightning-quick speed and optimized ergonomics. The UltraGear is a compact 27-inch QHD IPS display, delivering crisp vivid visuals with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels that makes games look great from virtually any viewing angle. And with an ultra-fast 180Hz refresh rate and a 1ms GtG (Gray-to-Gray) response time, every frame renders silky smooth, and offers virtually blur-free gameplay even in the most action-packed moments. The display shows off vivid color and contrast with HDR10 and up to 99% sRGB color gamut coverage. From vast gaming landscapes to intense battles, details are brought to life with astonishing clarity. And screen tearing and stuttering are virtually eliminated thanks to NVIDIA G-SYNC Compatible² and AMD FreeSync technologies, which synchronize the monitor's refresh rate with your graphics card, delivering tear-free, smooth gameplay. On your desktop, immerse yourself in the action with the 3-side virtually borderless design, which minimizes distractions from your field of view. And optimize the display to your specs with tilt, height, and pivot adjustable stand, allowing you to find the perfect viewing angle for maximum comfort. Whether you're gaming for hours on end or tackling productivity tasks, UltraGear ensures you stay comfortable and focused as you ascend your game.
Customer Rating
5
A great purchase for PC and Modern Console users!
on August 29, 2024
Posted by: Bren
I am super pleased with this gaming monitor. This monitor is what I would describe as “up to date” for what gamers should be looking for in this price range in terms of performance and connectivity options. First, the HDMI ports on this monitor are HDMI 2.1. This means that PS5 and Xbox Series X users can get the maximum 120FPS frame rate out of their consoles when hooked up to this monitor, if they game and graphic settings support that high of frames, of course. For PC gamers running newer GPUs, you can take advantage of the single display port on this monitor (wish there were two) or the HDMI 2.1 ports to connect up to your GPU and get buttery smooth frames as high as 180FPS thanks to the 180hz screen on this monitor. I ran this monitor off of a display port connection on my 4070 Super GPU and enjoyed high-refresh gaming at my favorite resolution of 1440p. I feel like 1440p gaming is still the sweet spot resolution-wise for gamers. It is not as demanding as 4K, nor as expensive a panel as a 4K monitor would have, but it still offers crisp images at this 27” inch size. Many professional gamers, esports players, and streamers prefer 24” to 27” monitors to this day for highest performance capability.
LG is always a go-to display device brand for me, from its TVs to its monitors. Many other companies use LG panels in their monitors, and there are good reasons for this.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Connect BRAVIA CAM for an even more dynamic viewing experience and enjoy video chat on the big screen along with Ambient Optimization Pro for great picture and sound wherever you are in the room. Compatible with select 2022 Sony TVs – Z9K, X95K, A95K, A90K, A80K, X90K, X85K, X80K, 2023 Sony TVs - A95L, A80L, X95L, X93L, X90L, select 2024 Sony TVs – BRAVIA 9, BRAVIA 8, BRAVIA 7
Customer Rating
3
An exciting but niche offering for Sony TV users
on July 17, 2024
Posted by: Bren
Unboxing: When I took it out of the box, it came with a USB C adapter, some paperwork and the camera itself in a eco-friendly box.
Setting it up was super easy, I plugged it in, and the Sony TV immediately brought up the message “Set up Bravia Cam.” I went through the process. It Was super easy, like 5 total clicks as I navigated through the set up.
The build quality of this camera is outstanding, which you would hope it would be given the premium price you are going to pay. The camera has a little slide on top to physically cover the camera lens, which is good for people who are privacy-minded when they are not using the TV.
Using the camera was a cool experience. It walks you through a tutorial how to turn off the tv with your hand and media controls/volumes. The clarity on the webcam is pretty good, but it definitely has a premium tax since it is Sony.; it is not top-of-the-line quality in the world of webcams but good enough for its purpose. When you get more than 5 feet away, it will really struggle to track your hand gestures, so it is best used in a small viewing area unless you get up to go in front of the TV to do it, but at that point, using your remote makes a whole lot more sense.
Features as of July 16, when this camera was initially reviewed: Hand Gesture: Hand gestures let you control media play by showing your palm, and it brings a little UI pop up where to move your hand, to power off the TV show palm, and then close hand. The second feature is keep distance; in case you have like a kid or something, it will give a little pop-up on the bottom saying keep distance if you continue to ignore it, it covers your screen, saying once again Keep distance, and then will talk to you saying it, and your screen eventually goes black. This is great if you have any wild toddlers around who may threaten to walk the TV with their Tonka truck, hah! The third feature is Eco Save Sensing, which uses the camera to see if there is any movement or anybody in the area to keep the TV on, if not at a set time you choose, it will dim the TV after an amount of time and turn off sooner if no one is around.
Overall, I would give this camera a 3/5 for most average users and a 4/5 for Sony fans, since this does fit seamlessly into the Sony TV ecosystem experience and offers some cool tricks and features that, if nothing else, serve as great parlor tricks to show you friends when they come over for movie night. Thanks for reading this review and I hope it has helped with you purchase decision!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+1point
1of 1voted this as helpful.
Unprecedented efficiency on a premium 14-inch CoPilot+ PC featuring touch, text, and voice control for intuitive, smartphone-like ease of use so you can streamline your daily tasks and workflows.
Customer Rating
4
A mediocre but serviceable Snapdragon laptop
on July 13, 2024
Posted by: Bren
The Dell Inspiron line of laptops is not one in my mind that has ever stood out in terms of high quality or excellence. Still, this model is certainly attractive given the exciting and innovative new chip it contains that is brand new in the CPU market. For the price, Dell has put a lot of good features into this laptop. One of the top features compared to Apple competitors is that this laptop has a fingerprint scanner AND Windows Hello face recognition for biometric security. Another feature that is a win over current MacBook competitors is that this laptop has a touchscreen. I personally don’t bother with touchscreens on laptops, but there are plenty of prospective buyers for whom this might be a make-or-break feature. Now to discuss more about the build quality and use of this machine.
The build quality of the laptop is reasonable but not up to the standard of its price, nor does it stand up to the competition. It has an all-metal chassis with a strong keyboard deck, but it has a bendy lid, and the screen’s good looks are marred by the plastic bezel surrounding it. The laptop lid is not one-finger open capable, with a poorly tuned and very tight hinge that does not go flat or flip entirely over. The keyboard has a standard layout with a surprisingly excellent quiet and gentle typing feel. People with achy fingers or arthritis will love typing on this keyboard. The keycaps are a soft touch plastic and do not appear to hold on to finger oils the way my MacBook keys do. I am currently typing the review on this keyboard, and I would have zero problems using this for a full day of work or college-level essay typing. The touchpad on this laptop is disappointingly average. It is a traditional springboard-style trackpad with easier mechanical clicks at the bottom and impossible to click at the top. When compared to the Microsoft Surface laptops and MacBooks with their haptic/force touch trackpads, this does not compare. Also, this touchpad seems to have poor palm rejection when typing, and sometimes, my mouse cursor will bounce around the screen while I am typing if my palm touches the trackpad.
The speakers on this laptop are slightly above average in the world of Windows laptops in terms of loudness and sound quality. I am picking up on four speakers, two top-firing tweeters, and two bottom-firing that sound like force-canceling woofers. This makes for a surprisingly good sound stage but lacks the clarity or brightness of other competing laptop models mentioned above. The webcam… looks like absolute hot garbage. I do not even understand how this is a 1080p webcam in 2024. I would be embarrassed to attend a Zoom meeting with this webcam; my coworkers would think I am borrowing grandma’s old 2008 dinosaur laptop when this is a 2024 machine. Come on, Dell! I attempted to use the Windows Studio AI enhancement features like portrait mode etc. to adjust it and no luck. It just looks like crud, and no amount of AI will fix what is evidently just a mechanically poor webcam design. The screen is a “good enough” 400 nits’ brightness capable QHD screen that looks great and performs as expected at this price. It has a 60hz refresh and does not support a variable refresh rate that can drop lower or higher based on your needs, which is a bummer as this can contribute to improved battery life, like in the Microsoft Surface line. The screen looks at least as good as a MacBook Air and has the added utility of the touchscreen, but it does not get as bright.
Regarding some of the key specs, here is what you have on this particular laptop. It is equipped with the Snapdragon X Plus which is a 10 core (instead of 12 core in the Elite chip) processor with a ‘neural processing unit’ or NPU that is capable of handling modern AI tasks. This is not the fastest Snapdragon chip currently available, but I think it is going to be perfectly serviceable for most users. It has 16 GB of blazing-fast RAM built into the laptop, no upgradable RAM here after it leaves the factory. However, 16 GB is precisely the minimum of RAM I would recommend to most users these days, so I am glad Dell didn’t cheap out here with 8 GB of RAM as some manufacturers are still doing (cough cough, Apple). The 512 GB SSD in this laptop is large enough to be serviceable for most. It is not a blazing-fast SSD, but it is good enough, with a 4972mb/s read speed and 4344mb/s write speed.
Benchmarks: Speedometer 3.0, which measures the performance of a machine for webapp performance (a crucial metric in today’s school and work environments that happen so much over webpages) returned a 23.5 score which is quite excellent. My 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Pro scored a 20.9 on this test, which means that this Snapdragon Plus chip is returning more Webapp performance than a previously nearly top-of-the-line 14” laptop. All these tests were conducted unplugged in balanced mode to imitate how I think most users will prefer to run this laptop in real-world use. The Geekbench 6 cores I got from this Snapdragon Plus chip on balanced power plan were highly respectable. I got a single core score of 2285 and a multicore score of 12790. This is actually a faster multicore score than my 2021 MacBook Pro M1 Pro and almost as fast single core performance. It's really not bad for a machine that costs $900 less than that MBP did in 2021. In translation, even as the more budget option in the currently available Snapdragon processors, this one is still a beast and is positively up to the multitasking and computationally intensive standards of 2024. What this chip does NOT have, though, is good integrated graphics performance. It is very underpowered in terms of GPU performance. This Snapdragon Plus chip is not the one you want to get if you want to experiment with low framerate AAA gaming and/or do GPU-intensive computing tasks.
Now, to clear up a few expectations on this laptop. This Inspiron model is NOT one of these proclaimed 20-hour battery-life laptops. Based on my real-world mixed power use and screen brightness on balanced battery life, this is shaping up to be a 10–12-hour battery to me, tops. This is still excellent and vastly better than what higher-end mobile Intel processors have managed to return in recent times, so I know Windows lovers are going to be stoked to have a powerful and efficient laptop. Another expectation to clear up is that this is not a silent machine like a MacBook Air. This has fans built in, and I was surprised to find that they span up a lot to cool the laptop, even when doing low-intensity tasks like web browsing and Word processing. I will say that according to HWmonitor, my temperatures stayed nice and cool even during intensive benchmarking. Regardless, hearing fans is never my favorite thing on a professional on-the-go laptop.
Another clarification is that the CoPilot features, while incredibly cool for their long-term potential, have not yet been fully realized. I had a lot of fun playing with CoCreator in MS Paint, taking my zany drawing ideas and generating them into some cool AI art! Although the physical webcam on this laptop is poor, Windows Studio will be convenient for enhancing user’s webcam experiences. I absolutely LOVE the CoPilot+ features and the handy button right on the keyboard. I know I sound like a Microsoft Simp, but I mean it. I have long been a ChatGPT fan and love challenging it with hard questions and specific requests. I like to make new workout routines for myself. Having that built into the hardware with the NPU of the chip and the software of Windows 11 is epically cool. CoPilot+ is a super clean interface, too, and you can even adjust the conversation style to be more precise, creative, or balanced between the two. One of my biggest surprises in implementing this laptop in my daily use is how natural it became to click the copilot button when I have a question or something to look up rather than my typical routine of hopping on Google! I can see from using this that there is a future where AI search engines and software like this will dominate the space that typical web browser search engines currently hold.
Should you pick up this laptop for professional or business use? Well, app developers and programmers are going to be in a long and bumpy process of developing and optimizing apps and programs for these new ARM-based chips since they are essentially different from previous architectures used in the past. As such, if you are considering this for a professional work environment, like a medical clinic, where you will be using application-based electronic health records and things like that, I would WAIT to jump on this bandwagon until the whole of the new ARM processors and CoPilot features mature. Programs like Epic, Allscripts, PCC, etc. can be picky even on standard Intel CPU equipped Windows machines and you may not want to be a beta tester for compatibility with these new Snapdragon ARM based devices. Suppose you are a standard user or college student who is just going to be using Web apps and Microsoft programs like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.. In that case, I think you are just fine with picking one of these up, especially if you are incurably a fan of Windows as an operating system and don’t want to mess with Apple notebooks.
Altogether, I give this specific Dell Inspiron four stars out of five. A star has been removed for the terrible webcam, slightly poor build quality, and poorer-than-expected battery life, given the advertised efficiency. I think early adopters and people who are intractable fans of Dell machines should give this a try! But businesses and entrepreneurs should wait a little longer to go for ARM-based laptops until broader legacy program support is available and the AI features Windows and these chips promised come to fruition. Thanks for reading my review. I hope it has been helpful!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
+6points
6of 6voted this as helpful.
Heat food quickly and efficiently with this Insignia 1.1 Cu. Ft. Countertop Microwave. Nine preset functions take the guesswork out of cooking common foods like popcorn and baked potatoes, and a 1.1 cu. ft. interior provides room for meals without taking up too much space. A 12.4-in glass turntable works to evenly distribute heat while 1000 watts and 11 power levels let you cook or reheat meat, vegetables and more. This microwave has an integrated child lock for safety and a bright LED display that lets you operate the device in low-light conditions.
Customer Rating
5
Perfect countertop microwave for our needs.
on July 7, 2024
Posted by: Bren
I was looking for a microwave I could use out in our garage that wouldn’t break the bank, and that also would be somewhat more subdued color wise. This microwave looks great and performs well! It has all the convenience features you would hope for, including express times, +30-second quick add, and built-in defrost and popcorn functions. Very convenient. One thing that is going to take some getting used to is the handle design. The release latch at the top of the handle is different than most straight-pull handle designs these days. It is a nice chuckle to watch one of my family members try to open it for the first time and tug the whole microwave without the door budging. This may be exactly what you need if you have curious toddlers around who may try to microwave their hot wheel car.
I would give this microwave a try! At this price, it works incredibly well and heats my food consistently and conveniently. Thanks for reading this review and I hope it has helped you out! Happy microwaving!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Ascend the Throne of Gaming with the Z790 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.x). The Z790 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.x) supports 14th and 13th Gen Intel Core Processors unparalleled performance. Unlock your gaming potential with GIGABYTE Z790 Motherboards. GIGABYTE Z790 motherboards come with upgraded power design, high grade storage standards, and outstanding connectivity that enables you to optimize your performance. Claim what is yours.
Customer Rating
5
A motherboard built with pride for gamers!
on July 7, 2024
Posted by: Bren
This motherboard (MOBO) is so nicely built and so well featured that it is clear to me that there was a passionate gamer development team behind the design of this board. Upgrading my factory Asus G16CH PC with this motherboard has increased my PC's aesthetics and utility dramatically with all of its high-end features, and it has also fully unlocked the power and potential of my Intel i7-13700F processor!
The factory motherboard my desktop came with was abysmal. Not only did it lack many features that make it more relevant for modern gamers, but it also held back the full power of my Intel 13700F CPU, not allowing it to turbo up and limiting the power the chip could draw! This meant I was getting terrible performance on my games with CPU-intensive needs (like Helldivers 2) compared to my friends running the same processor. Enter this new motherboard. What Gigabyte has done with this Aorus Z70 Elite AX board is truly beautiful. For one, it was incredibly easy to build on. When I say you can tell gamers were behind the design, I mean that everything on this MOBO is reinforced and simplified for gamers who need to upgrade and expand out of the box and in the future! One of the best features are the EZ-latch M.2 SSD latches! Say goodbye to those freaking annoying tiny M.2 mounting screws that always get dropped and lost in the void of your PC cases and carpet. The latches make it super easy to plug in the M.2 and swivel into place with a gentle spring-loaded tension to hold your M.2 SSD drives securely! This MOBO has four PCIE 4.0 M.2 slots total: the primary one is up top with one of the most robust heatsinks I have ever seen on an out-of-the-box MOBO. If you want to run a toasty top-of-the-line PCIE gen 4 SSD in your PC, this mobo has you covered. There are three more PCIE 4.0 M.2 SSD slots complete with EZ-latch securement on each underneath a heat shield that I have pictured. Each slot has thermal shielding for your M.2 drives. I would have complete confidence running four M.2 SSD’s simultaneously in this build and not worrying about the GPU or other neighboring components roasting them.
Speaking of thermals, according to HWmonitor, my whole system seems to be running cooler. The board is so well built, hefty, and reinforced with metal shielding that there is more capacity for heat to dissipate off of items like your RAM, SSDs, and even the chipsets themselves. Now, for the GPU mounting solution, I was very pleased to see a highly robust and reinforced PCIE slot that is labeled as “Ultra Durable PCIE Gen 5 Armor. From what I can tell slotting my 3060 GPU in, this is no mere boast. It feels ultra solid and makes me suspect that your GPU’s own mounting PCB would be the item to break before this MOBO’s PCIE slot would ever give. On that note, support your GPU, folks! They are getting too heavy these days not to use a support brace or prob!
The I/O is another huge bragging point on this MOBO. It finally seems like companies are getting the notion that modern builds don’t need PS/2 port connectors for ancient mice and keyboards. Gamers today would much rather have plenty of USB-A ports, modern display connectors, and even the utility of a USB-C port on the I/O selection. This has NINE USB-A ports of various connection types! I am happy to report that this rear USB-C connector appears to be USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, able to support a theoretical 20GB/s transfer speed. I hooked up my Crucial X9 drive to it and was able to attain full 1gb read and write speeds on it! The front USB-C panel connector supports 10GB/s. For internal connectivity on the MOBO, I was very pleased to find plenty of fan headers and RGB headers to allow me to control my MSI AIO RGB cooler and RGB fans, all from the MOBO itself, with no adapters needed! This is super convenient and also highly gamer oriented.
Altogether, I couldn’t be happier with my new MOBO. I am getting 20-30FPS more on games like Helldivers 2 with the new unlocked performance of my Intel 13700F CPU and I am happy to have support here for a 14th gen Intel CPU when I am ready to upgrade one day. Thank you, Gigabyte, for making such a robust and excellent MOBO! 5 out of 5 stars and I will be recommending to all of my friends!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Share this review:
0points
0of 0voted this as helpful.
Let Philips Hue keep an eye on your home for you! Get a crisp, clear 1080p HD live stream, turn on the lights or send an alert to your mobile device when motion is detected, or even trigger a sound alarm with a tap in the Hue app. This wireless home security camera is easy to mount and install in any home.
Customer Rating
3
Gorgeous camera, hideous storage plan
on June 29, 2024
Posted by: Bren
It is truly a shame to have a camera here that is so incredibly nice to set up and is built with such robust quality, but that requires a SUBSCRIPTION to get any real utility out of in the long run. I am coming right out and mentioning this because security cameras, particularly ones of this caliber and price, are an investment. If you are going to invest in a Philips Hue camera set up, you need to know the truth. To get storage of your recorded video clips, you must buy a Secure plan, either Basic or Plus. Basic is $39.99/year PER CAMERA and you only get 30 days of stored recordings. Meaning, if you have two cameras, you will need to pay for each camera at that yearly rate. The Plus plan is $99.99/Year and offers the most features including 60 days of stored recordings and covers all cameras in your Philips Hue setup. The free plan is abysmal, only offering live streaming, light and sound alarms, and instant motion notifications without the ability to store your recordings after a motion alert. That means if you had someone come do a porch dash theft of a package, all you would have evidence wise is the notification and time and snapshot but not the full recording to give to the authorities. That sucks. The fact that a camera this expensive has no option for local storage like a micro-SD card is just terrible in my opinion. Now that I have gotten this out of the way, I will discuss some of the other nice features and annoyances of this camera.
The build quality and 1080p HD camera image this camera boasts are incredible. But honestly, it dang well better be amazing at this price tag. I have found the night vision to be excellent with great span and coverage and it lacks the fuzziness of other security cameras I have reviewed, particularly on the extremes of the image borders at distance. This could be all the difference between whether you actually capture the details of a license plate, perpetrators facial features, etc. The camera is built with robust build quality and is one of the easiest cameras I have ever set up via a smartphone app. It was super intuitive, and the instructions were great. One of the small nuisances of this camera I find though is the proprietary charging cable, port, and short cord length. The including power cord is only 6 feet long or so which precludes it from having any real utility in a high roof or door frame set up if you are seeking constant power delivery to the camera. I really think this camera should have used a USB-C charging port for ultimate flexibility and utility in a variety of circumstances, particularly when considering the low power draw of the camera and how easily a USB charging set up would have accomplished the power needs of this device.
Altogether, I will not be recommending this camera to my friends unless they are already deeply invested in the Philips Hue product ecosystem and really want to enhance their security set up. You need to be prepared to accept that the subscription plan on this camera is the only way you are going to maximize its utility as a security product. Thanks for reading and I hope this review has been honestly helpful!
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Share this review:
0points
1of 2voted this as helpful.
Rank Up to a New Level of Control. Insanely responsive, and immensely customizable, the Turtle Beach Vulcan II TKL Pro Magnetic Mechanical RGB PC gaming keyboard delivers pro-level performance in a compact TKL form. Equipped with analog hall-effect magnetic switches for silky smooth, reliable key presses rated at a 150M click lifecycle and they have a fully adjustable actuation point from 0.1mm to 4mm. And with Rapid Trigger setting, you’ll have better, more precise movement control, with less downtime between key presses. Lastly, the per-key AIMO Intelligent RGB lighting, five on-board profiles and adjustable actuation points can all be customized using the Swarm II desktop software.
Customer Rating
2
A step down from Roccat branded Vulkan quality
on June 15, 2024
Posted by: Bren
I have reviewed a ton of keyboards on BestBuy, and I have never written a negative review on one before. This keyboard is sadly just not up to snuff on the previous Roccat-made Vulkan TKL keyboard I owned and reviewed four years ago. For those of you who don’t know, it was announced in April of 2024 that Turtle Beach, who had purchased Roccat in 2019, has decided to fully absorb the brand into their own company’s name and guided manufacture. This was a huge mistake from what I can tell from this specific product. I have known for years that any Roccat product I use, from mice to headset to keyboard, is going to be a top-quality German engineered gaming product. That is not the case anymore.
The build quality on this keyboard is such a sad step down. Especially for the price. I really don’t like the design language of the flat dark gray metal(ish?) deck and the black plastic body of the keyboard feels cheap. The RGB indeed looks really cool and nice, but the RGB doesn’t make the keyboard perform any different typing wise. The 2020-year Roccat made Vulkan TKL model I reviewed had a gorgeous, brushed aluminum top that felt worth the price. This design is clearly full of cut corners and cost-savings focus.
The typing experience on these red linear switches for whatever reason is just abysmal for me. I hate typing and playing on this keyboard so much I just had to stop after a point prematurely into my ownership of the keyboard. If you have cranky 30-year-old wrists like me, you are going to want to skip this one. Even though the keycaps themselves are thin, the height and stroke of each key is tall and must be bottomed out to register with factory settings. Also, these red linear switches are seriously mushy compared to other red switches in my possession. The Swarm II software can adjust the per key sensitivity and key registration height, but I think Turtle Beach is using a software setting to compensate for what is a hardware problem in feel. I think your mileage will vary, but if you have this money to spend on a keyboard, you may want to try other options if you aren’t enjoying your typing and gaming experience on this. I further really dislike the design language of the bottom keys like alt, control, etc. They have round tops which just feel so out of place in this aesthetic. The keys in general are abs plastic and cheap feeling. They feel far too thin. The only redeeming features here are that they are user replaceable with custom t slot keycaps and switches and the top right volume wheel with push-to-mute function is actually quite nice.
The accessories included are a USB-C to USB-A cord about 6 feet long and a wrist rest. This wrist rest is a disgrace on a $150 dollar keyboard. I cannot believe the nerve of Turtle Beach. It is literally just a stinky piece of quarter-inch thick floppy neoprene mousepad material with the Turtle Beach logo lazily screen onto it in the bottom right corner. This rest doesn’t even attach to the keyboard! It is just there; an impermanent and floppily impotent reminder of what happens when a big, glutted company takes over a passionate and specialized company’s product. Even the Roccat Pyro wired keyboard for $70 less than a year ago had a nice textured plastic wrist wrest that clicked into place with the keyboard! This is yet another slap in the face.
Suggestions to Turtle Beach: Give us a wrist rest worthy of a $150 keyboard. Consider improving key cap quality and ergonomics. Consider improving build quality on this higher tier keyboard. Consider improving the weight and feel of the keyboard. Consider wireless connectivity at this price and/or a higher polling rate for wired connection. This polling rate is a quarter of what some keyboards out there are capable of via wired connection right now.
Overall, I simply cannot recommend this keyboard at this price. There are simply too many other keyboards at this price that are too good for the money and won’t leave you feeling like the shill of a generic gaming company that has taken away the soul of a famous keyboard creator’s intent. Thanks for reading and I hope this review helps guide your purchase decision!
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Share this review:
0points
2of 4voted this as helpful.
Bren's Review Comments
Bren has not submitted comments on any reviews.
Bren's Questions
Bren has not submitted any questions.
The HP Smart Tank 7001 supertank printer makes printing seamless from start to finish for the whole family with a high-capacity refillable ink tank and wireless connectivity. Create outstanding-quality color documents at a low cost with up to two years of Original HP Ink included in the box¹.
Is it supported by Big Sur Op System? Does it work with airprint?
It does work with airprint! I am having no problems on my Apple MBP currently :)
3 years, 8 months ago
by
Bren
The Canon imageFORMULA R10 portable document scanner is simple to set up and easy to use, anywhere. Easily convert paper documents to searchable digital files, using the built-in software, to get and stay organized.
Does this product scan both sides of a document? Is this user friendly? Thank you
Yes, it does scan both sides of a document and a card! I found it to be extremely user friendly, I just had to be patient with the updates to the software and firmware upon first setting it up :)
3 years, 8 months ago
by
Bren
The Apex 5 gaming keyboard has hybrid mechanical switches that combine the smoothness of a membrane switch with the added durability, performance, and satisfying tactile click of a blue mechanical switch. It also has per-key RGB customization, OLED Smart Display, aluminum alloy frame, premium magnetic wrist rest, and more.
Can the key caps be switched out with other key caps
Yes! They are compatible with most Cherry MX keycaps! From Steelseries' Blog post on the hybrid mechanical switches, "Like a blue switch, it registers a keypress with a click at 2mm, bottoms out at 4mm, and requires 50cn of force to press. Because it is a mechanical switch, you can even put aftermarket keycaps on them"
5 years, 3 months ago
by
Bren
The PRO headset from Logitech G is designed with and for esports pros. Aluminum forks, steel headband, and memory foam and premium leatherette head and ear pads keep you comfortable through marathon training and competition sessions. Pro-G 50mm drivers deliver incredibly accurate audio with improved bass response. The advanced USB DAC has a five-band onboard EQ that can be programmed via G HUB software with settings from your favorite esports pros. Pro-tuned, detachable boom mic with wind screen and pop filter ensures your comms are crystal clear. Designed for PC.
do these work for ps4?
Yes, the cable will plug into your PS4 controller and be good to go for use for audio and microphone use, no problem!
5 years, 11 months ago
by
Bren
With its Bluetooth interface, this Logitech MX Anywhere 2 910-004373 wireless mouse enables you to pair with up to 3 Bluetooth Smart Ready devices simultaneously. Darkfield Laser Tracking technology allows operation on most surfaces, including glass.
Does this product work for gaming?
Extremely well, depending on your needs. I use it for battlefield 1 and Doom and I love it. The programable buttons work awesome. For RPGs you may want a mouse that has more programable buttons, depending on your style :) If that is the case, I recommend the one's below:
Products from my answer
Razer - Naga Epic Chroma Wireless MMO Gaming Mouse - Black
(315)
Razer - Naga Hex V2 Wired Laser Gaming Mouse with Chroma Lighting - Black
(188)
Razer - Naga Chroma USB MMO Gaming Mouse - Black
(903)8 years, 4 months ago
by
Bren
Razer Blade Laptop: Developed in partnership with Intel and NVIDIA, the Razer Blade delivers performance to run the most demanding games of today. Powered by an Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU, NVIDIA GeForce graphics processor and a 14" LED display, you'll be blown away by the immersive visuals of your games in crisp high definition 1080p.The Razer Blade features 6th Gen. Intel Core i7 quad-core processor. This ensures your games and media playback run with powerful processing performance anywhere, anytime.The Razer Blade features a high-performance NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. This means you play games the way they were meant to be played, with fluid frame rates and rich DirectX 12 graphics, and in VR.With NVIDIA Optimus technology, the Razer Blade combines great performance and great battery life by intelligently delivering power only when you need it, and conserving it when you don't.
Is this with QHD or Full HD?
Razer Blade Laptop: Developed in partnership with Intel and NVIDIA, the Razer Blade delivers performance to run the most demanding games of today. Powered by an Intel Core i7 quad-core CPU, NVIDIA GeForce graphics processor and a 14" LED display, you'll be blown away by the immersive visuals of your games in crisp high definition 1080p.The Razer Blade features 6th Gen. Intel Core i7 quad-core processor. This ensures your games and media playback run with powerful processing performance anywhere, anytime.The Razer Blade features a high-performance NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. This means you play games the way they were meant to be played, with fluid frame rates and rich DirectX 12 graphics, and in VR.With NVIDIA Optimus technology, the Razer Blade combines great performance and great battery life by intelligently delivering power only when you need it, and conserving it when you don't.
is this the newest one razer blade?
Only at Best BuyPlay your way to the top with this HP OMEN notebook. The Intel Core i7 processor provides lightning-fast response times, and the 1TB hard drive is enough for all your favorite games and apps with room to spare for music and video files. This HP OMEN notebook has a full-size backlit keyboard for fast, easy typing.
How long does the battery last and can the ram be upgrade
Battery has averaged 2.5 to 3 hours under normal use and 1 hour or so with gaming (as should be expected in any gaming laptop, really). The RAM can be upgraded given you are patient and careful when you unscrew and pry open the back. 8GB of 2133Mhz RAM is what it has stock in one of the two available slots.
8 years, 6 months ago
by
Bren
Only at Best BuyPlay your way to the top with this HP OMEN notebook. The Intel Core i7 processor provides lightning-fast response times, and the 1TB hard drive is enough for all your favorite games and apps with room to spare for music and video files. This HP OMEN notebook has a full-size backlit keyboard for fast, easy typing.
will programs be installed on the ssd before the hdd
Yes, they will be. By default to allow quick bootup and accessing times. You can select the 1TB "D" drive though when you are downloading. I keep all of my games on the 1TB drive and it has worked perfectly.
8 years, 6 months ago
by
Bren
Only at Best BuyPlay your way to the top with this HP OMEN notebook. The Intel Core i7 processor provides lightning-fast response times, and the 1TB hard drive is enough for all your favorite games and apps with room to spare for music and video files. This HP OMEN notebook has a full-size backlit keyboard for fast, easy typing.