Bullfrog
07-31-2003, 08:51 AM
I have been playing around with some stuff that I have gotten. SO I thought I would give you guys some pictures and opinions. This is not going to be one of those anal reviews from hardware sites. I am going to try and do it from a simple gamers perspective. So please bare with me on this....
So here we go! First up: Hitachi Deskstar 40gig drive.
I had a dead IBM drive that I had to RMA, which is how I go the thing. In case you have been living in a cave Hitachi bought IBM's drive business. So all IBM drives under warranty go to Hitachi. A quick comment on the RMA process from Hitachi. Short version: excellent! All I had to do was go to the web and create a RMA following a simple process. Get my RMA number and ship the bad drive to them. About 2 weeks later UPS shows up with a *brand new* drive. Not a refurb but a brand new drive! Talk about service. The drive in the picture below was manufactured in June 2003. :D
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-001F.JPG
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-002F.JPG
These drives have been redesigned from the old "DeathStar" drives. These things are faster, quieter and run MUCH cooler then the older IBM drives. I am very impressed with these drives from Hitachi. I put one in my Shuttle SFF box and noticed a HUGE difference on load times. Not bad for free!
Next Up: Mini-Slim USB Keyboard
I was looking for something small and compact for LAN gaming to go with my Shuttle SFF box. I found this at http://www.crazypc.com for $20 and figured I would give it a shot.
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-007F.JPG
Not a bad layout for a keyboard without a number pad.
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-008F.JPG
It also has a small USB hub built into it with 2 ports on the back of the unit. You can also see that this keyboard is VERY slim and small. So those of you with bird like hands should love this thing!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-009F.JPG
A good shot to see acutally how small this thing is!
Overall my opinion of this keyboard it is NOT good for gaming for me. My hands are too big for the size of the keyboard. I could probably use it for RTS type games but FPS is out of the question. But no worries...I have found a use for the thing. Because it is so small it has become my 'Oh SHIT I need a keyboard' at a LAN. So it's not a total waste.
Last Up for this Review: fuNc Mouse Pad
I was getting tired of using cheap mouse pads to LAN with. The cheap-o stuff was too small and didn't provide a nice and smooth gaming surface. I looked at number of different pads...ie Ratz, Ice, etc...and I decided to try the fuNc pad. I had it in time for FLG4 and used it. I was very pleased with the size and how it performed. The pad comes with 2 different surfaces on it. One side is totally smooth for opitcals and the other has some texture for ball-style mouses. The smooth side was like playing on a greased piece of glass....simply slick!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-010F.JPG
It comes in a metal carry case so the pad doesn't get bent when traveling. I find this a VERY nice feature when traveling to LANs. Plus it goes with my Shuttle box...never forget about looking good at a LAN!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-011F.JPG
As you can see the pad is well protected and even comes with a mouse cord clip if that floats your bubble!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/func.jpg
Here you can see the smooth surface of the pad...nice and slick! Also the pad itself sits in a rubber holder so it won't slip when you are mousing. It has a very nice slim profile with rounded edges so you don't feel that the pad is there. I highly recommend this pad for anyone looking at getting a quality gaming mouse pad. Might have to see if these guys will sponsor some FLG events....SWAG anyone?
__________________________________________________ ___________
Well that's it for the first edition of my little gamers review of products. Let me know what you think and ways that I can improve this format. Areas that you would like to see more comments on or stuff I should look at. Your suggestions and comments are welcome!
I would also like to offer that if ANYONE, who is part of FLG, are welcome to try this stuff out. I am more then happy to bring the stuff to our FLG events for guys to play with. I believe there is NOTHING like being able to try something before dropping your hard earned cash on it. Ok....game on![/b]
So here we go! First up: Hitachi Deskstar 40gig drive.
I had a dead IBM drive that I had to RMA, which is how I go the thing. In case you have been living in a cave Hitachi bought IBM's drive business. So all IBM drives under warranty go to Hitachi. A quick comment on the RMA process from Hitachi. Short version: excellent! All I had to do was go to the web and create a RMA following a simple process. Get my RMA number and ship the bad drive to them. About 2 weeks later UPS shows up with a *brand new* drive. Not a refurb but a brand new drive! Talk about service. The drive in the picture below was manufactured in June 2003. :D
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-001F.JPG
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-002F.JPG
These drives have been redesigned from the old "DeathStar" drives. These things are faster, quieter and run MUCH cooler then the older IBM drives. I am very impressed with these drives from Hitachi. I put one in my Shuttle SFF box and noticed a HUGE difference on load times. Not bad for free!
Next Up: Mini-Slim USB Keyboard
I was looking for something small and compact for LAN gaming to go with my Shuttle SFF box. I found this at http://www.crazypc.com for $20 and figured I would give it a shot.
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-007F.JPG
Not a bad layout for a keyboard without a number pad.
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-008F.JPG
It also has a small USB hub built into it with 2 ports on the back of the unit. You can also see that this keyboard is VERY slim and small. So those of you with bird like hands should love this thing!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-009F.JPG
A good shot to see acutally how small this thing is!
Overall my opinion of this keyboard it is NOT good for gaming for me. My hands are too big for the size of the keyboard. I could probably use it for RTS type games but FPS is out of the question. But no worries...I have found a use for the thing. Because it is so small it has become my 'Oh SHIT I need a keyboard' at a LAN. So it's not a total waste.
Last Up for this Review: fuNc Mouse Pad
I was getting tired of using cheap mouse pads to LAN with. The cheap-o stuff was too small and didn't provide a nice and smooth gaming surface. I looked at number of different pads...ie Ratz, Ice, etc...and I decided to try the fuNc pad. I had it in time for FLG4 and used it. I was very pleased with the size and how it performed. The pad comes with 2 different surfaces on it. One side is totally smooth for opitcals and the other has some texture for ball-style mouses. The smooth side was like playing on a greased piece of glass....simply slick!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-010F.JPG
It comes in a metal carry case so the pad doesn't get bent when traveling. I find this a VERY nice feature when traveling to LANs. Plus it goes with my Shuttle box...never forget about looking good at a LAN!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/MVC-011F.JPG
As you can see the pad is well protected and even comes with a mouse cord clip if that floats your bubble!
http://www.atkinsonandfamily.com/flg/review/func.jpg
Here you can see the smooth surface of the pad...nice and slick! Also the pad itself sits in a rubber holder so it won't slip when you are mousing. It has a very nice slim profile with rounded edges so you don't feel that the pad is there. I highly recommend this pad for anyone looking at getting a quality gaming mouse pad. Might have to see if these guys will sponsor some FLG events....SWAG anyone?
__________________________________________________ ___________
Well that's it for the first edition of my little gamers review of products. Let me know what you think and ways that I can improve this format. Areas that you would like to see more comments on or stuff I should look at. Your suggestions and comments are welcome!
I would also like to offer that if ANYONE, who is part of FLG, are welcome to try this stuff out. I am more then happy to bring the stuff to our FLG events for guys to play with. I believe there is NOTHING like being able to try something before dropping your hard earned cash on it. Ok....game on![/b]