Computer Reviews

My second Yamaha receiver. Tried Panasonic , Pioneer and came running back. Its the crystal clear sound that makes Yamaha the king !

This is great receiver for those who are just getting into home theater systems. Good power to 6 channels. Lots of DSP presets. Easy settings at least for me that is. Lots of inputs and outputs. It comes with an easy to use universal remote too.

my second yamaha A/V reciever my first was A 2nd from top rxv-2090 it came out on the fringe of home theatre it had a excelent amp but a little out of date as far as home theatre
decoding beeing its based on 5 channels not 5.1
knowing i needed a updated after hearing my girl friends get this! 300$ home theatre in a box i realized while my 2090 sounded better the timming was better on her cheep system . Still I am surprised at how much better the HTR-5590 sounded my first dolbly digital movie blew my mind don't forget i had a 1500$ 1995 model yamaha witch was very good too ,i would give it a 4.5 but no option for it here

I bought the HDV420 to go with a new 30", 16x9,HDTV , Toshiba 30HF83. I bought the inexpensive Zenith antenna, the Silver Sensor. The system work VERY GOOD. From my house, the indoor antenna/receiver combo gives me Washington and BAltimore station: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, WB.

Back to the unit:
1) Previous reviewer correction - the output resolution cannot be controlled by the remote, but directly on the front panel. This is a small (-).
2) Signal strength meter very nice and handy when directing the small indoor antenna.
3) Nice squelch action. DTV signal is either ON or OFF.
4) Remote cannot control my Samsung DVD, but can do the Toshiba TV. Likewise, my Toshiba TV remote cannot control the Zenith STB, but can control the DVD!
5) 10dB attenuator. You use this in series with the antenna (F) input when scanning for channels. I tried the scan with and without the attenuator. With the attenuator, I got 11 channels, 10 without.

I bought my unit "new" on EBAY. However, the supplied A/V cables and component cables were cheap. I bought new ones (not Monster) for the unit.

You can operate this unit without a remote. What you lose is password access to program V-chip menues. Everything else can be done via the front panel. I don't know if a cheap universal remote can change these channels on the HDV420 unit. After set up, all you need the remote for are channels, and maybe aspect changes. To change the output format, you are on your feet and pushing buttons, and can do the aspect there too.

Let me tell you, DTV 480p is like good cable that kicks 480i OTA (booty). DTV 720p and 1081i is HDTV kicking 480p butt. Get an HDTV monitor, and a HDTV receiver. For me, it is now ALL FREE!

I purchased this unit used just in time for the Superbowl and was blown away. The unit picked up 6 of 10 local channels witha cheapie indoor antenna. I upgraded to the Zenith/Gemini Silver Sensor antenna and got 9 of 10 channels, all with good signal quality. Reception with these is highly dependent on location so your antenna requirements may vary. The HDV420 is easy to setup and easy to use. Unlike many other units, you can change the resolution from the remote. Also, the unit has both optical and coaxial digital out which allows for flexibility. The only down side, no DVI out. Most probably won't care but if you absolutely must have DVI, look elsewhere.

I just upgraded to this HDTV receiver from a Samsung. Before Samsung I used an RCA receiver. I was going to get another Samsung but I figured for [$] more this one was worth it. This receiver blows both of my old ones away. It was child's play to set up. It scanned for all of the channels and got every channel automatically. The menu is very well laid out. The exterior looks very modern and high tech with the reflective panel and the brushed metal. It also has coaxial and optical digital output so that I can now watch TV in Dolby Digital (when the program is in DD). It has component out for HDTV. It also has 15-pin computer VGA out. I hooked it up to my regular 15-inch computer monitor and the picture was too small. However, it looked even better than my TV! The remote is very simple. I like it that way but that's a matter of choice. The best feature is that you can change the display format just by the push of the button. Next I am going to buy a wireless transmitter to send the HDTV channels to the rest of my TV's in the house through the analog out. I highly recommend this. ...

Very pleased with the flash reader. No problmes no issues.

After using this flash ROM "drive" for a week I went out and bought another since they're so cheap, and a 128M ROM to go with it to supplement the 64M ROM I already have.

They both installed without any problems. After installing the drivers off the CD and rebooting, the drives were recognized immediately as soon as I plugged them into the USB ports on my keyboard. Pretty cool.

I use these as "fat floppies" since the files I manipulate and update everyday no longer fit on a single floppy. With the two new ZiO! drives, I can make two copies, one to each flash ROM and I'm pretty well covered. The probability that both ROMs will fail simultaneously are pretty slim. But just to make sure I back up once a week to CD-R.

The only reason I don't use the CR-R option more often is that I have Windows XP and the Adaptec CD Creator software still doesn't seem to work very well except under Windows 98. That means I have to dual-boot back into 98 to burn a CD, which is a little inconvenient and time-consuming. The purchase of these two ZiO! drives completely obviates that problem for everyday needs.

The only thing to watch out for is you might want to get a ROM with a higher write speed if you intend to update many megs worth of files every day. I don't know what the speed is, but the 64M ROM is the faster of the two, and it copies things over about twice as fast as the larger 128M ROM. I got the slower rating for the big one since it was cheaper, and both are more than large enough to accommodate anything I want to back up. But the speed difference is noticeable between the two if you're transferring lots of megs all the time.

This is mainly observable when copying many smaller files. For smaller numbers of large files, the copy rate is considerably, perhaps 2 or 3 times, faster, which is interesting.

Overall, a great little product and not that expensive either given the extra speed and convenience.

I LOVE this item.
I plugged it into the USB port on my laptop (WIN 2000) and I was able to see the CF card just like a disk drive. No problems, no hassles.

I bought this one after I returned a CF reader from another manufacturer (it was on sale). After an hour of trying to get the other reader to work, I gave up. This one worked right away.

5 STARS, I GOT 3 256MB 333MHZ DDR-PC2700 AND THEY WORKS PERFECTLY , BUY IT, KINGSTOM ITS THE BEST !!!!!

I bought it.
I installed it.
I have more memory in my computer.
It's the right kind.
It works fine.

Hey, it's RAM...What else do you need to know?

ABIT NF7-S Rev. 2
Answer to the previous reviewer. Rev 1 only supported 333 MHz FSB while Rev 2 supports 400. This is the motherboard recommended in anandtech's April 2004 overclocking system buyer's guide.

Desription doesnt state whether this NF7-S is the original version (400mhz memory/333mhz FSB) or version 2 (400mhz memory/400mhz FSB). Does anyone know?

It should be noted that this Card (2930U) does in fact have
an on board Bios. The 2906 does not.

This SCSI card is one of Adaptec's basic cards. Coming from Adaptec, you know this is serious hardware. Not just something that will break or go dead on you in a year or two. Adaptec quality is made to last for a very long time.

Mainly developed for Ultra SCSI certified devices such as hard drives, CD ROM drives, Jaz Drives, etc. Ultra SCSI devices have a transfer rate of up to 20MB/sec. Be cautious, this SCSI card was not made to be bootable(no bootable BIOS on board). If you need to boot from any of the SCSI devices attached to this SCSI card, purchase the AHA-2940 instead.

At an affordable price, this I/O card is highly recommended.

This card is sold ... in Adaptec website. Kinda expensive. However, this is worth to purchase because the card is extremely user-friendly, just plug-in and the computer will detect the card automatically. Worries-free!!! You can use the SCSI card to connect your CD-burner, DVD-ROM, Scanner, harddisk, ..... Usually, it takes 30-40% CPU resources to save and load data under IDE format. However, it only takes 3-4%, 1/10 of normal resources to perform the same task. THis will help your computer run a lot faster. That's why SCSI card is expensive!

Adaptec quality again, this SCSI card is built to last. Along with a bootable BIOS, this SCSI card is very robust to the fact that it can be booted from or just used to control your CDR If you want to.

Armed with an internal 50-pin IDC connector and an external HD68 connector, this card can be used for many applications. You can connect Zip/Jaz drives, CD ROM drives, CDR/CDRW drives, hard drives, etc.

Easily installed into any PC(I don't use Mac), this card has drivers built into NT and Win2K. Drivers are available on floppy or website for Win95/98 systems.

I highly recommend this SCSI card for anyone who needs to connect Fast/Ultra SCSI devices to their PC.

Actually, I'm using the S-19 monitor, but the specs are basically the same as the 18-inch. What a delight. I held off buying a TFT monitor for years, worried that the screen would get damaged. This not only solves the problem, but it's one of the most brilliant and readable screens (for text as well as graphics) that I've seen anywhere. Well built, easy to set up.

The Neovo S-series doesn't just look good, but they are good! The picture quality is very sharp and with a DVI (digital video interface) there is no loss in image quality. It might be a bit more expensive than some other brands, but it is well worth it. You just can't stop looking at it!!
And with its video in you can connect it directly to your cable box, dvd/video player, etc, as well.
I would buy it again.

The 1:7 DVD Copy Tower is a new level of high performance, full featured, cost effective DVD duplicator aimed at all users with higher quantity requirements. The Alera Technologies DVD Copy Tower is designed for anyone who needs to duplicate music, data, video, or documents and have the need for making one or more quick DVD copies. The DVD Copy Tower contains the latest DVD-R/RW, DVD Recorder technology and is designed for speed and convenience. A DVD Copy Tower is ideal for any user who wants to make multiple copies and demands copying speed, the ultimate in simplicity and control of the duplicating process.

I own the DVD Copy Cruiser Quad. I just had a chance to try the 1-7 DVD Copy Tower Quad. This gem makes 7 copies of DVDs and CDs simultaneously at the same speed as my 1-1 duplicator. The real benefit is the level of copy control and diagnostics this DVD duplicator contains. In the main control menu you can Copy, Test or simulate a copy, Copy and Test, Verify which tests the integrity of the master disc before you try to make large numbers of copies, It can compare the copy to the original, It can analyze the source disc and show size, number of tracks, etc., You can create custom compilation audio CDs without a computer and so on. All in all it has about 40 functions and diagnostics. Very powerful and easy to use.

The Alera Technologies 1:7 DVD Copy Tower Dual DVD/CD Duplicators can simultaneously duplicate up to 7 copies of a typical DVD at up to 4x speeds. DVD Copy Tower Dual can duplicate using both DVD±R and DVD±RW blank media. It is the professional, yet simple, solution for creating volumes of DVD and CD copies quickly and easily.

1:7 DVD Copy Tower Dual
Product Summary

The Alera Technologies 1:7 DVD Copy Tower Dual DVD/CD Duplicator can simultaneously duplicate up to 7 copies of a typical DVD at up to 4x speeds.

Benefits & Features

Multiformat - Duplicates using DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW blank media

Simple one touch operation, no set up required, Plug it in and start copying immediately

Powerful Control Features with intuitive menu maximizing copy control, flexibility, and output

Back Lighted LCD display shows status/% complete of Copy process and other functions

4x DVD recording speed for high volume copying

Unique "Edit Track" feature to extract specific audio tracks from Source CD to create compilation discs

No Hard Drive required, image caching done on the fly to multiple recorders simultaneously

Completely Stand Alone, no computer required

Specifications
Max Copy Speed: DVD 4x, CD 16x
Loading Mechanism: Tray
Supported Media Types: DVD±R, DVD±RW, CD-R, CD-RW, 120mm, mini CD (8cm/3")
Supported Formats: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, CD-ROM (Mode1 & Mode2), CD-ROM/XA (Mode2 form1 & form2), CD-DA, Mixed-Mode, Video CD, CD-I, Photo CD (Single & Multi-session), CD-Extra, CD Bridge, ISO9660
Selectable Speeds: DVD 1x to 4x, CD 1x to 16x
Power Requirements: 115 and 230VAC 50/60 Hz

NOTE: The 1:7 DVD Copy Tower Dual will NOT duplicate copy protected DVD materials such as DVD movies

I finally have the chance to give this new product along with Alera's 1-3 Dual a good look. If you have ever tried to decide which DVD duplicator to buy based on which DVD Format would be the winner, your headaches are over. The new DVD Copy Tower Dual solves the DVD format dilemma. With the Alera Technologies DVD Dual technology, you can use DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW and CD-ROM discs all with one product. Alera Technologies new DVD Duplicators based on Dual Standard 8-in-1 DVD±R/RW Technology are the only DVD duplicators I have seen that have this power. The DVD Copy Tower Dual supports all popular DVD formats and you can duplicate DVDs at speeds up to 4x using as well as compile your own custom audio CDs using the DVD Copy Tower Dual and no computer is needed.