Pros: I'm giving this card reader 5 eggs, not because it's the best unit out there, but because it's one of the cheapest with USB 3.0 and it offers a lot of value for its meager price. There are no instructions, so you're on your own - but it's extremely simple to install. It fits in a 3.5" drive bay (this one actually replaced my floppy drive), and looks pretty nice in the front of my rig. The card reader works as it should, but the SD card fits too tightly, IMO.

Cons: The memory cards fit into the reader slot seems to be tight, but it still reads the cards just fine. I do wish it had a MicroSD slot, but I have an adapter that works fine in the SD slot.

Overall Review: Please note that the USB 3.0 does not connect to the MB headers, but a cable routes to the back of the chassis and out through a PCI slot and plugs into a 3.0 I/O port in the back. My mobo (Asus M4A89TD PRO 3.0) doesn't offer a 3.0 header on the board, so this was a fair solution for bringing a 3.0 port to the front of the box. The provided USB connector cable was long enough that I was able to hide most of it, keeping it neat and clean inside the case. At this price range I'm very pleased.

Pros: Remarkably, this is the first HDD failure I've ever had after many years of building and owning PCs. I've usually used the higher end Western Digital Black and Seagate SV series drives (or equivalent back in the day) and been very pleased. My luck has run out.

Cons: Set up for data storage, but after 24 hours or so the drive developed a fairly loud "clicking", and the system wouldn't boot. (Interesting, since this was not the boot drive.) Ran WD's diagnostics and the unit failed in all accounts.

Overall Review: RMA for replacement.

Pros: The 650D has an understated elegance that some might consider plain. It has no fire-breathing dragons or gargoyles molded into its exterior. Instead it represents a classic beauty that doesn't place form over function, but rather balances the two. As a "mid-tower" chassis, she's a bit over-sized. But I knew that going in and consider it a plus. There is lots of room for everything "and the kitchen sink"--or your favorite water cooling solution. Large graphics cards? No problem. Heat sinks the size of a small-block Chevy? Plenty of room! And there's a nice amount of room behind the motherboard tray for hiding the cables (cable management). There are two HDD pods that will each house three drives, and they are detachable. The top pod is designed to be installed in one of two locations: 1) stacked on top of the other HDD pod in the front of the case, or, 2) attached to the left of the other pod on the floor of the chassis (to the right of the PSU). Nice! This second option allows for the unrestricted flow of air from the 200mm front intake fan to reach the graphics card, if necessary. Other nice features include the hot-swap SATA drive bay located at the exterior top-front of the case, and the front USB 3.0 and 2.0 and audio inputs that hide behind a brushed aluminum door that matches the rest of the front bezel. The easily removable fan filters are another nice touch, as are the latches that secure the left and right side doors. And I should also add that the monochromatic black finish is superb, inside and out.

Cons: I did not dock a star because of the USB 3.0 pass-through cable that connects the front input panel with the rear motherboard I/O (that many reviewers have mentioned). This chassis has been around for a little while, and when it was designed, USB 3.0 motherboard headers weren't generally available, so the pass-through solution is understandable. I'm sure that subsequent updates to the 650B will include a motherboard header cable. I did, however, feel compelled to dock a star for the stock chassis fans which do not nearly match the quality of the rest of the case. There are two 200mm fans. One is located as in intake in the front of the case, and the other as an exhaust in the top-rear. And there is a 120mm exhaust fan in the rear. I have no complaints with the size or placement of the fans. The problem is, the fans are cheaply constructed, flimsy, and worst of all, they are way too noisy for such an excellent case. I have them attached to my Asus motherboard (even the "Low" speed on the built-in fan controller was too loud) and use the "Cool 'n Quiet" setting through the Bios, and I still feel they are too noisy. I know what good fans sound like (near silence), and these are not even close. I certainly hope Corsair will remedy this in future releases. Corsair makes wonderful, top-notch products. Why would they choose to cheapen this, otherwise, high quality chassis with these sub-standard fans? (End of rant about the cheap fans!) Meanwhile, I'm replacing them with the excellent BitFenix Spectre Pro fans.

Overall Review: I love this chassis. It was a joy to place my components into its elegant frame. It is feature-rich, very roomy, and Corsair has included lots of nice little touches. And I really wanted to give it five stars--but couldn't--because of the cheap, noisy fans. In spite of my disappointment with the fans, I would still highly recommend the 650D. It isn't inexpensive, but you will thoroughly enjoy building your system into its chassis and admiring its elegantly understated beauty each and every day thereafter. But, you will probably want to replace the cheap fans. System: Corsair Obsidian 650D chassis, Asus M4A89TD PRO 3.0, AMD Phenom II X4 955BE @ 4.0Ghz, Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, Mushkin 8GB (2x4GB) 1600 DDR3, Zotac GTX 460 2GB, ADATA S511 120GB SSD (OS), Intel 330 180GB SSD (FSX), WD Caviar BK 1TB (Data), OCZ Fatal1ty 750 wt PSU, Asus Xonar Audio, Plextor DVD-RW, Win 7 Pro 64.

Pros: The understated elegance of the brushed aluminum finish and simple, efficient layout of the keyboard were the first features that drew me to the Samsung QX411-W01. Upon further examination, to include online research, I've learned that the components that make up the hardware offer tremendous computing power (2nd gen i5 cpu), plenty of storage capacity (750GB), effortless multitasking capabilities, discrete nVidia 520M graphics for photo/video editing and games, WiDi 2.0, WiMAX, and a brilliant glass-covered screen for a vivid visual experience. Two USB 3.0 ports (and one USB 2.0) and full-sized HDMI are huge pluses in a mid-range notebook PC. Laptops are known to have "tinny" sound and low volume, but the built-in speakers are definitely several notches above the average, and the physical mute and volume buttons (and wifi on/off button) are a most welcome touch. I don't know about you, but I like little details, such as a "Caps on/off" light. The QX411-W01 has it.

Cons: After all is said and done, the quirky, overly sensitive touchpad and the sealed-in battery are the weak features. A few moments configuring the touchpad has minimized the problem so that it's performing quite well. I'm sure I'll be fully adapted to it in no time. To be fair, the battery is a cut above other notebooks in this range, featuring 8 hrs. 48 min. battery life (according to PC Mag.) What's missing? Blu-ray drive. HD web cam. I personally don't miss them, but many will. I'm not so sure that at this price point, and with the excellent feature package already offered on the QX411-W01, that Blu-ray and HD web cam would be feasible (or advisable)--without raising the price. For me, I like the feature/price balance as it is.

Overall Review: Samsung has certainly established itself as one of those top-tier companies that you can pretty much count on for quality and excellent value. (They remind me of the way American companies used to be--when we manufactured products here.) The QX411-W01 is a very fitting example and an absolute steal at NE refurb price. Don't miss out, as the latest version of the QX411 doesn't feature dedicated graphics and the HDD has been reduced to 640GB. Meanwhile, I hope Samsung will continue to produce models such as the QX411-W01US (with discrete graphics) in the future.

Pros: Based on research, customer reviews, and the ADATA S511's performance in a couple of Tom's Hardware reviews, I went for it when on sale here at NE. Great decision! Clean install of Win7 Pro-64, a few SSD tweaks in Win7, checked to see if TRIM was enabled (yes), and I'm very happy. WEI 7.9. No Sandforce issues. Just blazing performance.

Cons: There have been no cons with this drive whatsoever. Very stable. No issues.

Overall Review: Just so you know, when you enable AHCI support for the drive on ASUS boards, the drive will not be visible in the BIOS. This is normal for these boards. The drive is visible in Windows and functions perfectly, but you just won't see it in BIOS. When the drive is set to IDE, then this doesn't happen. Meanwhile, set it to AHCI and don't worry about it. Just enjoy the blazing performance. Chieftec full tower ATX (awesome 10-year old tower) Asus M4A89TD PRO USB 3.0 Zotac GTX 460 2 GB Phenom II X4 955 BE CoolerMaster Hyper 212 plus OCZ OCZ750FTY 750W ATX 80 PLUS BRONZE PSU Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 1600 DDR3 (2x4GB) Adata S511 SATA III SSD - 120GB (OS/Apps) WD Caviar Black 6.0 GB/s 750 GB (data) Plextor DVD/RW (x2) Creative Audigy2 Platinum Win 7 Pro 64 misc. peripherals . . .

Pros: The ASUS M4A89TD PRO/USB3 is loaded with high-end features--too many to list in a quick review. Along with the up-to-date features like SATA III 6GB/s, USB 3.0, 2 PCI-e x16 slots, etc., but I also needed a couple of legacy PCI slots and an IDE header. This board is perfect for these needs. The best bios I've ever used and EZ Flash made updating the BIOS a no brainer. I should mention that I like the layout of the board a lot. Very impressive motherboard.

Cons: I really can't think of any. The install went perfectly.

Overall Review: I replaced the CPU back plate with the Cooler Master provided back plate for the Hyper 212 plus cooler and the rest is history. After the build was complete it booted perfectly on the first try. After Windows was installed I updated the BIOS (2001) and began to tweak the BIOS. Very OC friendly. Chieftec full tower ATX (awesome 10-year old tower) Asus M4A89TD PRO USB 3.0 (BIOS 2001) Zotac GTX 460 2 GB Phenom II X4 955 BE C3 (4.0 GHz - 216 x 18.5 x 1.42v) CoolerMaster Hyper 212 plus OCZ OCZ750FTY 750W ATX 80 PLUS BRONZE PSU Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 1600 DDR3 (2x4GB) ADATA S511 SATA III SSD - 120 GB WD Caviar Black 6.0 GB/s 750 GB Plextor DVD/RW (x2) Creative Audigy2 Platinum Win 7 Pro 64 misc. peripherals . . .