Pros: I needed this for three things: skype chats (business), music and occasional gaming. The console takes up a minimal amount of space on my desk, and the controls on it are fairly easy and satisfy my main concern: no moving contacts. The main reason I retired my previous old JVC box (from the 80s) was its losing contact on the front & rear speaker switches. This is maybe too much for what I use it for - even at just 2 LEDs it's just as loud as I'll ever need it. I have neighbors, and the house isn't that firm... I wouldn't run it as loud as it surely can go. I'm just satisfied that everything sounds alright - haven't caught it in any artifact, nothing sounds like coming out of a coffin or a tin can.

Cons: Matrix modes are a bit of an overkill, and I think my sound card has better tricks up its sleeve. The headphones should have a switch to flip between them and speakers - maybe reassign the mute switch to that when phones are present. The green plug is the only wearable part that gets used every day; I'd much rather not have to plug it in and out two or three times a day. And one detail, about the short cables: what I didn't understand from other reviews was that the front line cables are short - and they are, a foot or two more would cover just as much as needed. Doesn't make much sense to buy extensions for that. The rear are just as long as needed.

Overall Review: Actually my daughter has the more serious Z-640 or whatever was the legend that you can't buy anymore. This one is toned down from that exactly as much as I need it.

Pros: Great computer which can even make phone calls. And it's unlocked, so no arm+leg deal with any of the forces of the netherworld. Good resolution, almost decent camera, lots of space (with the cheapo SD card courtesy of Newegg), full keyboard and it still fits in a pocket. With carrying over the SIM card from the previous phone (not locked, this works!) it was perfect to have everything in one pocket gadget: GPS, Wikipedia, email, messaging, phone and, if there's nothing better nearby, a camera. Combined with AT&T's prepaid web access at just $20/month, this was the best thing I could get as a present to a geek daughter.

Cons: Did I say the camera is suboptimal? It is. No big deal, it doesn't have to be. But the headphones are killing. The weird one-wire-shorter deal, the soft part that fell off within a month and now they're scratching the ears, and above all the IBM (or Apple- or Microsoft- or HP-) style "we'll lock you in" non-standard wiring on a standard jack... Tried to buy an adapter, "device not recognized" - yes, but you saw it. Tried to buy other phones, only one channel works. Seems to be they switched mike and one channel wires, so you'd have to buy headphones from Nokia only. Which is beyond "sucks" - since this morning, we officially hate Nokia.

Overall Review: ...and the AT&T too, because within a couple of months they stopped that $20/month internet for prepaid plans, and switched to some incredibly expensive scheme where you pay per megabyte. If that's the incentive to switch to a contract, we now hate AT&T too and may just sell this phone. Too bad - a great machine, good design, but hey, corporate greed/policy has knowed up even bigger things. They wanted to squeeze a few dollars more? They may lose a customer for years to come. Just keep thinking no further than the next quarter, guys... So, five stars for the rest of the hardware, minus two for this hassle.

Pros: Almost no moving parts, may last nearly forever. I bought it over a good old JVC simply because it developed the same bad contact on the switch, after 20 years. Jog dial simply doesn't have any friction, the buttons are just as contactless, so nothing to get worn and torn. Sound is great - not that I'd be able to hear the difference after 40 years of listening to R'n'R, but given the size of these little tin boxes, it's quite good. And I finally got to hear all that old quadro for only $130, cool.

Cons: I have to plug/unplug the headphones several times a day. About half the day I'm on Skype, half on music - and I wish there was a button so I could switch between without whacking the jack. Nice thing that it keeps separate settings for headset, so I don't have to reshuffle controls when switching, but then it forgets everything when power goes out. Not a big deal, though, it's quite easy to set.

Overall Review: Cables are just as long as needed, but just a couple of feet more would have solved all my problems.

Pros: I already have a VA1912wb - which is now vertical, to the right - and that one's on a VGA cable; its DVI cable serves the new one. I wanted to buy a 22" first, but misclicked, noticed too late, tried to cancel - got this, and I'm actually glad it turned out this way. Image is clear, even whiter than on the 1912, and all my movies look as good as they did on the big screen. I'm not really a gamer, but judging by the 2nd one I got for the daughter meanwhile, this should just be a good gaming monitor if I wanted to do that. What few games I tried worked just smoothly. No dead pixels, easy setup, vertical angle good enough (I love to watch movies lying on the floor, so the ability to have it bent forward so easily is appreciated).

Cons: The silver stripe on frame bottom looks kind of ugly to me - probably because just pretty much anything manufactured in 2002-2007 had to be some metallic gray if it was a vehicle or electronic device. But that's me, I learned to hate the gray.

Pros: My previous keyboard outlasted expectations - I got bored with it, and wanted a new one. This fit the bill in every way - no extra plastic around the frame, no extra confusing keys around the arrows (so I don't have to look down), and no extra keys above the F-keys. Actually there are, but they don't work if I don't install the driver - great! I don't want them. Last time I had some of those, I had accidentally hit them and caused some damage to the file(s) I was working on. This is a no frills, no kidding, simple keyboard for a seasoned pro. After two months, even the slightly annoying sound from the left end of the space bar has gone, it's broken in, and I actually enjoy typing. The mouse is my 6th Logitech - I'd have bought it anyway; getting it together with the keyboard for just a few bucks more is a real bargain.

Cons: I thought black wouldn't look dirty as soon as the cream - but I was wrong. At least this is smooth so a simple static duster does miracles.

Pros: It was very simple to put together. At some point I even had to look into the manual... within 10 minutes I had my monitor the way I wanted. Specially adore the ease with which it turns around the vertical axis - when I need to show something to anyone else. The manual mentions some adjustments to balance the tension of the spring(s), which took about ten seconds to find and set to fit the weight of my monitor.

Cons: None I can think of.