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sav1981
sav1981's stats
- Review count7
- Helpfulness votes159
- First reviewFebruary 25, 2013
- Last reviewJune 26, 2017
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.6
- Review comment count7
- Helpfulness votes21
- First review commentJune 23, 2015
- Last review commentDecember 8, 2015
- Featured review comments0
Questions
- Question count0
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- First questionNone
- Last questionNone
- Featured questions0
- Answer count1
- Helpfulness votes0
- First answerSeptember 18, 2009
- Last answerSeptember 18, 2009
- Featured answers0
- Best answers0
sav1981's Reviews
Only at Best Buy Increase productivity with this powerful Insignia tablet. It has an 11.6-inch touch screen that provides high-definition viewing, and the 32GB of built-in storage help you manage documents, music files and applications. Snap photos and chat with others via video-conference applications with the rear-facing and front-facing cameras of this Insignia tablet.
Customer Rating
5
Excellent Laptop/Tablet with 1080p IPS Screen
on June 26, 2017
Posted by: sav1981
from Shreveport, LA
In all honesty, I was not expecting much from this product but I once I played around with it for a couple of days I am thoroughly impressed. For just streaming media, browsing the internet, and some office word work, it's perfect. Also, I love the fact that you can detach the screen and use it as a tablet. Note: Thanks to the quality of the screen, movies are a joy to watch. You cannot get a better product in THIS PRICE RANGE. So here are the pros and cons I've experienced for this product:
Pros:
- 1080p IPS Screen (no other products in this price range offers that)
- 2 in 1 device (laptop/tablet)
- Keyboard (I was able to type without having to press harder, not bad at all)
- 5 hours battery life on average
- Fanless (thanks to the very low powered Atom chip)
- Full Windows 10 PC
- Price ($179 when I bought it)
- 1080p IPS Screen (no other products in this price range offers that)
- 2 in 1 device (laptop/tablet)
- Keyboard (I was able to type without having to press harder, not bad at all)
- 5 hours battery life on average
- Fanless (thanks to the very low powered Atom chip)
- Full Windows 10 PC
- Price ($179 when I bought it)
Cons:
- Touch Screen Response (slightly above average)
- Sound ( better get some blutooth speakers or headphones)
- TrackPad (average so use a mouse)
- Short Power Supply Cable (maybe less than 3ft, but it's not like you can't buy a longer cable)
- 32GB Internal Storage (good thing you can expand it by microsd or usb flash drive)
- Touch Screen Response (slightly above average)
- Sound ( better get some blutooth speakers or headphones)
- TrackPad (average so use a mouse)
- Short Power Supply Cable (maybe less than 3ft, but it's not like you can't buy a longer cable)
- 32GB Internal Storage (good thing you can expand it by microsd or usb flash drive)
Overall:
-Still an excellent buy. The pros outweighs the cons. The cons are what you expect from this price range so all those complaining about it needs to stop grouping this product in the same categories as products in the $300 to $500 price range. So if you don't want to spend a lot doing just basic to light things on a computer, this is the best product or only product that is worth a purchase especially since it is less than $200.
-Still an excellent buy. The pros outweighs the cons. The cons are what you expect from this price range so all those complaining about it needs to stop grouping this product in the same categories as products in the $300 to $500 price range. So if you don't want to spend a lot doing just basic to light things on a computer, this is the best product or only product that is worth a purchase especially since it is less than $200.
My Best Buy number: 0558314260
Mobile Submission: False
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+10points
11of 12voted this as helpful.
Dell Inspiron I3050-4427BLK Desktop: Stay connected with this desktop, which features built-in wireless networking for rapid Internet access. A Bluetooth 4.0 interface allows you to wirelessly link with select Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Customer Rating
3
Great for media, upgrading parts defeats low price
on July 28, 2015
Posted by: sav1981
from Shreveport, LA
For $199 this is an excellent small form pc that can definitely be used as media device, browsing the net, and for Microsoft Office work. Just very, very basic stuff. Don't expect more than that. But here is where the price will quickly jump up and you're better off just buying a $300 desktop. Trust me, you will definitely want to upgrade the ram and hard drive. 2GB of ram is not enough and often leading to very sluggish performance and low memory errors. 4GB min should be standard for Windows 8.1 Although the 32GB SSD is fast, you're only left with around 16GB of actual use and that too can be quickly used up just by downloading updates to Windows 8.1 alone. Not leaving much room for anything else. Now I know you can use a usb flash drive but that's just for additional storage i.e. photos, music, files, games, etc. You cannot download your Windows update to your flash drive. You can get use an external hard drive to configure that as the master drive and have Windows installed on it but who have time to fool around with that. Most people like their products to work without additional workarounds and tinkering. Another thing that you need to know is that the unit will get hot. It's the tradeoff you get for a mini form pc. I will keep this PC because fortunately for me, I had spare parts from my broken laptop and this mini PC is perfect for my kids, but for those have to spend extra for expanding ram and storage it is not worth keeping the product or buying it. This advise also applies to all the cheap laptops that come with the same bareboned specs.
My Best Buy number: 0558314260
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
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+39points
40of 41voted this as helpful.
Intensify your gaming visuals using this XFX R9-390X-8DFR AMD Radeon R9 390X graphics card, which features 8GB GDDR5 memory, Mantle and AMD Freesync technology for faithful, realistic image reproduction.
Customer Rating
5
AN EXCELLENT BUY!! 8GB GDDR5, CAN MATCH GTX 980
on June 29, 2015
Posted by: sav1981
from Shreveport, LA
I tested out both the GTX 980 and GTX 970 to find out for myself if it's really what's it hyped up to be by the majority of tech reviewers and it delivered. Fast performance and excellent power efficiency. I returned the GTX 980 and stuck with the GTX 970 because not only was it $150-$200 dollar cheaper but it also performed within 7-8 fps of the GTX 980 when overclocked. Price per performance of this card is best in class.
After a couple of weeks the AMD R9 390X by XFX arrived in stores and four things caught my eye....price, performance on par with the GTX 980, the 8GB of memory, and lifetime warranty for this card at BestBuy. And yes! I know that it' s basically a rebrand well... more like refinement and also about the high power demand that the graphic chip requires but it' s not enough to be a deal breaker for me. Heck, unless you're benchmarking 24/7 and over overclocking your card the power wattage is a moot point. Now I was skeptical of XFX brand at first since this is my very first AMD graphic card and had always bought ASUS, MSI or EVGA branding cards for Nvidia's side but after digging through the internet I found that is a very reliable graphic card brand.
Testing out and using this card myself, I can tell you that it lives to the praises. This card is very well built and it has a lifetime warranty compared that to the standard 3 years from other manufacturers. The card ran very silent and the fans do a great job of keeping the temperatures below 70C. Heck the reference GTX 900 cards run as high as 84C. So much for high power equals high temperatures and vice versa. It's all in the quality of the coolers and XFX ranks among the elites.
Now don't listen to those who tells you that 8GB of GDDR5 Ram is overkill for 1080p gaming. Games like Shadow of Mordor, GTA V, and Star Citizen all make use of that extra ram because of that those games are looking out of this world. Remember 5-6 years ago they said the same thing about having 1GB and now both the PS4 and Xbox have 8GB as standard. Now think about this, the lead platform right now is the PS4 so it only makes sense to have the same amount of VRAM or more since the vast majority of PC games coming out are console ports. One thing that always get more demanding are games. So it's good to be prepared.
I greatly enjoy this card and will return my GTX 970 but at the end of the day, don't base your buying decision on fanboyism but instead go to whatever that's in your budget and decide from there. I did and I'm very happy with my purchase. Happy gaming.
My Best Buy number: 0558314260
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+71points
72of 73voted this as helpful.
Browse the Web with this Toshiba Satellite C55-B5101 laptop, which features a TruBrite high-definition display and HDMI output for connection to an HDTV. The Intel® Celeron® processor delivers reliability for everyday mobile computing.
Posted by: sav1981
from Shreveport, LA
I give this 5 stars because I knew exactly what I was getting...a laptop that is mainly used for my kids doing homework and stream Netflix or Hulu content without breaking the bank.
My Best Buy number: 0558314260
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+1point
2of 3voted this as helpful.
This NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 graphics card features multiple NVIDIA technologies, including CUDA and G-Sync, that ensure lush, realistic gaming visuals. NVIDIA SHIELD and GameStream allow you to stream portable and PC games.
Posted by: sav1981
from Shreveport, LA
I am absolutely happy with this purchase. Although you cannot go wrong buying the ASUS, MSI, or EVGA branded GTX 970s, to me, nothing beats the design and build quality of the NVIDIA reference model. Only downside is that it doesn't come overclocked out of the box, but don't be discourage because this card is an overclockers' dream. I was able to easily overclock the GPU core to 1300Mhz and the memory to 7600Mhz without increasing any additional voltage and best part is that this card never goes past 80 degrees Celsius. So basically I'm getting the performance of the GTX 980 at a $200 dollar discount. This card rocks!!
My Best Buy number: 0558314260
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+11points
11of 11voted this as helpful.
Learn more about the New WindowsUtilizing NVIDIA GTX 870M graphics with 3GB of dedicated video memory, this 17.3" Asus ROG G750JSDS71 laptop helps you enjoy immersive gaming visuals. An illuminated backlit keyboard allows comfortable typing in dimly lit areas.
Customer Rating
4
One of the Best Gaming Laptop @ BestBuy
on August 6, 2014
Posted by: sav1981
from Shreveport, LA
This is one of the best gaming laptop that you can purchase at Best Buy. Although the price may look high, you are getting top of the line components. At $1700 you are getting an I7 processor, 16GB of ram, 256 GB SSD, an extra 1TB in a tradiontial hard drive, and an Nvidia 870M graphics card. You won't have any troubles maximizing game settings or perform any other tasks that require heavy resource all while never worrying about heat thanks to two very large and quiet fans . The laptop was very quick to bootup and load programs. Also, it have one of the best keyboards I've type on any laptop. The keys have a nice bounce to them and it doesn't feel like they are going to pop off.
Here is the only reason why I am not keeping it. The SCREEN!!!. Even though it's at 1080P the anti glare coating makes everything looks blurry and slightly dark. You will notice it especially on white backgrounds. That makes browsing the internet, reading emails, and using Microsoft Word a very annoying experience. Also, I'm constantly adjusting my laptop screen and/or my seat because of the poor veiwing angles. If you are using the laptop constantly outdoors or having some kind of light you can't get rid of then this type of screen is for you. Unfortunately, this is enough for me to return this back even though I enjoy everything else the laptop has to offer.
What's great about it: Performance and Cooling System
What's not so great: Anti-glare Screen
I would recommend this to a friend!
Display
2
Performance
5
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+11points
11of 11voted this as helpful.
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1: Great for artists and designers who are constantly on the go, this tablet lets you illustrate, edit your photos, make charts and share your creations with the world. The included pressure-sensitive S Pen lets you draw, write and scribble on the HD touch screen as if you were holding a real pen, and the multiscreen feature lets you view content on one side of the screen while taking notes on the other.
Customer Rating
5
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TABLET
on February 25, 2013
Posted by: sav1981
Samsung is absolutely the best brand that does Android right. You are getting a 10.1 inch HD screen, a smart pen, a 1.4Ghz quad core Cpu processor with 2GB of RAM, and either 16GB or 32GB with the ability to add additional storage with a micro sd card. Oh and my favorite, multiview capabilities. I was able to have a screen for my browser, one for my Angry Birds, one for my for YouTube, and one for my note taking app all without no drop in performance. What this means for all the people who dont understand tech talk is that you are getting a kick butt tablet that is both productive and media use friendly. Dont fall for Apple's marketing scheme. There is a reason why so many people are switching to Android. I honestly think it's the level of customization you have with your device. Current Android users know what Im talking about. Those switching to Android for the first time especially Apple users are usually too overwhelm with the openess of Android that they return the products back in instead of getting it a fair shot at it. Well anyways, this a great product and great buy. Right now my Ipad is collecting dust and soon I will trade it in for a PS4.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+12points
12of 12voted this as helpful.
sav1981's Review Comments
This NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 graphics card features multiple NVIDIA technologies, including CUDA and G-Sync, that ensure lush, realistic gaming visuals. NVIDIA SHIELD and GameStream allow you to stream portable and PC games.
Overall4 out of 5
4 out of 5Too Good, for older games...
By SilverGorilla
This is a VERY good Video Card for Newer games like Call of Duty (AW) and Battlefield 3 or 4, but for older games like Delta Force (BHD) which I still love to play after over 10+ years (because of it realism war game play), it makes my screen go black for a sec. off and on forcing me to set screen resolution for BHD and older games to 600x800...so, right to the point, Great for New Games, no good for Old games!
sav1981
Shreveport, LA
June 23, 2015
That's not the graphics card's fault but the video game company who chose not to update their games to support higher resolutions or features found in 2015. You may find some patches for the older games but what I'll suggest is to use the compatibility setting when righting clicking on the game's .exe and go from there or you can try editing the INI file. Good luck.
0points
0of 0voted this comment as helpful.
This NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 graphics card features multiple NVIDIA technologies, including CUDA and G-Sync, that ensure lush, realistic gaming visuals. NVIDIA SHIELD and GameStream allow you to stream portable and PC games.
Overall
2 out of 5
2 out of 5good gpu but false info. spec.
By kojisan
from nevada
i originally bought this card because of the 4GB memory and future 4k display usage but after having this for a month. the performance is very good, low wattage, low fan noise, led custom and heavy on weight. over all, i don't see a 4GB usage on this gpu in the future and nvidia gave a real spec. of a gpu memory of a 195GBPs on 3.5 and 20GBPS on 0.5 memory.
my setup is
-amd fx 6100
-samsung SSD 120
-wd 250 HDD
-2x wd 2TB HDD
-gtx 970
-seasonic 520W
my setup is
-amd fx 6100
-samsung SSD 120
-wd 250 HDD
-2x wd 2TB HDD
-gtx 970
-seasonic 520W
sav1981
Shreveport, LA
June 23, 2015
The divided memory section do not hinder performance in any way as verified by many tech experts. Also, with your current pc specs, anything higher than a GTX 970 is wasted money. To do 4K requires at least an i7 running at 3.5GHz or higher and you will need either to SLI GTX 970 or go with the GTX 980Ti or GTX Titan X just to get playable frame rates at that display. So in other words, it is vey expensive to game at 4K.Also, you will definitely need to upgraded your PSU to at least 800 watts, 520W is just the bare minimum these days for PC gaming.
-1point
0of 1voted this comment as helpful.
This NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 graphics card features multiple NVIDIA technologies, including CUDA and G-Sync, that ensure lush, realistic gaming visuals. NVIDIA SHIELD and GameStream allow you to stream portable and PC games.
Overall3 out of 5
3 out of 5Great card but...
By gary7
I had no trouble installing this card along with a second for SLI mode on my board. Works great! However, the software and drivers from NVidia are a different story! Within the GeForce Experience application you can set the LED's of the card to various types of illumination, which is cool architecture, but don't expect the settings to persist. You'll have to reset them at every boot-up. And to top it off, NVidia support is unable or unwilling to deal with this mystery. Not a deal breaker, but definitely an annoyance when you spend that kind of money!
sav1981
Shreveport, LA
June 23, 2015
That is no reason to give the product itself a low score. That is very misleading for those who just use the rating system to determine their purchases. Now every manufacture has it's own software issues but I'm sure it will get fix. Also you don't need to use the GeForce Experience software. It's just a way to easily set your graphic settings for those who have no idea how to properly configure their games to work properly with their system specs. The product will function and perform just fine without it.
+2points
2of 2voted this comment as helpful.
Intensify your gaming visuals using this XFX R9-390X-8DFR AMD Radeon R9 390X graphics card, which features 8GB GDDR5 memory, Mantle and AMD Freesync technology for faithful, realistic image reproduction.
Overall4 out of 5
4 out of 5Get drivers from website
By Twosocks
Spent several hours trying to get drivers on disk to install. Kept hanging up. Stuck in same spot over half hour. Downloaded new installed fine. Then tried disk and only evolve was update. I mainly play warcraft and have three monitors. So far cannot say much improved over HD7970 it replaced. Using Evolved app optimized settings only getting 29 fps standing in center of garrison. Afraid to see in combat with 10-40 players around. Also getting some lag when turning character. Will test a couple more days but not promising on a 10 yr old game.
sav1981
Shreveport, LA
Try this fix
June 30, 2015
This is what you'll do. First thing first go straight to AMD's website and download driver 15.15 for the R9 300 series, do not use the disk that comes with the card. Although driver 15.20 will work it was mainly for Windows 10 and because of that many features will not work and the card will not perform as attending. You're probably getting about 80% of performance using driver 15.20 on Windows 8.1. So download 15.15 and keep that somewhere in your folders. Next search for DDU uninstaller and download that program. Restart in your PC in safe mode. Execute the DDU uninstaller program and use it to completely uninstall your video drivers. Once that's done, start your PC up normally and install driver 15.15. Your card should work and perform as intended.
+7points
7of 7voted this comment as helpful.
Mac mini now has fourth-generation Intel Core processors, increased graphics performance, and ultrafast 802.11ac wireless networking. It also features two Thunderbolt 2 ports, great built-in apps, and OS X Yosemite. And it's still the world's most power-efficient desktop.
Overall
1 out of 5
1 out of 5easy to use & very compact
By goodlgolfer
from allentown,pa
The Geek Squad has been unbelievable in there help setting up the computer and helping with the learning curve.
sav1981
Shreveport, LA
Then Why the 1 star rating
July 28, 2015
If you like it, then why the 1 star?
+1point
1of 1voted this comment as helpful.
Intensify your gaming visuals using this XFX R9-390X-8DFR AMD Radeon R9 390X graphics card, which features 8GB GDDR5 memory, Mantle and AMD Freesync technology for faithful, realistic image reproduction.
Overall1 out of 5
1 out of 5Not great...issues with Steam in home streaming
By Ryan1
from Grand Rapids, MI
I decided to go with this card over a GTX 970 as I got a steal on a freesync monitor. I use Steam in home streaming very frequently to play games on my laptop. This was my first AMD card in over 10 years and I immediately returned because there are MAJOR issues with Steam in home streaming (google it; known issues where screen flickers constantly). I just returned this and went with a GTX 970 and I could not be happier. GTX 970 does a great job at 1440p and costs a lot less than this. my in home streaming is working perfectly again. I am going to avoid AMD cards again. I was hoping that things were better but I was wrong.
sav1981
Shreveport, LA
December 3, 2015
Streaming games through Steam have nothing to do with the gpu cards. It is done through the Steam client. This is software and driver related files that you still have left on your PC from Nvidia. Anytime you are switching a GPU brand, it is highly recommended to uninstall all software (through control panel) and drivers for that brand by using DDU Uninstaller which you can get at www.guru3d.com. When using DDU Uninstaller you have to use it in safe mode. This will ensure a clean uninstall and that there are no conflicts when switching from Nvidia to AMD or vice versa. I've own this card for about 3-4 months now and have no issues it plus the lifetime warranty I get with it is priceless.
+7points
7of 7voted this comment as helpful.
Intensify your gaming visuals using this XFX R9-390X-8DFR AMD Radeon R9 390X graphics card, which features 8GB GDDR5 memory, Mantle and AMD Freesync technology for faithful, realistic image reproduction.
Overall5 out of 5
5 out of 5Great Card, but Runs Hot!
By Bobby
Performs awesome for gaming, but you need to insure you have lots of space to keep it cool. It's very hot. I have mine in the ASUS M32BC-B01, and I needed to install an additional fan to pull the heat away from the card. Otherwise, it is a great card for the price point. Expect to play your games on their highest settings.
A side note: Don't buy this card for the free "Dirt Rally" game on the box. AMD provides a URL in the box. The site asks for a code provided by Best Buy. Best Buy doesn't provide one and no one in the store has a clue. No free game to play on this awesome card.
sav1981
Shreveport, LA
December 8, 2015
To get the free game you need to first Register with XFX and by registering you'll also get lifetime warranty.. Once registered you will get a code in your email to input in that website to get that game and then from there you'll get a code to input in STEAM. Quite honestly, Dirt Rally is not that good of a game so good thing it is free.
+4points
4of 4voted this comment as helpful.
sav1981's Questions
sav1981 has not submitted any questions.
sav1981's Answers
How do I record live tv without cable or satellite?
First you need a computer with a tv tuner card, a tivo, vhs recorder, or a dvd recorder. Second you got to have a signal going through one of this device so no you cannot record any tv without cable or satellite signal. The only other option is to find live broadcast over the internet and to find a software that will allow you to dowload the video.
14 years, 7 months ago
by
sav1981
Shreveport, LA