Tedious length reviews of cheap tech shit I buy!

[ian]

Y'all ready for this!!

REVIEW 1:

Today we are having a look at a cheap SIMPLECOM CM201 VGA to HDMI Converter I bought from MSY.
It is Available for $16 from MSY Australia.
Link:
http://www.msy.com.au/pc-accessories/17 ... erter.html
I purchased this for the sole purpose of Capturing Dreamcast footage to one of the many Gaming Capture devices available, none of the affordable ones offer VGA.

The package:

Standard fare for cheap cables, nothing special at all.

The Contents:

you get the Converter itself. 6cm wide by 5.5cm depth by 2cm height.
A 25cm Male to Male VGA cable
A 60 cm Male to Male 3.5mm Stereo audio cable
A 65 cm USB A Male to Mini B Male cable for power (so 5 volts)
Warranty Card (Comes with 1 year)
User manual (with some great Engrish included)

The Unit:

Comes pre scratched right from the packet, But it's almost invisible to the naked eye under normal light.

The inputs:

Female VGA and a Female 3.5mm Stereo audio jack

The Output:

Single Gold Plated Female HDMI port. Supports HDMI version 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3. Says it supports HDCP 1.2 (I didn't test that)

The POWER:

Single Female Mini USB B port.
Manual Says it has a power light that doesn't exist, USB standard 5V, 600MH. I was able to power it from the front panel of my Computer, and also from the USB port on my TV

Technical Parameters:

Shown here are the claimed specs, including the 'Input Resolutian' 'HDMI output suppart' 'Audio output inlerface' 'amplifier or hadset' and of course the all important 'pOWER INPUT INTEACE'

We're finally ready to Hook it all up.


All of the included ports and Cables fit perfectly, nothing to note about the physical build quality of the device. It all works with other cables and fits all standards of my test equipment.

What was used for testing:
A PAL Sega Dreamcast. running original release Crazy Taxi.
A Genuine Sega Dreamcast VGA adapter.
An Akai 39.5" Full HD LED TV Model AK4020FHD
Genuine Microsoft Xbox HDMI cable
Fujifilm Finepix S5800
Product photos: Auto, Flash on, Macro on.
Footage photos: Auto, Flash off.


The control conditions:
TV was set to standard picture settings, with a forced aspect ratio of 4:3 for both sets of tests. First I played for a while with Bare VGA using a Generic, good quality VGA cable, then I switched to the Simplecom and continued playing.

A note on my Game choice:
Crazy taxi is not the most visually, nor technically impressive Dreamcast game there is (I'll get to Soul Calibur, Shenmue 1 and 2 and more later when I capture footage) But it's the game I am most Familiar with. I have spent COUNTLESS hours playing this game since 2000, both in arcades and the Dreamcast, I know what the game is supposed to look, sound and play like on many forms of display (CRT, LCD, LED, Projectors, Rear projection TVs) and have played it with pretty much every connection known to the Dreamcast (Composite, S-video, RF and VGA) So I was looking out for any weaknesses in this $16 adaptor I could find, especially motion blurring, tearing and off colours.

OK, FINALLY, let's get to some comparison shots and the test, IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!!

Dreamcast menu on Bare VGA:

Dreamcast menu on HDMI:

From the Menu, I observed little difference in clarity and colour on still backgrounds between both tests. something about the blacks on the HDMI seemed a little different.

Close up of menu on Bare VGA:

Close up of menu on HDMI:

Looking a little closer, we can see that shades of dark grey are rendered darker, Not quite pitch black, there is still some shades of grey, they are just a lot darker. Excuse Quality of photo, Quality of both units is comprable, my shitty photography skills make HDMI look HORRIBLE when it isn't

Title screen of Crazy Taxi on Bare VGA:

Title screen of Crazy Taxi on HDMI:

On the Title screen, Things were much closer, Colours and Clarity in both tests were great with the HDMI making things a tiny bit more colour saturated.
(Difference seems bigger thanks to my horrible photo skills, they are really close)

Demo/Press Start Screen on Bare VGA:

Demo/Press Start Screen on HDMI:

Capturing these photos was the hardest part of this test.. Many photos were taken, all of them useless, this was the closest I could get on each, It's a very fast moving demo, and doesn't translate to a photo well. The blurry backgrounds aren't visible in actual game play on either VGA or HDMI

Gameplay on Bare VGA:

Gameplay on HDMI:

This shot sums up the experience very nicely, at first glance you would be forgiven for thinking these photos were taken in the same session 1 second apart. Nope, The totals Earned don't add up, and if you zoom in you can see the previously mentioned dark colours being slightly darker.


Credits on Bare VGA:

Credits on HDMI:

And here is the full effect of the black differences, When the credits roll, you can see all the lines where the HDMI adapter makes blacks weird.

In summary:
I am very impressed with the quality of the SIMPLECOM CM201 VGA to HDMI adaptor. Motion is smooth, colours are accurate and although it won't be too useful for gaming for most people, as off the top of my head only the Dreamcast and Xbox 360 ever used VGA, it could be a useful tool for capturing Retro PC footage with modern capture devices without having to shell out hundreds for a dedicated VGA capture card.
As for the gaming use, it will be perfect for capturing what I need it to. Dreamcast games, I look forward to seeing how it handles some of the darker parts of Shenmue and Grandia 2. Racing games will all be perfectly fine, when I was playing Crazy Taxi, I would have been hard pressed to know I was actually using the adaptor, Night races of Metropolis Street Racer may be a bit odd, with the blacks being a little funny, but for $16 I'm not going to complain.

Please forgive my shitty photography skills, and lack of ability to show the video (Capture card coming soon)

Written and compiled by FIREWIRE1394 for
BLUEGUERILLA:
http://www.bg.blueguerilla.org/
and
Overclockers Australia:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/
Please feel free to Share or use any of this Unboxing / Review / Tech Sheet / Ad etc as you see fit, But Don't be a dick and claim credit for any of it.
Cheers.




TLDR:
Colours and Motion are spot on.
Greys are turned darker, and black gets patchy.
Would be good for Retro PC's, none of this Fancy DVI, DP, HDMI back then!
Well made unit and cables, BYO HDMI cable.
1 year warranty
For $16 it's great. I'd have been happy at $25-30.

Zoidy, Feel free to move into retro gaming or Tech thread if this doesn't deserve it's own topic.
(if it stays as it's own thread, I'll update when I get a capture device and go for the Crazy Taxi Record)

Edit, yeah it can stay as it's own thread, I'm gonna use it to review more cheap tech shit!!

Stay tuned for Review 2!

[Dr. Zoidberg]

It's fine in it's own topic.

Nice review ian! I might get one as well.

[ian]

If you're not not familiar with MSY's cheap cables 'Cablelist' and 'Partlist' this one is good because it's not either of them and has a warranty. The failure rate on MSY's in house cables is something insane like 30%

Are you near an MSY?

[Dr. Zoidberg]

There's one in Dandenong.

[ian]

There's one in Dandenong.

I thought you moved recently? maybe I'm thinking of someone else.
Either way

I'm working on review 2 now. It will be done in a bit. (Technically it's review 3, but I'm swapping the order of 2 and 3 for here and OCAU.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Yeah I did, to Mornington.

[ian]

Well I hope you like the new place, only downside is it's a little further out from MSY for you to get cheap HDMI boxes!

or other Cheap junk like the following:
Review 2.

Armaggeddon Licht Dagger and Blade 120mm RGB fans Review.

Today we are having a look at 2 cheap 120mm RGB fans I bought from MSY.
They are available for $9 each from MSY Australia.
Link for the Dagger:
http://www.msy.com.au/fans-size-120mm/1 ... e-fan.html
Link for the Blade:
http://www.msy.com.au/fan/19874-armagge ... e-fan.html

I purchased these just to see how bad $9 RGB fans could be, I am also unsure if I am suppose to pronounce them as Light.. or LICKED, or LITCHED.

The packages:


Just some boxes with lots of colour.

The Contents:

With the Dagger you get a 120mm Fan
6 Screws (4 Standard Fan screws, and 2 Random ones for controller)
Molex power cable
LED change button
Fan controller board

With the Blade you get a 120mm Fan
4 Standard Fan screws
Molex power cable

The Fan controller of the Dagger:

The box touts you can use 2 extra Licht Blade fans
You can use 3 extra, it has 4 plugs ready to go, with space (and circuitry) for 2 more, just not plugs.
Has plugs for the Molex power, and the colour change switch. Weirdly, there is also a button Built into the board that has the sole purpose of turning all the leds Blue, and that's all this button does, if you want to turn them off again, you have to use the wired button.

Specs of these fans are limited (of course they are) But the box says:
Black Colour ABS Frame
Transparent ABS Blade
900 Spin/Sec
Built in 15 pcs LED
Used 7 colours LED

All seems pretty standard he... 900 Spins/second. HOLY SHIT!! We are looking at 54,000 RPM fans here! Screw 5400RPM.. I demand 54,000 RPM from my $9 fans thank you.

The LEDS:

7 colours, all in a ring around the blades.
These things are Bright, I seared my retinas each time I looked directly at them.







The box claims:
-1-6 single colour each step
-Colour Cycling mode
-Mixed colours strobe effect
-7 colours pulsating effect
-Lights off.

What you actually get is this:
1 light off
2 red pulsing
3 green pulsing
4 blue pulsing
5 yellowy green pulsing
6 light blue pulsing
7 purple pulsing
8 blueish white pulsing
9 Red Green Blue Seizure mode
10 multi colour pulsing.
And an easter Egg, solid blue if you hit the button on the fan control board.

And there is the biggest problem with these fans so far (We'll get to a bigger one in a minute) You can't have any solid colour other than blue.. Why did they think it was smart to have horrible yellow pulsing, but not solid Red, green or white LEDS

I know they're cheap (and it's possible this fan controller is screwy) but come on. RGB that can't do solid R or G

The Licht Blade:
And now we get onto the BIGGEST PROBLEM the fans have, and it's a pretty big one.
On the box for the Licht Dagger, it says you can pair it with the Licht blade.
And on the box for the licht Blade, it says pair with the Licht Dagger to control Lighting EFX.

Here is the blade.

See the problem? It's powered by it's own molex connector with no plug for the Licht Dagger fan controller. Plug it in, and you get colour cycles and that's it.
That is a pretty big oversight. In fact, Just buy all Licht Daggers, they're the same price as the blade anyway.
(The bade was taken back to MSY for a refund. I wanted to swap to another Dagger, but MSY Mitcham didn't have more Daggers in stock.)


Ok, so there's a few problems, but how do they measure up as actual Fans?

To be honest.. Not bad.
I haven't got Air flow meters or sound measurement devices to give you a conclusive result for which I apologise, so I'll have to compare it to some other fans I had laying around and you'll just have to take a gamble on my data (which will still be more accurate than The manufacturer)

This fan (Dagger and Blade have same performance) is pretty close to the Stock LED Fan that comes in a Thermaltake Chaser A21
http://www.thermaltake.com.au/products- ... C_00002125
Which Thermaltake list as the following:
120 x 120 x 25 mm Blue LED fan (1000rpm,16dBA)

Now when I say pretty close, I mean pretty close.
Airflow of both fans at full tilt was remarkably similar at equal distance of 1 foot from either hand.
Same as the sound levels. Right next to either ear They were almost Identical, in fact the Licht Dagger had less of a whine than the thermaltake and it feels to have slightly less vibration as well.

Next up I pitted it against a CoolerMaster Sikleflow
https://www.pccasegear.com/products/248 ... ed-led-fan
which I chose because they typically have the same asking price of $9.
Same test method again, both at max etc. The Licht was much quieter, but didn't put out quite the airflow.
Before I could finish my tests and take photos of this test the Coolermaster Died (No, Seriously, The coolermaster just stopped)
To be fair, the sikleflow was nearly 2 years old, and must have seen nearly one hundred full hours of use!
so it compares to cheap fans quite well.

But this is RGB.. how does it compare to those Fancy, more expensive RGB fans I hear you ask?
For this I Busted out one of my Thermaltake RIINGS Which are significantly more Expensive. The exact ones I used are here:
https://www.centrecom.com.au/thermaltak ... controller
so $75 currently.


So for less than half the cost, 3 of the Lichts will run you $27.
This may seem stupid to compare, but they are quite similar in function.
Both feature buttoned fan controller.
Both have rings of light.
The RIING controller can do 3 fans, The Licht can do 4.
um.. Thats it really. Full pelt I couldn't hear the RIING over the Licht. Lichts are Airflow, RIINGS are static pressure.

In summary:
The licht have the direct advantage of lighting up like a small sun
If you put a few of these in a case, You'd see your beautiful computer in all its glory.

It's just a shame that they are let down by the Fan controller.
With no speed option (you could put a manual dial inline to fix this I guess) and not being able to do solid RGB colours (well it can do Blue).

ARMAGGEDDON also have Red and Blue variants for $5, I assume they're of a similar, Decent quality.
http://www.msy.com.au/viconline/fans-si ... e-fan.html
http://www.msy.com.au/viconline/fans-si ... e-fan.html

I would purchase These Licht fans above The cheap Coolermaster and Thermaltake options. or basically anything from Aerocool.
So the Licht Dagger is cheap, but not as Nasty as I was expecting.
I will personally buy a couple more, I went to MSY Clayton who also only had one, which I grabbed and this was in a different box to my original

The controller functions exactly the same, so the first wasn't faulty, They just don't do solid colours other than blue. But both fans work on either controller.
They're as cheap as Sikleflows, and also have limited RGB functionality. I wanna see how much I can light up my computer with it full of them.


Written and compiled by FIREWIRE1394 for
BLUEGUERILLA:
http://www.bg.blueguerilla.org/
and
Overclockers Australia:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/
Please feel free to Share or use any of this Unboxing / Review / Tech Sheet / Ad etc as you see fit, But Don't be a dick and claim credit for any of it.
Cheers.




TLDR:
Only purchase the Licht Dagger, Blade is worthless and incompatible for the same $9
On par with cheap Coolermaster and Thermaltake offerings.
Really bright leds, but Blue is your only solid Lit colour.
No speed control.
$9 RGB, perfect to add some tacky flair to a cheap computer or replace failing cheap fans (leds can be turned off)


Review 3 will be live soon. A day or 2.

[ian]

Well with a working desktop I Got the lead out and Did review 3. It's more of a warning, and this will be review 1 on OCAU on the 21st.

ALCATROZ Xplorer 5500M Multimedia Keyboard/Mouse Combo Review.

Today we are having a look at a cheap Keyboard/Mouse combo I bought from MSY.
It is available for $14 from MSY Australia.
Link:
http://www.msy.com.au/keyboard-and-mous ... mouse.html

I purchased this because I had to pack up all computer stuff a while ago and needed a keyboard till I can access it all again.

The package:



At the risk of rendering the rest of this review worthless: The box is the nicest part of this combo. It is solid, has gloss on the pictures on the front and the highlights on the back, slot in tabs to keep closed, and is structurally sound. Certainly made of quality cardboard with lots of attention to detail placed in its design and construction.

The Contents:
Xplorer 5500 Keyboard.
5500M Optical mouse.

Immediately we can see that the 'multimedia' part of the description was a lie, the keyboard doesn't feature a single dedicated multimedia key.

Specs and system requirements are pretty simple (it's a Keyboard and mouse) But the box says:
Designed for Windows XP.
Certified for Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10.
Macintosh... Not compatible or certified, Just Macintosh.
With the only Requirement for the pack being 2 USB ports.
The box touts some really good features you can see in the pictures, Soft and silent keypads, Hi-Definition 1000cpi optical mouse, UV coated keypads, Quality and reliable soft touch membrane keys, Top quality injection finishing with firm responsive click.
At this point, and with a lack of Engrish, you really feel that effort has been put in with this product, it even touts a 2 year warranty.

Let's do the keyboard first:

Before I took it out of the box, I pressed a random key, It did indeed feel soft, and it was indeed quiet, as stated. I was impressed, this proved to be the last time I would be impressed by the keyboard.

Taking it out of the box, the weight of the keyboard is slightly heavier than the mouse. And slightly heavier than the box. The box and mouse combined weigh more than the keyboard does.
But that's OK, doesn't need to be heavy to be decent!

So I placed it on the desk and plugged it in. Computer picked it up, and delete worked as I was able to get to my bios. But pressing this one key revealed a massive problem instantly.


See those feet? Yeah... They're plastic.
So with each keystroke, the keyboard was sliding around my desk like a beer down the bar in all the movies.
If you have a large desk, and want to slide the keyboard from one side to the other to be cool, then this is the keyboard for you!

This problem drove me mental in about 20 seconds of starting this review, I got about a line in before I had had enough of this keyboard. 2 cents worth of rubber could have fixed this problem... 2 cents. I thought maybe my mousepad could fix it?
I placed it on my Razer Goliathus Speed Desk mat.

Not even a $30 mouse pad could fix this keyboard, still slid around like mental on the desk mat.
So I taped the damn thing to my desk mat.

NOW we're getting somewhere, I can finally see if it types good...

No, it doesn't. The keys feel nice surprisingly, they're quiet, decent enough if only a little more squishy than other cheap membrane keyboards, but then you get to the end of a word and inevitably need to use the spacebar.
THIS KEYBOARD HAS THE WORST SPACEBAR I HAVE EVER USED.

It's loud, so loose it wobbles if you breath in its general direction and flexes more than any I have ever used.

The Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock lights are too small to even see in a slightly dark room, and the red printing of letters on red keycaps is impossible to see.


These facts didn't affect me because I know where all the keys are on a keyboard and can tell from what my computer is doing if any of the locks are on, but I thought I'd mention it.

I Gave up using it by the time I had finished the contents section of this review and switched to my laptop for the rest, and the only good thing I can say about this keyboard is that it has drainage holes for spills, which actually might be a bad thing because you'd have to keep using it.

But all is not lost, I did indeed find a use for it.

It makes a good laptop stand, raising it just enough to make typing a little more comfortable, and allowing better cooling as well.

Now, $14 is a lot to pay for a laptop raiser, maybe the mouse can redeem the package?


I don't have a lot to say about the mouse really. It is not the cheap Chinese $1 piece of shit that the keyboard is. It has a decent weight to it, same for the clicks of the buttons, same for the scroll wheel. Ditto build quality, performance. The mouse is what you'd expect for any cheap combo, Same as any mouse from a cheap Rapoo, Logitech or Microsoft desktop.
The USB plug is better on the mouse, and the cable even has some nice texture to it.


It feels like the mouse was made and then they decided to tack a keyboard on later.
Or maybe the mouse was included so it would be seen as impressive next to the keyboard.

In summary:
Do not purchase this set for any reason. Realistically, $10 would be too much to pay for this quality. Maybe $5 for the average mouse.
A far better option would be driving to your local MSY and keeping an eye out for computers on the side of the road and taking one of those keyboards.
YES, literal rubbish would be better than this keyboard.
And literal rubbish keyboards also have the plus that you can pick one up 24 hours a day!

While the mouse seems really good compared to the keyboard, IE: useable.
It would be worth MAYBE $5 at best. In a world of cheap dollar bin mice being sold if I saw this mouse for $1, it would be the best thing in the bargain bin, but it's not, it's part of a $14 set.

I am not taking this set back or throwing it out. I will find a creative way to destroy it so one less person in this world will ever have to experience this keyboard.
The 2 year warranty makes me sad to think that someone could potentially use this for anywhere near 2 years.

If you were to insist on a brand new cheap keyboard and mouse for a build (say a young person getting into computers, or a spare PC)
For the love of god just buy a Microsoft 600 desktop
http://www.msy.com.au/peripherals/16762 ... etail.html
I know $22 is a lot for a cheap Keyboard and mouse, but $8 more gets you something much, MUCH nicer to use. And the Microsoft 600 desktop is a lot better than the Cheap Rapoo sets and even the Logitech MK 120 Desktop set.


Written and compiled by FIREWIRE1394 for
BLUEGUERILLA:
http://www.bg.blueguerilla.org/
and
Overclockers Australia:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/
Please feel free to Share or use any of this Public Safety Warning / Unboxing / Review / Tech Sheet / Anti Ad etc as you see fit, But Don't be a dick and claim credit for any of it.
Cheers.




TLDR:
DO NOT BUY!!!
Has a really nice box.
Mouse is better than any under $5
Keyboard is woeful at best, Hateful at worst.
DO NOT BUY!!!



That's it for now. I don't need anything else, and I'm not into buying cheap stuff just cause it's cheap.
But the next time I do need something cheap (Or maybe any tech), I will certainly be doing more of these unboxing / reviews.

[Dr. Zoidberg]

With a name like ALCATROZ, how could it be crap!?!?

[ian]

Well the Licht Daggers were good, despite not being able to spell light, the simplecom was good despite Engrish everywhere
I've since started calling the fans 'Mick Dagger' one day I will put them in a system with a Spare Nvidia quadro I have in the shed which I call Suzi, The parts will be put in a Mini-ITX case... Which I will call 'Minnie-ITX Driver'