Epinions Recent Reviews for vicwang

Surround Air XJ-2000 Air Purifier: XJ-2000: Low Cost, Low Quality

Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:17:26 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - I've had a Sharper Image Ionic Breeze Compact Quadra (IB) for a couple years now (and been very happy with it), but when I heard about the XJ-2000--which appeared to be a comparable product but for about half the cost--I figured I might as well pick one...

Silicon Snake Oil: Far Cry From a Manifesto

Mon, 18 Nov 2002 00:28:55 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - For a book hailed as “a manifesto” by the Washington Post and that promotes itself as “the first book to question the inflated claims of the Internet,” Silicon Snake Oil by Clifford Stoll certainly falls short of expectations. Whether...

Shanghai Noon: Starring Jackie Chan & Owen Wilson, a.k.a. "Matthew McConaughey Lite"

Tue, 6 Feb 2001 03:44:29 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - It's the established Epinions convention to begin movie reviews with the obligatory plot summary, but it's not all that necessary with a movie like this. Surely anyone reading this is already all-too-familiar with the plot of Shanghai Noon, and although...

Intel Pentium® 4, 1.8 GHz (BX80532PC1800D) Processor: CPU of Tomorrow, Just Not the CPU of Today

Tue, 28 Nov 2000 05:21:07 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - After years of waiting, the Intel Pentium 4 (P4) was finally released last week, representing the most dramatic departure from the original Pentium Pro architecture since its inception in 1995. Oddly enough though, the P4's release was accompanied...

MPTrip MP3-CD Player: MPTrip MP3 Discman: Boneheaded Design Decisions

Thu, 14 Sep 2000 19:37:29 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - It's rather surprising just how much gushing praise I've heard of the MPTrip MP3 Player, with little or no mention of its glaring faults and just plain bone-headed design decisions. Some of its problems are due to the fact that it is an emerging...

3dfx Voodoo5 5500 AGP: 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500: Debunking Myths

Wed, 14 Jun 2000 02:27:52 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - It's amazing just how much Voodoo 5 misinformation is out there. First there's the plethora of "fake reviews" here at Epinions, many of which were posted before the V5 was even released, all of them making outrageous claims as to its...

Microsoft Internet Explorer Starter Kit 3.0 (509-00077) for Mac, PC: PC problems? THIS could be why...

Thu, 18 May 2000 03:02:13 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - Last month our Pentium II 400 PC at work started having some SERIOUS problems. As the days went by it just went slower... and slower... and s l o w e r... until our K6 166 in the next room became a speed demon by comparison. It felt like we were running...

Archived Computer Hardware Reviews: Absolute Steal for $25

Wed, 26 Apr 2000 02:45:13 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - I got the Logitech Soundman X2's for "free" as part of the Emusic.com deal (which expired on April 30) and here's my impression of them so far.

The two satellites provide crisp highs and strong midrange frequencies, without becoming...

Vaughan, Stevie Ray: SRV - 'Guitar Hurricane'

Mon, 24 Apr 2000 03:17:36 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - For the past two weeks my car's CD player has been virtually untouched. Not unplayed, mind you, but untouched. On an endless repeating loop, Stevie Ray Vaughn's 'Texas Flood' CD has spun, and I simply haven't found the motivation to listen to anything...

Bank of America: The Microsoft of Banks?

Sat, 22 Apr 2000 03:00:52 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - I've used Bank of America for over five years now, both for my personal use and at the photography studio where I handle the day-to-day finances. Since I haven't had firsthand experience with any other "brick and mortar" banks, I can't say much...

Hi-Val DVD ROM: Be prepared for DVD hell

Thu, 6 Apr 2000 05:14:43 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - I have just received a letter from Hi-Val, informing me that they have filed for bankruptcy. Since product returns, rebates, and customer service will likely be compromised as a result, I would avoid buying Hi-Val products until the company's status...

University of Texas at Austin: UT FOOTBALL!!!

Sun, 2 Apr 2000 06:04:29 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - Let's get one thing out of the way first: UT has easily one of the most prestigious athletics departments in the nation, with national titles in virtually every major sport, and a history rich with legendary athletes and the highest standards of...

Dune 2000 for Mac: Biggest hack job of all time

Sat, 1 Apr 2000 03:15:13 GMT

rating: 1/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - Dune 2000 could very well be the greatest irony in the history of computer gaming. Way back in the DOS days, Westwood Studios released Dune II, the first true "real time strategy game" that pioneered an entirely new genre. No longer did you...

Archived Computers & Internet Reviews: SETI@home: Flawed but fascinating software

Thu, 30 Mar 2000 05:27:55 GMT

rating: 0/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - UPDATE 10/7: The Beta version of the 3.0 version of Seti@Home has just been released, and it has been significantly improved. I've addded some comments to the review where appropriate to reflect those improvements.

The Seti@home project is a...

A pleasant, quite unexpected surprise

Sun, 26 Mar 2000 22:06:15 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - It amazes me how often people think of this film as some kind of "Dumb and Dumber clone" and make statements like, "If you liked D&D you should see this..." Of course, who can blame them when that's basically what it says right on...

Napster: Flawed but potentially revolutionary software

Sat, 25 Mar 2000 15:42:58 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - “It is the single most insidious website I’ve ever seen… it’s like a burglar’s tool.”

-Ron Stone, Gold Mountain Management (represents Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Ziggy Marley)

"Napster is sneaking in the back door and robbing...

Microsoft Natural Elite (A13-00002) Keyboard: All keyboards should be made this way...

Sat, 25 Mar 2000 03:28:55 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - I find it amusing how many people have an aversion to "split" keyboards such as this one. I actually got mine free when my boss hated it so much (it came with a new system) that he gave it to me and bought another "standard" keyboard...

AcerScan 320U Flatbed Scanner: Acerscan 320U: Great scanner BUT....

Sat, 25 Mar 2000 02:52:40 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - This scanner was an incredible steal for the $30-after-rebate that I got it for. I scoff at the opinions I have read in PC magazines that characterize the Acerscan 320U as nothing more than a "bargain bin scanner" or "a good buy for the...

http://www.epinions.com/cmhd-MousingDevices-All-Microsoft_IntelliMouse_with_IntelliEye: The Last Mouse You'll Ever Need To Buy

Sun, 19 Mar 2000 05:51:09 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - I finally bought the Intellimouse with optical technology today, and I can honestly say this is the last mouse I ever plan to buy. And I've been through my fair share of mice, including most recently my Belkin USB mouse which, through poor design, could...

Blade Runner: visually stunning, otherwise a dud

Sun, 19 Mar 2000 04:36:33 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - So as to not rehash what has been said in virtually every review of this film to date, I will first summarize it thusly:

Almost everyone agrees that Blade Runner is a spectacular visual accomplishment, combining film-noir with science-fiction...

Twisted plot? More like hopelessly convoluted

Sun, 19 Mar 2000 03:25:47 GMT

rating: 2/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - I admit that I wasn't terribly interested in watching this from the start (my girlfriend wanted to watch it), and I was pretty immediately put off by the corny, melodramatic dialogue, the totally unconvincing behavior of virtually every character, and by...

Sigma Design REALmagic Hollywood Plus PCI Video Card: Great product, but can be an installation nightmare

Sat, 11 Mar 2000 23:09:00 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - Much has been said of how this is the best DVD decoder available, and in terms of overall quality it probably is. Image quality is almost flawless on my system, with TV output comparable to conventional DVD players. With that said, this product was also...

Excellent, emotionally powerful, disturbing film

Sat, 11 Mar 2000 06:13:47 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - Let's get one thing out of the way first--despite what everything on the box would suggest--the cute animals, the bright colors, and even the unfathomably inappropriate line that "Animal Farm is sure to leave the whole family squealing with...

EWS: A Hypnotic Visual and Atmospheric Masterpiece

Sat, 11 Mar 2000 05:14:08 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - In all my years of movie-going this is the one film during which I was thoroughly immersed in an alternate, virtual world from opening to end credits, almost without the slightest single thought going through my mind other than the events unfolding...

System Shock 2 for Windows: System Shock 2: Taking fear to an entirely new level

Fri, 10 Mar 2000 16:17:54 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author vicwang - To me it's absolutely criminal that Half-Life has outsold the vastly superior System Shock 2 by a factor of almost 10 to 1. By all means SS2 is a superior game in almost every regard--graphics, atmosphere, audio, voice acting, player-customization,...