Hardware Insights Forum

Collect your opinions on various things – almost anything you like, as long as it's not racist or otherwise bigoted.
(Though it's really best to stick to technical, or at least nonpolitical, stuff.)

Chipsets – I don't have a preference for a particular brand, but I'm not touching VIA again.

HDDs
Likes: WD Caviar Black, previous WD Caviars of 2005~2006, Seagate Barracuda ATA III/IV/V and 7200.7
Dislikes: The latter ball-bearing Caviars (2002~early 2004), Seagate U Series, Maxtors of 1994~1998, newer Seagates (post-7200.11/ES.2) and probably anything consumer-grade (apart from the Blacks which are a sort of “enthusiast” series) made since about 2011

SSDs
OK with: Samsung PRO series, I guess? (Though the latest are apparently moving from MLC to TLC themselves )
Dislikes: Samsung 840 EVO wasn't so good, and 870 EVO looks very bad; anything with YMTC flash is suspicious
Dreads: Kingston SSDNow V+200 series
(I'd seriously sooner use even an IBM DeathStar 75GXP or a 7200.14, than these monsters.) Notwithstanding that incident, I do have a newer Kingston model in my current configuration, but (a) it was an unused spare brought home from Mum's office, not one I chose myself and (b) it doesn't have the same SandForce/SandFarce controller (which I think was the likely problem). I still don't like Kingston as a company.

Which leads me to the conclusion that neither the naysayers (like PCBONEZ) nor those predicting lifespans of “decades” (like mariushm) were right about SSDs; I've since concluded that they'll settle on a similar lifespan to that for HDDs, and this seems to be proving not too far from the truth.

Web browsers
Likes: Pale Moon (to a degree)
Dislikes: All the other “modern” ones, Internet Explorer/Exploder

Text encoding
Good: UTF-8
OK: Plain ASCII (where special characters aren't required)
Bad: UTF-16 and others

Semiconductors
Likes: No particular preference
Dislikes: Infineon, STMicroelectronics

Electrical accessories (Australia)
Likes: Hager (their WBP4S is the only truly good retrofit quad-outlet, and yes its switches are double-pole even though the catalog and model number don't say), Clipsal 2000 Series (PDL would probably be fine too if I have an application where they have the best-fit item, both being currently owned by Schneider Electric) Clipsal's niche (or superseded, e.g. much of the Standard series) items can be crazy-overpriced though.
If you want the best switch action in Clipsal plates, then choose the 30USM over plain 30M (note that the '1' and '2' terminals swap places between the two).
I'll also keep using old Ring-Grip items where they still work (Ring-Grip's switches had a nice crisp action).
Meh: Clipsal Classic (they look good when new, but like HPM Excel many use ABS covers which yellow much sooner than the polycarbonate 2000 surrounds)
Ambivalent: Clipsal/PDL Iconic (the user-swappable rockers are clever but internal construction less-satisfying, especially that plastic-flex shutter closing arrangement), Connected Switchgear (they're better than most other small makes, even somewhat decent; but not all their products are yet good)
Dislikes: HPM, especially since the late 1990s (the only HPM product I still buy occasionally is their 5M cord-line switch)
To be fair, the newer Excel Life range does look better than their previous models.

Power‑boards (Australia/New Zealand)
Likes: Ningbo Kaifeng Electric (their native models are best, but the Arlec PB12PP and Crest PW4PBS10 are OK too); Kambrook 'Awesome Foursome' (Kambrook's 1980s/early 1990s model which was basically a quad Clipsal power‑point modified just as far as necessary to qualify as a power‑board – since Kambrook indeed also sold a power-point version before Clipsal went alone the C2015D4 – and is built accordingly).
OK with (in a pinch): Crest, Jackson models without surge suppression (since Jackson uses an MOV with no failsafe)
(Individually-switched Crest models appear to use full wiper contacts, although this doesn't apply to their unswitched or master-switched counterparts.)
Dislikes: Most other modern manufacturers (regardless of retail branding), with United Cable probably lowest among the approved makes
Current HPM power-boards earn a particularly dishonorable mention, for stooping to the USAmericans' level by saying they're “for residential use only” (even their overpriced “heavy duty” models, which of course contain the same flimsy socket contacts as the basic type )

Household fans
Likes: Vornado (although I don't really trust their heaters, observing that those have quite a few recalls)
Dislikes: Ordinary fans (mostly designed as cheaply as possible for their diameter, while still working just well enough to satisfy the average buyer) and especially Dyson's Air “Multiplier” (more like the Air Divider given how poor its laminar flow is at actually promoting heat exchange)

Other small appliances
Likes – heaters: DēLonghi (although the DL2401TF and now-discontinued HS25F are low points)
Likes – toaster: Russell Hobbs RHT12 (with solid construction, 1670W into 2 slices, and stuck-lever protection for AU$60)
(Granted the old Sunbeam Radiant Control toasters were on their own level of ingenuity, but the RHT12 is probably the best affordable modern toaster.)
OK with: Breville, DēLonghi kitchen appliances, Kambrook, other Russell Hobbs models, Trent & Steele, Sunbeam (if not available from the others)
Dislikes: Most store-brands, zombie-brands and other rebranded generic junk (e.g. the aptly-named Heller); Dimplex (which lately are more like Dumbplex); also those overpriced, pretentious makes (like French Noirot heaters). IXL heaters are/were serviceable but less-impressive than they look.

Various
Likes: Ad blocking, light dimming (if done properly)
Dislikes: Car culture, cursive writing, forced background music, jewellery (unless you make something genuinely clever without wasting precious metals or gems), group meetings , nonfree standards, overproduced movies, carelessly mixed-and-matched colour temperatures in lighting, along with mindless imitation of the color temperature of old incandescent bulbs (I don't really want this “pleasing yellow tone” or whatever they call it, I want light that actually looks white). I guess that last one is analogous to cursive, in that it's the “old‑fashioned” way, people “like” it, but it isn't actually great.

Motherboards:
Gigabyte, MSI
ASUS, ECS

Laptops:
Toshiba Tecra, Dell Latitude, Lenovo Thinkpads.
Toshiba Satellite, Dell Inspiron, Lenovo Ideapad, Anything from HP, Acer and ASUS

HDDs
WD Caviar Black, Older WDs and Seagates
Everything else

OSs:
XP
ME, 8, Vista
Note that I've omitted 7 from either list. I don't particularly like it like XP, nor do I particularly hate it like 8 and Vista

I don't like any OS (or web browser) that much. (LATE EDIT: Pale Moon is half-decent.)

Another thing I dislike is component manufacturers that provide a separate datasheet for every single part. (LATE EDIT: Justified for some parts.)

Screws (I have no doubt about this one, even though most people wouldn't expect the answer)
Likes: Torx (except the evil 5-pointed Tamperproof Torx Plus, of course; the 6-pointed types are fine by me)
Dislikes: Phillips (as they cam-out by design), Pozidriv and JIS (because they're so similar to Phillips that people rarely use the correct drivers), slotted (because they usually don't guard against the driver sliding out the side)

PSUs
Likes: Whatever has high-quality capacitors, low ripple, tight regulation, reasonable efficiency, and a quiet fan.
Dislikes: The ones made by Casing Macron due to their high rate of capacitor failures (which my experience suggests is little if any better than those claimed for the old Fuhjyyu-ridden Antecs, and this is without ultra-slow fans), although they're at least decent enough to be worth recapping. It's a similar story for the old FSPs (GU and earlier series?) that usually had Fuhjyyu TN and Teapo SEK series caps, although those are a bit less forgiving because they have that thermally unstable glue (the Macrons use a white glue which seems to be a non-issue), hot load resistors and (IMO) worse fans (Yate Loon or Protechnic, vs. Power Logic, usually, in the Macrons). Of course, they're preferable to the real gutless wonders, but they still aren't good enough in factory form.

Motherboards - No real preference here either, but I did rather like that Intel's "old" mandate for their motherboards, once upon a time, was "all Japanese capacitors".

HDDs:

Likes: Older Seagates and older Western Digitals.
Dislikes: Everything else, because you know it isn't going to last. I know it's the nature of hard drives to be fragile and unpredictable in failure modes, but even still..

Semiconductors:

Likes: Don't really have a preference here either, but I don't like the fact that everything is lead free and BGA now adays, practically...
Dislikes: If you dislike STMicroelectronics, you may as well lump Infineon in there, have seen and heard of enough reports on motherboards of failed FETs to say they're no better if not worse. Of course, heat never helps.

Various:

Likes: Thought provoking things.
Dislikes: Things that are meant to weigh heavy upon your nerves.

Likes: Omron A8L for small 10A DPST (provided you don't need a neon light); ZF/Cherry YR series for the large 16A DPST/DPDT types, although WR is also OK (but with a louder click) as is TR for SPST/SPDT. At least the WR has another advantage in that the neon series resistors (uncoated leadless types pressed between the springs and neon wires; MELF 0207 is close enough to fit) are easy to change (provided you have a spudger to open the switch without gouging the plastic), should you want to extend the neon life and/or change the lamp voltage (which isn't labelled on the switch body so no suspicions shall be aroused ).
The WR's original resistors for 120V illumination (as purchased via Mouser) are 2×47kΩ (measured); I changed these to 2×150kΩ for 240V.

Distrusts: Arcolectric 8550, since the internal pole barrier is too shallow for my liking. Even the wider 8650 (and 8660 DPDT, 8670 center-off) isn't much better.
Rod Elliott mentions in one project that such switches can fail with a short-circuit between the poles, and I can see why.
The Omron A8L has a taller pole barrier (as does the equivalent Panasonic AJ7, going by the internal drawing in the datasheet), which I trust to stay safe.
Also, Arcolectric 5503 illuminated SPST switches (at least those I opened, from the Goldair Turbo-Convector model 8050) have only a 100kΩ resistor for a rather small neon bulb (about 3.8mm diameter by 9.7mm long), so are prone to premature darkening.

Cables are generally treated as a commodity, and this is almost true; I don't have any major overall preference (other than Australian or European over Chinese manufacturers), but some makers still have the upper hand in some areas. Australia still has a fair few cable makers so I'll concentrate on them here:

• Advance Cables (direct catalog link as they don't have a proper website)
• Australia Pacific Electric Cables
• Electra Cables (yeah, it's a groaner of a name)
• Olex (now part of Nexans)
• Prysmian (formerly Pirelli)
• Tycab to an extent (but they don't appear to have twin active )

Flexible cords
Differences in PVC composition (plasticizer amount and maybe type) affect the flexibility; Olex flex is generally more-flexible than Electra.
This could even be a reason to get 0.75–1.5mm² flex at Bunnings (which mainly sell Olex) instead of Rexel (which mostly sell Electra), although the text “quality” suggests that Bunnings' supply might be cosmetic rejects (and I even saw a roll of 3G0.75 where the core colors transpose midway through the insulation ).
On a side note, Bunnings sell Antsig (Arlec) CCA speaker wire at such a price that the proper copper Olex option is actually cheaper conductivity-wise!

I haven't handled flex from other Australian manufacturers (other than the defunct makers of molded cordsets, namely Burton and CableMakers Australia/CMA; both had good flexibility, especially noticeable in heavy-duty extension cords including a 20m Burton one I refurbished with Clipsal ends a few years ago).

95mm²
In Europe this is normally made with 19 strands of 2.52mm diameter (5mm² each), but Prysmian cheap it out with 2.45mm strands (giving barely 90mm²).
Advance and Electra use 37 strands of 1.78mm diameter (as in 2.5mm² solid-core), making it easier to bend with a more-satisfactory 92mm² actual area.

Special variants
Prysmian (being the largest company of the group) usually have the most of these at any given time; as I'm writing this post:

• Twin Active and Neutral (red/white/black, identified by pink sheathing): Olex-Switchtech
• 4mm² and 6mm² 2C+E with full-size earths: Prysmian Flat Xtra
• Non-migratory PVC sheathing (colored purple): Electra and Prysmian (otherwise you can use LSZH)