David Hingtgen

While we're talking F-14's, I finally downloaded the F-14D's NAVAIR, lots of interesting stuff---like the fact that idle on the F110 can be as high as 78%. That's really high even for a military engine. Also, despite being the primary roll control, stabilator deflection is limited to 7 degrees off of neutral. (looks like a lot more, but I doubt the manual's wrong) Max stab deflection for pitch is 33 degrees up, 10 deg down. Rudder deflection is 30 deg. Wing sweep modes are numerous and complex, as you might imagine. F-14D NAVAIR manual, 85 megs or so: http://www.patricksaviation.com/aviation_f...AIR_01-F14AAD-1

Yeah, but this time MS is trying a lot harder and spending a lot more money for the Japan market---they seem almost "desperate" to do well in Japan. Won't happen if the 360 makes more noise than the Tokyo subway...

I decided last night it's going back to the store, regardless. I can't risk Microsoft getting mine and saying "it's not so loud that we'll replace it" and getting it back just as noisy as it was! Also, I've seen at least a few reports of replacement 360's simply being refurbished ones, with other people's stuff still on the hard drive! I don't pay 400 bucks to get an older one with a dirty case and a HDD full of junk. I'm going to go to all the demo kiosks in the area today and listen very closely, and see how mine is. If mine sounds way different, I will see if I can just exchange for a different one. If it's close, then I just plain can't stand 360 noise and will get a refund, and hopefully within the next 9 months there'll be yet another minor revision or something to make them quieter. Please Japan, write letters to Bill Gates saying that the 360 is too big and loud to buy so they have to redesign it if they want JP sales...

I'll try to remember what I could--the site he usually posts (and that I go to) has like a 3-week limit for searching for old posts, so I couldn't find anything he said earlier. But I certainly recall him (and several other people) disliking the J quite a lot, mainly because I was quite shocked that they did---I thought the J was supposed to be a lot better. I know there's an issue with field performance for some reason (basically I think they consider the new powerplant installation inferior for STOL), and the one thing I really specifically recall was with the electronics---basically, the computer demands the plane be 100% serviceable to fly---it won't let the tiniest thing "go". There was a report I think of something like the toilet's exterior vent door was open,(pretty close to inconsequential) and the computer knew it, and refused to let the plane take off----when they were trying to get the hell out of there while under fire. Sure it might have created a minor pressurization problem or something, but not nearly as bad as getting shot at on the ground. Basically, the computer is so finicky that you can't jury-rig anything any more, and the plane has lost its ability to always fly no matter how bad things get. But all of the above is just what I remember/gather from various posts from a few people, but mainly 1 or 2.

Well after my last 10-minute DOA 4 session (about all I can stand) I shut off my 360 and sent an email off to Microsoft. I just can't take the drive noise. However, I know from "life experience" that it's probably in the pitch range that 99% of people won't hear a THING and think I'm nuts. It really sucks that after 6 months, I finally find one----but can't play it because the drive is so irritating. It's not the VOLUME of the sound, it's the sound itself. It's kind of in the background of the drive's buzz---a shrill whine, like a dentist's drill or a leaf blower. Not loud, but there, and at the exact pitch that just goes straight through your skull into your brain, that'll give you a headache. It would suck most of all if they say there's nothing wrong with it, then I have $400 system I can't play. I dredged up the dedicated 360 thread to ask people to comment on how their 360 drive sounds: http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...ndpost&p=389920

Question for everyone who has one, especially a recently manufactured one: Would you describe exactly what kind of sound the drive makes when playing games? Because I really can't stand mine, even though mine has the supposedly quieter Samsung drive. I'm THIS close to calling MS and b*tching about it to try to get a different (quieter) system. The fans don't bug me at all, but my drive makes a BUZZ that is louder than any other drive I've ever heard. It's like when my CD-ROM is burning a disc---but louder and much higher pitched. In addition to the constant BUZZ, there's frequent random changes in the noise--it doesn't just hum along steadily, there's all these almost chips, rattles, shrieks mixed in. really can't think that's normal or EVERYONE would be complaining constantly. The two types of 360 drives: http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/Xbox_360_DVD..._Comparison.htm Mine is (impossibly) the quieter one...

There are approximately 1 trillion C-130 variants, including all the unofficial mods and "doesn't official exist" non-variants in black paint. The most outspoken "doesn't like the J" guy I know is one who flys the Spectre. His "Tales from Kandahar" are always interesting.

AVSforum, while probably the best place to get info on specific TV's due to sheer membership (if you want to know how a TV is, there's probably 10 people who own it and have posted), is like Gamefaqs for the level of flame wars and personal vendettas and company fanboys that inhabit it. Tons of good info, but you've really got to sort through the junk and super-biased info. Decided last night that I am going to buy a new TV stand, mainly so I can put my 360 behind a glass door and have it blow its exhaust on the dresser and not my GC cords. I will buy one big enough to take 30in widescreens (future proofing), with a completely open back for both cords and the 360's afterbuner... Seriously, I need to get a thrust gauge and see how much power a 360's hot exhaust has, probably equal to a small R/C ducted fan...

Every C-130 pilot I've seen comment has hated the J. They consider them inferior and that Lockheed basically F-d up the entire design forever, eliminating a lot of things the C-130 is known for. A LOT of operators/countries really want H's etc, or even to rebuild A's and B's! They do NOT want the J as it will no longer fulfill a lot of the roles they bought the 130 for in the first place.

The Su-30MKI already has "western" avionics, in the form of ones based off of the Rafale. You won't do a whole lot better than the best France has to offer. It's FAR superior avionics-wise to any other Flanker. And 98% of aircraft out there. PS---F-14D currently scheduled to arrive in Bloomington at noon on Thursday, I still plan to drive out to see it.

From what I've read, it seems most HDTV's are designed to "look best on the showroom floor" so they spend multiple frames re-sampling and "tweaking" 480i inputs etc to catch people's eye. It makes no difference at all watching a movie or something so most people have no idea it's happening. But for a game, the controllers (and you) will effectively be "behind" the game, since you see it on screen a moment later than the PS2 actually rendered it and expects button presses to match. Straight upsampling/converting etc can be done in well less than a single frame, it's just that almost every HDTV is set NOT to do it that way, but to instead do all their well-advertised tweaks and sharpening first, which takes a frame or two. Or 15 in some cases. Some are just so fast at it that even with all that done they still do it fast enough to not make a difference, but others seem to spend a quarter-second "refining" the image before displaying it.

Toshiba had a great CRT reputation until the 2004 models--I've had several Toshiba's to that previously, it was always "Sony or Toshiba" when you wanted a new TV. 2004/2005 had a big drop in quality for CRT's--they outsourced all CRT production to a new factory, and a lot of issues cropped up. Consumer Reports dropped Toshiba from near the top to near the bottom for 2005 CRT models. THAT is why I'm wary. Only the flat-screen stuff is actually made by Toshiba---their CRT's are actually made by someone else now, with the Toshiba name slapped on. (I do go around checking for the "Made in" stickers on TV's, trying to determine which factory they came from---so many companies get stuff from the same factory--if there's problems or quality stuff coming from one factory, it'll show up in most everything that factory makes, regardless of what brand it's sold under) PS---mike, the "lag issue" is AFAIK only when 480i is played on a HDTV--- upscaling the signal to 1080 is what delays it. Have you experimented with a standard PS2 signal to your TV? Like say the MegaMan collection on your DLP, I'm sure you'd detect the slightest lag with that. PPS---actually played DOA 4 for the first time last night. Spent 10 mins trying to figure out how to turn off vibration (there's NO mention of it in the 360 manual that I could find, finally found it in the in-game dashboard--can't access it from the startup dashboard) Anyways, I think the 360 is VERY loud and annoying. I'm going to have to move it further away from the TV (thank God for wireless controls), I have to turn the volume way up to drown out the 360's whining. And roaring. Very strange--most all systems "hum" smoothly and evenly but the 360 changes--roaring one second, whining the next. The sound doesn't really quiet down when it's not actively loading. Not a whole lot of variation, but enough that it's always changing so that you can't really get used to it. Also found out that it seems most of the ventilation holes are cosmetic---ALL the heat and air comes out the back. And boy is it a lot of heat.

Squadrons often do schemes from years ago for special occasions----a bunch of F-14 squadrons did 1970's colors recently. No reason why UN Spacy squadrons wouldn't do te same. There could be a lot of "retro/vintage 100th anniversary colors" in 2040...

Despite what people might think, black and white are among the hardest colors to match. Paint it all. Or strip it all. Don't have 2 different whites on it.

Quick note: I'm playing it as I'm a huge RPG fan and liked the first a lot, but will not be reading this thread until I finish it. I hate spoilers, and already know way more than I wanted to. (Darn Wikipedia, I was looking up some Chain of Memories stuff but they put KH2 spoilers in the same section)

Mod notes: removed quoted pics due to popular demand--there should only be 1 example of each now, unless I missed some. Wasn't planning on doing anything but when the last half-dozen posts are still talking about it... Anyways---we're 1/3 of the way through April now, and no pics yet of MP Starscream. Aren't the April JP toy/hobby mags out yet with the promised photos?

Raw size of the room. Simple as that. My TV sits on top of an old nightstand with a turntable on top--it's the perfect height (very important, I find almost all "TV stands" too low) and quite solid and sturdy. If I REALLY stretch I can turn on my TV while laying in bed. I measured my typical eyeball-to-screen distance and it's 48 inches. I can't have a 50in screen 48in away. I like my screen size/distance setup, that's why I have my room arranged as it is. A 26in 16:9 is exactly the same height as a 20in, just wider. (or in other words, a 26in 16:9 will show 4:3 material on a 20in diagonal area) It is the perfect size, and it exists, so it is annoying that I can't find any... Sears had half the TV's they had 3 months ago, they seem to have cleared out a lot of the CRT's of all types/sizes. Literally, a lot of empty spaces on the shelves. I don't know if they'd order in a TV so I could just LOOK at it and see if I wanted to buy it or not... Still debating the "lower resolution at the sides" on 16:9 CRT's. That's the ONLY picture-quality issue I had with the LG set. But it was really obvious to me, not a little/transient thing. I notice it at my "I think this is my normal viewing distance" but I can't be sure--I plan to take a tape measure next time. If the 26's are just that much smaller and further back on the stand than the 30's, it may make that issue un-noticeable and be great TV's. If LG makes a 26in I would so buy it, but I fear the coming Toshiba 26HF66 will be the last 26in ever sold in the US, and it could very well suck. The Samsung 2678 (barely still available online) gets good reviews (it's the Slimfits that often have issues), but I can't buy a TV without seeing it in person.

After all this, I'm leaning towards "wait 2 years and see how things are". It really seems like CRT quality has tumbled lately, they just don't care anymore, since they're all making LCD etc. Every HDTV of every brand and type seems to simply be "which issues can you live with". I refuse to buy a TV that I have issues with, simply because it's HD. I'd rather keep my bright, flicker-free, glow-free, good geometry 20in than have to deal with 100 things in exchange for HD. Of course I blame a lot of issues on simply being digital with no real standards. How many posts do you see along the lines of "XX brand won't accept a 1080i signal from YY brand without white lines or flickering?" And I believe Sony just announced PS3's will use HDMI v 1.3, whereas almost every TV so far only has version 1.1 (and most TV's won't specify, and tech support is usually too clueless to know)----and I bet there's going to be a lot of people posting HDMI issues on launch day. Sorry for the rant about universal incompatability... Or back to what I thought about earlier---just getting a 24in non-HD with component. Though again, CRT quality is down so much now it seems I could easily end up with a worse picture than I have. Problem is the 24in CRT's have redesigned cases which give them a footprint twice the size of my 20in for no apparent reason. Even the 20in ones are now a lot bigger than my 20in! Maybe I'll just play my GB color...

Component switchboxes bring up bandwidth issues for HD. I'm actually considering what I saw one guy do, as it does solve all the problems---use a bunch of composite switchers! Component and composite cables/connectors are utterly identical, you can interchange. You just need to have audio going through one box and video through another. And that method is actually cheaper than a good component switcher that won't have bandwidth issues or signal degradation. Anyways, went TV browsing today. Confirmed I hate most LCD, though Sony Bravia's look ok. For 2x other LCD prices... Saw the Samsung 30in HD CRT---quite nice in my eyes, though the one at BestBuy had obvious geometry issues, the one at Sears was really nice. Makes me wonder how much they vary---could the BB one be adjusted in service mode to be as nice as the one at Sears, or is it inherently messed and the best you could do is to lessen the curvature? If only TV's were at all consistent as they come out of the factory. LG 30in at BestBuy---best HD CRT I saw by far, but a big reason was because it was actually set up right and had not-so-horrible feed. Also was designed much like a Samsung slim-fit case/base wise, which would REALLY help a lot where I plan to put it. Also one of the few that I could access the menu from and set it to "movie" and get it off of "super vivid" mode. Looked 100x better after I did that, and actually had one guy come over and ask what the heck I did to the TV that made it look so sharp! (since he'd been looking at them 5 mins before) People could actually see detail on TV's if they weren't kept at "Contrast=100, color=super blue" all the time. BestBuy---my god they have such utter F-ing morons to set up the TV's. They had 16:9's running widescreen stuff in pillar box mode! And ever other combination possible. 4:3's running letterbox stuff stretched until it had 30% overscan, 16:9 stretched vertically to fill 4:3, 4:3 stretched wide to fill a 16:9, and every other "totally weird proportions" way you could imagine. Of like 12 TV's on the wall, I think 2 or 3 actually had their display and their screen match. I was watching "scovery Chan" on about half of them, the display was so messed. And watching Jim Carrey's "eyebrows to lower lip" on the other half... Though I must admit, Jim Carrey squashed vertically until he looks like a Hobbit is extra-amusing. So that made it very hard to compare. Not to mention having 20 TV's daisy-chained off the same source made "difference in signal quality" show up far more than "difference in the TV screen". Half the time they blanked out due to weak signal. I spent more time trying to figure what was caused by the screen itself vs what was caused by the horrible signal they were receiving. Anyways----while the LG 30in at $850 is nice, it's above my budget (not tremendously, but I'd wait a few months to save and get one), and I believe size. 26 is still much better for both size/weight/viewing distance I think, but the only one I found was the Toshiba HF84, and it had the worst signal of all--it looked like over-the-air during a snowstorm. I couldn't tell it's picture quality at all. It was however only $450, which I can get. Still waiting for the new HF66 version of that model--could be the same, could be better, could be worse. Noticed that BestBuy had several of the just-in-that-week 2006 Toshiba models, but not for the HD CRT's. Final big comment: I noticed on every 16:9 HD CRT that the sides of the screen don't have the same resolution as the center. I think they call it "pixel cheating" or something. Basically, there are fewer pixels per square inch as you get farther out from the center. It's really only noticeable on the outermost inch or two, but it does create (to me) obvious vertical bands in that area. Now, if you just stand back and watch the middle of the screen you'll never notice it. But on games, so much info is usually displayed on the outer edges, so I'll be staring at it constantly. I don't think I saw any 16:9 CRT that didn't do it, so it may be inherent (or just a very common cost-cutting thing). I really want to know if the 26in do it too, but the only one I saw had such a poor signal I couldn't even tell it was in HD, much less check resolution.

I know, I'm still undecided. Thing is, 30in is also likely (but not definitely) too big. (26in became extinct almost overnight it seems) I really think I'm going to have to do like I did for the living room, and actually construct a cardboard mock-up to see EXACTLY how big various TV's are sitting there. I'm going out TV-browsing this afternoon. I still would love that 26in HD Samsung. Amazon has it for 40%! off but I really don't want to buy a TV online--if there's a problem it'd be such a nightmare. (I've read more Samsung tech support horror stories than everyone else combined---if it works it's great, but if a Samsung TV has a problem, it's best to buy a new TV it seems) This is my current #1 CRT HDTV: http://samsung.com/Products/TV/ArchivedTel...R2678WHXXAA.asp Don't worry about picture set-up, I've been going into the service menu for years---I tweak my sets forever until they're as good as can be. Ironically, I still use Final Fantasy 6 and Xenogears as test/reference, as there's something about the Ruined World's colors that REALLY highlight green/red tint differences as well as red bleed, and Xenogears is the ultimate overscan tester. (I'm one of those that set by eye, as setting up with a calibration DVD or something won't help when DVD and PS2 have very different output levels, and I play 10x as much PS2 as watch DVD) mike---any lag issues? I read DLP's suffer the worst from it. I am super-picky about lag, as you might remember I posted about button sensitivity between various PS2 controller batches... (And I'm not fond of "up" nor "left" on the D-pad of my 360--up especially) Still worried about 4:3 on a 16:9 screen burn-in too, as 90% of my stuff will still be that for a long time. And as always---playing 480i games on an HDTV often doesn't look that good. I saw Shadow of Colossus on a LCD and man did it look godawful. I would hate to buy a new TV that made 90% of my games look awful. (Or at least until the PS3 comes out and outputs PSX and PS2 games to high-def)

Because my gaming TV is my bedroom TV, and that means it sits at arm's length. A 52" TV would be greater than my own field of view at that range. It's also why I have so much trouble keeping 5 or 6 devices hooked up, there's only X amount of room between the bed, TV, and dresser. And I find viewing angle issues (specifically vertical changes in brightness) in almost all non-CRT screens. I am so incredibly picky about brightness changes due to angle you wouldn't believe it. PS--currently leaning towards Sony KV24FS120. Non-HD TV shopping is easy now, there's so few from the good brands. It's the exact opposite of trying to buy an HDTV now. This one has 16:9 enhanced mode, which is rather rare but as I've said many times, a better widescreen DVD experience is very high on my want-list. The only other sub-27" with it is the Toshiba 24AF45, but I've seen LOTS of reports of that model having the "typical cheap TV buzz when on", which I can't stand, despite most people saying it has a better picture. None have 2 component inputs though, I'd really like to have both 360 and DVD hooked up via it. 2 component inputs seems to require 27in or larger, or sheer luck of a particular year of production. PS--my current TV is a 1999 Sony KV20S42 if anyone cares.

I recently finally found some comparison pics for HD CRT's. (Same guy, same image, but on different TV's) Basically, IMHO, they are so not worth it if they are anything but a Sony with a super-fine tube. All those Samsung/Toshiba 30ish CRT HDTV's are vastly vastly inferior to a Sony XBR etc. But Sony stopped making them, and I think even the 30in one is still a grand. (the new Sony XBR has the XBR name only, and does not have the super-fine tube the XBR's are known for) So I think I'll pass on CRT HDTV's (unless I find one pretty cheap) and hope they make smaller plasma's in the future, or better LCD's. Or maybe SED will come in, live up to all its promises and be so awesome that so many people buy them that prices drop quickly. You know, PICS help with TV forum discussions a lot. Why do people never post them? Get your camera and photograph the screen---ends a lot of debates real fast.

Hmmmn. FYI, my gaming TV doesn't have S-video either. So either way, I'll definitely get a better image with even a basic new CRT TV at this point. (I wanted S-video, but nowhere had the S-video version of my TV in stock, so I got the 99% similar model without S-video) Anyways---my 360 has a build date of March 11th! Super-new. Had to totally re-arrange all my cables and power packs to accomodate the power brick. It's the opposite of what I want--the wall-to-pack and pack-to-console cable lengths should be swapped. Also, I have the power pack laying on its side. It fits better, gets better circulation, and actually, exposes more surface area to the air.

Never mind all that, I'm an idiot---I just now actually opened the box up, and the cables are NOT "Component" cables, they are "Component AND composite" cables. There's 2 distinct sets of outputs branching off the main cable. Still thinking about a 24in though, that would be nice. Plus component is noticeably better. (I see almost no difference between composite and S-video, rarely worth it)

DC-10 production ended because it was changed into the MD-11. (And the KC-10's were among the last DC-10's built) But the MD-11 program as well as any chance of a KC-11 was ended because Boeing bought MDC and it competed with the 777. Boeing flat-out cancelled some people's orders, and Lufthansa is STILL ticked at them, because they wanted to order a lot more. Instead of the MD-11 being a fleet mainstay and the majority of the cargo fleet, they could only get a dozen and are practically orphans. (Few things more expensive to operate than having a small fleet of something unique) The MD-11 is among the most desired planes today for cargo conversion, and I'm sure we'll see tanker conversions in the future. UPS wants them so bad they even buy ones with incompatible engines. Boeing refused to build any more despite orders coming in, but they'd love to offer you a 777...