The computer and electronics super geek superthread...

[Oihan]

Well, laptops are okay, but it would have to be a work-horse laptop. I know people who use a workhorse laptop for photos, movies, and animations. But it would either a Macbook Pro or a Dell XPS or equivalent system. So a laptop could work for OmegaD3k.

If you want to go laptop or plan on being mobile, I would suggest the Macbook Pro 17" or the Dell XPS 1730.

If you plan on staying stationary, then a desktop would be cheaper and more suitable to which others have already suggested parts for.

Right, a top of the line laptop could work for OmegaD3k. Call me cheap, but I'd never spend more money on a laptop to get 'desktop performance.' As you said, it'd be cheaper to go the desktop route...which is why I said I'd stay away from laptops. I probably shouldn't have been so biased towards desktop PCs. It never hurts to have more options.

Edited August 31, 2008 by Oihan

[mikeszekely]

I'm not saying that a laptop couldn't work for OmegaD3K. I'm personally of the opinion, though, that desktop replacement style notebooks aren't really worth it. They're more expensive than similarly fitted desktops, they're bigger and heavier than more run-of-the-mill laptops, they're more difficult to do DIY repairs to, and upgrade options in the future tend to be limited to RAM and hard drives.

Take for example a friend of mine, who received a $3000 HP desktop replacement laptop as a gift from his parents. It was big enough to sport a 17" screen, but it was also about 3" thick with the lid closed, and weighed something like 11 pounds. It certainly stretched the definition of "portable." The thing gave off enough heat to keep my apartment warm in the winter. Within probably two years, it wasn't good for much more than playing two-year old games, because both the processor and the graphics were completely dated.

On the other hand, you can build a powerful desktop for $1000-$1500. Yeah, but might not be sticking a quad-core Extreme and a GTX 280 in there, but you can still use a fast dual or quad core processor, and a Radeon HD 4850 or a GeForce 9800GTX+, with the option to upgrade both later (albeit not the Core i7, which will require a new socket). Depending on how many parts you can recycle, you can build an equally upgradeable computer with more mid-range parts for $600.

Again, this is really my opinion, but the advice I'd give is to go with a beefy desktop for your main computer. Pretty much any non-Celeron dual core paired with 2-3GB of RAM and either an GeForce 8800, 9800, GTX 2, Radeon 3800, or Radeon 4800 series card can play any game on the market, and likely most of the new ones coming out, and again you can always upgrade your graphics card later if you want/need to in a desktop. Laptops are best for when you're traveling (or if you're like me, and you're so sick you can't get out of bed but can't stand not to check Kotaku/Engadget/some other blog at least three times a day) and you really just want to browse the net, do some office work, watch some videos, look at the pictures you just took earlier, or play the most UNdemanding games that you can tolerate playing with a trackpad (most modern Intel graphics can play Puzzle Quest, which not only fits suck a description but is honesty quite entertaining as well).

[eugimon]

Anyone else trying out Google's Chrome browser? Seems noticeably faster than IE on my system.

[mikeszekely]

Anyone else trying out Google's Chrome browser? Seems noticeably faster than IE on my system.

Yeah, I downloaded it and played with it a bit. It has some ideas I really like, but not enough to switch from Firefox. Which is okay... I get the impression that Google was more interested in pushing others to innovate than to actually achieve market dominance with it. So maybe Firefox 4 will have some of Chrome's features, and everybody will win.

[eugimon]

firefox notably slows down my system... and IE 7 is just a buggy POS, I'm really liking chrome. Fast and stable so far. True some of the usability isn't there yet, but it's very impressive for a beta.

[azrael]

Chrome is based off Webkit so it should be noticeably smaller. Being a small web browser is nice and all, but larger ones like Firefox and Opera have more functionality. It will be nice to see it get to that point. It's a good start for a beta.

[azrael]

On the subject of Chrome, you might want to re-read that EULA, especially the #2 in the article

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10030522-2.html

[eugimon]

Chrome is based off Webkit so it should be noticeably smaller. Being a small web browser is nice and all, but larger ones like Firefox and Opera have more functionality. It will be nice to see it get to that point. It's a good start for a beta.

Yeah, I can see that for some people having a relatively feature poor browser won't work for them. But I'm just liking how small and fast it is. One nice thing is that like IE 8, the tabs open their own process, so if one crashes, it doesn't drag down the entire program. Hasn't crashed on me yet though.

And yeah, I know about Chrome's user agreement... it's the same as all their other stuff, google says they own the right to your soul, forever and ever.

[Oihan]

Yeah, I can see that for some people having a relatively feature poor browser won't work for them. But I'm just liking how small and fast it is. One nice thing is that like IE 8, the tabs open their own process, so if one crashes, it doesn't drag down the entire program. Hasn't crashed on me yet though.

And yeah, I know about Chrome's user agreement... it's the same as all their other stuff, google says they own the right to your soul, forever and ever.

At least with Firefox...if it crashes all of your tabs are saved so that you can quickly recover and go back to viewing what you were. Plus, I'd rather not have 324,987,234 IE processes running. ...Yes...I do like to have more than several tabs open at once every now and then.

Edit: If Firefox slows your system down that much...I'd think it'd be time for an upgrade.

Edited September 3, 2008 by Oihan

[azrael]

At least with Firefox...if it crashes all of your tabs are saved so that you can quickly recover and go back to viewing what you were. Plus, I'd rather not have 324,987,234 IE processes running. ...Yes...I do like to have more than several tabs open at once every now and then.

It's funny, because on the same day: IE 8 consumes more RAM than Windows XP

Chrome is a good start but it's not up to quite par with Firefox/IE/Opera/Safari yet.

[mikeszekely]

I think IE users who have, for whatever reason, decided against Firefox of Opera, might find Chrome fast enough for slick enough to finally consider switching.

I think Firefox users, though, might see the potential in Chrome but are unlikely to switch.

As for Safari users... if they haven't switched the Firefox or Camino yet, they're not likely to do so now.

[Radd]

I normally use Firefox, but played around with Chrome for quite a bit yesterday. I noticed some pages it loads blazing fast, but other sites it chugs on for an unbearably long time before finally loading. Kinda odd, but a couple of the sites it chugged on where sites I visit regularly, so that puts me off the idea of making Chrome my main web browser any time soon.

I did notice that the sites it chugged had lots of Flash, but those same sites load relatively quickly for me in Firefox. Sites like the Adult Swim site, and 1up.com. I think it did the same with YouTube, too. Once or twice it completely froze up while loading one of those sites. All tabs. I think that's about when I stopped using it.

[eugimon]

At least with Firefox...if it crashes all of your tabs are saved so that you can quickly recover and go back to viewing what you were. Plus, I'd rather not have 324,987,234 IE processes running. ...Yes...I do like to have more than several tabs open at once every now and then.

Edit: If Firefox slows your system down that much...I'd think it'd be time for an upgrade.

I see you bought the intel/ms kool-aid . Software slow and buggy? Just buy a better machine!

[CoryHolmes]

So in a completely fortuitous turn of events, I got a message from my cell service provider that my contract was up and they're willing to give me $250 credit towards a hardware upgrade just for resigning my life away with them. I jumped at the chance.

So now I'm on the hunt (be vewwy vewwy qwiet) for a new handset that will allow me to use Bluetooth Stero Headsets. I already know to look for phones that have A2DP Bluetooth2.0 profile, but what's this I keep reading about AVRCP Profile? Some of the sites I've read about say it'll let me " AVRCP allows you to start, stop, pause, change tracks and control volume levels directly from the stereo headphones if used with a compatible device". Isn't that part of the function of the device, what with the play/pause buttons on the headsets themselves?

Please, MacrossWorlders! I beg of you to help drag this non-BT pleeb up the standards of modern technology!

[Oihan]

I see you bought the intel/ms kool-aid . Software slow and buggy? Just buy a better machine!

Lol, but a better machine does help! At work I use a 2 GHz P4 machine with 1 GB of DDR PC-2100 RAM and I notice a significant difference between it and my Core 2 Duo E6420 @ 2.8 GHz with 2 GB of DDR2 PC2-6400 RAM at home. Maybe it's just the extra gig of RAM...and or the extra core...but I see a noticeable difference in load times and everything. ...My work machine is even less cluttered than my home machine. But I digress...I'll continue to enjoy my kool-aid.

[eugimon]

heh, actually, I would buy a new system, but we're in the middle of buying a new house. I look at a new rig and all I see is a new stainless steel french door refrigerator.

[obakesan]

So now I'm on the hunt (be vewwy vewwy qwiet) for a new handset that will allow me to use Bluetooth Stero Headsets. I

Hi,

Have a look at the Sony Ericsson Walkman range and one of their headsets. Am using a W910i with the HBH-DS980 headset. Works like a charm (though phone is a bit tempermental here and there, what gadget isn't these days).

Sony Ericsson HBH-IS800 Bluetooth Headset

Sony Ericsson HBH-DS980 Bluetooth Headset

Another one of note is the HBH-DS220 / DS205.

Happy phone hunting!

I wonder if Ranka's bug phone has bluetooth?

Edited September 4, 2008 by obakesan

[obakesan]

Anyone else trying out Google's Chrome browser? Seems noticeably faster than IE on my system.

Saw it, downloaded it, tried it, uninstalled it, life carries on.... To be honest it's a nice start, but happy with Opera which has most of the features and then some. I find amusing that in the press it was described as "having tabs with an address bar below them" like it was some revolution or something. Wait till Apple announce iPod Generation X with Safari Generation Y and Google Chrome will be forgotten about untill the next release or something.

Cheers,

[CoryHolmes]

So I got my brand new Motorola ROKR and I'm trying to format the MicroSD card that came with it. The phone says everything is just peachy, but I can't get it to connect to my PC to put music filies on it. Any help would be appreciated.

[mikeszekely]

So I got my brand new Motorola ROKR and I'm trying to format the MicroSD card that came with it. The phone says everything is just peachy, but I can't get it to connect to my PC to put music filies on it. Any help would be appreciated.

Carrier?

[lechuck]

I don't have a ROKR but a KRZR K1, and normally you should go into

Settings -> Connection -> USB Settings and select "Memory Card" as your default connection.

That way when you hook it up to your PC, it should identify it as a removable drive.

Hope this helps.

[CoryHolmes]

I'm on Bell Mobility and I'll give that a shot, lechuck

[Dante74]

I'm looking for a good external harddrive that can handle daily transport so it needs to be small and durable. Anything upwards of 250 GB will do.

Any suggestions?

[MacrossMan]

My latest PC specs:

HP PAVILION ELITE M9300T PC WITH TV/PVR

ATSC-NTS TVTUNER WITHHPPVR, FMTUNER, REMOTE

INTEGRATED 7/1 SOUND W/FRONT AUDIO PORTS

NORTON INTERNET SECURITY(M)2008 – 15 MONTH

MICROSOFT ® WORKS 9.0

KEYBOARD & HP OPTICAL MOUSE

HOME & HOME OFFICE INSERT

GENUINE WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREM. (32 – BIT)

INTEL ® CORE ™ 2 QUAD PROCQ6600(2.4GHZ)

3GB DDR2 – 800MHZ DUAL CHANNELSDRAM

256MBNVIDIAGEFORCE9300VI – I, V6AADT, HDMI

NO MODEM

320GB 7200RPM SATA 3GB/S HARD DRIVE

BLU – RAY RW&LIGHTSCRIBE SUPERMULTI DVDRW

15 – IN – 1 MEMORYCARD READER, 2USB, 1394, VIDEO

Pretty decent PC for the price: $701 on Ebay minus 10% discount brought the total to $630 shipped or about $230 more than a PS3. I purchased an extender and can now wirelessly stream all my digital content (including HD) to my man cave. Ripping Blu-Ray is a pretty tedious process and time consuming at this point, but I am sure it will be a lot easier in the future. As of right now I really use the extender to access my music library and stream standard definition TV via satellite. Using Media Center I get free DVR service. I had a get together recently and everyone was amazed at being able to pull up the music and DVD movie library on the TV let alone stream it on my wireless network. The extender is one sweet device!

OO

[CoryHolmes]

So I'm quite happy with my new phone. It's all new and clicky and with working buttons. But I also bought a Motorola S9 Bluetooth headset to go with it, and I'm having trouble with that. When I have the phone clipped to my belt or in my pocket, the signal gets incrdibly choppy (as in, four skips in under 45 seconds). Even when I have the phone in my jacket pocket ((which is so not an option during the summer) it's still a tad choppy. Is this normal for Bluetooth or should I take it back and get a refund/exchange?

[Dante74]

Anyone know if there's a wireless N-draft network adapter available that'll work with 64 bit Vista?

[mikeszekely]

Anyone know if there's a wireless N-draft network adapter available that'll work with 64 bit Vista?

PCI, PMCIA, USB?

[Knight26]

Hey all, I am now thinking that early next year, the wife promised, I will get a new computer, finally, but I looked at my usage and decided I should get a laptop instead of a desktop, since I have so little time to work on the desktop with the kids. So, I thinking of getting a used laptop, and I am thinking it should have an NVidea-7950 card onboard, or possibly an 8800. I am leaning towards the 7950 because I plan to softmod the card into a Quadro card for modelling purposes, not gaming, and the 7950 softmods the best of any tested card according to what I have read. The problem I am having is finding a laptop with that video card. So do any of you know what laptops came with that card, and if not, how hard would it be for me to just build a laptop with that card, or even upgrade a laptop with that card?

[Dante74]

PCI, PMCIA, USB?

Preferably USB, but PCI will do. I've been looking everywhere, but I can't find any adapter that'll work with 64 bit Vista or 32 bit for that matter. All I've been reading is people having all kinds of issues trying to get it to work. Maybe I should just go with a G adapter for the time being and switch to N when it gets more support from the manufacturers. What a waste of bandwidth from a perfectly fine N-draft router.

[mikeszekely]

Preferably USB, but PCI will do. I've been looking everywhere, but I can't find any adapter that'll work with 64 bit Vista or 32 bit for that matter. All I've been reading is people having all kinds of issues trying to get it to work. Maybe I should just go with a G adapter for the time being and switch to N when it gets more support from the manufacturers. What a waste of bandwidth from a perfectly fine N-draft router.

Maybe this one?

Yeah, I've never heard of them either, but a reviewer claims it worked on 64-bit Vista for him.

[emajnthis]

My co-worker just purchased a PCI Wireless N adapter for his Vista 64 box. The drivers that came with the adapter didn't work, but a quick trip to the website (I believe it was D-Link) provided him with a compatible driver. I'd recommend finding a product that suits your needs and do some quick research on their support site to see if drivers are available.

[yellowlightman]

Here's a random question. Right now my apartment has a crappy 13" TV, but I'd like something bigger and better suited for my Xbox 360. HD TV's I've looked at here all tend to be ~$400 or higher, which is a bit more than I have to spend. So I'm thinking I'll just get a monitor to use instead, as they're considerably cheaper and I don't watch TV anyways.

My question is what should I do about sound output? If I was at home I'd just use my sound system, but I don't have one here. Am I better off buying a cheap-o sound system (no idea what they go for here) or is there another (cheaper) way I'd be able to output sound to some speakers? I don't need anything near top of the line, but I'm just trying to feel out my options.

[azrael]

Here's a random question. Right now my apartment has a crappy 13" TV, but I'd like something bigger and better suited for my Xbox 360. HD TV's I've looked at here all tend to be ~$400 or higher, which is a bit more than I have to spend. So I'm thinking I'll just get a monitor to use instead, as they're considerably cheaper and I don't watch TV anyways. *snip*

How much are you willing to spend for both monitor and speakers? How large of a screen are you looking at?

[Dante74]

Maybe this one?

Yeah, I've never heard of them either, but a reviewer claims it worked on 64-bit Vista for him.

Thanks, I'll look into it.

My co-worker just purchased a PCI Wireless N adapter for his Vista 64 box. The drivers that came with the adapter didn't work, but a quick trip to the website (I believe it was D-Link) provided him with a compatible driver. I'd recommend finding a product that suits your needs and do some quick research on their support site to see if drivers are available.

I've been looking at D-link's site and it's very helpfull when it comes to looking for a Vista compatible product. They even have lists of 64 compatible products. I just hope it'll work with a Linksys WRT-160N router. When it comes to customer support, D-link has Linksys beat IMO. Linksys's site sucks in that regard.

[Beltane70]

Call me strange, yellowlightman, but I actually just use my computer speakers for my 360. They work just fine.