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mikeszekely

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Everything posted by mikeszekely

  1. mikeszekely
    Where are you at, and what stores can you shop at? I'm guessing by your spelling of "labour" that you might be in the UK, Australia, or New Zealand? Is Amazon an option (or better yet, do they have a regional version)? I was able to find the exact kit I bought at Newegg for my mini on Amazon at the same price. Az is correct, the previous Core 2 Duo models used 1066 (they're easy to spot because they have a slot-loading DVD drive on the front). The new i5 models definitely use 1333... I'd be happy to post my "About This Mac" screen later when I'm using it (I'm tying on my Windows box... half day at work, so I'm hoping to get some gaming on Steam in today). I don't want dissuade you too much, but I still don't see a 256GB drive being worth $400 when you can buy a 750GB 7200RPM traditional laptop drive for under $100. It's also important to remember that the computer will cold boot and load and launch an app faster, but once the OS and the apps are running RAM will be a bigger factor on speed than an SSD (especially since Lion handles apps in memory the same way iOS does).
  2. mikeszekely
    That's kind of a bummer. Maybe I'm in the minority on this one, but GVGN+ was good, but too arcadey, and nowhere near as good as the Gundam Battle games.
  3. mikeszekely
    Whoops. The only comic books I'd read with Bane were the Knightfall TPBs, and that was when I was in middle school. I guess I'm remembering the DCAU Bane.
  4. mikeszekely
    I'd rather they remade Gundam Battle Universe. I suppose I'd need a Japanese PSN account for that?
  5. mikeszekely
    And that's why I didn't want to be too critical. But at least Nolan's Joker had the white face, green hair, and purple suit. Maybe the luchador look wouldn't work... And that's just it. Comic book Bane wears a mask that covers everything except his mouth. Nolan Bane wears a mask that only covers his mouth. It's 100% the opposite. We couldn't come up with something that'd fit Nolan's Bat-universe that actually looked like Bane?
  6. mikeszekely
    Are they sure that's Bane? I don't want to be too critical, since they made a hell of a Joker out of Heath Ledger, but it's like they looked at Bane in the comic books, and then decided to do the opposite of that. So instead of a luchador with drug tubes going into his head, we get a bald guy with a muzzle?
  7. mikeszekely
    I know it's borderline blasphemy to say so on a Macross board, but as good as the Frontier games are (and they are, without question, the best Macross games ever), I actually prefer the Gundam Battle series. But yeah, I guess I'd rather Artdink just stop making 3DS games. Then I can be content to pick up the US model and feel like I'm not really missing anything by having it region locked.
  8. mikeszekely
    Check your motherboard and BIOS settings. A computer is only as fast as its slowest parts. If the frontside bus speed on the motherboard is 1333, then that's the speed limit for the RAM. Your BIOS may have settings to change it, or you may have to overclock it. No doubt. But to me, it's a matter of degrees. The Mac mini is a little overpriced, but there's just too much disparity on the laptop price. But to each his own, right? I'm going to second Acronis. If you go with the Mac mini server, I'd strongly recommend buying it in the basic configuration. Apple's prices on upgrades are ridiculous. To upgrade to 8GB of RAM, they want $200 more. You can buy an 8GB kit from Newegg for $55 shipped (which is exactly what I did). Putting RAM into the mini is a breeze, too, so the only reason to let Apple do it is if you're so lazy that $145 seems like a fair trade for not having to flip the mini over, open the panel (doesn't even require tools), and swapping the modules out yourself. As for the hard drives, Apple wants $400 for a 256GB SSD. That seems almost reasonable... until you consider that you're only getting the SSD. The basic configuration is a pair of 500GB 7200rpm laptop drives. If you buy it that way, you can, with a few torx screwdrivers, replace one of the drives with an SSD. A 256GB SSD runs around $415.
  9. mikeszekely
    Yeah, but that doesn't bother me as much as it would on the Vita. I only played a handful of imports on the GBA, and I can't recall playing any on the DS. The only Japanese 3DS game I'm even remotely interested in is Gundam: The 3D Battle, and even that sounds like it has a lot less content than the Gundam Battle games already on the PSP. Unless Artdink doesn't support the Vita and the real Gundam Battle Universe sequel I desire is a 3DS game, I'm ok.
  10. mikeszekely
    Sorry, I have zero server experience, so I can't say if OS X Server is a good choice. All I can say is that, from experience, Apple's laptops aren't worth the money. You can actually get an Alienware 14X for $200 less than the 13" Macbook Pro. Same processor, same amount of RAM, same amount of storage. Bigger screen, faster hard drive (7200rpm vs 5400rpm), and much better video card (GeForce GT 555M with 1.5GB of VRAM vs. Intel HD 3000 with shared RAM). It's a little tougher to compare the Mac mini, because there's not a lot of desktop computers around with that sort of size/form factor that aren't underpowered nettops. The computer that gets compared to it the most is the Dell Inspiron Zino HD, but without an Intel option it's still not as direct as the my previous example with laptops. Ultimately, I'd say that the mini is still overpriced, but not as drastically so, especially if you have your own keyboard/mouse/monitor/external optical drive. IMHO, the mini is the best option if you're Mac-curious. Unless you really want that i7, though, I'd skip the Mac mini server and buy one of the other Mac minis. You can save money by upgrading it yourself.
  11. mikeszekely
    $79.99 is a fair price, then. If you have extra SATA cables, you can save maybe $20 by going ordering a bare drive. On an unrelated note, I'd ordered an 8GB RAM kit for the Mac mini I'd bought. I thought the Mac ran ok with 2GB (my previous gaming desktop only had 3 since it was running Windows 7 32-bit), but the difference in performance with 8GB installed is HUGE. I also took a little time to correct some of Apple's design... quirks. Form definitely triumphs over function at Cupertino. They have this unblemished aluminum unibody brick showing, and they put all four of the computer's USB ports and the SD card reader in the back with the video and power ports. Well, I have the Mac itself sitting by the monitor, which is sort of on a raised shelf. I ran a USB extension cable from one port under the shelf, and I use that for the mouse and keyboard receiver. Ports 2 and 3 are occupied by cables that go to a slim DVD burner, which I put on a white box under the shelf, high enough that the tray is unobscured, but still tucked away. The fourth USB port goes to a powered USB 2.0 hub in front of the monitor, so I have easy access for flash drives and what not.
  12. mikeszekely
    What'd the owner of that GTR do, try to drive up the steps to the ATM?
  13. mikeszekely
    All other factors being equal, I usually go with Western Digital. I've had a lot of WD drives over the years and I've never really had a problem with them. Which isn't to say anything bad about Seagate. I've had one or two of them, and no problems there either. If I'm in the market for a new drive, and I can get a Seagate drive cheaper than a WD at the capacity I want, I'll go with the Seagate. But if they're the same price (or close to it) I like WD. Regarding the drives you bought, you didn't really give enough info for me to say if you got a bargain or not. Are they internal or external? Laptop or desktop? What's their speed? Are they SATA II or SATA III? What size is the cache? Are they retail box or are they bare drives?
  14. mikeszekely
    Hmm. The 3DS hadn't really been on my radar, even though I love the DS Lite. But with a price cut that big, plus a new Super Mario and Mario Kart game, suddenly I'm interested. I do too, because of Uncharted mostly. If Sony really wants to seal the deal, they'll get Bandai Namco/Artdink to get me a new Gundam Battle game.
  15. mikeszekely
    Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as combative either. It was just an observation. IIRC, while you were in the "keep the movie designs/no reboot" camp, you're reasoning was more "because I like the movie designs" than the "you're just a bitter geewunner!" that I seemed to be getting from some of the others. But that's neither here nor there. Honestly, I don't blame anyone for not liking RiD or the Unicron Trilogy. Like I said, at least in the case of Armada, the toys seemed pretty crappy. And the cartoons ranged from passable to awful. But from a purely aesthetic viewpoint, Armada Prime and RiD Prime look good to me. Armada Prime is like G1 Prime (who is naturally my favorite, as I spent the formative years of my childhood with him as a sort of father figure standing in for the real dad who worked night shifts), but shorter and thicker. He looks tough. And RiD Prime has a sort of Prime of the future look. And maybe I am a bitter geewunner after all. G1 Prime is the template to which all other Primes get compared in my mind. In general, I find the movie-verse Transformers to be mostly blandish and a little like what I'd get if I dumped my silverware drawer into the garbage disposal. I've mostly avoided the movie toys for that reason, although I did get a few Primes because he's one of the few movie characters that's instantly recognizable to someone who's only familiar G1 Transformers. For as much as I don't like the movie-verse aesthetic, that's actually not my least favorite take on Optimus Prime. My least favorite is Animated. I loved the show, as it was extremely well-written and the characters were chalk full of personality. From a purely visual standpoint, though, I never cared for Derrick Wyatt's designs.
  16. mikeszekely
    Well, I think we've had this discussion in the locked TF4 thread, but you also like the movie designs a lot more than I do. So let's just agree that we have different tastes. Now I'm not necessarily talking about the old toys... Classics were the first toys I'd bought since G1, and from what I gather, Armada was mostly junk. I'm talking about character design, and while I don't care for most of the character designs in RiD or Armada, Armada Prime and RiD Prime are two of my more favorite designs. I liked the train guys, too. And I didn't mention Energon or Cybertron because I'm not a fan of the designs for Prime in either of them (although I do own Leader Cybertron Prime, just because he's a Prime). So yeah, I already own two versions of movie Optimus Prime (actually 3, I have a Robot Replicas one around here in my box of undisplayed toys). If I can find that repaint of Battle Blades Prime, I'll probably pick him up yet, but really, I have enough movie Primes. I'd love a good Voyager of Armada Prime, though. Just the cab, his super mode looked awful. As for RiD Prime, I'd actually like for a Leader class toy. I liked his regular mode and his super mode, and I'd love to see Hasbro redo him with modern engineering.
  17. mikeszekely
    Was at Walmart today. I wanted to find their exclusive Voyager Optimus Prime with Commetor (a repaint of Battle Blades Optimus Prime), but sadly there were none to be had. (if you want the regular Voyager DotM Optimus Prime, though, you're in luck, because he's a friggin' shelf-warmer around here). I did pick up a Deluxe-class Optimus, though, also being advertised as an exclusive. I gotta say, for the price he's not bad. His truck mode is very good for a Deluxe, detailed and with his robot bits hidden very well. Bot mode is a bit of mixed bag, though. His proportions are pretty good and he's decently poseable, but he's sorely lacking in paint and missing some of his bot mode details, especially on his arms and shoulders. Overall, I'd say he's worth it for the alt mode alone, and he looks good with War for Cybertron Prime, Reveal the Shield Laser Prime, and the Deluxe Classics Prime (and probably the Deluxe for Transformers Prime Optimus when he comes out). That aside, I do wish there were more better Voyager Optimus Primes out there. Battle Blades would have been a good replacement for Robovision Prime, but the new DotM Voyager sucks. And even if I have a good movie Prime in the Voyager size, he gets displayed with... what? Classics, and Universe Leo Prime. I'd love new Armada or Robots in Disguise Prime molds.
  18. mikeszekely
    I did a little more screwing around with it, the issue is definitely the KVM. I'm using one of Logitech's Unifying Receivers for both the mouse and the keyboard. The KVM, naturally, has a USB port for a mouse and a USB port for a keyboard. If I plug the receiver into the one marked for the mouse, both the mouse and the keyboard will work on Windows, but it won't switch the the Mac. If I plug the receiver into the keyboard port, I can control the Mac and switch back and forth, but the Windows computer acts like there's no mouse or keyboard. I tried using separate receivers for the mouse and the keyboard (they weren't actually sold as a set, so they each came with one), and then the mouse would work but the keyboard wouldn't. I tried a different keyboard in the keyboard port, and Windows wouldn't detect it and it couldn't toggle the hot key (but the keyboard works when plugged into the computer directly. Bizarre, huh?
  19. mikeszekely
    I assume you mean with wired USB, since the KVM I have is a USB model. The manual says that it works with Macs, and if I plug it into just the Mac, the Mac is picking up the signal. The problem might be, as you suggest, that the KVM isn't getting along with the wireless nature of my keyboard and mouse, specifically the keyboard. None of the hotkey combos seem to be working. I had an old wired Microsoft keyboard, but I can't seem to locate it. The only other keyboards I could dig up (that weren't in use by one of my other computers) was another Logitech wireless keyboard, a Microsoft wireless keyboard, and a very old PS/2 Vaio keyboard. The KVM I have is an IOGear that's supposed to switch by either double tapping Scroll Lock or double tapping Ctrl. I'd be open to trying a Belkin; we used to use a Belkin one at work with a wired button remote that toggled between the computers. That one was for PS/2 mice and keyboards, but if they have a USB equivalent, and if I knew for certain it'd work without being connected to any monitors or any display outputs from either computer, that'd work better than using separate mice and keyboards and would be less hassle than manually disconnecting and reconnecting the receiver.
  20. mikeszekely
    I need something that will let me share a (wireless) mouse and keyboard with two computers... but I don't need it to share a monitor. I have my Windows box hooked up to the DVI input on my monitor, and it has a line to my Logitech surround sound speakers. I hooked a Mac mini up to the same monitor, but with HDMI, and it's audio comes out fine (if a little tinny) over the monitor's built-in speakers. I use a Logitech Wireless Illuminated Keyboard and a Logitech Performance Mouse MX on a single unifying receiver. In an effort not to clutter my desk, I want to share them between the Windows computer and the Mac. So far, what I've done is pop the receiver out of one computer and plug it into the other whenever I want to switch between them (then hit a button on the monitor). I tried using an old KVM I had lying around, but the results were less than great. I could move and type on the Windows computer, but I couldn't get it to switch control to the Mac. Could it be because the KVM doesn't detect a video signal? Can anyone suggest a better switch?
  21. mikeszekely
    I don't want to say that it's definitely impossible, because I'm not familiar enough with the HDMI hardware spec, but the HDMI on your laptop is for output, not input. You can hook your laptop up to a monitor, projector, or even an HDTV, but you can't use it as screen for another HDMI device.
  22. mikeszekely
    I think I'm just conflating SFIV with SFII... which had two Turbos, if I remember right. In my advanced age (I'm in my 30s now ) I was thinking that I owned the first two versions of SFIV, and there's a third one, and since the second and third SFII was Turbo and Super, I've mentally filed SFIV the same way.
  23. mikeszekely
    On days I don't work, I turn the computer on when I wake up and turn it off before I go to bed. On days I do work, I turn it on when I get home and turn it off when I go to bed. But, from time to time, I'm working on completing a particularly large download, and on those days, I leave the computer on overnight. Does that seem weird? Do you have dimensions for what you have? Or a link to the model? How about links to the PSU's you've been looking at? A quick look at Newegg shows less than a half and inch difference between a 400w Cooler Master and a 550w Antec.
  24. mikeszekely
    I actually did find a site selling Mac parts. Assuming the cable is the same as the one in the previous gen, it's around $30. I'm honestly not sure how much storage I really need on a Mac. I recall there being an app to let Mac OS read/write to NTFS partitions, and I've got a 1TB desktop and 500GB portable external hard drives. I just figured that, since you have to remove the cooling fan and wifi/bluetooth antennas to get at the mini's hard drive (not to mention a couple of Torx screwdrivers that I'm pretty sure I have but would have to look for), I figured I'm better off with more storage than less. It's all about their business models. Apple's pushing everything into the cloud because if you buy a copy of Parallels from Amazon, Apple doesn't get beans. But if their new Mac App Store runs like the one on iOS, Apple's getting a cut if you buy Parallels in the App Store. As for ISPs, the data caps are pretty arbitrary. Was 250GB a lot in 2006? Is it still a lot today when Netflix accounts for something like 40% of all internet traffic? And then there's the whole cloud that everyone else seems to be pushing toward. Why does Comcast think that me watching a ton of movies on Netflix would be a problem for their network, but watching a ton of movies On Demand wouldn't, when they use the same cable? And Comcast might be concerned that me downloading another game on Steam might degrade the performance of their network on Sunday evening when they're broadcasting the big game, but what does it matter if I left my computer on to finish downloading my game at 3:00 in the morning? As near as I can tell, they're less concerned with actual network bottlenecks and more with streaming video killing their TV business. I wouldn't recommend any graphics card update without upgrading the power supply. Upgrading the power supply is fairly easy, as long as your computer uses the ATX standard (I had a Sony years ago that didn't, and it was a colossal pain). The main cables will be to your optical drive(s), to your hard drive(s), to the motherboard, and a second smaller one to the motherboard (that's for the CPU). I'd recommend at least 500w, and my brand of choice is Antec. As far as graphics cards go, a lot of them will require connections direct from the power supply, and many of them will take up two spots (in addition to being really long). You'll want PCIe x16 if your computer supports it. Maybe an Nvidia GTS 450 or 550 will be enough, assuming it fits (and you want to stick with Nvidia).
  25. mikeszekely
    Best Buy is now running the Core 2 Duo minis for $559.99, and the new i5 minis for $569.99. Reading up on them, it sounds like upgrading the hard drive in the mini is a huge pain, and I think I'll probably need raw processing power more than graphics. I do really wish they'd kept the optical drive, but since I have a slim USB one laying around, I figure I'm better off with the newer model. They don't have any at my local Best Buy yet, but they have some on order, and one of the employees also requested one be transferred to my store from one that does. Whichever arrives first, either way, I'm buying the i5 model. Thanks again, Az.
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