The computer and electronics super geek thread

[mikeszekely]

Change of topic

WAR IS COMING...

Google to Launch Operating System

Official Google Blog

Sure, Google's coming out with their Chrome OS, Intel's got their Moblin OS, Ubuntu has a special netbook variant. But in the long run, I don't see any of them catching on any better than Xandros did on netbooks. Despite Apple being one of the top notebook manufacturers (and despite the fact that everyone on TV seems to use them), OS X hasn't really taken a huge slice of the OS pie.

The sad truth is that people want Windows.

[Knight26]

Should be interesting, but from what the article says it won't be for the gamers or video/graphic editors and professionals, or people off the net. I would be interested otherwise, if I could get my games, ACAD, and PS, etc... to run on it, especially when off network, that would be excellent, if it is stable.

[emajnthis]

Google would be the only company who has a chance at taking a slice of the OS pie (speaking long term). They have the resources and the manpower to start at the consumer level, it's the enterprise level that's a tough cookie to crack. If 5 or 10 years rolls by and Google is able to get an enterprise server version of their OS to the public, then Microsoft should be very worried.

[Ghost Train]

In 2010, Google changes its name to Cyberdyne Systems. http://www.google.com is promptly renamed to http://www.skynet.com ....

but no worries, Dennis Hwang will still be the main google Cyberdyne portal artist.

Edited July 9, 2009 by Ghost Train

[David Hingtgen]

I'm thinking of adding a fan to cool the mobo northbridge. (I have no notable problems, I just keep reading that X38s run hot, and I want mine to last forever). Also, I just decided to do a tiny little overclock to my CPU (E8400) a few weeks ago, just to try it out. Factory is 333x9, I'm doing 400x8. So FSB went from 1333 to 1600. This also allows my RAM to run 1:1. (it was 5:6 factory) May go to 400x8.5 or 400x9, depending on how things run the next few months. (and how much noise turning up the fans makes) (going to add an intake fan, too) By setting voltages manually, I'm actually sending less to the components than by simply letting the mobo run everything on auto. RAM is down 0.05 volts, CPU is down about that much as well. Anyone know anything about "life of components" when overclocked very mildly, but actually running with less voltage than stock?

However, I have read this particular mobo runs cool for an X38, possibly due to having a large heatsink and the entire mobo overall being designed to run with less power. So it may be pointless (noise/cost-wise) to add a small fan. Ideas/suggestions?

This is my mobo, with a good description of the heatsinks: http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1227&pageID=4496

[mikeszekely]

Any Linux users out there? I used to have a Linux box set up with Xandros 4, which I replaced with Kubuntu 8.04 I enjoyed it for awhile, but I ultimately sold that computer to pay for a new monitor for my main desktop. I don't have the spare hardware for a new Linux box at the moment, but I figure if I feel like playing with Linux I can always run it in a virtual machine.

But what's a good distro these days? It seems like everyone's into Ubuntu, which I frankly never understood. It's got to have the ugliest default look out there with it shades of oranges and browns, and GNOME is a little dull. I really liked Ubuntu's KDE cousin, Kubuntu, when I last used it. I've heard that they ended support for KDE 3.5, which is kind of a bummer, since KDE 4 wasn't really ready for prime time when I last looked into it. I've heard some pretty good things about Linux Mint, so after Windows XP I think I'm going to set up a Mint virtual machine.

Anyone else have a favorite distro?

[pato]

Any Linux users out there? I used to have a Linux box set up with Xandros 4, which I replaced with Kubuntu 8.04 I enjoyed it for awhile, but I ultimately sold that computer to pay for a new monitor for my main desktop. I don't have the spare hardware for a new Linux box at the moment, but I figure if I feel like playing with Linux I can always run it in a virtual machine.

But what's a good distro these days? It seems like everyone's into Ubuntu, which I frankly never understood. It's got to have the ugliest default look out there with it shades of oranges and browns, and GNOME is a little dull. I really liked Ubuntu's KDE cousin, Kubuntu, when I last used it. I've heard that they ended support for KDE 3.5, which is kind of a bummer, since KDE 4 wasn't really ready for prime time when I last looked into it. I've heard some pretty good things about Linux Mint, so after Windows XP I think I'm going to set up a Mint virtual machine.

Anyone else have a favorite distro?

I use Linux manly for my job and for that reason I've tried many different distributions; so far I'm quite satisfied with Ubuntu, it never gives a problem. Though, it is true that the interface looks a bit boring but from my point of view that shouldn't be a problem if you are looking for functionality. By the way, I installed Ubuntu as a second OS together with Vista in my Toshiba Laptop and both work perfectly.

[emajnthis]

I use Ubuntu too, but don't use it too much at home as a main OS, i use Redhat at work all the time, but that's sort of a different breed. I know people like Ubuntu because it has a very strong support community and an enterprise release but there are other client distros out there that offer a prettier GUI. I've heard good things about Knoppix but haven't used it personally

[Freiflug88]

In 2010, Google changes its name to Cyberdyne Systems. http://www.google.com is promptly renamed to http://www.skynet.com ....

but no worries, Dennis Hwang will still be the main google Cyberdyne portal artist.

There's already a Cyberdyne company. There in Japan making powerful exoskeletons named HAL as we speak.,,

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2009/07/were_a...oing_to_die.php

Edited July 15, 2009 by Freiflug88

[azrael]

I use Ubuntu too, but don't use it too much at home as a main OS, i use Redhat at work all the time, but that's sort of a different breed. I know people like Ubuntu because it has a very strong support community and an enterprise release but there are other client distros out there that offer a prettier GUI. I've heard good things about Knoppix but haven't used it personally

Knoppix is good as a live-CD. I haven't actually used it installed on a machine but it makes for a pretty workable live-CD for data recovery, developer/testing, or just anytime I need a Linux system up and running quick. I think mikeszekely is looking for something a little more long-term for his VM though.

[emajnthis]

Knoppix is good as a live-CD. I haven't actually used it installed on a machine but it makes for a pretty workable live-CD for data recovery, developer/testing, or just anytime I need a Linux system up and running quick. I think mikeszekely is looking for something a little more long-term for his VM though.

I do that exact same thing with puppy linux (using as a live cd), I have a friend who uses Knoppix and said good things about it, I've been meaning to try out Fedora but never got around to it. I've used Ubuntu in both VM and Server applications and it worked well. Some unix commands weren't supported but i was able to find work arounds, since i use Suse and Redhat at work a lot i'm not really into GUI's in my day to day hardly at all (and it also doesn't help that the rest of the time i'm in Cisco ios, or some other network CLI). If you're using Linux as a learning tool then go with something that has a feature rich terminal since that will be the most practical if you're going to apply it in a networking or data center environment. I hear Fedora is backed by Redhat so i'd look deeper to see if a lot of the features are carried over, also Debian is supposed to be really stable but haven't used it myself.

Edited July 16, 2009 by emajnthis

[mikeszekely]

so far I'm quite satisfied with Ubuntu, it never gives a problem. Though, it is true that the interface looks a bit boring but from my point of view that shouldn't be a problem if you are looking for functionality.

I know people like Ubuntu because it has a very strong support community and an enterprise release

See, that's just the thing... everything good about Ubuntu you can already say about Kubuntu (as a matter of fact, you can install Kubuntu, then grab GNOME from a repository, and the result is Ubuntu), and Kubuntu looks a lot better doing it. It baffles me that Ubuntu is always the top distro on Distro Watch, while Kubuntu never seems higher than 15. I know this would be the tinder for a flame war on a Linux-centric board, but KDE is better than GNOME, so Kubuntu will always trump Ubuntu. My main concern with it is, as I already said, the rocky transition from KDE 3.5 to KDE 4.

As for Knoppix, it makes for one of the best Live CD distros. Computers that have trouble booting an Ubuntu/Kubuntu CD will almost always boot Knoppix. That makes it a handy tool, but I don't know anyone who's ever bothered to try installing it. Like Az said, I'm looking for something I can play with a little more long-term, something that I might actually install on a Linux box when I upgrade a little more hardware and have enough older parts to build a PC.

So far, all I've tried is Linux Mint. It's pretty, sure, but I'm not seeing anything that'd really win me over from Kubuntu. I may have to look into different virtualization software, though. Since I'm using Windows 7 as the host, I've so far been using the beta for Windows Virtual PC. I think it only emulates generic video drivers, so I can't set the resolution for Linux Mint any higher than 800x600. Any recommendations there? Not VMware Workstation... it seems to have problems with Windows 7.

[azrael]

... I may have to look into different virtualization software, though. Since I'm using Windows 7 as the host, I've so far been using the beta for Windows Virtual PC. I think it only emulates generic video drivers, so I can't set the resolution for Linux Mint any higher than 800x600. Any recommendations there? Not VMware Workstation... it seems to have problems with Windows 7.

There's VMWare Server. It's free. But I don't know if it works well with Windows 7 though. There's also Sun's VirtualBox. I hear the free version works pretty well. Although, you might want to stay away from the 3.0.x versions since I hear there seem to be some nasty problems. The version 2.2.x software I hear still works fine.

[kensei]

Man, just got my system back, and ended up getting a heap of games. They are so cheap now, EB is having a half price sale.

They are cheeky though. Most of the time they put it back past RRp, and then slap a 50% off sticker on it, being only up to $10 cheaper than the other stores at times. Regardless, this has forced a lot of the prices down in my city.

One of the things I got given was a Stranglehold Prima Official Guide, cause I was looking at it. I then found a copy, found that it was less than $40, so I got it. Man, games have never been so fun, Tequila Time rules, Chow Yun Fat and John Woo rulez. I got to see the movie Hard Boiled now.

[DJ Loe Kee]

Computer Headaches

this motherboard sucks. it crashes every other day while using firefox. winamp freezes and unfreezes sometimes and ms word freezes and unfreezes when opening docs. it also freezes whenever i hibernate. i'm getting a new motherboard when i come back to the states. i can't afford to waste money on a motherboard now when i leave in a month and i can't take my desktop with me anyways.

i'm NEVER fcuking with asus again. i don't even know what brand to get, the gigabyte i had sucked too. i want a thinkpad or macbook pro now...

it's not a virus. it's been bsod'ing every since i got it. i thought that it was the drivers... but asus hasn't released any new drivers since 2008. so my plan to upgrade the drivers and see if that fixes the problems won't work.

i thought it was my hard drive that was causing the bsod 'cause it failed the seagate tools test. but i put in a new one and the same thing happens.

FCUK computers!

Edited July 23, 2009 by DJ Loe Kee

[mikeszekely]

Computer Headaches

this motherboard sucks. it crashes every other day while using firefox. winamp freezes and unfreezes sometimes and ms word freezes and unfreezes when opening docs. it also freezes whenever i hibernate. i'm getting a new motherboard when i come back to the states. i can't afford to waste money on a motherboard now when i leave in a month and i can't take my desktop with me anyways.

i'm NEVER fcuking with asus again. i don't even know what brand to get, the gigabyte i had sucked too. i want a thinkpad or macbook pro now...

it's not a virus. it's been bsod'ing every since i got it. i thought that it was the drivers... but asus hasn't released any new drivers since 2008. so my plan to upgrade the drivers and see if that fixes the problems won't work.

i thought it was my hard drive that was causing the bsod 'cause it failed the seagate tools test. but i put in a new one and the same thing happens.

FCUK computers!

Before you do anything major with it, try putting different RAM in it. I'm not saying that it couldn't be the mobo, but those really sound like RAM errors to me.

[eugimon]

yeah, try the ram, it sounds like ram to me. I've ran lots of Asus boards in my day and I love them, they've always been stable for me.

[DJ Loe Kee]

ok, thanks. i ran memtest and i thought that the ram was ok. on to my next decision (copy and paste and i'm kinda lazy to edit it).

Help Deciding On A MP3 Plaper & Digital Camera

i'm narrowing down my picks for a mp3 player and a digital camera.

for the mp3 player, ipod touch is out for lots of reason. so i have it down to:

1. samsung p3

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...mp;sku=A2780373

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6165...yer_Black_.html

the p3 can have up to 5 playlists that can be created on the player instead of the pc.

2. cowon s9

http://www.amazon.com/Cowon-Video-Player-T...id=5CGTQS4B12JI

i like the s9 but you can only create one playlist on it.

3. sony walkman x series

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029NYI4...1087&sr=8-1

the walkman has to be on the pc for playlists to be created and edited plus it costs the most.

i won't have a pc when i go overseas so i'll be in a net cafe until i get a laptop (my dad did say that i can borrow his old laptop but it shut offs randomly and needs to be fixed. plus it only has a 40gb hd and 512mb of memory. so i'm leaning towards the net cafes until i can buy a samsung desktop, samsung laptop or lenovo thinkpad laptop). i'm pretty sure the net cafes won't have itunes on them so that's one reason why the ipod touch is out. so far i'm leaning towards to p3... at least i am today. i wouldn't have the issue with the playlists if i just take the laptop with me but pc's are really ticking me off right now.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...mp;#entry773471

as for the digital cameras, i was going to get a canon but a salesman at the store recommended nikon because he said that they have the best lens that don't turn yellow over time.

1. nikon s630 12px

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-S630-Vibration...1699&sr=8-3

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1218062426240

it's only $50 more and i like dark blue over light blue.

2. nikon s560 10px

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-S560-Vibration...0966&sr=8-3

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1218063857594

will i even see the difference between 10px and 12 px and save my $50 for something else?

[eugimon]

you will see a difference between 10 and 12 in detail but you'll also see it in how well they take low light pictures. The 10 should have been picture quality in low light situations, like indoors, etc.

[mikeszekely]

ok, thanks. i ran memtest and i thought that the ram was ok. on to my next decision (copy and paste and i'm kinda lazy to edit it).

Help Deciding On A MP3 Plaper & Digital Camera

i'm narrowing down my picks for a mp3 player and a digital camera.

for the mp3 player, ipod touch is out for lots of reason. so i have it down to:

1. samsung p3

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/product...mp;sku=A2780373

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/6165...yer_Black_.html

the p3 can have up to 5 playlists that can be created on the player instead of the pc.

2. cowon s9

http://www.amazon.com/Cowon-Video-Player-T...id=5CGTQS4B12JI

i like the s9 but you can only create one playlist on it.

3. sony walkman x series

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0029NYI4...1087&sr=8-1

the walkman has to be on the pc for playlists to be created and edited plus it costs the most.

i won't have a pc when i go overseas so i'll be in a net cafe until i get a laptop (my dad did say that i can borrow his old laptop but it shut offs randomly and needs to be fixed. plus it only has a 40gb hd and 512mb of memory. so i'm leaning towards the net cafes until i can buy a samsung desktop, samsung laptop or lenovo thinkpad laptop). i'm pretty sure the net cafes won't have itunes on them so that's one reason why the ipod touch is out. so far i'm leaning towards to p3... at least i am today. i wouldn't have the issue with the playlists if i just take the laptop with me but pc's are really ticking me off right now.

http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?...mp;#entry773471

as for the digital cameras, i was going to get a canon but a salesman at the store recommended nikon because he said that they have the best lens that don't turn yellow over time.

1. nikon s630 12px

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-S630-Vibration...1699&sr=8-3

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1218062426240

it's only $50 more and i like dark blue over light blue.

2. nikon s560 10px

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-S560-Vibration...0966&sr=8-3

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1218063857594

will i even see the difference between 10px and 12 px and save my $50 for something else?

I had RAM that passed Memtest, but I was having errors similar to yours. I replaced the RAM, and hadn't had a problem in that computer since.

Don't know much about cameras, but I'd probably go with the Samsung mp3 player.

[David Hingtgen]

Cameras----rather than raw megapixels, compare "how many megapixels vs size of the actual sensor". In the quest to get "the biggest number in the ads" many companies are actually squeezing too many megapixels out of sensors that can't handle it. Sometimes, less is better. It's roughly akin to JPEG compression---sure, you can reduce the file size, but at what point does image quality suffer?

Same for megapixels--sure, you can get more pixels--but if the extra pixels are little more than noise, chroma-errors, and dust specks? I'd rather have a bit smaller, but better, pics.

The real short, simple way to pick a camera---glass/lens. Bigger is better. Period. Buy the camera with the biggest lens you can afford and that you're willing to lug around. Cameras, like eyes, rely on light above all else. The fanciest electronics and sensors in the world can't compensate for lack of light. Even on a sunny day, a bigger, higher-quality lens lets in more light, and thus, better pics. This also why binoculars rock at night---they have a bigger lens than your own eye, and can "see in the dark" better.

Most insanely in-depth camera site: http://dpreview.com/

More "grounded" camera reviews: http://www.imaging-resource.com/DIGCAM01.HTM

[kensei]

Anyone hear more about the Street Fighter IV TE MadCatz stick? I got one for my PC (PS3 version), but now they have run out everywhere and I would not like to pay another $300 bucks for another stick. Are they still making this stick in the future without the art on it?

Just seen a preview for Modern Warfare II, and like Mechwarrior 5, this is nothing more than a dream come true. Who's preordered the Prestige Edition of MWII with the Night Vision Goggles?

[eugimon]

Two of my friends have the Asus G50Vt and it's pretty damn nice. They play WoW with everything turned up and they run amazingly. I know they both play CoD4 but I am not entirely sure of the settings there, though one of them isn't shy about cranking everything up. FEAR 2 ran really nicely too.

Best buy was selling them for $999 maybe a month ago. Not sure now. It's not the best ZOMGWTFHAHAHAHAWOW gaming laptop but it is really nice for the pricetag.

The newer version is the Asus G71G but being new it's running $2k.

Thanks for the help! I ended up ordering the asus g51vx-a1 over at xoticpc.com

The 71 was sweet but at 9lbs... yikes.

[kensei]

Got my final piece of major equipment for my PC the other night, the Logitech Z-5500. This this throws out BOOMIN Bass! So good. Gunshots and explosions sound way different, and I'm having a ball of a time downloading all new stuff with my Nokia Comes with Music subscription.

Just wanted to ask about my multimonitor setup. So far, I got GTX295s in SLi, and both are plugged into the same video card. That is the only way I could get them to work. I got one more monitor that i need to plug up, but need an extension cable for. Do I need to make up any special settings in Win7 at all? I heard that I won't be able to do multiple monitors if I go SLi, but here I've got two monitors working!

Who's up for a game of Street Fighter IV? I need to test out my new stick!

[azrael]

Just wanted to ask about my multimonitor setup. So far, I got GTX295s in SLi, and both are plugged into the same video card. That is the only way I could get them to work. I got one more monitor that i need to plug up, but need an extension cable for. Do I need to make up any special settings in Win7 at all? I heard that I won't be able to do multiple monitors if I go SLi, but here I've got two monitors working!

Win 7 plays no role in multi-monitor setups. That is driver-based. Also, As of the 180.x Nvidia drivers, multi-monitor in SLI support was added. As for a 3rd monitor, you will not be able to do that. A GTX 295 has 2 DVI-out, so you can plug in 2 monitors. The second video card's outputs are turned off in a SLI configuration since the 2nd card is the slave-card. If you want a 3rd monitor, you will need to add another video card.

[kensei]

Win 7 plays no role in multi-monitor setups. That is driver-based. Also, As of the 180.x Nvidia drivers, multi-monitor in SLI support was added. As for a 3rd monitor, you will not be able to do that. A GTX 295 has 2 DVI-out, so you can plug in 2 monitors. The second video card's outputs are turned off in a SLI configuration since the 2nd card is the slave-card. If you want a 3rd monitor, you will need to add another video card.

Damn! Thanks man.

I got to work out how to do that though. I mean, I don't even have room to put in a wireless PCI card, so I think I have to drop the 3rd monitor idea.

Actually, based on your info, if I disable SLi it should be no problem, and can then have three? My games will suffer though, so I'll have to enable SLi again and go back to two monitors?

Edited July 31, 2009 by kensei

[eugimon]

So I got my asus g51vx from xoticpc.com today and I love it. Such a huge upgrade from the Dell inspiron 6000.

Can't say enough good things about xoticpc.com either. Great customer service, fast turnaround, great post sale communication and support, I highly recommend them for anyone looking for a laptop. Their prices are competitive as well.

[azrael]

Actually, based on your info, if I disable SLi it should be no problem, and can then have three? My games will suffer though, so I'll have to enable SLi again and go back to two monitors?

Yes, if you disable the SLI component (i.e. remove the bridging device), yes, you can have your 3 monitors. You can go up to 4 at that point. Your games will only be able to use 1 card instead of 2. But with a GTX 295, I won't worry that much.

[Excillon]

Got a dumbass type problem, really need help:

A friend of mine bought 2 Optiplex's that run on Windows XP Professional. The password is still enabled, so he can't access them. And he can't call anyone, because he bought them from his old job, and they folded. Anyhow, I looked it up when he called me, and found some things to try. Most of it says to start with a safe mode/ command prompt, but when he even tries to go to safe mode, it asks for a password and user ID. Is there anyway around this, because he can't even get a command prompt to reset everything.

[azrael]

Got a dumbass type problem, really need help:

A friend of mine bought 2 Optiplex's that run on Windows XP Professional. The password is still enabled, so he can't access them. And he can't call anyone, because he bought them from his old job, and they folded. Anyhow, I looked it up when he called me, and found some things to try. Most of it says to start with a safe mode/ command prompt, but when he even tries to go to safe mode, it asks for a password and user ID. Is there anyway around this, because he can't even get a command prompt to reset everything.

There are a few Linux-based CDs that can reset the password on a XP system.

Otherwise, if your friend still has the restore discs or just a copy of Windows, I would just reformat the systems and start from scratch. I would do this option only because I'd rather start from scratch and not have to deal with any previous software issues.

[lechuck]

Got a dumbass type problem, really need help:

A friend of mine bought 2 Optiplex's that run on Windows XP Professional. The password is still enabled, so he can't access them. And he can't call anyone, because he bought them from his old job, and they folded. Anyhow, I looked it up when he called me, and found some things to try. Most of it says to start with a safe mode/ command prompt, but when he even tries to go to safe mode, it asks for a password and user ID. Is there anyway around this, because he can't even get a command prompt to reset everything.

Go to http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/, download and burn.

It's a Linux based boot system that will guide you interactively through the password resetting process. I can attest that it has worked for me.

Edited August 13, 2009 by lechuck

[David Hingtgen]

Just need to rant a bit: MSIE 8 sucks. Back to 7 now. It's all the little annoying things that add up.

[mikeszekely]

Just need to rant a bit: MSIE 8 sucks. Back to 7 now. It's all the little annoying things that add up.

I gave up on IE years ago. IE7 and IE8 haven't lured me back at all. I use Firefox 3.5 as my primary browser, and Opera 10 beta/release candidate as my backup. Firefox is still mostly more of the same, but I was surprised that I really like Opera 10. And I HATED Opera 8 and 9.

[azrael]

I gave up on IE years ago. IE7 and IE8 haven't lured me back at all. I use Firefox 3.5 as my primary browser, and Opera 10 beta/release candidate as my backup. Firefox is still mostly more of the same, but I was surprised that I really like Opera 10. And I HATED Opera 8 and 9.

Primary: Firefox

Secondary: Opera, Google Chrome

I stopped using IE back when Firefox was still in the 0.x.

[akt_m]

Using Windows 7 now, i liked it! Had some problems with the sound, i can't manage all the settings the way i did in XP. At foobar setting the output at KS or ASIO, the CMSS3d or Crystalizer won't affect the sound.

Couldn't run some apps that were made for windows 98, and it is eating at least more 350 mb of ram when compared to XP.

But all the newer features are nice. I skiped vista so i don't know if they were already at vista.

Edited August 30, 2009 by akt_m