TW's PC Adventure Thread

[Twilight Wolf]

Gah, guys, quit telling me not to get a monitor with a glossy screen. Why?

I DON'T GIVE A FLUX IF IT'S GLOSSY OR MATTE. NEITHER HAS GIVEN ME PROBLEMS. YOUR OPINION IS APPRECIATED, BUT IT'S NOT FACT AND IN THIS CASE DOESN'T AFFECT ME.

That is all.

 

[Bibin]

Gah, guys, quit telling me not to get a monitor with a glossy screen. Why?

Why? You wanted suggestions for a new PC setup - people are going to deliver to you their suggestions on what they think you should and should not do.

Apart from the problems already described by them, the more popular the pieces of flax are, the more people will want them and buy them, as they see the cost-saving measures of glossyness (hint: didn't include the matte layer) as a "feature" since it's the new popular thing that they found on their pretty pony pink customized dell Inspiron or similar cheap nonsense. The more demand for them? The more they overtake matte in popularity, making matte harder to find and more expensive. Look how hard it is to get a good high-resolution 4 display now that widescreen has dominated the market. I had to settle for 2048x1152 instead of the 2048x1536 I wanted. But that debate is a bit different.

They are proliferating.

They must be stopped.

Man the harpoons.

 

[J.D]

Why would you want a 4 display?

 

[Twilight Wolf]

I think you completely skipped the rest of my post there, Bibsy. And when I said "Why?", I was setting up for giving my reason, not literally asking "Why do you keep insisting on telling me not to?" I know you're trying to help, and I appreciate it, I really do, but after already saying to quit telling me not to buy glossy screens, the last thing I want is to hear you griping about how they're ruining the LCD market. I've used several glossy LCDs and I have never ever had an issue with them. EVER. I'm not saying I never will, but I never have. Why the Heck else would I keep insisting I have no problem with glossy screens? This is really, really stupid. The monitor I'm planning on buying now doesn't even have a glossy screen anyways, so it's a moot point.

To reiterate,

YOUR OPINION IS APPRECIATED, BUT IT'S NOT FACT AND IN THIS CASE DOESN'T AFFECT ME.

For the last time, QUIT IT. If I see another post in this thread complaining about glossy screens it will be deleted by me. Thank you.

J.D, I'm not sure on the benefits of 4, but I think it's supposed to be better for first-person shooters, or so I've been told. Personally, I think 16:9 or 16:10 is perfectly acceptable for any kind of game, and I prefer it for web browsing and image editing.

Now... back to the original intention of this thread. I know I asked some of you whether I should get a 1680 x 1050 Asus monitor or a 1920 x 1080 Asus. The strong majority said to go for the latter. After already leaning that way, and after researching benchmarks and the like and finding that the performance loss would most likely be unnoticeable, it has lead me to choose the 1920 x 1080. Now I just have to hope it gets back in stock.

Also, the power of the internet has come through for a change. Apparently I can install any version of Windows 7 I like from a single ISO by deleting a .cfg file contained in it that tells the computer what version to install, allowing me to choose which version of Windows 7 I'd like to install while installing it. I've yet to see any definitive proof of this working aside from commenters on tech blogs and the like saying that it worked, but I like my chances with this method. Not sure how I'd go about testing it, though. However, if all else fails, I should be able to obtain an ISO from Palmer.

Now the hard part: getting a key. Are they not allowed on eBay or something? Because every single one I was watching in "My eBay" has been removed. It's quite frustrating as that's my only real way of getting a key without massively overpaying for the retail version. (Not like I could anyways, though; that's far more money than I can afford if I want to actually build my computer.) Although I'd much prefer being able to get one as cheap as I possibly can, I'd be willing to settle for straight-up buying a key for $20 as opposed to bidding on one. If worst comes to worst, though, I have an unused copy of XP Professional I can install. That's far from ideal, though, as I either can't utilize all my RAM with a 32-bit edition, or I can install the 64-bit edition, which I haven't heard much about but the stuff I have heard hasn't been great.

 

[Bibin]

Find someone you know with a .edu email address, and you can get yourself a copy of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit for 65 dollars from microsoft. It's not a wonderful price, but it is a lot better.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

My Dad probably does, being a teacher and all, but personally, I'd rather just buy a key for $20 and download the ISO somewhere.

Actually, I already downloaded a Professional 64-bit ISO; I just need a key. Wish I had some way to test out the whole version-changing method I mentioned above without erasing all the stuff on my current hard drive. If I can't, then I risk installing only Professional and having a key for Ultimate, which is worthless. Then I'd have to wait extra time to get an Ultimate ISO from Palmer, and I don't want to delay my computer building...

If I can partition my hard drive or something, maybe then I can check to see if it works. Then I'd just be dual-booting. I'll have to see if I can find out how to do this.

 

[Mako321]

just to tell ya, it's way harder to get a win7 key than to download a cracked iso.(i haz if u wantz) and then donate 20 dollars to microsoft to make yourself feel better.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

No thanks, I'd rather get a legit key. Then I know I won't have any problems with authentication or security or anything. Considering all the other stuff that's gotten screwed up so far in my computer-building enterprise, the OS is the last thing I want to screw up.

 

[Bibin]

just to tell ya, it's way harder to get a win7 key than to download a cracked iso.(i haz if u wantz) and then donate 20 dollars to microsoft to make yourself feel better.

This isn't true at all. Microsoft's new anti-piracy patch has a simple way to get around it, but I am the kind of person who likes to get all available updates and I don't like having to monitor which ones to uncheck.

The version changing thing, it's tricky with the way the keys work. Ultimate offers next to nothing over Pro you'll ever care about; pro is a good bang-for-buck value.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Well, I may just go with Pro. I have the ISO, at least, so I know I can at least install Pro with no issues. Pro keys seem to be a few bucks cheaper. And you're right, Ultimate offers nothing I'd ever use, like multiple languages or BitLocker. I can't imagine there's a whole lot of difference between the versions performance-wise, so I'll just see what's available, I guess.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

All right, guys, question for you. This monitor is no longer available. Would this monitor make an acceptable substitute? The only difference I can see is the response time; 5ms as opposed to 2. Same resolution, but a lower price, and for some reason it has a funky orange power button.

 

[Bibin]

Acceptable, sure.

I'm going to still point out that the Samsung 2343BWX, a superior monitor, costs the same price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-23-LCD-Moni ... 3ca60a7eef

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Eh, I'm not too wild about buying stuff from eBay right now... I'll still keep it in mind, but I am probably going to go with that Asus. The main thing I was wondering about was the difference in response time (5ms vs. 2ms GTG), but in the research I've done it appears it makes no noticeable difference.

 

[zeturi]

From what I've read, it seems response time will only affect very fast action gaming. I would look up response time and gaming, if I were you. But I'm not, so, your choice.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Well, like I said, the research I've done has shown that there's really no noticeable difference between the two, and this is coming from gamers, as well. Most of the modern LCD monitors out there seem to be 5ms or thereabouts, and I've never heard anyone complain about them for gaming. So unless something really drastic changes, I'm most likely getting that Asus.

Also, fun fact: I installed Ubuntu 9.10 on my laptop last night (that's right, I'm sporting two OSes now), and I'm using it now. I like it! Nice and quick, neat layout, and at least Windows isn't bugging me about how it's going to expire or it's going to start shutting down every two hours. I'm definitely installing Windows 7 as my main OS on my desktop, but who knows? I may end up dual-booting Ubuntu, as well. Either way, once that 7 RC expires and I get all my files off it and copied to my new desktop, Ubuntu's probably going to be my main OS on this laptop.

 

[Joeyjoe9876]

if you have an ipod i wouldn't keep ubuntu as your main OS. not sure if wine supports itunes. other than that this is startin to sound pretty cool!

 

[Twilight Wolf]

Well, if iTunes doesn't work, I'm sure I can find other software. My PSP is my main music device now, though, so I can't forsee it being too much of a problem. Besides, this laptop's not gonna be my main computer once my desktop is built, anyways, so by extension, Ubuntu's not gonna be my main OS, either.

 

[Twilight Wolf]

BIG UPDATE!

I'm so excited right now. I ordered all my parts and bought a Windows 7 Professional key last night! I should be receiving everything within a few days now (if UPS delivers on Saturdays, then I should get them then!) and when I asked my Mom about when I could build my computer (as it is at least partially my birthday present), she told me that as long as I kept everything in my room, I could start building it as soon as I get the parts! Heck yeah!

Hopefully my next update in this thread will be from my new desktop!

 

[Twilight Wolf]

And, uh... it's not. Sigh.

Well, I got everything put together, and it all works. The monitor's gorgeous, too. The one problem is that I have no way to connect to the internet. The Dang wireless card I ordered appears to be dead. The drivers say there's no card connected, none of the little lights come on, etc., rendering my new desktop completely worthless -- after all, if I can't connect to the internet, that means no web browsing, no way to activate Windows, no Steam, and as a result of the latter, no gaming. I should've known it was too good to be true... Basically the whole point of building the thing has disappeared. I now have a $1200 typewriter sitting on my desk until I can get a replacement card. I can either exchange it through Newegg and wait who knows how long on top of paying to ship it to them or I can pay three times as much for a replacement card at Best Buy and still have a useless card. Happy birthday to me...

 

[jleemero]

Super-neato!

I like typewriters.