| WIKI | FAQ | Tech FAQ | |
 http://csua.com/feed/ | |
| ||||||
| 12/25 |
| 2009/1/20-26 [Computer/SW/OS, Computer/HW/Display, Computer/SW/OS/Linux] UID:52419 Activity:kinda low |
1/20 when I do "cat /proc/sys/kernel/tainted"
I got a single number "1"
what does this mean?
\_ I think this refers to whether you've got any non-open-source drivers
loaded, but I'm not sure.
\_ I think this refers to whether you've got any non-open-source
drivers loaded, but I'm not sure.
\_ Right. "1" means you have at least one non-open-source driver
loaded, which is probably what's causing your system crashes.
You can run "lsmod" to see what's loaded -- look for "nvidia",
"ndiswrapper", and "vmmon", which are some of the most common
closed-source drivers. If you don't see any of those, post
your lsmod output somewhere and we'll have a look.
\_ it's nvidia. Every time my computer crashes is because some
UI things from compiz. It is funny how a bad driver would
totally destory the percieved notion of stability of an OS.
I am downloading the latest driver now.
-OP kngharv
\_ It's not funny, really. Assuming that's the only third-
party kernel module you're using, there are exactly two
pieces of code on your computer that have the power to
crash your whole system: the Linux kernel itself, and
that closed-source nvidia driver you're loading. That's
why the very first response to your question was "check
for proprietary drivers". If your still get crashes with
for proprietary drivers". If you still get crashes with
the latest nvidia driver, there are two things you can
do: report the bug to Nvidia and hope they fix it, or
stop using their closed-source driver and switch to the
(much slower, but stable) open-source nvidia driver that
comes with your system.
\_ yep -- it should correspond with the 'tainted' designator in
lsmod
\_ I AM TAINT FREE |
| 2008/10/20-26 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:51587 Activity:nil |
10/20 Do people in photographic or graphic arts or advertising industries
use LCD monitors? When my Samsung SyncMaster 204B displays a picture
or some color graphics, the colors change when I move my head around
the monitor. I don't remember seeing this problem when I had a CRT.
How do people in the above fields use LCD monitors when color precision
is extermely important? Thx.
\_ you want a display with good viewing angles. I used to know all
the terminology. Good viewing angles don't necessarily give you
accurate colors. Visit http://hardforum.com, Displays. You will pay more.
\_ LCD guru, are Macs better for these type of things? I think
Macs in general have more vibrant colors, but I don't know
how accurate they are.
\_ The difference can be pretty dramatic. Go to a Costco or Best
Buy and check out the viewing angles. Then go to an Apple
store. Seeing is believing.
\_ google for color reproduction cinema
\_ I don't know about now, but in the recent past (say 4-5 years
ago) they did not use LCDs in favor of CRTs. No idea how that
has changed over the years, though.
\_ I worked for a game company and all the illustrators and graphic
artists had CRTs while the rest of the company had LCDs. |
| 2008/9/16-19 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/HW/Display] UID:51184 Activity:nil |
9/16 Tim Sweeney on the future of GPUs
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/gpu-sweeney-interview.ars
I like Sweeney, I don't care about Unreal, but ZZT was a heck of a
game
\_ Interesting. Co-processor-like units have come and gone
throughout the history of computing. GPU, co-processor, what-not,
will all be obviated by advances in processors and systems
integration. I've no doubt GPU-like units will come back in
time, but not for another decade or so.
\_ Unreal's renderer is pretty shit. Everything looks plastic,
polygon counts are pretty low, and framerate is very peaky.
It's amazing how much Unreal engine games all look the same. |
| 2008/5/27-30 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:50061 Activity:nil |
5/26 I seem to recall that ATI was going to open-source it's drivers
does anyone know if the ATI drivers for Linux still suck?
\_ Do the drivers suck or are they just binary only?
\_ Last I checked (~6 months), they didn't support rotation, and I
couldn't find any indication that they planned to do so. That's
the only thing I really care about, so I can't say if they suck
in other ways.
\_ I tried this last week. My company purchased a Dell Optiplex
755n (without windows) with an recall that ATI was going to open-source it's drivers
does anyone know if the ATI drivers for Linux still suck?
\_ Do the drivers suck or are they just binary only?
\_ Last I checked (~6 months), they didn't support rotation, and I
couldn't find any indication that they planned to do so. That's
the only thing I really care about, so I can't say if they suck
in other ways.
\_ I tried this last week. My company purchased a Dell Optiplex
755n (without windows) with an ATI somethingorother card. I
tried the http://X.org radeon and radeonhd drivers. No luck. I tried
ATI's binary drivers and found they resulted in a machine that
had to be reinstalled (crashed on starting X, and would no longer
boot). I filed a bug with ATI, and was told that they are
providing Linux drivers on a "best effort" basis (ie, "it doesn't
work? too bad -- we don't care."). After screwing around with
this for a couple of days, I replaced it with an Nvidia card,
downloaded Nvidia's binary Linux drivers, and had things working
in minutes. ATI's commitment to open source so far consists of
a press release. --alawrenc
\_ Wow, that's too bad. Thanks for the info. I wonder how many
nvidia cards go into desktop linux boxes.
\_ I always use Nvidia for this reason. -op
\_ I love how "best effort" really means "least effort." |
| 2007/9/20-22 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:48128 Activity:nil |
9/20 For a HDTV >= 36", can someone quickly summarize the pros and cons
of LCD vs Plasma please? Thank you.
\_ how much >= 36"? From my research LCD seems the way to go until
you get bigger than my wallet or apartment can handle.
\_ I was looking at a 42". Browsing through the store, I felt
46" would've been too big for my apartment. -op
\_ plasma: higher heat, less motion blur, less pixelation, quicker
to lose brightness (I belieive) - I went with LCD
\_ *less* motion blur on plasma? I thought it had more, making
it less suitable for games, which was one reason why I asked.
Turns out I misread the specs and the TV I was looking at is
actually LCD. I decided to get it since it is through a
special hookup at a great price, but might as well keep the
thread in case anyone else is interested. -op
\_ Yeah, I think LCDs have much better response time these
days. LCD technology has done some amazing things recently. |
| 12/25 |
| 2007/8/22-23 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:47704 Activity:low |
8/22 BioShock video review - for PC, a video card with Shader Model 3.0
is required (so an ATI X800 doesn't cut it)
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23825.html
\_ Isn't the x800 from like forever ago? You can buy a kickass card
for $99 that stomps the x800 which was from like forever ago. |
| 2007/8/13-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:47594 Activity:low |
8/13 I'm thinking of buyng a 23" Apple Cinema LCD Display. Does anyone
have one and what is your opinion?
\_ I have one of these and I love it. I find that it is brighter
and sharper than my brother's 24" Dell LCD.
\_ Huh? Unless your brother was driving his monitor using
analogue signaling, one LCD cannot be sharper than another,
as they're addressed pixel-by-pixel. Either way, isn't 23"
panel in the Apple outdated? You can get better units for
that kind of price. Also, I used to have a Dell 24". Sold
that crap built with cheap components (panel itself is fine)
at a loss and bought an Eizo and have been happy ever since.
\_ I agree there is no reason that things should look sharper
on the Apple v. the Dell b/c both monitors were driven by
DVI.
It is my purely subjective assessment that images look
sharper on the Apple. The only factual basis that I think
of for this is that the slightly smaller size of the 23"
means that the pixels are more densely packed, giving
the appearance of "sharpness" when viewing images at
full resolution.
Re Outdated: I don't know if 23" is outdated. |
| 2007/8/2-3 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:47508 Activity:moderate |
8/2 Does anyone know if ATI or NVIDIA is currently trouncing the other?
I use Linux, so I pretty much only see NVIDIA around, but it seems like
people must still be buying ATI...
\_ What do you use the nvidia stuff for in Linux?
\_ TuxRacer (AKA Planet Penguin Racer)
\_ Beryl
\_ ... so, that stuff doesn't work on ATI or what?
\_ This ATI drivers are flaky, slow, and constrained.
\_ The ATI drivers are flaky, slow, and constrained.
\_ Trouncing in what sense? The *nix drivers don't perform as well
as the Win* drivers in both cases. If you want real video
performance without buying a $100k workstation or something you'll
get a Win* box and the top end card with the prettier box.
\_ In the business sense. |
| 2007/5/25-28 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:46750 Activity:nil |
5/25 I just found out none of the Sony Bravias have DVI inputs. How
would you connect your PC to these LCDs?
\_ Analog VGA cable same as the last 20 years?
\_ You can't use an analog cable and an LCD. It looks like shit and
text is unreadable.
\_ Funny, I'm doing that right now and it's just fine.
\_ Me too. Switched to DVI after a week and it looked
exactly the same.
\_ There are DVI-HDMI adapters. |
| 2007/5/21-24 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:46711 Activity:nil |
5/19 Has anyone hooked up a Mac 23" LCD to a PC (with DVI output)?
How's the quality? How about PC games that are hard coded to
output 1024x800, do they look decent?
\_ I'd suspect it'll look crappy as it does on any other LCD screen
when not running in its native resolution.
\_ in some cases you can make it run in 1:1 mode (i.e. with black
bars around the unscaled image) |
| 2007/4/10 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:46246 Activity:nil |
4/9 I'm setting up an old PC with Windows XP to run games. Is there a good
PCI video card (that doesn't have a fan) that can do all the cool 3D? |
| 2007/4/3-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking, Computer/HW/Display] UID:46185 Activity:nil |
4/3 Is it possible to openup a linksys notebook adapter card to get at
the mini-pci wireless card insdide? The mini-pci for my laptop is
no longer made. Thanks
\_ They're not expensive--try one and let us know.
\_ Have you tried ebay? |
| 2006/12/26-30 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW/Display] UID:45494 Activity:nil |
12/26 I just got a Wii and it looks bad on my 10 year old 20" tube.
What is the resolution of RCA connectors? If I get a new plasma
or LCD will it look better?
\_ component cable will make it better |
| 2006/12/18-21 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:45461 Activity:low |
12/17 oh mighty motd, where can i get a 20" LCD display
for around $200?
\_ Costco has a 19" for around $200, with 6ms response, 1280x1024,
700:1 contrast ratio. |
| 2006/11/9-11 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:45306 Activity:nil |
11/19 I have both pcmia cards for my wi-fi and my usb 2.0 on my DELL I8200.
Even though have 2 slots; the usb2.0 card makes it next to
impossible to plug both in at the same time. Any suggestions? Do
they sell longer cards? Should I consider an internal mini-pci wifi?
Thanks.
\_ is this thin enough?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833150006
or get a Wi-Fi via USB 2.0 device
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833124158
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16833135109
\_ Are any of these pcmcia ? I8200's only have 1.0 slots along
with a 1394 slot . It seems a little big to plug into a pcmcia
slot
\_ the first one fits in the I8200 PCMCIA PC Card slot. it is
\_ the first one fits in the I8200 PC Card slot. it is
also a 32-bit CardBus card, and the I8200 has CardBus
interfaces. in other words, it works fine with your I8200.
the only question is whether there is still enough headroom
for your other PC Card. Also, I now realize your other PC
Card may block out a lot of signal, even if they both fit.
the latter two plug into a USB 2.0 port.
For more info on PCMCIA / PC Card / CardBus, see:
http://www.pcmcia.org/faq.htm#pins |
| 2006/11/6-7 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:45206 Activity:nil |
11/6 Nvidia buys PortalPlayer:
http://www.portalplayer.com/news-and-events/PPI_NVIDIA.htm |
| 2006/10/17-18 [Computer/SW/OS/Linux, Computer/HW/Display] UID:44847 Activity:nil |
10/17 Nvidia Linux driver has a buffer overflow allowing for local
and remote root exploit:
http://kerneltrap.org/node/7228
\_ That's not a remote root exploit; it can only be triggered by
someone running X on console. -tom
\_ A remote X client can take advantage of the exploit IF
X is being run on console; and my understanding is that
most linux users still run X on console.
\_ But the remote X client would have to be allowed to connect
to the X server in the first place, the way I read it;
that should usually not be the case. -tom |
| 2006/8/28-30 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:44171 Activity:nil |
8/24 Any recommendation for an SATA/eSATA PCI card for Linux?
\_ Isn't there a hardware compatibility list for the major distros?
\_ Yes there is a chip hardware compatibility list for linux, but
I need an actual card. I think I'll get the Addonics ADSA3R5-E
which has the Silicon Image 3124 chipset.. Any experience with it? |
| 2006/8/14-17 [Computer/HW, Computer/HW/Display] UID:44001 Activity:low |
8/14 This is a fun little app. For someone spending too many hours in front
of his PC, at least I can watch the day pass over the globe on my
desktop. Ah, I see dawn approaches the Roman empire...
http://codefromthe70s.org/desktopearth_dl.asp
Oh and it looks pretty nice across two monitors.
\_ It's too bad it's just random clouds instead of real-time satellite
imgs so we can see Iraq/Lebanon burning
\_ Well, there is a real-time cloud update feature based on weather
satellite images. right click on the tray icon. But the default
server in the list is some kind of distribution network that
seems hosed. And I can't seem to force it to get a new image.
So maybe try a different server first and test it in a browser.
Ok nm I fooled it by changing the date. But it's from weather
satellites... so it looks like the weatherman's stuff on TV.
\_ How can we sleep while Leba-non's burnin'?
\_ My battery's rated 60 months although I have to honestly say that
I've never reached 60 months in the past 4 battery changes I've
done in my life. I usually run them down, which is usually after
3-4 years, call AAA when I need a jumpstart, and get a new one.
\_ Isn't there a unix-y version of this? i forget the name.
\_ xearth
\_ Does that do satellite pics? -John
\_ Could something like this be done with Google Earth?
\_ Nope. There was one for X that had nicer graphics
called xglobe.
\_ Thanks, I remember xglobe. Any ideas if there's
anything MacOS-native like this so I don't need to
run an xserver just for my screen background? -John
\_ maybe try this -op
http://gabrielotte.com/osxplanet.html
or this ($) http://www.xericdesign.com/earthdesk.php
\_ Very cool thanks! -John
\_ Update: this is still cool. And the cloud data is another level of
interestingness. (I can watch weather patterns developing. Right
now there are interesting storms off the coast of Japan. Damn I
wish I was running this when Katrina hit) |
| 2006/6/30-7/6 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:43542 Activity:nil |
6/30 Besides speakers and a tuner, are there any differences between TV's
and monitors? If I buy a 24" LCD w/ DVI, will I be able to use the
output from a cable/satellite box to my monitor? A friend of mine said
it might not work, said something about adjusting resolutions correctly
It's hard to google for this information w/o getting references to
Linux or retailers.
\_ Resolution, dot pitch, gamma, ...
\_ Yes, I've heard these terms, but usually monitors have higher
res and smaller dot pitch than TVs. I currently have a 2001fpw
but don't have a cable box to test this with. I don't want to
order cable/satellite if this isn't going to work. Has anyone
tried this? Currently, I use the monitor mostly for DVDs and
connecting to my laptop.
\_ Some monitors (PVA and MVA technology) are optimized for accurate
color but exhibit fairly bad ghosting with moving images.
\_ HDCP compliance is a good idea if you can get it. It will be
required more and more in the future. -ax
required more and more in the future. Some cable/satellite
boxes require it. If you are thinking of using something like a
Dell 2405 and connecting it to a HD-Tivo, I would expect that to work, but
not with HDCP sources. Check out the Westinghouse lvm-37w3 for an
example for a 37" LCD panel with DVI/HDCP. It's $1300 or so.
not with HDCP sources. Check out the Westinghouse lvm-37w3 as an
example of a 37" LCD panel with DVI/HDCP. It's $1300 or so.
Read http://www.avsforum.com for more info. -ax |
| 2006/6/15-16 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW/Display] UID:43409 Activity:nil |
6/15 A little old, but I'm sure you all want to know about ATI's new
video card optimized for ASCII gaming.
http://bbspot.com/News/2003/02/ati_ascii.html
\_ I know it was satire, but you could do that with pixel shaders. |
| 2006/4/30-5/2 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:42865 Activity:low |
4/30 ATI is teh suck.
\_ Agreed. --michener
\_ ATI has decent support. Driver/sw updates are easy to get.
I have the ATI All In Wonder 8500 and I'm pretty happy with it.
What's wrong with your ATI card?
\_ 1. I bought a peripheral from them that refused to install out
of the box because it depended on a DLL that comes with Visual
Studio. They had no support info on this at all and I had to
figure it out myself. They obviously never tested it on a
'clean' machine.
\_ what peripheral?
\_ Remote Wonder II
2. They refused to provide me with updated drivers for my
Thinkpad because that's Lenovo's job (which they told me they
abdicated to ATI). When I made a support inquiry, after making
a support inquiry and proving it was possible to use reference
drivers on a Thinkpad the guy still insisted they had no
drivers, just a stub-EXE... which downloads reference drivers.
\_ sounds like Lenovo is screwing you
\_ Maybe, but even after I got a hold of a generic driver
off their site (by using an unpublished URL) the tech
support troll insisted there was no such driver :-/
To flat out refuse to let me have their generic driver
is just lame.
\_ Well, support trolls are expensive. They are not
supposed to support laptop products. That's just the
way it is since laptop implementations are so varied.
So why would you expect the support troll to help
you with your Lenovo laptop?
3. They don't support GL_ARB_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE, which makes it
virtually impossible to use render-to-texture with shaders in any
sort of high-performance way.
4. They have high-performing $300-500 cards, but virtually
nothing price competitive with NVidia in the $100-300 range.
\_ use GL_ARB_TEXTURE_NON_POWER_OF_TWO
\_ No good. Without GL_ARB_TEXTURE_RECTANGLE the GLSL
keywords sampler2DRect and texture2DRect are unsupported.
\_ can't you use sampler2D and texture2D?
\_ Those only bind non-rectangular textures, and I
don't think its worth the effort to rewrite a
bunch of code to workaround something ATI should
just fix.
\_ They don't only do that when using NPOT.
Between Nvidia and ATI, there are always some
stuff geared towards one or the other. Nvidia
pushes for stuff they happen to have implemented
and vice versa for ATI. You happen to be using
something Nvidia-centric I think.
\_ It's been accepted into the ARB. ATI voted
against it but lost. They should suck it up
and comply with the spec.
\_ Nvidia doesn't support everything in the
ARB either. Aesthetically the NPOT thing
seems cleaner than the rectangle thing.
So why do we need that? OpenGL sucks.
4. They have high-performing $250-500 cards, but nothing
price competitive with NVidia in the $100-250 range.
-OP
\_ maybe, but this doesn't hurt you does it? The X1600 Pro for
$100 is close to the 7600 GS which is a little more $$.
To be honest, for the latest 3D games the $100-250 cards
don't really cut the mustard. For example, Oblivion needs
a 7900 GT or X1800XT to break 30FPS at 1024x768. In this
fight the X1800XT is a fair bit better and can support
HDR + AA.
don't really cut the mustard.
\_ Well its another disincentive for me to buy another ATI
card. |
| 2006/4/22-24 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:42799 Activity:nil |
4/21 Any sodans at nVidia?
\_ And if so, can you tell me any news on when your drivers will get
the ability to use FSAA with framebuffer objects (FBOs)? -!pp |
| 2006/2/13-15 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:41818 Activity:nil |
2/13 Can anyone recommend a local computer maker in the East Bay? I want
to upgrade our (circa 1998) home desktop system box and only the box
and I don't have the time or fu to build one myself.
\_ go to http://pricewatch.com and find an out of state system builder with
the right price/system for you. try monarch or one of the other
larger places that's been around for a while with a decent rep.
\_ General Computing Systems, 3226 Grand Ave., Oakland:
http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=21503093
\_ If you don't mind going across the bridge, check out Central
Computers, 837 Howard St. @ 5th St in San Francisco:
http://www.centralcomputer.com
Central's prices are reasonable, but by no means the cheapest out
there. Turnaround time in my experience is very fast. I don't
always get someone with the best English when I call, but they've
never screwed up an order. I'm told they are reasonable and prompt
when it comes to returns. I think I heard about Central from
jon@csua, you might inquire further with him. -dans
\_ Why does it have to be local? |
| 2006/2/11-13 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:41804 Activity:kinda low |
2/11 Follow-up to the "what computer did you have at UCB" topic,
what kind of monitor did you have?
I had a $1400 Nanao 21" CRT that was worth more than my car.
\_ built-in 9" mono -> same -> 12" VGA -> $700 17" Iiyama VM Pro
\_ built-in 9" mono -> same -> 12" VGA -> $700 17" Iiyama "Diamondtron"
\_ 14" IBM vga -> 17" iiyama vision master pro (typing on it now) and
they were attached to 286-10 -> 386-33 -> 486-66?. Today I have the
Iiyama attached to my unix box and a Sony 21" multiscan/etc hooked
up to my dual cpu blah blah blah box.
\_ 15" no name vga from frys -> 19" Sun color monitor
\_ What are you guys talking about? Only current berkeley students are
allowed access to these machines!
\_ Cheap brand HGC B/W monitor. Lasted 7 yrs in my home, and another
three years in my uncle's restaurant where it's used 10hrs a day 7
days a week.
\_ Cheap brand HGC B/W monitor.
\_ I remember being very excited when VGA came out and when Doom
came out. The graphics were great. |
| 2006/1/27-29 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:41563 Activity:nil |
1/26 7800 GTX 256 vs 7800 GTX 512 vs ATI x1900 XT vs ATI x1900 XTX.
Does anyone have any personal experience with any of these cards?
I've seen the benchmarks and prices. I'd like to know if anyone
knows of any visual glitches or other problems (are they super loud?)
or if some model is particularly well made. Thanks!
\_ most video card fans turn off if 3D not in use. If in use, I'll bet
you're playing a noisy FPS game anyway.
\_ I don't think manufacturing quality or "visual glitches" is really
an issue now. I would RMA it if you see something like that,
unless it's a driver issue. Both companies do ongoing driver
fixes. By the way you might as well consider the X1800XT and
the X1900 All in Wonder. I don't know if the X1800s are gonna be
cheaper now. But they still compare favorably with the 7800 GTX. |
| 2006/1/8-10 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:41295 Activity:nil |
1/8 Would an aftermarket DVI-VGA adapter produce a better VGA signal
than the adapter that Apple includes with the Mac Mini?
\_ it doesn't have to be expensive. There are just problems with
the apple adapter. I believe that you can fix it by cutting
one or two pins, but it's been a long time since I looked into
it.
\_ Does a DVI->VGA adapter just remap pins/conductors, or does
it actually do non-trivial digital to analog conversion?
\_ It depends on if you're talking about DVI-D (digital only)
or DVI-I (which carries both digital and analog signals).
The latter is a simple pin remapping.
\_ Thanks, I just found a DVI->VGA adapter that came with one
of my video cards a couple years back. It has less pins
\_ fewer
than the one that came with my Mac Mini, and the display
quality looks better using it! -op |
| 2005/12/31-2006/1/4 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:41183 Activity:nil |
12/31 I'm looking for a new 19" LCD. Any recommendations?
\_ Use http://newegg.com and do a Power Search for 19" LCDs with 1 DVI port
and sort by Best Rating. I like the Viewsonic prof series one
since it has two VGA and 1 DVI port.
since it has two VGA and 1 DVI port, and very good viewing angles.
\_ I'm fond of my Dell 1905 FP (1 DVI + 1 VGA) that I got for $300.
Watch http://slickdeals.net for deals.
\_ I like my 20" 2005 FPW. Definitely worth the extra $x to get
a widescreen display. |
| 2005/11/24-28 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:40730 Activity:high |
11/23 What are the pros and cons of LCD vs. plasma TV?
\_ Both kind of suck, but here's what I learned when I was looking
into this a few months ago (tech changes fast, so grain of salt,
please):
LCD: +about 1.3x the lifespan of plasma before 1/2 luminosity is
reached
LCD: +about 1.5x-2x the lifespan of plasma before 1/2 luminosity is
reached (IIRC 3-4 years of 8-10hrs/day -- so probably
about 2-4x that for normal people).
+slightly less delicate than plasma
+very thin and very light
-typically not available in very large screen sizes (less
true now but if you're looking for a screen > 42", simple
LCD probably isn't the way to go)
-inferior black levels
-narrow (comparatively) viewing angles -- I find this is a
deceptive measure. Even on screens with a supposedly
wide viewing angle, I've found that they lose contrast
very quickly when you move off the normal.
Plasma:
+slightly better viewing angle than lcd (but still pretty
unimpressive for low-medium end sets)
+typically brighter with higher contrast than LCD
+cheaper than LCD
+very thin and very light
-much shorter lifespan before 1/2 luminosity is reached
-much shorter lifespan before 1/2 luminosity is reached (as
above, but 2-3 years@8-10/day)
-very delicate
-inferior black levels
Honestly, I'd avoid either of these technologies if at all
possible. Some the rear projection technologies are actually
very good with superior black levels, brightness and contrast --
without the (potentially) very limited lifespan of either plasma
or lcd. You might want to check out sony's sxrd sets for higher
end tv's, or see if hybrid technologies like 3lcd might work for
you. I was checking out sets this past week, and some of the
rear projections sets looked really nice. Hope this helps.
Feel free to email me if you talk more -- but I think the best
advice I can give is to actually go and look at the sets and
decide which look good to your eye; then decide if you're
willing to buy a new set in less than 5-10 years if you go with
a degrading technology. -mice
rear projection sets from mitsubishi looked really nice. Hope
this helps. Feel free to email me if you want to talk more --
but I think the best advice I can give is to actually go and
look at the sets and decide which look good to your eye; then
decide if you're willing to buy a new set in less than 5-10
years if you go with a degrading technology. -mice
\_ Thank man, you rock. So between now and January, when is the
best time to get a bargain? Now? Before X-mas? Or after
New Year (less inventory? more?)
\_ I'm not that savvy about retail, to be honest, but I'd guess
that just after christmas is the best time to get a good
deal. Check out: http://avsforum.com -- there's alot of
good information to be had there, but be careful taking too
much at face value; I've found that people there can easily be
blinded by the fact that they just spent $3000 on a tv set,
and will become religious about their purchase before
admitting any flaws with it. YMMV. -mice
\_ As with all electronics the best time to buy is as late
as possible. Next year prices will drop 20%, and the
year after that, another 20%. If you can wait till
2009, TVs will be much brighter/crisper/last longer
and cheaper than today.
\_ True, but the other fella was asking about "between now
and January" so I was taking a shot in the dark.
Hopefully, between the avsforum link and the hdtv link
the guy below gave, there should be enough accurate
information to steer the OP well. -mice
\_ Good plasmas have better blacks than LCD; check Panasonic.
Also I didn't notice any plasma viewing angle problem. I thought
plasmas were better here than some rear projections I saw. And
for lifespan, they claim now to last about as long as a normal
CRT would. I'm still on the fence for HDTVs myself though, gonna
wait until probably January.
I would avoid CRT-based rear projection TVs because most cannot
natively display 720p (typically 480p or 1080i), plus they're
usually not that bright. The SXRD stuff is good but it isn't
perfect either.
Check out "HDTV World":
http://www.cnet.com/4520-7874_1-5102926-1.html?tag=eye
\_ Great link! Thanks for the info! The sxrd seemed to offer
the best bang for my dollar -- I've a buddy at sony that
can probably get me a 30% discount on the 60". Were it not
for that fact, I'd probably lean away from sony entirely.
Some of the plasmas I saw when I was looking around had
some pretty irritating viewing angle issues, but that was
most definitely not true of the higher end (ie newer) models.
I'll look at panasonic though; thanks for the tip! -mice
\_ Actually, after looking at the hdtv link, sony seems to
have come out rather well, ratingswise. -mice
\_ Yeah, it actually seems to be their top rated HDTV.
But they describe a couple flaws. It might be the best
thing now though. I am mainly interested in 720p
performance. I'm kind of confused about how 1080p
sets deal with that, like is it worse than just getting
a native 720p set?
\_ What about a screen and a projector? How does that
compare to LCD and plasma?
\_ projectors work better in dark rooms. also remember you
have to replace bulbs on the projector.
\_ There is a great range in bulb prices and how long
they last. |
| 2005/11/16-17 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:40611 Activity:very high |
11/16 Is it me, or it seems like the new Gen Y kids are much more
tech saavy, independent, self-reliant, outspoken,
and self-absorbed? Many of the Gen Y kids I manage
are really bad team players and actually seem quite
conservative with that "fuck the government, screw the society,
help thyself" attidude. -annoyed Gen X
\_ Jesus fucking christ. At least wait until you're 40 to start
bitching about "these kids today."
\_ Is that you, Paolo?
\_ Yes, except there's nothing independent or self-reliant about them.
They are supported by Mom and Dad. Attitude, conceit, and
self-absorption I've all noticed, though. This describes my
little brother and his friends and it makes me nauseated. I
can't imagine having to work with people like that.
\_ They are also younger and stupider
\_ While I see that some newer employees in my group are
very self-interested, I do not see it as an expression
of conservative values. What I see is more of a sense of
privilege and entitlement rather than the conservative
view that gov should restrain men from injuring one
other, but otherwise allow them to regulate their own
affairs.
very self-interested (I want a flat-screen, I need a
new computer, I want more options, &c.), I do not see
it as an expression of conservative values. What I see
is more of a sense of privilege and entitlement.
\_ I agree with this also. My bro has been on the job 3 months
and already asked for (and got) an LCD monitor and a new
computer. On one hand, good for him. On the other hand,
he's lucky I'm not his boss. Some people have been there
10 years and don't have an LCD. He's not as valuable to the
company as he thinks he is.
\_ You're using your brother as an example of generational
difference between you and 'his' generation? How much
age difference is there? Also, just for the record, I
don't think having an obnoxious sense of entitlement is
Gen Y specific.
\_ It does seem to be Gen Y specific. I notice it in my
nieces and nephews as well. They are the "ME, RIGHT
NOW" generation. He's in his early 20s and I'm in my 30s,
FWIW.
\_ This is a very bad example to use for this thread. Asking
for LCD monitor for text-based work is not a "self-
interested" thing. It is _so_ much better for your eyes.
For such a little investment, companies that don't provide
them are the ones that are "self-interested." I spent
about $1500 of my own money to buy two 17" LCD monitors
back when it was still fairly expensive, and brought them
to work. Now, the company provides them, so I took mine
home, and now, I have three panels. I had to cheat a bit
and use my own system with two videocards, but it is SO
worth it.
\_ You say yourself that you bought these things with
your own money in the past. There's no way any of
these kids would even *think* of doing that. In fact,
my brother wants his work to buy one for home use,
too, since he works from home a lot. Any way you slice
it, that's self-interest. People coded on CRTs for a
long time and somehow survived.
\_ For work? Dang, there isn't a single person around my
work who doesn't have an LCD. I've just got a 19" Dell
LCD, but there's a guy I know who joined about the same
time as me who has 2 gigantic Apple LCD monitors.
\_ How nice for you. At my work most people have LCDs,
but lots of people don't. As their old monitors die
they are replaced with LCDs, though. All new systems
come with LCDs, if you want one. Anyway, you've missed
the point which is the idea that he thinks the company owes
him something and he's only been there a few months.
\_ I sense Leadership Qualities in your new co-worker!
http://csua.org/u/e0w (work-safe)
\_ Yeah, it's the you are SO lucky to have me attitude
that bugs me the most. Its like they are doing the
company a favor by coming to work. Maybe I just
\_ Yeah, it is the you are SO lucky to have me attitude
that bugs me the most. They act like they are doing
the company a favor by coming to work. Maybe I just
grew up in a different world b/c I always viewed it
as a privilege to work for the co.
as a privilege to work.
\_ its the lack of apostrophes and well-placed quotation
\_ Oh, the irony.
marks that bugs _me_ the most.
\_ fixed.
\_ Kids these days have no respect for their elders! -Your elders
\_ The only way to help society is through the government -
interesting idea. -jblack
\_ Who said that? Oh right, you did.
\_ That's what us boomers think about you Gen-Xers too.
\_ That's what us Boomers think about you Gen-Xers too. |
| 2005/10/24-25 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:40245 Activity:moderate |
10/24 Can you convince me to get rid of my CRT monitor and buy a
flat-screen LCD monitor?
\_ Why would you need convincing? Text looks sharper, especially with
DVI, there are no more ghosting problems, it uses less power and
therefore generates less heat, it's much easier to move and
maneuver around. The only place were CRTs have the edge is in
color fidelity (or so I've heard) which might matter if you're
a digital editing nut and handling insanely high resolutions.
\_ However, they're still a fair bit more expensive, and the
resolution doesn't go as high unless you get a large LCD,
which you pay even more of a premium for.
\_ A 19" quality LCD costs today what a quality 19" CRT cost
4 years ago. (under $400). Besides, I think a display is
possibly the most important component of a desktop computer
system, so I'd definitely try to get the best I can afford.
A 19" LCD does 1280x1024 and you probably don't want to
have resulution larger than that on 19" display anyways.
\_ I recently bought a 19" 1280x1024 LCD (700:1 contrast) for
$300 with analog and DVI inputs. It's gorgeous. Check out
these deals: http://www.slickdeals.net/#p6628
\_ Notice how I can't get 1600x1200 with a 19".
\_ I didn't want 1600x1200.
\_ I've never needed over 1280x1024 on any monitor,
including 21" CRT monitors.
\_ I noticed that my productivity scales pretty well with
number of lines of code I can fit on a screen. That's
why I run all my desktops on CRTs at 1900x1200. Odd
that my laptop screen is at 1920x1200, but I can't find
why I run all CRTs on my desktops at 1900x1200. Odd
that my laptop screen is at 1920x1200, but I can find
an affordable standalone 19" LCD that will do that.
\_ Your screen is most likely the most expensive part of
your laptop.
\_ Almost certainly. But why they don't make that
screen standalone is beyond me.
\_ If you get an uber LCD which turns out to be lame (too much
resolution for tiny fonts and images), you will regret switching.
\_ More desk real estate. That in itself should be reason enough.
\_ Do you wear glasses? I'm pretty near sighted and I always found
color crts (esp. 19" and larger) strained my eyes and gave me
headaches after prolonged use (6+ hrs). I switched to an LCD
in 1999 and it helped a lot. I've subsequently bought a 20"
Apple Cinema display and I no longer get eye-strain or head-
aches. I'm not sure if this is b/c of the refresh rate or
just b/c the LCD is sharper than an CRT.
\_ I read somewhere that CRT has a thick layer of glass and the
images are "under" the glass so that your eyes are constantly
having to focus and refocus between looking at the images and
the surface of the glass and that causes the eyestrain. LCDs
just have a thin layer so the text and images lie right at the
surface. |
| 2005/10/22-24 [Computer/SW/Editors/Vi, Computer/HW/Display] UID:40228 Activity:nil |
10/22 160 degree immersive display:
http://www.elumens.com/products/visionstation.html |
| 2005/9/26-28 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:39868 Activity:nil |
9/24 What does it mean when you run a card (e.g. a video card) at
4x or 8x? Thanks.
\_ It means that the strobe signals used for clocking AD and
SBA data switch 4 or 8 times per reference clock which
runs at 66MHz for AGP. Actually, I'm over-simplifying here.
In AGP 4x and 8x, the strobe signals are paired (sometimes
differential) so those signals only switch at 2x or 4x
of the reference clock. |
| 2005/9/7-9 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:39539 Activity:nil |
9/7 I'm looking for a usb 2.0 pci card that allows a G5 to "deep sleep".
Does anyone have any recommendations? |
| 2005/8/3-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:38976 Activity:kinda low |
8/3 Dell sends me catalogs all the time. I don't care. I like trees.
How do I make them stop sending me catalogs? - danh
\_ Tell them at http://dell.com.
\_ http://www.dell.com -> Privacy Policy -> Mailing List Removal/Change
of Address -> "Click here to opt-out of direct mail ...... Home and
Home Office customers".
\_ wow, thanks! - danh
\_ First, you tell them (Michael Dell and his management) to stop using
Dell corporate money to donate 90% of their total party funds to
the Republicans. When that happens, you'll buy their products. |
| 2005/8/1-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:38922 Activity:nil |
8/1 Somehow I've been delegated by my boss to buy a big plasma screen
for the department, for about $2000. The size is not specified,
but he says to get it as big as possible with good resolutions.
What is a good deal nowadays?
\_ Are you sure it was plasma and not LCD? $2K may not be possible,
or so cheep it defeats the purpose. Anyway, according to the prices
in the "Best-buy LCD and plasma ..." URL it might be possible:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Televisions/2001-6475_7-0.html?tag=ont.tv
\_ You can probably by a decent 32" LCD TV or a really crappy 40"
plasma from a no-name brand.
\_ With coupon passed out instore for 8/8 to 8/16, Costco is selling
the Maxent 42" plasma for $1699. Link to product, but not at
Costco.
http://www.monitoroutlet.com/M10551.html
\_ That claims to display 1280x1024, but is that stretched to 16:9
or does it remain 5:4? |
| 2005/7/1-3 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:38389 Activity:low |
7/1 Need recommendations on a graphics cards for new G5 PowerMacs. Ideally,
the video card would support 3+ monitors, and be able to support one
monitor @ 10-bit resolution. If no card does both, recommendations
for good cards that do either is also appreciated. -nivra
\_ All the mac video cards I've seen only support dual displays.
I have a 9600 and it can handle 2 20" or 23" displays w/o any
problems. If you want to drive a bigger display I think you
need to go w/ either a X850 XT or a GeForce 6800.
For the additional monitors you'll need to get a PCI video
card. I think the Radeon 9200 is the only one you can still
buy new (~ $130). I think it supports dual displays but I'm
not 100% sure. --ranga
\_ you mean in addition to the 9600/X850... essentially running
two graphics cards, with support for up to 4 monitors? -nivra
\_ Yes. You would have to run 2 monitors from the AGP card
(9600, x850 or 6800) and 2 monitors from the PCI card.
Re the 10-bit DAC, according to ATI's release notes
in the latest release, everything newer than a 7000
should have support enabled in the driver.
\_ woo... for mac? do you have a url for this? thx. -nivra
\_ Maybe I'm wrong but take a look at:
http://www.princeton.edu/~bdsinger/Radeon10BitGamma
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/17529
Supposedly the 9200 has dual 10bit Dacs as well:
http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9200/radeon9200me/specs.html
\_ yes, this confirms the 10-bit DAC, and gives me hope that
the driver support is also there. The princeton link
confirms 10bit ATI driver support for Windows. My under-
standing(somewhat confirmed by princeton url) is that OS 9
had 10-bit driver support under certain configs, but I've
yet to confirm that in OS X. Also, I've seen conflicting
sources say that there's 10-bit support, but only 8-bit
input per channel of the CLUT, which is somewhat confusing
to me. I presume it refers to 10-bit display capability,
but only 8-bit color configuration at a time without
setting a new CLUT; ie. display allows 10bits in each color,
but there are only 256(8-bit) colors available to show
at any one time without updating the CLUT. Although that
but there are only 256(8-bit) color differentiation within
at any one frame (8 bit CLUT, 1 CLUT/frame). Although that
makes even less sense since there are more than 256 colors
in any one picture(maybe it's just continuous CLUT updating?)
http://csua.org/u/ckw (yahoo groups) -nivra
\_ I've done a bit more research re: 10-bit cards. It seems ATI 9800
supports 10-bit DAC, and X850 _should_ (not confirmed). However,
driver support for 10-bit input into the graphical card is sketchy.
Additionally, OpenGL on OS X 10-bit specification into the driver
(via the CLUT?) may also be in question. Thus, despite a 10-bit
DAC on the hardware, the software side may limit the effective
pixel resolution to 8 bits per channel. Any thoughts, urls, further
explanations into how the whole CLUT/driver/OpenGL/graphics card
system works would be appreciated. -nivra |
| 2005/6/24-25 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:38280 Activity:kinda low |
6/23 I have a monitor with a 15-pin connection. It's old and the image
is distorted (it often undistorts when I hit it, but now it's
cracking from all the abuse). I have another monitor with what
looks like a 15-pin connection, but there are only 12 or 13 pins.
When I hook it up to my computer and run windows, the image is
completely screwed up. Is this because it's not compatible
(probably because it doesn't have all 15 pins), or is there
some setting I need to change in my PC or in the monitor to
get it to work? Assuming it's not possible to get the other
monitor to work, is there anyone around West LA or the South Bay
of LA looking to get rid of a 15-inch monitor?
\_ who is this?
\_ Who are you?
\_ What's the relevance of this question?
\_ You're asking for a monitor. Doesn't it make sense to know
the buyer/gift recipient?
\_ VGA doesn't actually require all 15 pins, it's pretty common to
see monitors that are missing a few in the connector. That
said, it you know you have your colors and resolution set low
enough for the monitor (try 600x480 @ 16 colors as a test),
it's probably just broken. However, people throw away old 15"
SVGA monitors all the time. You should be able to get one for
free. |
| 2005/5/17-19 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:37722 Activity:nil |
5/17 To the person who was looking for a Dell 20.1 widescreen before:
http://tinyurl.com/crzhu $397. |
| 2005/5/3 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:37477 Activity:nil |
5/3 auto'ización necesito una clase del refresco en siglas. Po' favo'
\_ CGA, los años 80: 320x200x4 (256000 pedacitos)
\_ EGA, 1985s, dig dis: 320x200x16 (1024000 pedacitos)
\_ MGA,
\_ VGA, los años 90: 640x480x16 (4915200 pedacitos)
\_ SVGA, 1995: 1024x768x16 (12582912)
\_ XGA????: 1024x768
\_ SXGA????: 1280x1024
\_ SXGA+????: 1400x1050
\_ WSXGA+ 2005: 1680x1050x(2^32)el google justo del
\_ para el xga del wikipedia y chasca encendun dido el acoplamiento de
\_ UXGA: 1600x1200
\_ WUXGA: 1920x1200
\_ http, dig dis://http://www.i386.info/vidres.htm
http, dig dis://en. 'S coo', bro.wikipedia. Sheeeiit.o'g/wiki/Compu\
ter_display_standard
\_ WQUXGA: 3840X2400panel de la IBM T221 LCD del
\_, 4 solo acoplamiento DVI requerido. - hachael
\_ conserva (la 2004/2005) resolución modernas de la manija de
(wid puesto al dÃa, los etc), o usted tienen que comprar
cards some sa' compatibles con éstos 'eshibiciones?el
\_ ah' piensa que deben apenas parar el usar de estas siglas. Es
confusin'. ¿Po' qué no apenas utilice los números directamente?¿
\_ OMGWTFGA??? |
| 2005/5/3 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:37465 Activity:high |
5/3 Ok I need a refresher class on acronyms. Please modify/correct, thanks.
\_ CGA, 1980s: 320x200x4 (256000 bits)
\_ EGA, 1985s: 320x200x16 (1024000 bits)
\_ MGA,
\_ MGA, 742x350, mono color.
\_ VGA, 1990s: 640x480x16 (4915200 bits)
\_ SVGA, 1995: 1024x768x16 (12582912)
\_ XGA, ????: 1024x768
\_ SXGA, ????: 1280x1024
\_ SXGA+, ????: 1400x1050
\_ WSXGA+ 2005: 1680x1050x(2^32)
\_ Just google for wikipedia xga and click on the http://answers.com link
\_ UXGA: 1600x1200
\_ WUXGA: 1920x1200
\_ http://www.i386.info/vidres.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_display_standard
\_ WQUXGA: 3840X2400
\_ IBM T221 LCD panel, 4 single link DVI required. -ax
\_ Can any modern (2004/2005) VGA card handle resolutions this high
(with BIOS updated, etc), or you have to buy vendor specific
cards to be compatible with these displays?
\_ I think they should just stop using these acronyms. It's way too
confusing. Why not just use the numbers directly?
\_ OMGWTFGA ??? |
| 2005/3/26-30 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:36902 Activity:nil |
3/26 Is there an easy way to hook up a Cable/Satellite Tivo tuner to
a monitor that has VGA and DVI inputs? I just ordered a 20" widescreen
display and was wondering if I could use it to watch TV.
\_ If it's one of the Dell ones, it should have an s-video input.
Otherwise, no, you'll need to find and buy an adapter.
\_ It's a Dell, cool. Are there any advantages of the Mac 20"
display other than the cool silver look? It's more expensive
, has lower contrast, lower brightness, and no S-Video. |
| 2005/3/24-25 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:36843 Activity:nil |
3/24 What's the best VGA/XGA/SXGA to RCA (3 plug) converter out there?
\_ Are you talking about one yellow cable = video, red/white cable
= sound?
\_ Since he's talking about using three plugs for just a video
signal, maybe he means component video instead.
\_ No I'm talking about 1 video 2 audio, where the 2 audio
comes from a headset plug and the 1 video comes from VGA
\_ Then ask the right question. What's the best RGBHV to
Composite converter? Audio portion has nothing to do
with the problem nor the solution. And the answer is
Don't do it! That's a terrible drop in quality. If
you really need it, just get a Radeon card with
built-in composite + s-video out. |
| 2005/3/23-24 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:36834 Activity:kinda low |
3/23 Besides dealcoupon and slickdeals what are the good sites to get a
19" Dell LCD?
\_ Buy Mac, support DNC. Buy Dell, support RNC (1/2 million of it).
\_ That's just about the dumbest thing I've read all day.
\_ why? The pp boycotts Dell the same reason he/she boycotts
Wal-Mart. It's just personal choice based on principle.
Whether the boycott is effective or not is a different issue.
\_ http://gotapex.com
\_ http://techbargains.com, http://fatwallet.com, http://bargainshare.com |
| 2005/3/10 [Computer/HW/IO, Computer/HW/Display] UID:36620 Activity:kinda low |
3/10 So the Dell 20.1" is again at $487 shipped. Damn I am tempted!!
Need to resist......
\_ I got one and returned it because it sucked (backlight bleeding).
It also didn't feel as big as I hoped. The new 24" now, that
could interest me again. It has 19x12 resolution too unlike the 20".
But I am now kind of leery of Dell quality.
\_ Interesting, I got one and the picture quality is stunning
after calibration, no bleeding problem either!
\_ The bleeding problem was pretty common, although not
necessarily very noticeable. On mine, it was on the top
corner edges a bit, mostly annoying with the lights out.
I also personally found the "purple" effect at some angles
to bother me. The 24" is way cheaper than Apple's 23"
and seems to be the right size for me... but, I need to
see it in person to judge.
\_ I have lots of 2000FP and 2001FP at work and they are fine.
Only one DOA. The 19" (1905?) is a better monitor as far as
picture quality, though.
\_ urlP ?
\_ http://www.hwextreme.com/deals.shtml |
| 2005/3/1-3 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:36475 Activity:kinda low |
3/1 Yesterday, the BBC World Service did a review of the Mac Mini and
the reviewer noted poor-quality greyed-out video on his VGA monitor.
Anybody here noticed the same thing? I've read forums that
say that the Mac Mini produces non-standard video signal.
\_ Friend of mine just go this, and the video looks beautiful on a
PC VGA monitor. -John
\_ Use DVI
\_ Sure, that is probably a good idea, but for monitors
that don't connect to DVI (like a normal CRT), that is
not an option. and since the Mac Mini is advertised as
as working with "ANY OLD VGA MONITOR" I would like
to recommend a Mac Mini to my friends who have so many
problems with their Windows XP systems. $499+999 > $499
\_ No problem w/ a Sony 17" VGA CRT or a Apple 15" LCD
\_ No problem w/ a Sony 17" VGA CRT or a Apple 15" LCD. It might
be a problem w/ the DVI-VGA adapter. See here for more info:
http://tinyurl.com/6csfm (discussions.info.apple.com)
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/feedback/mac_mini_dim_video.html |
| 2005/2/11 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:36139 Activity:high |
2/10 Recommendation for a 19" LCD display. Amazon has a good deal
on the Princeton. I'm also looking at Costco's Sharp 19" LCD.
If you own one or use one at work, can you tell us what you have
and how reliable is it? Thanks.
\_ Don't know who makes the ones for Dell, but have had only one
failure out of probably 3 dozen+ at work.
\_ I believe Samsung does.
\_ Make sure to get DVI. digital->analog->digital is bad.
\_ tawei!!! whats up. get NEC MultiSync 19xxX series.
\_ Jesus dumb fuck, this has been posted 100 times. Learn to STFK:
http://csua.com/?entry=35371
http://csua.com/?entry=32519
http://csua.com/?entry=32303
http://csua.com/?entry=10207
\_ Don't blow a head gasket, man -- it's not that big a deal.
Really.
\_ no dude, people have to learn. I'm so sick and tired of
deleting trolls and politics on motd, and things that
repeat over and over again. FUCK YOU.
\_ Then, uhm, don't bother. It's not like anyone cares
about you and your largely self-inflicted pain. And
take a vacation -- your histrionics are annoying.
\_ Hey! I'm your biggest fan! I'd like to give you an
award! Please post your name so we know who deserves
it. -jrleek
\_ Fuck both of you. Just the fact that there are real
live conservative censors out there getting annoyed
about it will make posting political trolls worth it
for at least another decade.
\_ This is getting confusing, who is the other
person in both of you, and are you pp? -jrleek
\_ The "fuck you" is directed at anyone who censors
anything in any context ever or who supports
censorship in any form. Yes, you have every
right to delete whatever politics you dislike
from the motd; it's a world writable file. And
I have the right to think you're an asshole for
it. I realize you're not one of the main censors
here, but you get a "fuck you" anyway for
thinking it's cool.
\_ Heh, you're a moron, but you're the
wrong one. You see, if the censor had
posted his name, we could squish him.
-jrleek |
| 2005/1/18-19 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:35769 Activity:kinda low |
1/18 Recommendations for MoBo/CPU for a game PC (Windows XP) -John
\_ MSI Neo2 Platinum plus A64 3000/3200/3500
\_ What about future-proofing by getting a PCI-X mobo?
\_ Most of the ones that have all the features you could
possibly want (SLI, hi-def sound, RAID) are either too
expensive or aren't available yet. FWIW, i'm waiting for
the MSI K8N SLI Platinum
\_ SLI is stupid. But PCIE (not PCI-X... that's something
else) you should get for future compatibility although
they will likely release cards using AGP bridge chips
for a while yet.
\_ Athlon 64 3500+/3200+ "Winchester" (90nm) with Asus A8V - http://newegg.com |
| 2005/1/13-14 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:35706 Activity:nil |
1/13 I recently switched my display's color depth from 16pbb to 24bpp
and was embarrassed to discover now obvious flaws in images I had
created and posted on the web. If you are making RGP images with
your display at 16bpp, beware, what you see may not be what you get.
\_ That's why 24bit is referred to as "true color" |
| 2005/1/13-14 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:35704 Activity:moderate |
1/13 The documentation of my Dell LCD is saying that the contrast
button is not functional when the LCD is connecting with a DVI
port. I assume you can still adjust it from the OS? How can I do
it from Linux?
\_ If you want to lower the brightness, you can achieve the same
result by lowering the RGB value at the same time. That's what
I did to achieve a comfortable viewing brightness for my Dell.
Right now I am at 0% brightness, and RGB at 48%, the picture is
really nice. Dell 2005fpw.
\_ I got one of those 2005fpw's and I think I'll return it. The
size wasn't as impressive as I thought so I want to wait for
something better. But another thing was that if I turn out
the lights and look at a black background, I can see uneven
light leaking from the top edge. My LCD at work doesn't have
any trace of that. Then again the 2005 is brighter. But it
also has a weird viewing angle effect... even just sitting
in front of it moving my head a bit I notice a purplish
sheen at some angles. I won't buy another before seeing
it in person. I hope they get OLED working well soon, that
would be the proverbial shit.
\_ purple tint, high viewing angles, good response rate?
Sounds like IPS tech!
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-guide_23.html
I like my Samsung 193P from http://jr.com, but the 16ms MVA panel
used on the update of the Viewsonic VP191b at http://newegg.com
looks good too (you need models manufactured Dec 2004 or
later). I have the 25ms VP191s and it ghosts, but nice
otherwise.
\_ Hmmm, I have none of the problems. Maybe sample variation.
I am really pleased with mine, and I am very picky when it
comes to monitor calibration.
\_ I have no problems with brightness since the brightness button
does work. -op
\_ So what do you need to adjust the contrast for? Be more
specific on what the problem is that you are trying to
solve...
\_ I wish there were a button on my monitor to turn up the
intelligence. There's a button called "brightness," but it
doesn't work. |
| 2005/1/11-12 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:35666 Activity:moderate |
1/11 So the iMac Mini is basically an evolution of the old Cube thing. Or
those little Shuttle PC boxes. Or a Gamecube. But it doesn't seem
to make much sense compared to an iBook. Why no digital audio output?
\_ you can still do digital audio over usb. Probably the reason
there is no spdif connector is b/c of space/price. I think
it makes a lot of sense (I bought one for my living room),
hopefully it works w/ my HD-TV and I can ditch my noisy
xbox and maybe get eyeTv and do HD capture w/ it.
\_ And you can also do digital audio over firewire. The Mac Mini
is also much cheaper than the Cube. I think it's basically the
cube done right.
\_ Yeah, and you could've been doing this for the past two years
now for about $350 by buying a small multimedia PC at Fry's.
Plus you get expansion slots that will fit in a decent
VIVO card and you're not stuck with 40 gigs. Apple, the
company that's great at repackaging things that already
exist for a higher price.
\_ I bought a small multi-media PC from Fry's two yrs ago
to use as a home theater pc. It was a complete flop.
The damn thing was too loud, it ran way too hot to put
\_ Really? What was loud about it, the hard drive?
The EPIA MB that comes with these devices are
fanless otherwise. Perhaps it was the PSU? I have
a microtower PSU and it's pretty noiseless. As for
heat issues, not quite sure about that one. I guess
if you stick in a Radeon XT800 in there it will
fry.
\_ Mine was a P4/Celeron mb. I got the slowest
celeron I could find and I down clocked it
so that it would generate less heat. I also
got the biggest damn zalman hs that fit in
the case. I replaced the 2 40 mm fans w/
3 quiet (17 db) 40 mm fans. The ps fan was
pretty quiet (~ 27 db), but a new quiet ps
in that ff would have cost $150 or more (not
quiet worth it). I had a GeForce 4 Ti 4600
in the box b/c I wanted the video out. Later
I went down to a GeForce 2 which helped a
bit in terms of head b/c it was passively
cooled.
The HD wasn't too noisy b/c I had a cuda4,
the main problems were the fans. I needed
lots of fans.
in my stereo cabinent, windows had the darndest time
doing TV out, Wireless support in windows sucked so
\_ Never had a problem with Windows doing VIVO. Guess
you just suck. I also never had a problem with
wireless in Windows. In fact, AFAIK the Apple
wireless is crap, the Airport sucks, the builtin
WiFi card on the laptops suck, so...
\_ I have had exactly the opposite experience.
WiFi in Win2K never worked for me (I'm using
linksys 802.11G PCI card) and would often
cut out intermittently w/ XP. (I did not
have this problem w/ the same PCI card in
My G4 or my Linux box, I tested them in the
same approx spot as the windows PC.
The problem w/ video output was that the PC
just couldn't display properly on my Wega.
I futz around with all sorts of stuff and
the display was always screwy. My mac's
don't have this problem. I tried the PC
after getting an HD Wega and I still have
the same problem. I just plug the macs in
and they work. I could probably get the
PC to work in XP after futzing around w/
drivers &c., but then again I could probably
also install linux, rebuilt the kernel w/
50 patches and d/l the latest cvs branch
of 8 different programs and get that to
work as well, but these days I don't have
time for that.
I have never had a problem w/ airport. I
have an original abs, a new AEBS and a AE.
All work flawlessly w/ my iBooks, my PB,
my G4 and my mom's thinkpad.
everytime I needed to put movies/music on my HTPC I
had to run a ethernet cable from my switch in my rack
upstairs down to my living room.
Yes I could drop in a 250 GB ATA/100 drive but the
extra storage was useless b/c the HTPC couldn't
integrate w/ my Digital Lifestyle. Even the hacked
xbox which ultimately replaced the HTPC didn't quite
fit w/ everything until I got a AirportExpress and
I could finally talk to the damn think wirelessly.
The problem w/ the xbox is that even though it is
a P3 733 w/o a cpu fan, the case fan is loud and I
can't seem to find a good quiet fan that will keep
the xbox from overheating.
The mini-mac is quiet, wireless and integrates
perfectly. To me this is worth the apple premium
b/c I no longer have time to futz around w/ diy.
\_ I know you can do digital audio over firewire but a usb to
spdif converter or usb to component audio converter is much
cheaper. |
| 2004/12/21 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/HW/Display] UID:35371 Activity:high |
12/21 Hey fellow moderately rich bastards. The Samsung 193P is on sale at
http://jr.com for $500 after rebate. I just put in my order with next-day
shipping. See http://newegg.com or http://pricegrabber.com to see other prices.
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3967280
\_ How can it have a 4:3 AR with a native resolution of 1280x1024?
(And yes, I am aware of the existence of rectangular pixels, but
I was under the impression that no one sane makes LCDs with
non-square pixels.)
\_ I don't get what's so special about this monitor with the exception
of slightly higher contrast ratio. Am I missing something?
\_ http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/other/display/lcd-guide.html
http://www.anandtech.com/displays/showdoc.aspx?i=2289
There is consensus that the 2001FP (20" Dell) is better still.
\_ Fully review here: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2024&p=1
\_ It's not better except it's bigger. If you read the comments
on that monitor, 193P has better features and they rated it
higher in the "subjective" analysis.
\_ Yer right. I should say, "some say that" the 2001FP is
better still because it's 1600x1200 and has all the groovy
inputs.
\_ Full review here: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2024&p=1
Note this comparison:
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1974&p=7
\_ You can get the Dell 20" wide 2005fpw for $622. Don't
bother with the samsumg for $500. Check
http://www.techbargains.com for the coupon code. I am ordering
one, no rebates, no fuss, and 20". If you can afford $500,
you can afford $622, believe me, the difference between
$1600x1050 and 1280x1024 is big.
\_ Do you expect any problems with widescreen?
\_ I will let you know when I receive mine. :) So far I haven't
heard any problems with the wide screen. It works better for
DVDs and photos taken with digital SLR, you actually get more
pixels than 1600x1200 but shrinked....
\_ What happens when you want to drive it with a 2 yr old
notebook with Intel chipset graphics? (how does it
interpolate to 1680x1050?)
\_ I'm trying to decide this too... I could get this for $610
shipped with my coupons.
\_ Actually if you call Dell Small Business, they may
give you a 35% off coupon. That will bring the
overall price to ~ $560 shipped with tax. Hella of
a deal. Just ordered mine. The best price I can
find online is the 30% off for small business, but
with tax and shipping, which totals to about $620.
But you have to call them, as the $35% off coupon
is not listed anywhere. Check this thread
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1026999131
\_ You got free shipping too? Well, I went ahead and
ordered my crappier deal and will call tomorrow to
bitch or cancel if I can't squeeze out any more money.
\_ What if the 193P is only $414 ?
http://www.hwextreme.com/deals.shtml
\_ Are you talking about the Dell E193FP? I don't see the 193P.
\_ you are right. my bad.
\_ This item has now gone offline. (You need to call them or
go to a bricks&mortar store.) -op |
| 2004/12/19-20 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:35359 Activity:kinda low |
12/19 I'm running X apps on my Athlon 2GHz box and displaying them over a
100Mb network to the xserver running on my via ezra 866 MHz desktop
with a Matrox MGA PCI video card. With my xserver at 16 bpp,
everything is snappy and fast, but when I increase the color depth
to 24 bpp, scrolling is a little jerky. If I run the apps locally
on the via box at 24pbb scrolling is smooth. Is my network the
bottleneck? Any software tricks to speed things up? Any
recommendations for a good inexpensive gigE nic for linux?
\_ Without trying anything else complicated, first try sending your
X connection through a compressed ssh tunnel (as someone already
mentioned below). X is very chatty with small packets and this may
help a bit. Before investing in a gigE nic, check with your IT
group to see if they even have gigE ports available.
\_ You might look into http://nomachine.com's NX technology; it basically
caches and compresses X requests, reducing roundtrip times etc.
There's a free client in the works for KDE, but I've heard you
can do it really easily using the NM libraries with just a couple
hundred lines of bash.
\_ See if ssh compression helps. As far as a good gigE nic for
linux is concerned, try NetGear. They have a copper gigE nic
for ~ $25. I seem to get decent performance w/ that nic under
FreeBSD, WinXP, OpenBSD and Linux. I have a NetGear switch
and a AirLink switch at home and both seem to work pretty well
given that I paid less than $50 for each.
\_ ssh compression doesn't seem to help. Thanks for the tips. |
| 2004/11/11-12 [Computer/HW/Display, Consumer/TV] UID:34828 Activity:nil |
11/11 I'm looking for a video card with a tv-out plug to display to
a regular television in addition to a monitor. I don't need
any other fancy video card features and I would like something
reliable and not too expensive. Google and various review stuff
seem to focus on high-end video cards and other features. Can
anyone suggest a simple, reliable video card w/ tv-out? Thanks.
\_ I have a Geforce 4600, works a charm. I think you can get them
for a pretty reasonable price. If you're looking for a whole
system to serve signal to a TV, have a look at <DEAD>www.mini-itx.com;<DEAD>
they have really inexpensive ready-built small, quiet systems
with good quality gfx cards for this sort of thing. Don't forget
that if you're converting to SCART, you don't get sound on your
TV. -John |
| 2004/10/17-19 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:34176 Activity:low |
10/17 Any recommendations for small (<12") free-standing cheap VGA
displays? I need a tiny, unobtrusive monitor for a server. -John
\_ how cheap?
\_ Under $100 preferably. Something like a 7" car DVD display
would be perfect.
\_Very difficult unless you find it used. Small sized
LCDs are very expensive if they need to be of VGA
resolution. Get a 14/15" one if you want
new. Otherwise use ebay and look for one. -williamc |
| 2004/10/8-9 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:33987 Activity:nil |
10/8 Hey motd, I looked over the links about plasma and lcd, and I was
wondering if anyone has any personal experience or advice wrt lcd
rear projection and how it compares to plasma/lcd technologies. TIA. |
| 2004/10/6-7 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:33962 Activity:high |
10/6 Hey motd -- is there a significant difference in quality between LCD
and plasma tv's? TIA.
\_ There are big differences.
LCDs: Limited to about 30", so-so contrast ratio, limited viewing
angle, some motion blur, available in fairly high resolution.
Plasmas: Good contrast ratio, can be larger, limited resolution for
non-TV purposes, can burn in if display is static or there's
something liek a stock ticker.
And of course price differences...
Honestly, unless I really had $5,000 burnign a hole in my pocket,
wait for prices to come down and the technology to improve, or just
buy a high-quality CRT-based TV.
\_ I am not sure about the contrast ratio and viewing angle. IIRC,
LCDs are at least as good as Plasmas in these areas. It may
indeed be a good idea to wait. Seems like many of the makers
of these big screens have been aggressively expanding
capacity, and now have too much capacity, possibly leading
to oversupply and a price war next year, especially if the
Christmas season turns out to be a dud (been following these
companies in the stock market).
\_ Here's a link backing up my contention that LCD has better
contrast and viewing angles:
http://www.flattvpeople.com/tutorials/lcd-vs-plasma.asp
\_ Plasmas, unlike LCDs, use tons of power. The biggest ones might have
a cooling fan.
a cooling fan. However, since LCDs are typically smaller I do not know
if they will consume as much power as a plasma if equal in size. |
| 2004/10/6-7 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:33952 Activity:high |
10/6 What's a good video card with DVI output to drive a LCD at
1600x1200? Something not too expensive, under $100? I get
confused looking at all the brands at newegg. Maybe something
with Nvidia chipset? Thanks.
\_ Can't all of the ones with DVI-out do this? -!LCD user
\_ what's the highest resolution on LCDs nowadays?
\_ There's that insane Apple LCD which is 2500x1600, but it requires
*two* DVI inputs, for bandwidth reasons, I believe.
\_ I went to http://newegg.com, went to the video cards section, clicked
the option for 1 DVI port, clicked search, sorted by Best Rating,
and this is a 25-review 5-star-rated $51 card:
http://csua.org/u/9cl Sapphire Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB 4x AGP
\_ Radeon 9000 is not DirectX-9 supporting. If that matters to you
(you need good T&L and vertex shader programs) then consider
moving up to a Radeon 9600.
\_ If you're considering a Radeon 9600, might as well get a
9600XT, but then that's $165 already for the genuine ATI;
and if you're considering a 9600XT, might as well get an
Nvidia FX5900XT, which performs better at about the same
price.
For a plain 9600, while you can get sub $90 cards, I don't
know about "Connect3D" or "Rosewill" as manufacturers,
although I do see a Sapphire Radeon 9600SE for $70 ...
op should also check if their mobo can fit the card -- check
the manual for whether it supports 1x-8x AGP cards and the
voltage, and then check the card's multiplier and voltage.
\_ Generally speaking, AGP cards can step down to talk at the
slower speed for older MBs.
\_ I actually had a problem where I ordered a 9600 SE
and it didn't fit in the AGP slot for a computer with
a 300 MHz Celeron.
\_ But was that an AGP problem or a mechanical problem?
\_ The mobo supported a particular voltage
which the card did not; the card was notched
in a way that prevented it from being inserted.
But yeah, it is primarily a voltage issue, not
an 1x-8x speed issue, since the card will
downclock
\_ The Sapphire non-SE is $95, which is within OP's
requirements
\_ What is wrong with the SE?
\_ Without looking at the specs, I can tell you SE's are
generally cards with a lower clock speed and/or fewer
vertex and texture units. That may or may not bother
the OP.
\_ SE has bad price/perf. I have one. Get a 9600 or
some Nvidia card if you budgeted $100. Basically it
is the memory bandwidth, pipelines, or clock
freq -- I forget, but I did look at this before.
\_ Whatever you pick, make sure it has at least 128-bit
DDR interface and don't spend extra for >128MB RAM
at that price point. Actually if you don't care about
games maybe you should just get the cheapest damn
thing. If you do care about games, you should spend
~$150+. If you wait a bit the latest generation in
that price range will be out (X700 series) which
will have better price/performance. An X700 non-pro
has 8 pixel pipelines (9600 has 4) and "a lot" of
vertex shader power, MSRP $150.
\_ FYI, 9600 SE has a 64-bit memory interface.
9600 and 9600 XT has 128. XT is clocked faster
and is on a smaller process I think.
\_ Has anyone used Asus video cards? Asus 9520TD, $84. -op
\_ Asus video cards are fine. I think I have one, but not that
model. Look to the user reviews for more.
\_ I got a used 9600 SE for $45 on Ebay. -ausman
\_ I got a used 9600 SE for $45 on Ebay. I spent half a day
installing it because my motherboard had problems handling
it at 4X AGP mode, but finally got it to work without
hanging at 2X AGP mode. Now I can play BF 1942 without
problems. -ausman |
| 2004/9/22-23 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:33703 Activity:nil |
9/22 Anyone notice an annoying "ringing" sound with their Palm
Tungsten E over time? Similar to most LCD devices with the
backlight on but louder, to the point of "piercing".
\_ Sounds like a bad internal cap or transistor, probably in
what is the equivalent of the voltage inverter on the LCD.
Probably will fail over time. The change in sound means the
component has changed over time, always a bad sign in
electronics. |
| 2004/9/21 [Computer/Rants, Computer/HW, Computer/HW/Display] UID:33661 Activity:moderate |
9/21 What's an inexpensive way to add usb 2.0 to a computer?
\_ USB 2.0 PCI card. What you're deciding is which brand and how
many ports and whether you want FireWire with the card or not.
Browse through http://newegg.com or CompUSA / Best Buy.
\_ Agreed, although unless you have a good reason, son't spend more
than $15-20.
\_ I used to think the same thing, but then my $15 USB 2.0
card broke one of its 4 sockets.
\_ My $15 USB card is just fine, and since both $15 and $40
cards are made in China by probably the same company, I'd
expect the $40 one to break too.
\_ You're right about them all being made in China, but
it's reasonable to assume they differ in quality, and
you can pick good ones. I recommend op check http://newegg.com
and look for highly rated USB 2.0 PCI cards. I see
one there now for $13.50, but it's out of stock.
\_ If you're upgrading a system, don't overlook firewire if your
device supports it. It's specced slower but generally performs
better in real life.
\_ I am looking for possibily a usb 2.0 and firewire combo card.
any specific recommendations? I guess I can also swap out my
dell motherboard with an ASUS one that has USB 2.0 and firewire
for around $100, but it seems troublesome... -op
\_ I'd just get the $22 one and if it sucks get another brand:
http://csua.org/u/957 (newegg.com) |
| 2004/7/28 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:32519 Activity:high |
7/28 My monitor recently croaked. I was thinking about getting a 19"+
LCD monitor to replace it. Does anyone have any suggestions or bad
experiences that might be helpful? TIA.
\_ Thanks for all the information, people! It's much appreciated! -OP
\_ http://www.apple.com/displays
If you're willing to shell out $$$ for a video card, you can
get a 30" LCD.
get a 30" LCD.n
\_ I also recommend an Apple display. I bought a 20" Apple LCD
last year. It is a great monitor; very bright and it shows the
correct colors for photos/print work. The current (Al) 20"
display is even better than mine since it has a faster refresh
rate, a USB 2.0 hub and a FireWire hub. The only downside to
the 20" display is that the 1680x1050 native resolution isn't
well supported by games.
\_ Very positive experiences with Dell. Bad experiences with HP.
Good experiences with Apple, but expensive. Bad experience with
Sun. I have no idea who makes monitors for these resellers.
If it was my money I'd go with Dell or Sony. I just got
a Sony widescreen that is very nice.
\_ Go to http://hardforum.com, Displays. There was a good discussion on 19"
LCDs several days ago. Basically there are some good 16ms
models out, and there are 12ms 19" LCDs in the pipeline.
For my money I would just get the Viewsonic 16ms 19" LCD at CompUSA
with $100 mail-in rebate.
\_ i'm very happy with my 19" dell lcd. supposedly it's the same as
the samsung 191t on the inside.
\_ I bought a Sony 19". I really like it (although it's a tiny
bit slow on refresh for some games.) -John
\_ The wife's 20" viewsonic lcd (1600x1200) is very nice.
\_ We bought and installed more than a dozen 17 and 19 inch Dell LCD
screens for work during the last two years. None of them had any
problems so far. They look great. We'll never buy CRTs again.
\_ Use DVI!
\_ I've got the Samsung 191t and it's very nice using DVI. |
| 2004/7/27-28 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:32501 Activity:high |
7/27 What are some good sites that give you good bargains to products? I'm
looking for a digital cam and I'd like something that is similar to
http://bestbookbuys.com, but for cameras. Thanks.
\_ You squished other people's changes. Use motdedit.
\_ No.
\_ http://www.techbargains.com - the only one you need, run by some berkeley
dudes I think...
\_ http://bensbargains.net (really good)
\_ http://pricescan.com
\_ pricescan sucks.
\_ They all suck, use http://www.techbargains.com they have lots of camera
deals. Even if they don't have it RIGHT NOW, expect some deals to show
up within a week or two. |
| 2004/7/22-23 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:32418 Activity:high |
7/22 Doom3 Benchmarks: http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQy \_ Any benchmarks for video cards some of us might actually own? \_ What, you don't have $500 lying around for a TOL video card? \_ The first page says that it is playable on older hardware. \_ I saw that, but that's a far cry from an actual benchmark. |
| 2004/7/15-16 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:32303 Activity:high |
7/15 How long are monitors supposed to last? Is it unreasonable that I'm
asking for a new monitor to replace my 5 year old one? It's got a few
more pounds, that's about it. The truth is, I just want one of the
new LCD Monitors we got that are only for "people who need them".
\_ Is your old monitor a CRT or LCD?
\_ "It's got a few more pounds..." probably not a CRT
\_ "It's got a few dead pixels..." probably not a CRT
\_ A monitor *can* last a decade. I have some that have under
regular use. Five years is reasonable. We replace monitors
every 3 years and that's a bit wasteful. Why don't you just ask
for a new monitor and stop being a chickenshit about it?
\_ Best. Edit. Ever!
\_ Restored.
\_ Well what's better about the new LCDs that anyone "needs" them?
\_ I had a 3-year-old Samsung 15" 151S, which was supposed to
be pretty good back then. I tried using it six months ago; the
ghosting, non-uniform lighting, and fuzziness from the analog
input gave me a headache. On the other hand, I'm using an
NEC 16ms 17" LCD and it's great.
\_ Well *I* just got dual 19" Dell LCD's setup! I have one analog
and one digital connector. I can almost sort of barely not
really notice any difference. Both kick the crap out of the
old fuzzy CRT.
\_ Ever tried to get the convergence right on a big CRT? Even the
good ones become impossible after a while, so one corner is
always slightly blurry. Not with an LCD. Also, subpixel
rendering (ClearType on winXP) works sooo much better on an LCD,
that reading text is much easier on the eyes.
\_ I was asking the guy specifically, since he seemed to already
have an LCD. Also, I have yet to see the case for anyone
really *needing* one more than anyone else needs one. Although
yeah, to get mine I had to say I needed it. What BS.
\_ The reason someone would *need* a LCD is RF interference.
This actually came up on the motd recently, when some guy
with a desk near a transformer asked about why his
monitor was getting fucked up. His co-workders with LCD's
did not have the problem. In a lab with sensitive
electronics, you need an LCD for the opposite reason:
CRT's are noisy as hell, and annoying to filter out.
\_ Oh, good point. But at my co. it was made apparent to
me that the "need" being bandied about was of the health
sort. But if the company acknowledges LCD superiority
then it seems to me they're obligated to give one to
everybody who asks or risk some vision-related lawsuits.
\_ You big baby. Most of the computer using world has an old CRT, much
older than your LCD. Most of the real world has never touched a
computer and wouldn't know the power switch from their asshole. You
have an LCD because someone thought you were important. If you're
really important you'll get a new one every year without asking. If
you're still using an old one because they forgot you or worse yet
they deny you a new one upon request, then you shouldn't have had
one in the first place because you're a nobody. So the world turns.
\_ CRT's? actual cathode ray tubes? fuck, man. take the silver
enema out of your ass. I sit around dreaming about replacing
my incandescent lamp binary display with LED's. CRT's. shit.
\_ You big baby. If you can't even get LEDs you're definitely
not CRT quality material. Go back to the basement and
recount the punch cards. |
| 2004/6/28-29 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:31039 Activity:high |
6/28 New Apple 30inch LCD $3299, wow, I want one!!
\_ That's a lot of pennies.
\_ Don't forget the Mac-only $600 video card it requires.
\_ Eh? I've seen Apple LCDs connected to Dells.
\_ They say the 30" requires a dual-DVI GeForce 6800... |
| 2004/6/22 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:30950 Activity:nil |
6/22 Back in the day NVidia released a new revision to the 45.x (or 46.x?)
series drivers and some people said to keep the old version for some
reason. Is there any reason to not upgrade to the 56.x series now?
\_ Oh my god! You're not running the latest alpha drivers? |
| 2004/5/31-6/1 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:30510 Activity:high |
5/31 On average what is the power consumption of modern computer
components? I'll start with my estimates, you correct/add as needed:
Pentium 4: 80W
200G IDE HD: 10W
Video Card: 10W ? Mine has a fan on it
MB: 15W? Mine has a fan on it
How about transformer? Misc?
\_ Latest video cards from ATI and Nvidia draw 80-100W
MB: 15W? Mine has a fan on it
How about transformer? Misc?
\_ There are techie websites out there with all this info.
\_ urlP
\_ uhm, #t
\_ You've lowballed a bunch of those numbers. |
| 2004/2/16-17 [Computer/Companies/Apple, Computer/HW/Display] UID:12277 Activity:moderate |
2/16 What's the name (or type) of the adaptor for converting
a PC-style computer monitor plug to one that's compatible
with the new Apple's?
\_ Apple uses the ADC (Apple Display Connector) connector
which integrates power, dvi and usb. Most Mac's come
with a video card that supports both ADC and DVI, so
you can hook up a non-apple flat panel to a Mac. They
should also come with a DVI to VGA adapter that allows
you to hook up a VGA monitor to the DVI port.
\_ I love how you can't use Apple monitors with Apple
laptops without a $100 adapter. -Apple Fan
\_ Actually there is just one recent model that can't, and that
is the one I own. Anyway Apple monitors are more expensive
than other brand even w/o the adapter.
\_ Actually there is just one recent model that need the 100+
adapter, and that is the one I own. But anyway I wouldn't
want to buy an overpriced Apple monitor. |
| 2004/2/5 [Computer/Networking, Computer/HW/Display] UID:12107 Activity:nil |
2/4 How come USB 2.0's speed on spec is faster than IEEE 1394 but I
can never make it come even close?
\_ You can't confuse peak throughput rates with actual sustained
rates. The USB and FireWire protocols are vastly different.
Take AGP 2x, 4x, and 8x for example. One would think that
each is twice as fast as the one before. But with the way
AGP is speced, all requests must round up to the nearest
common clock (running at 15ns). So in 8x, 32-bytes can be
transfered in 1 reference clock cycle but if the GPU makes
a 16-byte request, half the bandwidth is thrown away. Also,
because AGP is a shared bus, turn-around cycles will cause
performance degradation when the bus alternates direction.
My guess is that USB is more vulnerable to these kinds of
things than 1394 is.
\_ What are you benchmarking with, senor
\_ There's two separate speed for USB 2.0: one at only 10s of MBB/s
and another at the full speed off 100s. And then there're
those manufacturers that label USB 1.1 devices as USB2.
\_ I hate that. The bastards put a 2.0 cable on a 1.1 device and
*lie* calling it a 2.0 device.
\- why dont you get john edwards to represent you in a CLASS
ACTION suit ... along the lines of the Great Monitor Dimension
suit. --psb
\_ uhm... yeah... sure... ooookkkkk... you feeling alright?
\_ USB 2.0 Hi-Speed (fast), USB 2.0 Full-Speed (slow)
Since when is marketing a crime?
\_ Yes, there are those two sets of speed in the spec for
USB 2.0. But aside from that, what we're complaining here
is about the manufacturers that are marketing USB 1.1
devices as USB2.
\_ You've been whooshed. See:
http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20040204.html
\_ USB 2.0 Full-Speed == USB 1.1
\_ USB has a lot of overhead. Plus, when dealing with USB 2 devices,
you need to look for the "hi-speed" label (not "full-speed")
\_ USB is designed to be cheap and has very simple wiring. Firewire
has better electrical characteristics, but costs more to implement
and to wire up. (There are more wires, too, as each signal cable
has a separate ground.) Basically, USB==cheap, IEEE1394==reliable.
\_ If you're talking about cost, remember each 1394 port subsidizes
Apple. USB is an open standard. |
| 2004/2/1-2 [Consumer/PDA, Computer/HW/Display] UID:12057 Activity:nil |
1/31 Does anyone have any advice/opinions on buying refurbished
monitors? I've had good luck with refurbished machines, but it
seems much easier to refurbish a computer than a monitor, so I
might be hesitant. Are refurbished monitors ok? Thanks.
\_ Mostly anecdotal info gathered from people I know who do this:
1. Monitors are definitely a lot more fragile than ICs. The
picture tube is only rated for around 7 years. After that
you'll get a bit of dimming.
2. Depending on the quality, the large caps change over time,
affecting picture quality and eventually leading to a
dead monitor. You essentially have to replace the large caps
on monitors over time.
3. Monitors are pretty high powered compared to PCs, so if
you have to mess around with something like the volt-regulator
you stand a good chance of frying things (including yourself).
\_ ObMehlhaffQuote: *ZORCH* *POW!* "Holy shit!
That capacitor was charged!"
\_ BWAAHAHA! That's hilarious!
\_ Well, it taught people to stay away from the
dreaded ERic + screwdriver + old monitor combo
in E238. -John
4. VGA monitores (at least earlier ones) have many of the same
characteristics as regular TVs down to the basic
circuitry. So if you know how to repair a basic TV you
can probably work around a VGA monitor.
\_ Question about that 7 years for a picture tube: I've got a nice
Sony sitting around but it hasn't been used (unplugged) for most
of it's life. Does unpowered time count against that 7 years?
Or are there parts that just deteriorate with simple age? Thanks!
\_ I have used old 14" monitors from circa 1993 that work great
\_ yeah but did you run them continuously?
\_ I had experiences with 17" IBM monitors bought refurb. The
monitor was great, almost brand new at the time I bought it.
Thus, I bought THREE total. It turned out that none of them
lasted nearly as long as other 17" I bought it new. Two of
three monitors went out by the middle of 3rd year. The one
remaining got issues, but work well enough that I am not in
a hurry to replace them. The montiors were manufactured by Sony.
\_ THANK YOU |
| 2003/12/20-21 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:11540 Activity:nil |
12/19 If you use a LCD monitor through a VGA connection, will you never
get the full advantage of LCD? Is it still easier on the eys than
CRT?
\_ From what I read Samsung LCDs really suffer from the analog
interface at higher resolutions / screen sizes. There are many
LCDs (particularly those which do not have a DVI connector)
where the analog signal is fine.
\_ url please. Yes I am worried about D->A->D conversion and
which monitors will as a result have blurry pictures.
\_ yes, it's still easier on the eyes.
\_ No it is a bad idea: digital -> analog -> digital
Your computer and the LCD monitor are digital.
The VGA signal is analog. bad for your eyes. get DVI!
\_ You will not get the full advantage of LCD, but it will still look
much better than a CRT, if you're running at the native resolution
of the LCD screen. -tom
\_ unless it looks worse than the CRT due to noise in the signal.
the VGA->LCD (analog->digital) conversions are lossy and ugly. |
| 2003/11/26-27 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/HW/Display] UID:11242 Activity:nil |
11/26 PC about PC
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/ptech/11/26/master.term.reut/index.html
\_ "Master and Slave computer labels offensive"
\_ The complaint was actually about some videotape machine, but
the policy applies to all equipment.
\_ Intel knew this back in 1995, that's why the PCI specs have no
master/slave labels. Instead they use "arbitor" and other terms.
\_ yeah, LA has been getting a lot of flak over this but the truth
is if someone come up with the term master/slave for a computer
system today, he probably would be politely asked to come up
with a new term. I actually CAN see why some people would like
the term changed. They aren't storming the barricades made
about it either. Stupid geeks getting all frumphy over someone
else getting frumphy is always good for an eye roll.
\_ Well, "Promiscuous" is a valid term in networking:
http://www.tek-tips.com/gpviewthread.cfm/qid/527658/pid/729/lev2/5/lev3/60 |
| 2003/11/8 [Computer/HW/Memory, Computer/HW/Display] UID:29626 Activity:nil 74%like:10990 |
11/7 more Linux memory question 1024 MB: I ran memtest86m and it sees all 1GB,
so I think that means it's not a bios issue. (I don't have an AGP card)
/proc/cmdline says auto BOOT_IMAGE=Linux ro root=301 mem=1024M
but meminfo (free, top etc) still say MemTotal: 901392 kB
what should I try next? |
| 2003/11/8 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:10990 Activity:nil 74%like:29626 |
11/7 More Linux memory question: 1024 MB: I ran memtest86 (great program)
and it sees all 1024 MB, so I think that means it's not a bios issue.
(also I use a PCI video card, so no AGP) /proc/cmdline says:
auto BOOT_IMAGE=Linux ro root=301 mem=1024M
but meminfo (free, top etc) still say MemTotal: 901392 kB
Any suggestions as to what I should try next? |
| 2003/10/29-30 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/HW/Display] UID:10835 Activity:nil |
10/28 I just bought a VIA C3M266-L socket 370 motherboard on eBay and
discovered after delivery that ieee1394 is "optional".
It's brand new. Paid $60, will sell for $55 any takers?
It's an ATX motherboard that takes a fanless VIA C3 CPU -brett
\_ Why not just buy an ieee1394 card?
\_ I need all 3 PCI slots |
| 2003/10/14-15 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:10629 Activity:high |
10/13 I want to know if graphics cards X can be installed in my box at
work. The manufacturer offers my model with an optional GeForceFX
5200 but nothing better. Is there a way, short of tiral and error
to know if a given graphics card (say, a Radeon 9800) will fit given
that I can see that the above card will fit? -- ulysses
\_ Get physical specs on the exact card you're going to get. They
vary slightly by vendor. Then simply measure free space in your
case. Also, that 9800 requires an extra power plug so you'll
need a decent power supply too if you're already loaded up with
ram, drives, and a honking cpu. Do you have some dinky case?
If not, I'd expect it to fit in most standard cases.
\_ The case will fit a 2.5"x6.6" card in its AGP4X slot. I have
not been able to find size specs for most cards via google and
manufacturer websites beyond mention that the newer cards are
"big" because of their cooling systems.
\_ Try http://tomshardware.com. They often mention sizes. Or some of
the other hardware sites, anandtech, hardocp, etc.
\_ It's a Dell minitower case. |
| 2003/9/28-29 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:10357 Activity:nil |
9/28 Sun carries LCD monitors. Anybody know from which vendor they OEM
the product? I'm trying to get compatible LCD monitors for my
ultra 5. Thanks.
\_ Samsung |
| 2003/9/26-27 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:10339 Activity:nil |
9/26 LCD monitor question for Suns. I remember hooking up a nokia
LCD display to an ultra 5. But I can't seem to get that working
anymore. I think ultra 5's graphics card is just a standard PC
graphics card isn't it? I'm trying to replace my 21" tube monitor
at work with two 17" LCD displays. Thanks.
\_ in a similar vein, have a sparc 20 with cgsix I want to hook up to
pc-style monitor. Have an adaptor to get the physical connections
right, but there are some sync issues as I've only gotten one
(borrowed) flatscreen to work with it. What are my monitor
requirements so I can get a working monitor on this sparc??
\_ Not sure if it's a std pc graphics card (pgx24?), but it sucks.
I think you may have to configure its use for resolution/refresh
rate. I forgot which command you use to do this, though. Not sure
if your LCD is multisync, or it's multisync range might not be
compatible with the graphics card current settings. so this might
be the issue.
\_The command is nonstandard and varies from computer to computer.
If you have an Ultra5 and you just have the regular built-in video
then I think the command is m64config. If you have a Creator it's
a different command, and you may have to install the program for
it. Do a google for your vid card and you'll probably find it.
Solaris 9 has a lot of the stuff bundled with the distro.
As for the LCD issue, you basically need to find one that is
right for your ultra5. Not all VGA monitors work with Sun boxes,
and not all LCDs will therefore work.
-williamc |
| 2003/9/26 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:10337 Activity:nil |
9/26 Hi, I need LCD advice. I use a 19" CRT at work at 1024x768. My CRT
at home is on the fritz and I'm looking to get one. I want to continue
working at 1024x768, but LCDs only go up to 15" at that resolution.
How do 17"-19" LCDs do if you tone down the resolution to 1024x768?
Does it interpolate pixels, or just use less of the screen?
Any recommendations on brand/models? Thanks in advance.
\_ Any LCD not run at its native resolution just looks like crap.
Its not as bad if you're running it significantly lower than its
native resolution, but its still ugly. |
| 2003/9/15-16 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:10204 Activity:moderate |
9/14 What's the best graphics card in terms of bang/buck?
\_ Currently, anything ATI.
\_ Given the latest Half-Life 2 benchmarks, the Radeon 9600 Pro
\_ Yes, but would you want to play HL2 on it? And is HL2 the
only game you'll be playing? And, oh yeah, HL2 isn't out now
anyway, so today's bang/buck is meaningless in terms of vapor
product. And oh yeah, the HL2 benchmarks were preliminary, not
run multiple times, and in a very Valve controlled setting. I'm
not an Nvidia or ATI fanboy. I'm actually hoping a third
company develops a great new chip so there'll be even more
competition.
\_ yes. no. uh huh.
\_ Competition? As in Bitboys? *snigger*
\_ No. They're out years ago. There are others out there
trying their hand at enthusiast graphics cards. Remember
it wasn't that long ago 3dfx ruled this niche and Nvidia
didn't even exist while ATI was making clunkers for Dell.
\_ I have a 9800 on my desk at work. If the 9600 Pro is even
close for $100 it is absolutely amazing. --emarkp
\_ It really depends on what you want. If you want to be able to
run next-generation games (Half Life 2 or the upcoming id title)
then you need to get a DX9 optimized
card, which is pretty much the high-end NVIDIA (5900) or ATI (9800)
cards. It doesn't make a great deal of difference between the two,
honestly, despite much publicity (both ways) to the contrary.
But you can buy a lot cheaper card (say, the low-end
GeForce FX 5200) and get some pretty good performance for under
$100.
\_ 1) There is a difference in DX9. Trust me, in every new game
benchmark the 9800 beats the 5900. Nvidia typically releases new
drivers to help, but it's proven that this involves degrading
image quality.
\_ ATI and NVIDIA took very different tacks toward building
their internals. ATI built an architecture that's a lot
easier to compile to, and hence their "initial" performance
numbers turned out to be pretty good. NVIDIA is still
learning how to compile to their architecture. It's definitely
a tough one to compile to (example: performance, to first
order, is directly proportional to the number of registers
you use). So, though they have had some problems getting
good results and some of their optimizations have reduced
performance, I think it's unfair to say it's "proven"; I
think the next generation of drivers (v50) have a better
back-end compiler that will be a better match for the
hardware without sacrificing quality.
\_ I don't have time to go into all the issues here but it's
known that Nvidia use app-detection optimizations that
alter image quality, for example UT2K3 turning off aniso
filtering. As for shaders, it's more than having too few
registers, it's processing power too. Here is a recent
article demonstrating image quality differences with the
det50 driver:
http://www.driverheaven.net/articles/aquamark3/index3.htm
Note also that aquamark3 is only about 30% DX9. Ok, is
this all terribly important? No, but the end situation is
that the ATI cards are the better value, and don't have
questionable app-specific "optimizations" like disabling
features behind your back.
2) The FX 5200 is not "pretty good performance".
image quality. 2) The FX 5200 is not "pretty good performance".
It is dog slow by today's standards, i.e. if you actually care
about 3D performance at all you need 9600/5600 level minimum.
\_ I haven't really been following the news, but my impression is that:
. ATI has a demonstrable lead in fast anti-aliasing
. Nvidia got lazy, they focused on pushing frame rate
. Nvidia's recent cards have a huge noisy fan
\_ understatement here. more like vacuum cleaner.
\_ Inaccurate generalization. There are a few models that are
quiet. I have a Microstar 5600 card that is VERY quiet.
\_ So if I go out and buy a GeForce FX, do I have to worry
about how loud the fan / how big the heat sink is?
\_ This was mainly a 5800 Ultra issue.
. Nvidia can be faster in non-anti-aliased modes by relying on
about 3D performance at all you need 9600/5600 level minimum.
pushing clock frequency and using bigger fan |
| 2003/8/6-7 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:29259 Activity:moderate |
8/6 I overclocked my FSB and memory and AGP. Everything worked fine for
about 20 minutes. Then things started to crap out. I went down again.
But the AGP video card is... um, fried. Word of advice. If you must
OC your computer, make sure you do it during the first 30 days,
when you can return the components back to Frys Electronics.
\_ the "better" motherboards allow you to change the system bus w/o
changing the AGP bus
\_ Word of advice: don't overclock your computer unless you can afford
to buy all new parts every 6 months because even if they survive
the first 30 days you're still pushing them beyond spec (it's
called overclocking for a reason) and running them hotter than
they're intended, thus they will die sooner. Do you *really* need
an extra 3 FPS? No. You really don't.
\_ I think reminders like this are funny and important. Don't reply
to spam. Don't OC old hardware. Treat every gun as if it's
loaded, unless you're pretty sure it's not.
\_ No. That's "unless you're pointing it at someone you don't like"
\_ Wow. Lots of dumbasses on the motd today. More than usual.
No wonder some people are into guncontrol. -- gun owner
\_ Excuse me, but if you could stand still for a moment, I'd
like to check to see if my safety is on. Thanks!
\_ What AGP card was this? By "AGP" I hope you don't mean the AGP bus.
\_ You can OC the AGP bus but it's a *really* useless and stupid
thing to do. Tell your friends, be the life of the party! Buy
a new video card! Make my Nvidia stock go up! |
| 2003/6/26 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:28844 Activity:high |
6/25 Due to a weird video card or monitor, XFree86 doesn't always
choose the right (or even a consistent) DPI setting when it starts
up (under kdm). The recommend solution is to explicitly set the
dpi setting, but it didn't talk about *where* to put this
knob. I manned XFree86Config but it didn't have any dpi-related
info. Where's the best place to put this option?
\_ Linux on the desktop rules! MS, watchout!
\_ Are you talking about the DPI (eg: 72dpi or 100dpi), or the
video mode (eg: 1024x768)?
\_ dpi (it ranges from 75x75 to 101x100).
\_ dpi has no meaning in the context of video cards and
monitors. pixels per inch is a function of the resolution.
\_ that's fine, but xfree86 keeps changing whatever it
thinks dpi is, which makes it hard to choose an
appropriate font. |
| 2003/6/10-11 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Printer] UID:28697 Activity:nil |
6/10 I was thinking of buying a large projection tv (50"+/-). Does
anyone have recommendations or warnings on brands/models? TIA.
\_ Check forums at http://www.hometheaterspot.com . If the setup of your
room is correct, you should consider a LCD/DLP projector.
Check http://www.avsforum.com for projector stuff. |
| 2003/5/23 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:28538 Activity:very high |
5/23 I may be offered a very good deal on one of these:
http://www.sun.com/products-n-solutions/hw/peripherals \
monitors.html#24.1inch -- try: http://csua.org/u/30d
However, it's still a lot of money--I haven't closely looked at any
monitors that size, and I'd like to know whether anyone's seen/used
this one, or what people think of 1900x1200 @60hz with that size.
Also, if anyone's seen it live, what do you think of the brightness
on it? I'm not a videophile, but I do want something reasonably
crisp and clear. -John
\_ Contrast ratio, contrast ratio, contrast ratio. Did I mention
contrast ratio? What's the contrast ratio on this?
\_ A quick search says 500:1. That's damn good.
\_ You can stand 60hz for any length of time?
\_ LCD monitors can run at lower refresh rates without flicker,
due to the nature of the technology. I know a very sensitive
person who uses a Compaq TFT 8000, running 1280x1024 @60Hz.
The only issue is if you are trying to smoothly scroll down
a page of text, the way it re-draws is a bit not-smooth.
But for a stable image, it is quite nice to look at.
Since this SUN monitor has DVI, if you have the right video
card, you should have a purely digital signal, and that
is important, doing a double DA conversion can create
annoying noise in the picture. DVI should be great. -brett
\_ GeForce 4 TI4400--pretty good. I also want to use it
for lots of games. -John
\_ I think a 60Hz LCD would not be good for games,
but I'm not a gamer, so I'm not sure. -brett
\_ Why would you think that and what games would you
think that for?
\_ The whole screen doesn't get redrawn quick
enough. each redraw takes 1/60th of a second,
and LCD pixels take time to change. I think
called "persistance"? For playing games, you
want quick pixel response times and fast
redraws. I think with an LCD, you'd get
ghosting and not-smoothe motion. This would
be for fast-motion games that use a big part
(or all) of your screen. I could be mistaken,
I'm curious if other csua'ers have experience
with games on 60Hz LCD's 'cause I don't. -brett
\_ I play games all the time on my 60Hz LCD on my
laptop. I play Team Fortress, Warcraft III,
and just finished Splinter Cell. It looks
great. Not quite as crisp as my CRT, but not a
problem. -emarkp
\_ I don't know about this particular monitor, but I've gotten
headaches and eye-aches from monitors that have a low frequency
scan. 60 Hz I remember it was. Maybe I'm just overtly sensible.
\_ You are not sensible.
\_ I'm sensitive to low frequencies. My monitors are all 75Hz or
above. But I just bought my sister a 19" Sony flatpanel, and
at 60Hz, I could detect absolutely no flicker.
\_ wow, that's pretty sensitive. absolutely no flicker.
\_ 60Hz LCD's don't flicker. see above.
My old Toshiba 460CDX laptop ran a 31Hz;
It had just a little flicker.
\_ *sigh* LCD != conventional CRT.
\_ This is the motd. Please do not bring facts into this.
\_ D'oh. Sorry! Won't happen again. |
| 2003/3/17-18 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:27726 Activity:moderate |
3/17 Any recomendations on a DVI video card that doesn't need a fan?
Any experience with a Compaq TFT 8000 or 8020 monitors?
\_ Water-cooled GeForce 4 4600 Ti
\_ But then the pump/compressor make noise. Better off with a 4200. |
| 2003/3/13 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:27676 Activity:nil |
3/12 Any recommendations in a Flat Screen LCD monitor with
an adjustable brightness lamp? Are any of them digital-in
(i.e. non-VGA) and work with linux/XFree86. |
| 2003/3/3-4 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/IO, Computer/HW/Display] UID:27589 Activity:high |
3/2 Can I turn off the built-in LCD display of a powerbook connected to
an external monitor without having an external keyboard? I know
it is a possible with an ext. keyboard and I have googled already.
\_ this requires a reboot -- close the LCD immediately after pressing
the power button, when the startup screen appears on the external
monitor, you can re-open the LCD. --jwang |
| 2003/2/25-26 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW, Computer/HW/Display] UID:27524 Activity:kinda low |
2/25 So I've heard of a couple windows programs now that allow you to
sort of maintain several "virtual desktops"... can anyone recomend
a good one? ... oh, it also has to play well with Exceed. Thanks.
\_ I can tell you that one called Virtual Desktop only works "OK".
In particular, it can't deal with PowerPoint. I wasn't satisfied
with it and now I'm not using it. --PeterM
\_ I have tried the really old version of VERN and recently
Multi-Desktop and also MultiDesk of ATI. I like Multi-Desktop more
since it is really compact and that they also have the shortcut keys
to switch between windows.
\_ Norton's worked really well a few years back.
\_ I always loved the one in Reflection X, but it isn't worth
installing the whole suite for just that. |
| 2003/2/17-18 [Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD, Computer/HW/Display] UID:27443 Activity:low |
2/17 Is there a way to tell if my display in FreeBSD is true color or
pseudocolor? A binary I'm trying to run depends on it.
\_ /usr/X11/bin/xdpyinfo, then look for your screen #.
\_ xwininfo used to give the info too but i dont use X anymore so hey |
| 2003/2/15-16 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:27429 Activity:moderate 76%like:27423 |
2/14 How can I get my Pentium machine (with PCI & ISA slots), to boot with
a MDA (monochrome display adapter) card and monitor as the
default console? This computer is going to run debian, live in the
basement, and I do not need anything other than text console. I
like the amber-colored display, the fact that it does not flicker,
and the monitor being small and light. Any ideas? I can't find
anything with google. I think this might be a BIOS issue.
\_ Install an MDA card, disable the builtin VGA card via BIOS.
\_ There is no built-in VGA card, I have been using a Matrox
VGA PCI card. If I remove it, will it boot using the installed
ISA MDA card if, in the BIOS, there is a "Video" menu:
VGA/CGA, EGA, MONO. Do I change this to MONO?
\_ There is no built-in VGA card, I have been using a Matrox VGA
PCI card. I have installed an ISA MDA card. In the BIOS,
there is a "Video" menu: VGA/CGA, EGA, MONO. If I change
this to MONO, remove the matrox card, and it doesn't work,
can I boot up again with my matrox video card with the BIOS in
"MONO" mode without messing up my matrox card and VGA monitor?
\_ Hey Thanks!! That worked. I'm logged in to soda on an amber
screen monochrome monitor. Way cool. Old school meets new school
I took the matrox out, so now I can use it in another computer.
\_ Do you really want/need a display? A simpler option might be
to configure lilo/grub and the kernel to redirect output to
com0 or com1.
\_ Yeah, I think I want a display, but what sort of
device are you invisioning on the com port? |
| 2003/2/15 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:27423 Activity:high 76%like:27429 |
2/14 I have a Pentium PCI system (with 3 ISA slots), and an ISA MDA
(monochrome display adapter) video card and MDA monitor. How can I
get linux to boot with the MDA as the default console. This
computer is going to live in the basement, and I do not need
anything other than text console. I like the amber-colored display,
the fact that it does not flicker, and the monitor being small and
light. Any ideas? |
| 2003/1/9 [Computer/SW/Apps/Media, Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:27038 Activity:nil |
1/8 http://www.spodesabode.com/content/article/highheels |
| 2002/12/21-22 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:26879 Activity:moderate |
12/20 My iPod<->PC rate is about 2megs/second. That is a lot less than the
400mbps/second for a typical firewire. Is there a reason why?
\_ Possibly inefficient implementation of PCI.
\_ you're writing to a disk
\_ UpdateallyourdriversP |
| 2002/12/10-12 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:26782 Activity:moderate |
12/10 when I had an ultra 1 I made a two headed display out of it by
installing a cgsix framebuffer (grabbed from another ultra 1). is
it possible to do the same with an ultra 5? The graphics card seems
to be built into the motherboard. So I can't rip it off from another
workstation. Anybody made a two monitor system out of ultra 5 or 10?
Thanks.
\_ You have to get a compatible PCI VGA card for your Ultra5, either
PGX32 or PGX64 should do fine. You can pick up used PGX32s on ebay
for about $100,
\_ We had a Ultra with 12 heads thanks to the magic of PCI expansion
chassis. Arranged all in a row logically, you got a workout
moving the mouse from one end to the other. |
| 2002/12/9-10 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:26767 Activity:insanely high |
12/9 Where's that nvidia fanboy who recommended a ti4600? Check this out:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Mzk2LDM=
Beats a 4600 and will be ~$150.
\_ "will be" being the operative phrase here. --aaron
\_ well, it's still under 200 now which is msrp.
ti4200 msrp was 189. ok maybe it will be $170.
15% street discount is typical.
\_ http://mirror.ati.com/shopati/pricespcusa.html
Looks like $219 to me.
\_ damn, the article lied. that sux.
\_ 1) it doesn't yet exist. 2) time changes everything. You're trying
to compare last year's best card with next year's mediocre one. Are
you going to compare it to a Matrox Millenium version 1.0, too?
\_ 1) wrong: http://csua.org/u/68e
2) 4200's and 4600's are still the only alternative. the post i
referred to was from a couple months ago.
\_ Because months ago there was the 4600 and nothing else.
There was no alternative at all. You're still comparing a
card designed and built for the last generation with one so
new it only just started shipping. What's the point? Of
course the new card is faster than the old. And? I don't
see where you're going with this.
\_ i'm going the same place that guy (you?) went with the
4600.
\_ I never bought a 4600. I'm still using my GF2 from
when that was newish. I'm waiting on the NV30 and
AMD hammer, etc, in spring to get a new system. No
point in putting a hot video card in my 1997 box. I
keep up with all the tech and products though so I
have the best chance of getting something I'll be
happy with when the time comes. |
| 2002/10/29-31 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:26355 Activity:kinda low |
10/29 My CRT monitor at work got upgraded from one old type to another,
perhaps less old one. It is brighter, has more contrast and
seemed generally better at first. However, after a while my vision
seems to be getting kind of blurred. Is this a problem with the
CRT's convergence (focusing of the electron beams)? Is there a
practical way to adjust convergence? It seems difficult to fine-
tune that when the difference shows up only over a while.
\_ Stop drinking.
\_ Did the configuration change? What's the refresh rate that you
are using with the new monitor? - misha.
\_ Make sure the contrast/brightness setting is within
reasonable range. More and more newer monitors are shipped
with 100% contrast setting, which is NOT good for your eye.
http://www.displaymate.com and download their demo version. Make
\_ payware? BLECH!
sure the refresh rate is 75 or 85. Not 60 or too high.
\_ What kind of bullshit reason do you have for saying "not too high"
\_ Do you have clinical evidence against the previous poster's
statement?
Everyone who works long hours in front of computers should
calibrate their monitor.
\_ CRTs are band-limited and over-doing the refresh rate
just cuts your pixel accuracy within each scanline.
\_ wtf does "band-limited" mean? Each the monitor supports
a certain mode or it doesn't and it stops displaying. |
| 2002/10/5 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/IO, Computer/HW/Display] UID:26107 Activity:nil 60%like:26104 |
10/4 Quality protest in action:
http://csua.org/u/38a |
| 2002/9/8 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:25807 Activity:very high |
9/7 I'm building my own system. I've decided to get my CPU+MB from NewEgg.
What is a good place to get mem, HD, and my Geforce? As for the case,
I gotta go to Frys cuz I gotta see what the case looks like in person.
Thanks.
\_ Before ordering anything from anyone, go look at http://micropro.com.
Great prices and out of state so no taxes. I had them build 2
custom boxes which showed on time and to spec with decent parts
on the unspecified stuff.
\_ http://newegg.com seems cheaper, maybe YOU should check it out
\_ Taxes, son, taxes. I know newegg and others. Also,
newegg isn't building custom systems which micropro will
do for you. I've done the math. On some systems you
can save as much as 10 bucks if you carefully order parts
from all over the net and then you still have to build
the damned thing. "seems cheaper" is not cheaper. Just
trying to give someone some help which you're not.
\_ say I'm getting a MB with KT333 chipset. The FSB is rated 100/133,
so how much more will I gain from using DDR2700 over DDR2100? Is
DDR2700 good only when the FSB is 166? This info is not on
tomshardware by the way.
\_ 2700/CL2.0/333 >> 2100/CL2.0/266 by 0-25% depending on how
memory intensive your application (game) is. If you're building
a top end system then get the 2700/CL2.0. If you're going to go
light on the cpu, video, or some other speed related part, then
save your money across the whole system and get 2100/CL2.5. |
| 2002/8/23-24 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:25665 Activity:high |
8/23 Nvidia OEM 4600 price war. Get a 4600 for $235. http://pricewatch.com \_ 235 isn't cheap. For that price range I'm waiting for a DX9 part. On a price/performance basis a Radeon 9700's retail price isn't that far off and cheaper versions are coming...I want to turn on FSAA and anisotropic filtering without the 4600's huge penalty. \_ Should I care about these cards if I don't play first-person type games? \_ You're nuts. 235 is the cheapest the 4600 has *ever* been. Until 10 days ago you couldn't get one off the back of a truck for under $300 for an off brand OEM card. You're sure as hell not going to get a 9700 for 235 anytime soon. The retail is going to be 399 which means you *might* get it for 350, maybe, if you're lucky. 350 in a few weeks, when the 4600 will probably be 200 or so. How is 200 == 350? \_ I said on a price/performance basis. Radeon 9700 is easily 1.5x the overall performance of 4600. 1.5*235 = $352.5. Personally, I consider it a bit more than 1.5x cuz it will last longer and has more features etc. \_ Easily? No. Go read tomshardware. On some things, yes, on others no. Anyway, you're still wrong because I can get a 4600 right now for 235 and have it running by mid-week. I can't get a 9700 at any price. By the time it ships, and assuming you can get a 9700 for only 350 (big "if") then it still doesn't hit the price/performance mark. As far as 'lasts longer' goes, there's *always* a newer bigger better faster thing on the horizon. In this case, your 9700 will last until the end of November when you can get an NV30 for about the same money which will be at least 30% faster. Anyway, it's your money and I'd guess 99% of the people here won't use the full power of a 4600 much less a 9700 or NV30. I doubt you're one of the 1% who needs to run quake3 at 350 FPS for some reason. \_ shit, and I just bought one for $315. --aaron |
| 2002/8/15 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:25566 Activity:high |
8/14 How's the backlight of the LCD lit up? Is it just a florescent light?
\_As your words echo through the ether, it is picked up by
a race of aliens in a distant galaxy. Suddenly, "How's the backlight
of the LCD lit up?" causes major schisms amongst the leading
linguists of their society, inevitably leading to constant socio-
political upheaval over millenia. This culminates into a global
thermonuclear war which annihilates the whole planet. Congratulations,
you have just destroyed a whole planetary civilization. Please be
more careful with your words in the future. |
| 2002/8/5-6 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/Companies/Apple] UID:25499 Activity:moderate |
8/5 How many people have a sexy 23" Apple Cinema display, 1900x1280,
with a DVI to ADC converter?
\_ I'd like to know as I'm thinking about getting one,
or a similar panel, but I hear it's too slow for games. -ax
\_ the converter slow or the LCD slow?
\_ Only games LCDs are too slow for are FPS, mebbie some
fast top scrolling RTS. I use 15" LCD fine on FPS and
don't suffer too much of a hit vs CRT, but it depends
greatly on the quality of opponent.
\_ A friend of mine has one. It's gorgeous. I've seen him play FPS
and other fast games on it with no problem. Seen dvd movies on it
too. |
| 2002/8/5-6 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:25498 Activity:moderate |
8/5 My friend says not to use blank screen as a screen saver on my LCD
display because it actually stresses the LCD more (he says that it's
naturally white). Is this really true?
\_ http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=88343
\_ if it were "naturally white" then wouldn't it be white when it's
turned off? skip the screen saver and just have the LCD go into
standby mode.
\_ It is white because the LCD doesn't block any of the
backlight. When turned off, the backlight is off, too.
Turning it off or using DPMS is good, too. |
| 2002/7/10-11 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:25325 Activity:insanely high |
7/10 Buying an LCD monitor but wants to know more about them. Where's a
site to learn about TFT, active matrix, lumen, contrast, etc? Thanks
\_ http://tomshardware.com just came out with comparison reviews of 17" LCDs.
Search their archives for reviews of 15" LCDs.
\_ Is it no longer permissible to refer to one's self with the pronoun
and be verb combination "I am" at the beginning of a sentence? Also,
I wonder if the rules for singular and plural references have
changed as well. obE190.
\_ They are redundant, and hence not permissible. !poster
\_ They're for clarity. Who says OP was buying for themself?
\_ Which rule for singular or plural does "themself" come
from?
\_ None. There is no such word.
\_ So how did you know it's for "one's self"?
\_ what's "ob", as in obE190?
\_ obligatorily stupid
\_ obstetrics
\_ dict ob
\_ clearly this must be a reference to the russian river...
\_ http://arstechnica.com/guide/flatpanel/flatpanels-1.html |
| 2002/6/22-24 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:25171 Activity:high |
6/22 Does anyone know of a video board which does:
1) Decent 3D
2) Decent 2D
3) Dual monitor
4) Supported by XFree86?
5) Support for at least 1600x1200 resolution?
-PeterM
\_ If your're using Linux, get an Nvidia GeForce card of your choice.
Nvidia driver support is pretty good for Linux (though, you might
have to go to their site to download them)
\_ they have dual monitor? which ones?
\_ search pricewatch or similar site for Gefore(3|4) AND dual
\_ Thanks, this advice was right on. Now a follow up question,
(which I will research myself as well), how good are
the GeForceN MX boards? --PeterM
\_ Looks like VisionTek Geforce4 400 MX Dual is it. -PeterM
\_ If you've got a few extra bucks get a g4-4200 instead.
It's almost as fast as the 4400/4600, doesn't cost
three arms and a leg and is a real gf4, which the MX
is not.
\_ The MX cards are usually stripped "Celeron"
equivalents of their more powerful GeForce
counterparts. Also someone once told me that the
Geforce 4 MX cards are architecturally the same as
Geforce2 cards. This article has a good chart
of various cards on the market with benchmarks:
http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/02q2/020418/index.html
\_ Uh yeah that's exactly what was said above about
the MX.
\_ Why you needed 3D performances on Linux anyway?
--linux newbie who care more about display a lot of text
clearly at high resolution.
\_ I want some sort of 3D capability on the Windows side for
the occasional game. Also, my work might involve 3D stuff,
though my home machine hasn't much horsepower for it. Mostly
I wanted dual-head support and 1600x1200 on XFree86.
I have the board I mentioned above working fine. --PeterM
\_ Ah, xinerama...
\_ Got the MX? Oh woe.... Can you still return it?
\_ MX is so much cheaper. It's a good card if that's what youare
looking for.
\_ But it's already verging on obsolete. It's the best tech from
2-3 years ago. A g4200 will have a much longer life. |
| 2002/6/17-18 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/IO, Computer/HW/Display] UID:25119 Activity:high |
6/16 Where can I get a monitor mirror (so I can tell when my boss is
standing behind me watching me work on my computer)? I know it is
available on http://thinkgeek.com, but I want one now. Compusa didn't have it.
\_ how about a car shop?
\_ I just make use of the reflection on the monitor surface. Works
quite well since I use a black background.
\_ try those bubble mirrors for wide angle viewing at car shops, like
the pep boys. also, check out baby stores (like babies r us or
the right start) for those rear-view mirrors (so parents can see
their babies in the back from the front seats).
\_ Fry's has some
\_ why don't you just tell your boss to get off your back?
\_ It doesn't work that way. -twice fired |
| 2002/6/5 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:24991 Activity:high |
6/3 If you "cat" a long file, then you minimize the window during that
\- iconify > minimize
time, what happens to stdout/the output while the window is minimized?
\_ If you're on a remote system, it's sent over the wire, where
it's ignored by your window manager. If you're on a local
system, you can reduce the amount of time it takes your prompt
to return by writing the output to a file because the video
card is no longer bottlenecking the execution of the job.
\_ "ignored by your window manager" also means you'll get to the
end of the file faster for the same video display update reason
if your video card *really* sucks. A modern video card won't be
a bottle neck in either case. |
| 2002/5/16 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:24852 Activity:nil |
5/16 Do they make computer boards (e.g. PCI) that just provide a
clock? I need to do some timing-sensitive tasks and I don't
want to rely on the computer's clock for anything important. |
| 2002/4/14 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:24436 Activity:high |
4/12 Any recommendations on 17" flat-screen CRT? Where's a good place to
look at monitors displaying TEXT, not aquarium movies?
\_ Fry's?
\_ if text, why not get an LCD monitor?
\_ they are iridescent, I don't like them, I think the light
coming out of an LCD is polarized.
\_ Why would you care rather light is polarized or not?
don't tell you you are some genetic mutant that can
see the differences.
\_ LCD doesn't shimmer as much (especially with a digital
connection), you don't have to worry about refresh rates,
and you can take advantage of subpixel font rendering in
some applications. I use a cheap, $300 analog LCD monitor
at work, and I still find it easier on the eyes than a
CRT.
\_ Go to computer store and tell sales drone to ditch graphics and
put text on the screen.
\_ CRT's are 'done' technology. Just go buy the one with the highest
refresh rate and smallest pixel-pixel spacing you can find in your
price range. |
| 2002/3/6-7 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:24037 Activity:very high |
3/6 Anyone have good experience with any rackmount LCD vendors?
Paying $1200 for the average 15" 1024x768 rackmount LCD is
a bit stupid. -=Aubie
\_ For a server room? Get a dinky 9-12" vga monitor.
\_ We have some 15"'s CRTs for like $25. Though I know it's
all about image... --scotsman
\_ too big, not enuff rez.
\_ 640x480 vga. How much do you need for a shell?
\_ We have some 15"'s CRTs for like $25. --scotsman
\_ everyone's got those. I gotta specific space issue.
\_ 15 inch 1024x768 rack mount lcd. not crt. not 640x480. not 9"
\_ a bit fussy.
\_ Not fussy, specific need.
\_ http://www.computeranimal.com/monitors/442623.html --jon
\_ dell has a really good one, and it used to be cheap, dunno about
now.
http://www.dell.com/us/en/biz/topics/products_rck_pedge_004_rack.htm
\_ Dude, just disconnect the back and hang it up. Most LCD panels
(even the $500, and maybe the $300, ones allow this)
Who the fuck pays $1200 for any 15" device?
\_ Wanna know what yermom paid for a 15" device? |
| 2002/2/22 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:23946 Activity:moderate |
2/21 Anyone here gotten mulitmonitor working with two video cards?
\_ Yes. Matrox G400/450 under Windows 2000.
\_ is this an editing system? If so please contact brain
\_ Yes. Onboard video and ATI Xpert 98 under Win98 and Windows 2000.
\_ Yes. OS X w/PCI Radeon & GeForce 3
\_ Yes. /dev/ttya and /dev/ttyb |
| 2002/2/16 [Transportation/Car/RoadHogs, Computer/HW/Display] UID:23883 Activity:very high |
2/15 For the Soda Gal:
There's an eMachinese Computer with 1.6 GHz Pentium4, 17" Moniter and
printer free 1 year msn Internet Access for $679.97 after rebates.
There's no contract on anything. Check it out at BestBuy.
\_ Get the Dell 4300S, $499 and free shipping (under Small Business).
\_ Why are you giving her such bad advice. You might as well tell
her to buy a Geo, Hyundai, or Kia.
\_ what would you suggest for that price?
\_ You get what you pay for. Spend your money (even if it means
spending more) on something you'll be happy with. I always
tell people of the BMW/SUV analogy. If I gave you $50K to
spend on either a BMW 3-series or a Ford Explorer, most
good old Americans would evaluate the bang-per-buck and buy
the SUV with money to spare. But the BMW owner would usually
be much happier. I would say stop trying to do a bang-per-buck
analysis (GHz/dollar, MBytes/dollar, etc...) and find something
you'll enjoy. Go to an Apple store and at least try it out.
You might be happier with a Mac than an e-machine. I know my
dad was. After I gave him an "ancient" G4 tower, he now regrets
spending a dime on his top-of-the-line e-machine. He loves the
Mac I gave him, something he never said about a PC.
\_ Don't settle for BMW/SUV. Buy a BMW SUV instead. :-)
\_ BMW doesn't make an SUV, they only make SAV's
\_ You can't just tell someone "get a mac". It matters what
software they're running. There's a ton of stuff that doesn't
"run on a mac". Also it matters what she knows about the two
OS's and if she doesn't know enough then it matters what her
friends know for freebie tech support. "Get a mac" indeed.
\_ I'm not saying "Get a mac". I'm just saying that most
people come to the decision without even trying one to
begin with. I never thought of getting one myself. But
once I did, I found how much better it was. For me, it
didn't matter that nobody else was using it. So what.
I can figure things out myself. I'm sure soda gal is
smart enough to do so too.
\_ maybe soda gal doesn't want to nerd around and just
wants her computer to work?
\_If you actually know how to figure things out for yourself
why didn't you just buy top-of-the-line components and
built the computer yourself? -williamc
\_ I've done that too. I've put together my own machines
from spare parts or -top-of-the-line components
and slap Linux or FreeBSD on there. But I wanted
a laptop that will work nice with portable MP3
players, PDA's, digital cameras, etc... The iBook
matched my needs pretty well. A working word
processor was also nice.
\_Datapoint: 1800+ athlon xp, ecs k7s5a MB, 512 DDR ram, cdrw,dvd
60GB ata100, ati radeon ve, netcard, modem was $800+45 shipping on
Ubid.(no tax) Not top quality components and cheesy case though.
\_ That's not particularly cheap for a system w/o a monitor. --dim
\_ You can build your own system pretty cheaply these days by using
an nForce motherboard (built in Geforce2 + sound). -eric
\_ Don't give any more money to Microsfot please.
\_ Explain? I thought nForce was made by nVidia?
\_ the microsoft comment was indented incorrectly and should
be purged. |
| 2002/1/25-26 [Computer/HW/Display, Consumer/TV] UID:23667 Activity:very high |
1/24 My video card has a TV Out port (it looks like an S-video plug).
I don't have any sort of video capture card/device, but is there
any way to connect my tv to my pc (using this s-video connection)
and somehow record something onto my pc as a video, maybe with
some shareware program or something?
\_ I just got ATI TV VE, and I wished that I had gotten it earlier.
Its got MPEG record, free TV guide, VCR timed record, closed
caption, keyword search, etc etc. Also I can set the background
wallpaper to TV. All this, for only $40 at MicroCenter.
\_ You just got a 'new' video card with the GF4 being announced on
Feb 5th?
\_ What's the GF4?
\_ and what will the time difference be between the announce
date and the ship date? He paid $40 for his ATI card. The
GF4 will be what, $300? $400? Oh, and the ATI TV VE isn't
even a video card, dingus. It's a separate capture card.
\_ That would be TV In.
\_ can I use my monitor as a camera? can I turn a DAC into an ADC
via software?
\_ can I use your dick as a door stop?
\_ you really should think about what you are saying/asking.
if this was possible, do you think the manufacturer would
neglect to market this as a feature?
\_ by the way, I was being sarcastic. (Well, duh!) or did you
mean to reply to the original post? |
| 2002/1/19 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:23606 Activity:nil |
1/18 Does higher refresh rate mean it's better for the eyes?
\_ Higher refresh = less flicker. Less flicker = less eye strain.
For most, 60hz is more than enough. Some people can still detect
flicker up to 80-90hz. Oh, refresh rate is moot on LCDs. |
| 2001/12/24-26 [Computer/SW/OS/Linux, Computer/HW/Display, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:23362 Activity:high |
12/24 I can buy 1 17" monitor or 2 15" monitors. I prefer the latter because
of the more-bang-for-bucks factor. Does anyone know if it is possible
to get a video card that supports 2 monitors?
\_ Are these LCDs or CRTs? If you are considering LCDs, I'd recommend
going with a single 17" since these are general brighter and support
a wider range of resolutions (most 15" are limited to 1024x768).
\_ There are plenty of dualhead video cards around from Matrox, ATI,
...
\_ I have a G400 that works in dual mode quite well w/ Win2k. Also
works w/ 98/ME. I had to upgrade my BIOS and the drivers to get
it up and running.
\_ Severals friends and I have also gotten it running under Linux.
There are tons of resources for this on the web. do a search for
"xinerama mode" or something.
\_ Bang for the buck? How about dozens of 9" b/w monitors? Do you
have 2 sets of eyes? Get the 17" or bigger if you can afford it
unless you have a specific need for a dual head system. I bought
a 21" years ago for almost a thousand bucks. I'm still using it
now. I'd never go back to 19" or smaller for daily use. Dual 21"
could be cool though.
\_ 2 17" is better than 1 21". Bigger and cheaper.
\_ Yes, and 50 9" green screens are bigger and cheaper
too. Don't you have 50 terminals hooked up to your
box? You and your 2x17"... you fool.
\_ while 2-4 displays are possible, the practicality
of 50 monitors is questionable. Your argument is
quite weak, and I suggest you try again you self
righteous pedantic fool.
\_ You ignorant lout. We wired 50+ terminals to
a Sun 10 years ago at my work. Did you even know
what Unix was then? I know exactly what I'm
talking about where as you clearly do not. Go
back to your G400 and Linux Rewlz! books. This
obviously is beyond your kiddie knowledge. |
| 2001/12/19 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:23299 Activity:nil |
12/18 Any recommendations for a decent to good video capture card (or unit).
I'll need it to connect my VHS vcr to my pc, and ideally, write back
onto a VHS tape. <= $200 hopefully.
\_ using a Windows PC? Ars Technica's A/V forum has a wealth of
information. Check their FAQ: http://faq.arstechnica.com/?i=362
Most capture cards don't have TV-out, although many modern video
cards do. If you replace your video card and want everything on
one card, ATI's All-in-Wonder line (AiW 128/128Pro/Radeon (not the
ultra-expensive Radeon 8500 version)) is pretty good. Otherwise
go for separate Hauppauge cards, which generally are cheaper and
have better driver/application support. |
| 2001/10/24 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:22815 Activity:insanely high |
10/24 anybody know of a PCI video card with DVI output?
\_ ATI Radeon
\_ sorry, I meant for the PC. oh, and specific models would help...
\_ http://www.tomshardware.com |
| 2001/10/12-14 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:22711 Activity:nil |
10/11 Someone gave me an ELSA Synergy III video card. My PC currently
has a Matrox G400. Is the ELSA better? If so, how much better? --dim
\_ The ELSA is much much much better at anything 3d, from accelerating
CAD and 3d modelling packages to playing Quake N. It's a Geforce 2
variant aimed at the 'workstation' crowd.
In 2d performance, the two are probably about equivalent (i.e.
faster than anybody needs). The G400 might do a better job of
getting the most (in terms of image quality, refresh rate, etc) out
of a big, high-bandwidth CRT. The G400 generally has more stable
Windows drivers (but a much lousier OpenGL ICD). But these
differences are insignificant compared to the huge difference
in 3d performance/capabilities. So, the ELSA is far better but
only if you need or want the 3d stuff. -pvg |
| 2001/10/10 [Computer/Domains, Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/HW/Display] UID:22680 Activity:nil |
10/10 Is is my network or are others having problems with
http://soda.berkeley.edu. I can't ping, can't access email the last
2 days. http://csua.berkeley.edu works.
\_ it's you. what does http://soda.berkeley.edu have to do with not being
able to access your email? soda = soda.csua = csua
\_ well i thought so too. But soda.b.e and csua.b.e map
to different ip's.
\_ It is 4:30am and the IST servers still report the old DNS info
because they either have not been updated or the changes take a while
to propagate. Also, if your ISP's DNS server cached old data, you might
see odd things happen even after the changes propagate through IST DNS
servers. Other places might already see the correct DNS info if they
happen to use the OCF DNS server because it has already been updated to
account for CSUA name server IP change. If it was up to me I'd do this
change in a two step process, leaving the name server running with
the old IP address for a few days so that at least the correct
information for other CSUA computers would have time to propagate.
\_ I have been having problems, too, but it is not because of DNS.
Even with the correct IP address from the DNS server, I cannot
log in and my traceroutes die at a http://cs.berkeley.edu router. |
| 2001/8/15-16 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:22124 Activity:low |
8/15 Anyone aware of any 3D companies besides NVidia and ATI and BitBoys
which are still in business?
\_ And you included BitBoys because of their stellar product line,
right? Even though not in the gaming market anymore, Matrox is
still more in the business than BitBoys ever hope to be.
\_ there's also the folks who make the Kyro chips, and the cores,
http://www.powervr.com 3dfx's tile renderer was supposed to come out
around this time and would have stomped all over them though.
Also, I guess you could consider Sony a "3D company" wrt playstation |
| 2001/7/26 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:21957 Activity:nil |
7/25 I bought this cheap LCD monitor the other day. According to the specs,
it can display a range of "16.19 million colors with dithering". What's
that supposed to mean? Does every other pixel have a different bit-
depth or something?
\_ It means it's a shitty monitor. (Likely explanation: the bit
depth of every pixel is uniform, but lower than 16, like uhh,
12 or something. A hardware dithering mechanism then does
a sorry-ass job of trying to make this look good.) -blojo |
| 2001/6/29 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:21672 Activity:high |
6/28 Got $22k to spare? Then you know you want this 22" LCD with a
resolution of 3840x2400 (9M pixels).
http://www.storage.ibm.com/lcd/products/md2229/md2229index.htm
\_ I don't think my GeForce 2 can drive that.
\_ D00D 7H47'5 Y U N33D 4 G3F0RC3 3!
\_ Out of curiosity, has anyone created a parser for
for this, um, format of writing? Say something
you could pipe text to. -ulysses
\_ Why would you care about reading anything written
by morons?
\_ 5 finger discount motherfucker. Lotsa ppl out there
don't bother to use ssl for online purchases. Pimp the game, son. |
| 2001/5/10-12 [Science/Electric, Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:21231 Activity:kinda low |
5/10 I remember reading that flat-panels work best at their singluar native
resolution (usually something like 1024x768) and looked not as good at
other resolutions. Do current flat-panels still have such issues?
\_ Yes. It's funadmental to the design. -tom
\_ I just bought a Dell Inspiron 8000 with a native resolution of
1400x1050 and although the display does not look as sharp in a
non-native resolution (like 1280x1024 or 1024x768) it is more
than acceptable. I don't see any strange artifacts of things of
that nature, I believe the technology for doing this has advanced
in recent years. -eric
\_ The only way you could ever have one that looked (nearly) as
good as a CRT is if you had a high enough resolution such that
you could use even multiples of scaled pixels to simulate the
lower resolution. i.e.: you can't "do" a clean 640x480 with
a 1024x768 monitor, but you could with a 1280x960 screen (use
a square of 4 pixels to simulate a single larger one), and it
would look just fine.
\_ I assume you mean LCD displays? there are also plasma flat panels.
LCDs obviously have a native resolution.
\_ plasma displays are cell-based too. but w/ additional color
fidelity than lcds, they usually show fuzzy resampling
artifacts instead of the interleaved integer pixel expansions
of lcd panels at non-native resolutions. |
| 2001/4/16-17 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:21004 Activity:moderate |
4/16 I have a question abous video cards. If I don't play games at all
but mainly use my laptop for Photoshop, will GeForce2Go be much
better than ATI Rage128? What if I also do some animation/movie
editing? What is the strength of GeForce2G0 over ATI Rage128?
\_ I'd go for the ATI for sure. It has much better video capabilities
Watching an mpeg1 file on an ATI card offers much greater image
quality than anything else I've seen
\_ How much you willing to spend? Cuz you should consider GeForce 2
vs. ATI Radeon. You can get a GeForce2 MX card for under $100. Oh,
and I believe ATI has superior movie handling. I could be wrong.
\_ ATI makes better general use cards. GF2 is a much better 3d gaming
card. If you'll *never* play a game, get the ATI. If you get the
ATI, you'll *never* play a game....
\_ I have video chips for laptops in mind.
\_ I haven't seen anything that would make the old rage 128 better in
anything. It has half the vram (geforce actually goes up to 32) and
has basically useless 3D. and the gforce2 has the mpeg dvd stuff too.
for animation and photoshop, well probably doesn't really matter
much as long as you have enough vram for your resolution (fixed on
the flat panel anyway) so i wouldn't worry. but then, there are
other pc choices besides that toshiba.
i just priced out a $2500 dell with 32 mb vram, all the stuff,
256 mb ram, and 1600x1200 resolution. they announced today they
are offering geforce2 also.
so here's the one to get: dell inspiron 8000 900mhz, cdrw/dvd combo
drv, 256 mb ram, geforce2go 32MB DDR SDRAM, 15" "ultra xga",
integrated modem/lan, firewire, 20 gb hdd, blah blah $3000.
apple can't touch that with a 10 foot stick. |
| 2001/3/5 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:20719 Activity:nil |
3/5 Is it worth $130 extra to get a 19" Trinitron monitor instead
of a 'plain' 19" ? Shopping at Dell.
\_ If you're not paying for it, YES. If you make more than $50k and
you'll be using your computer for >5 hours a day, yes. Otherwise,
no. (that's my opinion... which is what you asked for, right?)
\_ How much for no monitor at all? Buy the system screenless and go
out and buy one of the FLAT-CRT 19" Trinitron NFs or flat
Diamondtrons.
\_ Mmm..diamondtron.. *drool*
\_ I have a Sony G400. It is bright, sharp and beautiful. However,
I always have had problems with Sonys in geometric distortions.
The first one is bad, and I have to lug the boulder back to the
store to exchange for another one. I have a suspicion that
companies like Dell gets all the monitors with no geometric flaws
and the bad ones are given to companies like onvia, cdw, etc.
I have this suspicion because the Sonys (from Dell) at my
workplace all do not have distortions. Yes, the Sony G400 was
for my monitorless Dell. I think Dell also sells the G400
(http://www.gigabuys.com but their price is high.
\_ You can be sure that Dell sets certain standards before
it will use OEM manufacturers. Standards often higher than
your ordinary riffraff seller.
\_ CRTs are horrible. Don't waste your money. Get a LCD flat panel.
A 15" is as low as $499 and you can get a 18" for $999:
http://www.cc-inc.com/macmall/shop/custom/monitor_blowout
I have a LCD and I'm never going back to CRT. The only reason
to still buy a CRT is if you *need* color-sync for professional
photo-editing.
If I had $16,000 extra lying around, I'd own a Sony LCD HDTV
too.
\_ LCDs suck if yer a hardcore geek game junkie
that wants high refresh rates.
\_ LCDs refresh at upto 30 frames/sec. People with
very good eyesight (usually not hardc0re gam3rz)
can tell the difference between 30 and 40 but not
much else. Most of us can tell the difference between
20 and 30. Our eyes are just not that good, so what
is the point of 100 frames/sec?
\_ Because the Nyquist sampling ratio doesn't apply
to H@RDK0R3 G@M3R5.
\_ Sorry, I thought that we were all homo sapiens.
I'd never heard of this species called h@rdc0r3
g@m3r. Is it perchance related to the species
known as 3133t h@x0r or gn00 l1nsux lus3r? |
| 2001/2/22-23 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:20652 Activity:moderate |
2/22 Go watch the streaming video presentation of GeForce3 / Doom3. You'll
be impressed (oh wait, this is the CSUA i'm talking to here... n/m)
\_ For only $600 too. Why bother paying rent when you can get a
GeForce3.
\_ I'm still waiting for nVida to release the mac rom flasher
for the 2MX card. I'm stuck with a Rage 128 Pro (?) and I
really want a card with better 2D. Raedon is waaaay to
expensive and the performance is not that much beter than
the 128. The 2MX seems like a great card: low price plus
good 2D.
\_ 2d? Any card can do 2d perfectly fine today. 2d is a
done deal. No one buys a new video card for 2d. Any
video card built in the last 18 months has 2d performance
way beyond anything you'll ever need.
\_ Actually the Rage 128 Pro is pretty bad at 2D. It
has a lot of visual artifacts that are simply annoying.
The 2MX is *much* better. I'm unhappy with the 128
because ATI's XClaim 3D VR Plus didn't have these
problems. I was thinking about a Voodoo3, but 3DFX died.
Oh well. - still waiting for a 2MX.
\_ A year after release it'll be $125 and headed into the "value
oriented customer" bin for you cheapos. Doom 3 with be on one
of those $2 CD's at the "old news/impulse buy" software section
at the check out line at Fry's. The MX2 card I have now would
have blown your shoes, shocks, and pants right off only 2 years
ago. Today it's a $99 card. It's all just a penis thing.
\_ No, it's all just an evolution of technology thing
\_ A $600 game card is a penis thing.
\_ don't mistaken value oriented with "cheapos". If you don't
care about paying too much for something's real worth that only
makes you an idiot.
\_ Value oriented = cheapos. It's a market definition. I
didn't make it up. Go read Intel or anyone else's maps
for their future lineup. "Value Oriented" is always the
bottom end system suitable for maybe running tetris. This
is known as a "euphemism". As a Berkeley student or alum,
you should know all about using nice sounding words to make
lesser people feel better. You're not cheap. You're a
Value Oriented customer. BTW, can I still use the word,
"oriented" without offending the Asian-Americans that read
the motd?
\_ Value oriented != cheapos. Some people just don't need
64MB of VRAM. I don't play many games, and the ones that
I do play (old LucasArts games, super puzzle fighter,
Gran Turismo) don't require a $600 video card. The 8 MB
Rage 128 that I have does just fine.
Most of the time I have a browser and a couple of
terminals open. That is all I need to do my work (writing
protocols and such). Occasionally I need to use Word.
The browser, word, terminals look fine even with 4 MB of
video ram.
I just don't need to spend $600 for "top of the line".
There are a lot of people like me.
\_ Yeah, and thank god I'm not one of them. You guys
a are lame and boring.
\_ You are posting this from work because people like
me wrote the routing and switching protocols that
let your crappy little PEECEE participate on the
internet. Its comments like this that make some
people wonder if we should just keep all the packets
to ourselves.
\_ Yeah. They should have the OS automatically
mark the "This computer has a bad ass graphics
card" flag in every IP packet it sends out so
that the routers can automatically adjust the
QoS of traffic originating from no-life gamers.
\_ Well, you've got to use the TOS bits for
something. ;-) (And in case you didn't get
it, I was joking about keeping packets to
myself).
\_ urlP
\_ There are a couple of links on http://xlr8yourmac.com. |
| 2001/1/15-16 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/HW/Display] UID:20317 Activity:nil |
1/14 Is there such a thing as a multisync LCD monitor? I was told that I
can use any old multisync monitor for the PC as display for a ultra 5
or 10. I'm looking at some web sites on LCD displays and non of them
explicitly say "multisync". Thanks.
\_ Basically all LCD monitors can sync to different resolutions,
but they have a native resolution which is the only one they'll
look good at. -tom |
| 2000/10/6-7 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/HW/Display] UID:19429 Activity:high |
10/6 Good Games to test out a new system(950 Athlon, ATI Radeon)?
\_ rouge, nethack, xtrek, xblast
\_ You mean "rogue"?
\_ Riana Rouge is a good test
\_ Why'd you do that?
\_ Life
\_ Counter-Strike!!!!!!!!
\_ Freespace 2.
\_ Homeworld: Cataclysm
\_ MS Flight Simulator 2000
\_ Where can I get such a system? |
| 2000/9/12-13 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:19228 Activity:low |
9/10 what's a good inexpensive solution to capturing video
from a PC? One of those 3DFX Voodoo capture cards?
A Snapper? Something else? Thanks. - danh
\_ I'm actually looking for something that I can use maybe as a
second video card to both display PC video out (i.e. DivX)
on a TV, as well as TV signal on a PC (like in a separate window
on your desktop--I have seen this somewhere.) The idea is to
be able to watch stuff I recorded on my PC on TV while using the
machine. Any ideas? -John
\_ TVIA (http://www.tvia.com makes something like that. -- yuen |
| 2000/8/13-14 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:18972 Activity:high |
8/12 Regarding earlier threads about upgrading a Power Mac. Why is
9600 not as easy to upgrade as 7600? I thought 9600 has 6 PCI
slots, unlike 7600, which has only 3.
\_ PCI slots != upgrade path. PCI slots == expandibility.
\_ Granted, but the same acclerator boards seem to works for both
machine, so what's the diff? And more PCI slots mean USB,
firewire, and video cards. Please explain. Thanks.
\_ A 9600 has a tempermental motherboard, just like the 9500.
Some PCI cards (esp. video) don't work at all or cause crashes.
The problem is realated to the fact that 2 (or 3 don't remember)
of the PCI slots are on a separate bus that is bridged in a non-
standard way. Plus, it is not easy to open up the 9600 and put
in ram, CPU or PCI cards. Opening it up and putting stuff in is
a minimum 30 mins job. On the 7600, the entire thing pops open
\_ You obviously haven't worked on a 9600.
One button pops the side of the case off, and it unfolds
in two halves in less than 2 minutes. Full access to PCI,
processor, RAM and drives are on clip slots, screwed in on
trays in front. 7600 is as described.
\_ Thanks (to both). Is PCI slot on 9600 as flaky as described?
\_ You're right, I was thinking about a 9500. My brother
at another.
has one and its not very easy to upgrade.
\_ Thanks (to both). Are PCI slots on 9600 as flaky as described?
I heard that 3 of them are of one frequency and the other 3
at another. As for PCI slots, I can think of ultra-wide
SCSI adapter, DVD decoder, additional video card, not that
I necessarily want any of them right away. And will I be
able to run final version OS X, client/server with upgrades?
\_ AFAIK both the 9500 and the 9600 had problems with the
secondary PCI bus (2 slots, not 3 AIR). I agree about the
SCSI adpater, but not necessarily the DVD card. The newer
video cards that are coming out all have DVD decoding
capabilities. You might be able to get OSX running on a
9600, but it won't be a supported configuration.
easily and you can access the ram, cpu and PCI slots directly
(no unscrewing required). Upgrading a 7600 is like a 5 min job.
Also, it has onboard video (and standard video input/output
including s-video). If you run under MacOS, just get a FireWire
and USB combo card (its cheaper than buying both separately) to
save a PCI slot. You can get a 450 G3 ($200) a Voodoo3 ($100),
a combo card ($100) and a 10/100 card ($30) and have a pretty
decent machine with a used 7600 for under $800. I'm not sure
what other PCI cards/upgrades you would want.
\_ And after all this wierd fucking around with mysterious upgrade
daughterboards, extra PCI cards, and all that, you'd *still*
have a Mac. A hacked-up, nonstandard one at that! |
| 2000/4/2-3 [Computer/HW, Computer/HW/Display] UID:17910 Activity:very high |
4/1 Anyone have experience setting up desktop systems for
visually-impaired users? Especially what types of software
are recommendable? It is for an office worker in a heterogeneous,
networked environment. Any other aspects I should think about?
The platform will be either a Windows PC or Sun Ultra-10 with
Sun PCi card. Thanks much.
\_ Answer the fucking question already, what are her exact
impairments? Are you too lame to understand that this
i or probably you, uses them. I am thinking about some
apps that use voice-control but am unsure what is good and
has a bearing on the solutions?
\_ If only Bill Gates had invested in the _other_ kind of PC years
earlier... might've been *really* rich. What's the value of having
power over the entire English language and therefor the thoughts of
\_ So she's blind *and* can't see very well? YOU ARE FUCKING
STUPID. You're so wrapped up in PC-ism you don't even
know what *you* said, much less what anyone *else* is
saying.
\_ Oh, okay, maybe I am wrong. Why cant someone be blind
*and* not see well? I am not trying to be PC or
anything, I am just trying to help someone set up
a workstation so they can be productive. Sheesh.
Do you *think* i am speaking about someone who just needs
eye-glasses to drive? Come on. Get a girlfriend or whack off
more so you can get rid of your misdirected frustrations.
I am sorry I asked for help. --samli
\_ "visually impaired"?? Stop with the lame correct bullshit. say
then email me directly. --samli
what you mean. the above reply is a perfect example of what's
wrong with the PC shit. No one knows wtf you're trying to say!
If they're wearing coke bottle glass, say so. If they're a blink,
say so. "Visually impaired", your politically correct ass!
\_ what is your fucking problem asshole?
I am not being "PC". I *am* using a more accurate term.
Did you go to Berkeley? Are you educated? You know
what I mean, but you still insist on being stupid.
Do you *think* i am speaking about a user who just needs
eye-glasses to see the chalkboard? Come on. Get a
girlfriend or whack off more so you can get rid of your
misdirected frustrations.
If you have some experience/tips for my query, please post
them. If you want to discuss the term "visually-impaired"
then email me directly. I find it quite ironic that *you*
are the one who is telling me what is the "correct" term
to use -- you are the one being PC, you are the one
trying to control speech. --samli
\_ Very grade school. "I know you are, but what am I?"
\_ This is not my term, I am using the term my employer
uses. I think the term "visually-impaired user"
is pretty clear and certainly more professional(not
that i am) and and short than what you suggest:
I was going to smash you for claiming clarity in your
speech even after the other person asked for clarification
of your idiotic PC-ism, but then you went off into stupid
My first comment describing you was clarity enough.
troll la-la fantasy land. You're either a total retard
or one of the few trolls stupid enough to sign their name.
\_ You are just a nitpicking speech-nazi.
"visually-impaired" is not my term anyways, I am
using the term my employer uses.
"visually-impaired user" is not my term anyways, I
am using the term my employer uses.
But i still think the term "visually-impaired user"
is pretty understandable and certainly more
professional(not that i am) and and short than what
If they're a blink, say so." I do not think it would
be good of me to say "i have a coke bottle glass user"
you suggest:
"If they're wearing coke bottle glass, say so.
If they're a blink, say so."
I do not think it would be good of me to say
"i have a coke bottle glass user" at the office.
\_ the level of arrogant immaturity is just simply appalling
here...the dear man just wanted to ask a simple question
about setting up something for a blind person and instead
the whole thread goes off into a wild tangent about
pc-verbiage. hey, stupid fuckhead doing the nitpicking,
sign yer fucking name so that we can all rag on your sorry
ass! -- [name withheld to protect the innocent]
those speaking it?
\_ windows 2k has some setting that translates text to spoken word
\_ blind, or can't see very well?
\_ I once worked for someone who was considered legally blind,
she couldn't see certain colors, and anything more
than a foot away from her face was a lost cause,
when i set up windows for her in some eye searing color
scheme like magenta, cyan and puce she could read
documents just fine - danh
\_ That's a clear violation of their rights. They have
the right to see the same way you do if they so
choose. Who are you to say the colors were eye
searing? You have no basis upon which to judge
hir or any other huwoman being!!
\_ yes, both. She is unable to use computers in the same way
i or probably you, uses (sic) them. I am thinking about some
voice-control software but am unsure what is good and
what is well-supported/widely-compatible. I found some
web-sites and also stuff specific for RSI people, but i am
hoping to find someone who has done this before. thx. --samli
\_ You mean to say that the individual in question has primary
access to an alternative sense set and associated motor
reflex abilities? Or did you really mean the chick is
blind and crippled?
fumble fingered sloppy lazy emacs user was here |
| 2000/3/24-26 [Computer/Networking, Computer/HW/Display] UID:17847 Activity:high |
3/24 Anyone know where I might be able to get a PCI card with four
10/100 ethernet ports for Linux? I'm looking for four separate
interfaces like on the quad-fast ethernet (qfe) sbus cards that
Sun used to make.
\_ http://www.zynx.com
\_ http://www.znyx.com --Jon
\_ This is perfect. Thanks.
\_ Ow. A 4-channel PCI model costs $655 from their website. --PeterM
\_ Company dollars. Who else would want such a thing?
\_ Yes it is for work. I need to setup a gateway for about
8 subnets. Two of these cards puts me back ~ $1300. If
I buy a $500 PC to run linux, my total cost is $1800
which is much cheaper than buying a lucent or a cisco
router with eight ports.
\_ isn't that what smart switches are for? $2000!
\_ Ah. Was thinking some PHB wanted it for a web server.
\_ PHB? What does it mean?
\_ Dilbert has a PHB
\_ Pointy Haired Boss. (dilbert)
\_ Now its clear. I don't
have a PHB, since I'm
at a startup and even
the "directors" code. I
almost had a PHB as cisco
for a while after my best
friend (who was my manager)
left to take over as a
director at cobalt.
\_ Related question, does anyone know a good source for used
qfe (quad-fast ethernet) sbus cards for suns?
\_ http://www.recurrent.com ? |
| 2000/2/5 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:17433 Activity:nil |
2/3 I don't get this. Why is it that certain programs that use 8-bit
color require that you have an 8 bit display rather than 24 or 32.
It seems to make sense that if your system is capable of displaying
st
24 or 32 bit color then it should certainly be able to run programs
that use 8-bit color. From Max:
Max requires colormapped graphics. Your XServer is probably setup
for true color (e.g. 16-bit or 24-bit mode). To run Max, reconfigure
your X server for 8 bit colormapped graphics.
\_ 16 and 24 bit modes are not colormapped. 8 bit almost always is.
\_ Lazy programmers
\_ Some graphics cards with some X servers can provide 8-bit and
24-bit visuals at the same time. -tom |
| 1999/11/20-24 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/Laptop] UID:16932 Activity:low |
11/20 the ATI AGP Rage Mobility M-1 doesn't seem to be supported
by the xfree86 stuff on:
http://www.xfree86.org/cardlist.html
correct me if i'm wrong.
\_ It's not, yet. Most of Dells new laptop chips aren't.
\_ USE LINUX! Windows supports my video card right outta the box.
RIDE BIKE! So Windows must be a better OS.
\_ damn straight!1!!
\_ Check out these two pages:
http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~steveh/inspiron
http://www.coralys.com/linux/dell7500.shtml
The Dell Inspiron uses the Mobility, and the first page lists other
laptops that also have that chip. Apparently it's supported
reasonably well. When you get it working, please mail me to let me
know how well your X runs on it as I'm interested in getting a
Mobility-based laptop. -mogul |
| 1999/10/3-4 [Computer/HW/Display, Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD] UID:16652 Activity:very high |
10/2 Looking for pointers to linux/BSD-happy hardware. Don't delete this.
\_ As for high end video cards, good luck. I believe the Voodoo
cards and some nvidia have some support for linux but you'll
be working very hard to get Mesa, GLX, and XFree to work properly
together. Stay away from Windmodems and Soho ethernet cards.
\_ Not to mention the area of Mexico that was hit was more flat
currently. mr. id software is pushing it hard himself.
g200 runs quake at >25fps, and handles some real texture-happy
and less densely populated.
\_ matrox g200 and g400 are best supported by linux w/ GLX
\_ http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/install.html#INSTALL-HW
Anything in particular? Sound Cards? scsi, motherboards? video? ..
--jon
\_ Any linux equivalent of this useful list?
\_ http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO.html
opengl programs ok (better than an o2... g400 should match
an octane).
\_ nVidia TNT based cards are well supported as well. --Jon |
| 1999/9/27-28 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Finance/Shopping, Computer/HW/Display] UID:16604 Activity:high |
9/27 Anyone know if and when LCD monitor price will drop?
\_ when people start buying them. go buy a few million so that
i can afford one myself.
\_ Actually, people *are* buying them. There is and has been
a shortage of supply, which is preventing prices from
coming down (and adds to the cost of laptops). See a good
story about it at:
http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/business/docs/computer28.htm
\_ prices will drop slowly
\_ Didn't it take a long ass time for regular 17" monitors to drop?
I bought mine for $1k and it was that price until about a year and
a half ago (or something like that).
\_ I bought a 17" monitor 4 years ago for 600, although it was
the cheapest model back then.
\_ I bought a 17" monitor 4 years ago for $450.
\_ Not new. Off a truck maybe. I got one for 650 four years
ago this summer. The lowest on the market was around 600.
There weren't any $450 17" monitors four years ago. Only
used, refurbs, and off the back of trucks. You're either
confused or lying. The high end was around $1300, btw.
$450? Ridiculous! |
| 1999/8/9-11 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:16277 Activity:moderate |
8/9 Where is a good place to buy LCD TFT 14" monitor? Also, can they be
used with regular video display like Matrox?
\_ Possibly Frye's (don't know spelling) or Robert Austin computer show
\_ You mean Fry's. Electronics?
\_ Not 100% sure, but I think most LCD displays come with digital
to analog converters so most vid cards can be used. But from what
I read, ideally you want a vidcard that outputs digitally. As of
now there's only a handful of cards that do that (I believe Matrox
has one)
\_ Number 9 Revolution IV has a digital output and supports the
SGI flat panel display
\_ Droool, SGI flat panel, droooool. |
| 1999/7/2-3 [Computer/Networking, Computer/HW/Display] UID:16060 Activity:high |
07/02 What is the difference between a "PCI Ethernet Controller" and
an ethernet card? MediaOne says I need an ethernet card if I want
to use a cable modem, but I'm running low on IRQs. Can I remove
the "PCI Ethernet Controller" and replace it with an ethernet card?
Thanks.
\_ It's the same thing.
\_ yur isp is full of shit. you need a cable modem to use cable
modem. if the cable modem has an ethernet interface just get
an ordinary 10/100 ethernet card and make sure it's pci since
they're only $2 more expensive. problem solved.
\_ help, I have a computer but AOL says I need a "PC" to use it.
\_ ethernet controller == ethernet card,NIC,network
adapter,network interface,network interface card
\_ I don't think the statement above is true. On Windows 95
my "PCI Ethernet Controller" shows up under "Other Devices"
not under "Network Adapters". Also on LINUX, no etherent
card is recognized when I boot. Once again, what the heck
is a "PCI Ethernet Controller" and how is it different from
an ethernet card? Thanks for any clues.
\_ ok. There's a question mark next to "PCI Ethernet
Controller" yes? What this means is that Win95 knows you
have the network card, but Win95 is telling you you haven't
installed the drivers for it, yet. Select "PCI Ethernet
Controller" and remove the device. Get the driver disk
ready. Reboot. When it asks you for drivers, put it in
the drive and there you have it.
\_ That makes sense. Since I got my computer second hand
I don't have the drivers, but I'll try and find out
\_ if you have more trouble, post to the motd again
who makes my card and download drivers. Thanks.
\_ if you have more trouble, post to the motd again, or
wall, because this is a potentially lengthy topic
\_ I always thought ethernet controller was just marketing bs
just like they say scsi controller, but its formally called
a host adapter.
\_ technically, a "scsi controller" and a "host adapter"
are two separate things. It's just that they both come
on the same card. And it makes things more confusing that
typically in the PC words, a card like that is called a
controller.
\_ technically, scsi is a peer-to-peer shared-media
network w/ a statically-defined arbitration policy.
there is no controller.
\_ what is the term for the computer "peer" that is
usually at ID 7?
\_ host adapter |
| 1999/6/19-21 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:15988 Activity:high |
6/18 Anyone following 3D video cards nowadays? Any
recommendations? I've heard good things about the Riva TNT2.
Which model would I want to buy?
\_ the DiamondMM card is cheap... under $190
\_ I'd go for a Creative TNT2 Ultra... diamond's drivers
are rather lacking. (i've got one)
\_ If money no object, and speed primary concern, a TNT2 Ultra.
Sacrifice some speed and get more features (multi-monitor,
\_ Not just any TNT Ultra. Get the Hercules if money is no object and
raw speed is all you care about. The Matrox G400MAX is also likely
to be really good but it's slower than the Hercules and is likely
to be more expensive. The rest is crap. If you're on a budget,
try the Savage 4. Don't bother with anything else. Same prices
with lesser performance. Death to 3dfx!
better image quality, bump-mapping), go for matrox g400 out in
a coupla weeks. Or ignore me and go to http://www.sharkyextreme.com
\_ Ok, again: If you're a speed freak and have the bucks, get the
Hercules brand Ultra TNT2. The Matrox G400Max is also coming out
in the US in the next few weeks if you can wait. If price is a
bury useful content and have gone on to deletion. -tom
concern, get a Savage 4 Pro+. Note that you need a higher end
CPU to 'feed' the TNT2 and G400 properly. Maybe the next thing out
from 3dfx will be ok but the current v2000/3xxx stuff is nothing
special compared to the competition. You get higher speed and more
features from the TNT2 Ultra and G400max and more bang/buck from
the Savage4. (Please don't delete this again)
\_ Why was my more detailed and accurate answer deleted? Have you no
shame?
\_ I think the trollers have gotten tired of just trying to
bury useful content and have gone on to =[CENSORED]= -tom
\_ sincere, helpful posts on the motd tend to disappear. this
is why i just take potshots at people on the motd.
\_ I sincerely want to help you with your problem, but I can't
since you won't sign your message! |
| 1999/3/20-22 [Computer/HW/Memory, Computer/HW/Display, Computer/HW/CPU] UID:15617 Activity:insanely high |
3/19 Dell anounces it will ship PCs with RedHat Linux preinstalled:
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,34036,00.html
\_ Is there going to be a Linux refund day?
\_ Why? Isn't Linux free, unlike Windoze?
\_ Most of it is free but RedHat throws in a bunch of
commercial crap that nobody uses (like a Real media server)
so that can charge $40 for it. It also comes w/ a manual.
\_ RedHat's Lunitux. And it costs them money to install it.
\_ Good luck to Dell to get Linux users to buy Dell computers.
\_ What's wrong with Dell's? They only cost twice as much as a
computer you build yourself.
\_ and they're worth more than twice as much. -tom
\_ The only x86 based PC worth paying extra money for
performance are IBM's and SGI's.
\_ Yeah all that off the shelf hardware magically becomes
much more reliable and better performing when installed
by a Dell technical genius.
\_ No, it becomes WARRANTIED, and YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND
TIME PUTTING IT TOGETHER AND MAKING IT WORK. -tom
\_ My parts are covered. I think I can afford an hour or
two to save $1000 or more. Anyway, it's a hobby thing
and I get *exactly* the hardware I want. To the person
below, who said I was using cheap parts? What's a cheap
part anyway? They all come from the same factories.
Please name a "cheap part" that will be hard to install.
You just need a good case. The rest is generic.
\_ Selecting a mother board would be your first
problem. Intel, Asus, SuperMicro, Tyan, etc?
For example, I tend not to want to use a
model that just came out. New models tend
to have problems fixed only in later revisions.
They are usually only tested with brand name
components, and even that is not guanranteed.
When there is a problem, you are sometimes
left wondering whether the problem is with
the PCI bus, a BIOS setting, a motherboard
switch setting, your network card, a device
driver problem, compatibility problem, etc.
When going crazy trying to solve a problem,
you may unknowingly create a second problem
zapping another component with static.
I would gladly let Dell do the dog work and
quality control for me, and let them iron out
all the problems.
\_ I don't see MB selection as a "problem". People,
this isn't rocket science. You're just assembling
stock parts. This isn't the old bad days of Dos
2.1 (or even 6.2) where nothing worked and it took
hours of fucking with config.sys to get something
working. The parts Dell uses are the same you're
getting. They don't come from a Magic Dell
Factory whever everything is always wonderful
Factory where everything is always wonderful
while your parts are coming from Factory Hell
where nothing ever works. It's the same stuff.
The only difference is you won't be paying for
parts you don't need/want and can put that money
towards things you do.
\_ Yes, Dell parts are the same you are
getting but they do a couple of things.
One, they test and throw out all the
defective parts. Two, they make sure
all their components work together
well. Three, they configure and
assemble the system for you on a
production line. Four, they test the
whole system again after assembly.
Go to a computer reseller, open a
box of say Diamond Multimedia video
cards or Intel motherboards and test
them. The defective rate can be as
high as 10 percent.
\_ Ok, granting all these things are true,
pleasure.
which they're not entirely, even if I got
a defective board, so what? I return it.
I get a new one. This isn't for work. It's
a hobbyist home system. Dell buys in bulk
so they have lower price purchase prices
but their rates aren't *that* much lower,
you *are* paying for them to build it and
run their business and you *don't* get
exactly the parts you want. If you don't
care about what's really under the hood,
then you are a Dell customer and I hope
the value you feel they're adding is worth
the price you're paying. Nothing wrong with
that. It just isn't the best you can do for
your money.
\_ Just make sure you test your
motherboard well before assembling
your system. I hate taking a
motherboard out. I also hate
driving one hour to Hi-tech USA
(or whatever) to exchange a part,
or packing stuff and going to the
mail shop.
I do care about what is under the
hood, and Dell components seem
fine to me.
Price advantage of resellers over
brand name systems has been eroding
over the past few years, so I doubt
you can save much money.
You do get to use the exact parts
you want though, and if you need
to tinker with your system in the
future, you already know it
through and through. Enjoy building
your system. I love the ones I
built, but would not do it again.
\_ look, have fun building your box, but you're fooling
yourself if you think it makes economic sense. -tom
\_ Whatever Tom.
\_ Ja, building your own system is a nice learning
experience, but after doing it for a few times,
you decide that the money saved is not worth the
amount of effort you have to put in. You also
realize that the cheaper the components you used,
the higher the amount of time you have to put in.
\_ Agreed. I've been building my own computers since the
486 days. But for my dad, I'm gonna plop down some $$$
for a Dell Celeron. It's just not worth the hassle
each time.
\_ celeron sux. go with amd-k2.
\_ On Friday I saw a celeron 300MHz on an
overclocked board (66->100Mhz) perform a
little less than twice as fast as an AMD-K2
300Mhz. Celeron used to suck, but no longer
and for $60/chip... do the math fuckwit.
\_ I built my first computer before the 8086 days. I
don't get so easily "confused" that I need Dell to
pick all my parts for me and charge me more for the
pleasure. For your dad, sure, spend his money.
For yourself... don't you care?
\_ how much do you care about your time? I can
configure, price and order a Dell system in 5
minutes, sitting at my computer. How much time
do you spend contacting 8 different vendors
for parts? How much time do you spend putting
it together? If one of the DIMM slots is bad,
how much time do you spend taking the machine
apart again, and trying to convince the motherboard
manufacturer that it wasn't your DIMMs that were
bad?
If you're still a student, or some other class of
person whose life decisions are more cash-bound
than time-bound, that's fine. If you have a job,
and particularly if you're a computer professional
in a job that pays good money and probably takes
more than 40 hours, why the hell would you spend
one minute more of your time than is necessary,
to try to wring, at best, minor cash savings out of
a purchase? Seriously, how much does your free
time cost, per hour? -tom
\-that's a psb law: "there are two kinds
of people. peopel with more $ than time and
people with more time than $."
\_ It's a hobby, you freak! How much does your
netrek or other gaming time cost per hour?
\_ I don't try to claim that netrek is
cost-effective. Like I said, if you enjoy
building systems, have fun. -tom
\_ Well, nowhere in my answer did I say I was gonna
stop buying for myself. Unless a computer maker
magically has all the exact parts I want and
I don't feel like spending an entire weekend
going to all these small stores finding the
cheapest prices and constructing it myself.
\_ It isn't about money. I'll spend a few extra
bucks _AND_ the time to get _exactly_ the system
I want. _Exactly_ what I want. Not from their
approved list on a web form. I'm glad the
consumer route works for you.
\_ Don't some companies, even Dell, allow
you to customize the computer you buy
from them?
\_ On some web form, yes, to a *very* limited
extent. But if you want that safe feeling
from knowing you have the same computer
Dell has built for 10k others before you,
you can't get that from a highly
customised system. It isn't possible.
At that point, you're now paying them to
collect and assemble the same random
pile of parts you would've built for
yourself anyway. You've already done
research and everything else short of
actually popping it all in case. Might as
well just take that last step yourself.
And btw, I've seen vendor specific
versions of some hardware which require
you to use the vendor drivers. Generic
drivers don't work. Upgrading sucks too
because the cases are fucked also. Caveat
emptor and all that no matter which way
you go. Dell is not the be-all end-all
perfectly safe answer to hardware buying.
\_ Rather the contradiction with "off
the shelf" parts & "vendor drivers",
no? In any case, buying from a vendor
is all about convenience and no hassle,
especially when you need 20-30
identically set-up computers.
\_ No, it isn't a contradiction.
They're only tweaking the HW to
force you to come to them for future
support and upgrades, not to enhance
it in any way. Compaq is especially
prone to this and has a lousy system
of storing and categorising patches
to go along with it. Other than
making sure you're trapped with them
forever, there's nothing better or
different about the HW. It's just
a scam, not an improvement.
As far as 20-30 goes, go ahead. Buy
Dell. No one said you should build
20-30 machines from scrap. The idea
is stupid and you're creating a weak
straw man argument. |
| 1999/2/24 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:15476 Activity:nil |
2/23 I'm having some trouble with a new video card. It's a Diamond Stealth
II G460; my mainboard is an ASUS P5A. Under Win98, I can't change my
display settings beyond 16color/320x240 resolution. The card is not
supported by non-Intel motherboards/chipsets. Thing is, people have
been able to get it working by playing around with the bios. I've
downloaded the latest bios. My question is this: should I flash my
bios, and if I do, what settings do I have to change? Thanks alot.
-edhui
\_ Is the card AGP? You might need to add motherboard specific
drivers to be able to use the AGP port. Your 320/240/4 resolution
sounds like the windows default when you can't find a display
driver. To make my Monster Fusion work on my ASUS SS7, I had
to install Win98 with Standard VGA for my video, then install
AGP support for my motherboard, then DirectX >= 5.x, and finally
the drivers for the Monster Fusion. After all of that, it works
great. --sowings
\_ Ok, so does the "install AGP support" step involve the bios
flashing? |
| 1999/1/19-20 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:15255 Activity:low |
1/18 I've seen adapters that convert old style sun/sgi monitor plugs
into the conventional vga/pc cable plug, but will somebody
tell me if that makes a sun/sgi monitor usable on a intel box?
\_ Or where to get such connectors? -leblon
\_ I have bought these connectors from UltraSpec. Depending
on your sun monitor, you may not be able to get it to do
multiple resolutions. The connectors cost about $35. Look
on the ultraspec page (http://www.ultraspec.com for an exact
price. ----ranga
\_ THANKS, found exactly what I needed, well... I found
what I think I need. What I want to do is use a Jamm!!
on a spare sun monitor I have. The Jam!! is a little
peripheral that lets you play console games (n64/playstation)
on vga monitors. Is a 13w3->15pinVGA adapter all I need?
what is multiple res? multiple-sync? -nolram |
| 1998/11/24-26 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:15020 Activity:moderate |
11/23 Millenium G200.. good? bad? XFree86 compatibility/performance?
\_ S.u.s.e. has a free X server which works on the G200:
Accellerated X has a commercial one. --PeterM
\_ Outstanding image quality for resolutions >= 1024x768. No idea
Compatibility: i740 > TNT > G200
about compatibility with linux products. For single-card solutions:
Performance (fps): TNT > G200 > i740
Compatibility/Driver-suppport: i740 > TNT > G200
Engineering: i740 > TNT, G200
Img quality: G200 > i740, TNT
Watch out if you're putting an AGP card in a K6 system. -jctwu
\_ Hmm.. what's wrong with AGP in a K6 system? And I'm not
really insterested in 3D.. you're telling me the i740 is
better than a G200 on 2D?
\_ erm, performance G200 > i740 duh.
K6 motherboard's (VIA MVP3, ALi Aladdin V) have traditionally
had probs with AGP cards, esp. i740 cards. MAKE SURE you
get a first-hand ref. on what has worked before. -jctwu
\_ Performance wise, G200 among the best, if not the best,
in 2D. And image quality is unparalleled. Frankly, I never
noticed how shitty the image produced by my 2 yr. old
Diamond card was until I got a G200.
\_ You had nothing to compare it to. Compare the G200 image
to your eyeball's view of the world. Same thing.
\_ In a similar vein, any hope of an Open Systems X server that can
deal with the TNT ? |
| 1998/11/19 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:14978 Activity:nil |
11/18 Anyone get one of dem PCI modems working under Linux?
\_ no, but i've got a PCMCIA one working without a problem.
\_ what's the point of having a PCI modem? besides the fact that you
might not have any ISA ports left. |
| 1998/8/19-20 [Computer/Networking, Computer/HW/Display] UID:14485 Activity:nil |
8/19 Anyone got a PCI solution for wireless >1MB connections
between at least three computers that costs less than 12 grand? |
| 1998/8/17-18 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:14467 Activity:kinda low |
8/16 What is "PCI-based interfaces"? Thanks.
\_ Probably someone referring to AGP, the video slot standard
which Intel is pushing. AGP is apparently very similar to
PCI, but it uses some extra tricks to get more perf. --PeterM
\_ AGP is directly related to PCI. It is a design that allows
\_ AGP isn't directly related to PCI. It is a design that
allows
videa cards direct access to main memory and forcing video
cards to rely on main memory than a local video buffer.
This actually has the unusual effect of making some video
operations slower while making others that are heavily
memory intensive much faster.
\_ peripherals compenent interconnect. It's the name of the
really complicated bus architecture that was designed to
replace the old ISA, EISA, Microchannel, and Vesa Local bus.
You can tell if a slot in your computer is PCI if it white,
small, and has a lot of pins (i know that sounds kind of
generic and vague). ISA slots tend to be black, larger, and
have less pin count.
ISA 8 bit 8 mhz
EISA 16 bit 8 mhz
Microchannel 16 bit 10 mhz
VESA 32+ bit 33+ mhz (3 devices max on local bus)
PCI 32+ bit 33+ mhz |
| 1998/5/6-8 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:14060 Activity:high |
5/6 I'll be building a PC system soon--running Linux and Windows.
Any suggestions for backup options?
Also, any suggestions on a PCI video card that works well with
Linux?
\_ Buy a new 2gig HD, they're quite cheap!!!
\_ Do some research into a UUCP remote backup system. All you
need is a 2400 bps (or slower) modem and a working phone line.
\_Hmm...This is for my personal home system. I am asking simply
because 8mm has been slammed here before. -emarkp
\_ I've been using 4mm tape. it works, but its slow.
seems like a cdrom burner has cheaper media costs, and can burn
CD's too, as well as function as a slow cdrom-drive. -Eric
CD's too, as well as function as a slow cdrom-drive. -ERic
\_ I've though of this but capacity is an issue. A CD is
~600MB, right? I guess I really won't have to backup
more than that, but with >2GB disk I can't be sure. How
much do the blank CD's cost? -emarkp
\_ $2 or less. 4mm DAT is junk, 8mm is more reasonable.
CD-R is OK except the media aren't reusable; if you
are just doing disaster backups, that's fine, but if you
want to do daily backups you should get reusable
media. -tom
\_ I've had good luck with the DDS-3 DAT drives so
\_ I'd have to admit that the 4mm dat is lame. -Eric
far. --dim
\_ I'd have to admit that the 4mm dat is lame. -ERic
\_ PCI video card? The S3 Trio64/V+ 2MB EDO DRAM is my $20 favorite.
If you want something fast, everybody likes writing drivers
for the Matrox Millenium and Millenium II. -jctwu
\_ I've actually seen Matrox MII performance, and that's my
default choice. I was under the impression that S3 stuff was
usable, but not very impressive (except the price, of
course). -emarkp
\_ my S3 Trio64 has served me well the last...oh 3 years or so
running XFree86 on FreeBSD. Never had a problem.
\_ You need a $50k AIT backup robot with a 70gig/tape capacity and
the extra 2 tape racks for 30 tapes total with the bar code reader
and enhanced media storage retrieval system! DUDE! That's backup
power! |
| 1998/3/9-12 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/HW/Display] UID:13783 Activity:high |
3/9 Anyone have experience using a computer video board/computer
monitor as a replacement for a TV? What video boards do the
trick? Are any of them supported by XFree86? --PeterM
\_ if by supported you mean simply that there is an xfree86
server for the video card, then the ati cards are supported,
at least by the latest release. the tv quality is quite
good too.
\_wHAT IS XFree86? -too ignorant to sign his post
\_ It's an X based client free of all x86 instructions.
\_ It's a "free" version of the letter X. The Gnomes of Zurich, who
hold all rights to the use of the alphabet, in any form, were
dismayed at the incredibly low licensing revenues brought in by
"X" in comparison to more popular letters like "E". In an effort
to stimulate interest in the letter X and increase its usage, they
released a public-domain, royalty-free version a couple of years
ago. However, since they didn't want current customers to feel
shortchanged, they released an older version, designed under
contract by the American Type Foundry (now suspiciously out of
business) and first released in 1886. Hence the "86".
\_ And you wonder why quality fonts cost so much?
\_ While it's true that the Gnomes of Zurich (ZOG)
hold all rights to the use of the alphabet, in
any form, their license is set to expire this
May, when the IANA will hold conference commitee
hearings to determine world readable font
ownership rights.
\_ That's what you think. The Gnomes have clearly stated
that if they're challenged on font-ownership rights,
they'll stop licensing even their most basic patents
(such as the ones for water and gravity). Is guaranteed
access to a "2500 fonts for $3.99" CD worth spending the
rest of your life floating around, thirsty? -- kahogan
You are clearly misinformed
about the 86 part, as the American Type Foundry
people dropped the ball when they designed the
1786 version to be compatible only w/ manufactured
wood pulp products, ignoring almost entirely the
burgeoning digital font transmission and display
market which ZOG was better prepared for. There
were no "suspicious" circumstances at all, and
I would advise whoever wrote this unsigned
missive that you check your facts before
misinforming the public so blatantly. -tpc
\_ No. http://www.xfree86.org
\_ http://www.xfree86.org is currently the subject of
a trademark infringement lawsuit from GOZ.
GOZ's trademark, of course, is being challenged
in court by ZOG, which claims to have nothing
to do with http://xfree86.org. GOZ has countersued,
claiming that ZOG is deliberately trying to
dilute the TM. The software supposedly available
at xfree86 is, as far as can be determined,
a complete fabrication.
\_ Dammit, so _that's_ why "xf86config" never seemed
to work right with my hardware . . . |
| 1998/2/1 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:13605 Activity:nil |
1/31 Could anyone use an amber or EGA monitor? Let me know by
monday night so I can bring them up, otherwise they're getting
thrown away. --saarp
\_ Perfect! It'll go well with my new XT I bought, monitor not
included. -Newbieboy
\_ Hey, I know they're old, but mebbe someone could use
them for something. I can probably get an EGA/mono
card to go with it. Enough for a terminal. --saarp
\_ is the "amber" standard mono? Could use it -- schoen
\_ Dont be an asshole. It makes a perfectly good terminal. Some
of us aren't total computer newbies, such as yourself, and recall
a time before super+++vga++++mega+wow graphics cards/monitors
which are still perfectly good today for text and simpler
graphics.
\_ A little over-sensitive here eh?
\_ Not at all. Just explaining to Newbieboy that he's an
asshole and why. How did you figure I was being sensitive
much less over-sensitive? My feelings aren't hurt by
the babblings of children or the ignorant.
\_ Perhaps the explosive response to a dumb joke.
\_ You thought that was "explosive"? I barely said
anything. Would I have left you in tears if I
wrote something truly "explosive"? As if anything
on the MOTD is "explosive". Get real. Sheesh. |
| 1997/2/18 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:32079 Activity:nil |
2/17 What's the difference between the Diamond Stealth 3D and the
Matrox mellenium? Which is better?
\_ the difference... matrox millenium is slick... the best!
Diamond 3D.. sucks!
\_ MATROX ROX! DIAMOND SUX!
\_ Diamond really does suck. Even if the card's good,
don't get Diamond because their support sucks. I've
got a Diamond Viper, but no driver for Windows 95.
Instead of a driver, they offered owners of the Viper
lower prices on other Diamond cards.
\_ Uhm, ok.... Anyway, the difference is that the Matrox will out
perform the Diamond for just about every 2d function you can
think of, however, the D-3d has a few extra 3d features that
don't exist on the Matrox. Unless you *really* *really*
_need_ the extra few 3d things, get the Matrox Millenium.
If you really do need the 3d stuff, then get the Matrox Mystique.
The Matrox Mystique is inexpensive and outperforms the D-3d for
most graphics tests. I think its less expensive than the Diamond
as well and the driver support is excellent. Your real choice is
between the two Matrox cards. Don't get a Diamond.
\_ BTW, isn't the Mystique cheaper than the Millenium?
And is there Xfree86 support for Mystique?
\_ The PC's in 330 soda that run FreeBSD for 162 all have
Matrox Mystique's in them...
\_ Yes, the mystique is cheaper than the millenium.
I don't know about *nix driver support. http://www.matrox.com
\_ Matrox Millenium has hardware support for OpenGL whereas
Matrox Mystique doesn't.
\_ I've had problems getting useful programmer technical support
from Matrox. You might look into the Rendition Verite'-based
or 3Dfx-based cards, as well. \_ Ve'rite'
\_ I don't know about this. I'm not programming my mystique.
The newer super-3d boards will outperform the mystique,
the millenium and the Diamond cards but they do cost more.
Also, AFAIK, the 3dfx and verite boards don't do 2d, they
\_ the verite does 2d
are 3d-addon boards. You still need a 2d board, I think.
\_ This is true. BTW, the 3Dfx outperforms every
other 3D card out there by a significant
margin... If you're really after good 3D
performance, it's the way to go. -mogul
\_since we're on the subject. Anyone know if either of the two cards
have hardware mpeg support?
\_ the V1000 does mpeg in hardware (well, microcode, but close
enough).
\_ I believe both matrox cards do mpeg2 but I wouldn't swear by it.
Also, I read that the 3dfx has some video "problems" where it
must display in full screen mode. It doesn't work in a window.
My understanding is that these chipsets are adapted from arcade
game video chips and thus never had 2d or windows in mind, thus
no support. Full screen or nothing (or so I've read). I don't
own one so I can't say as a fact. |
| 1996/9/29 [Computer/HW/Display] UID:31909 Activity:nil |
9/26 Does anyone have a set of 4 24-pin DRAMs for a Trident video card.
I'm stuck with an older model, and I'm having a hard time finding
that second MB upgrade. Emaul me -- joeking |
| 12/25 |