General PC/Mac/Device question's thread.

[bergauk]

Right.. So I've seeing a lot of not-on-purpose thread-jacking lately with just random questions not pertaining to the topic at hand. I was reminded of a solution that is in effect on another forum I visit. A general questions thread, regarding the section that the thread was in.

So how this'll work is:
1. You come in here with a general question regarding [insert random thing you want to know about]
2. Someone else comes in here and knows what you want to know and tells you about it.
3. You learn something.
4. They get the satisfaction of helping you out.


If this goes off without a hitch. There should be less thread hijacking.

 

[nk4e]

Though could this be about a buying General electronics also?

 

[NissanSkylineN1]

Doesn't this make the idea of starting new threads useless?

 

[bergauk]

Though could this be about a buying General electronics also?

Yes exactly. I thought the "device" part covered that.

Doesn't this make the idea of starting new threads useless?

No? You come here with a simple question about something that will only take a few posts to resolve, instead of making a thread that'll only have a few posts in it.

Or if it ends up going on for a page, we could have a moderator split it out. It's really simple and it cuts down on short 5 post threads.

 

[nk4e]

Which GPS would you recommend for Bluetooth, and traffic? Best bang of the buck and quality?

 

[AOS-]

Is there.... a cheap HDMI-to-USB adaptor that will allow me to at least view what I see from my PS3 on my Macbook? It's so I can record gameplay footage.

 

[bergauk]

Which GPS would you recommend for Bluetooth, and traffic? Best bang of the buck and quality?

This seems to be the best of the bunch. And it's about half off at the moment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16858108349

Lifetime traffic, and Bluetooth capable.

 

[nk4e]

Is there.... a cheap HDMI-to-USB adaptor that will allow me to at least view what I see from my PS3 on my Macbook? It's so I can record gameplay footage.

Have you thought about easy cap? ( you may have it....)

 

[AOS-]

My Easycap only does composite. If only it was like a PS3 and does everything.

 

[nk4e]

This seems to be the best of the bunch. And it's about half off at the moment.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16858108349

Lifetime traffic, and Bluetooth capable.

Andy, I will look into it..
Bergauk, do you know how long that price will be? I will check around some more.

 

[bergauk]

Unfortunately I don't know how long it'll be like that. But I'm certain that if you miss out on that price for that particular one, another one will pop up with a similar price.

 

[AOS-]

Scratch that Question about HDMI-to-USB.... This EaspCapViewer app (which you can easily find on google) does a pretty good job on its own...

I highly recommend it to any mac-using easycap owners as it is very easy to set up and allows you to tweak some settings like you do with your TV, such as brightness/contrast.

 

[Principalities]

General PC/Mac/Device questions?...

...well, I have $1,250 coming up (tuition refund ), and I plan on getting a gaming laptop.

I wondered if this was an actual good deal.

http://www.amazon.com/G53SW-A1-Republic-Gamers-15-6-Inch-Gaming/dp/B004V93OZE/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1317076707&sr=1-3

I'll put the details here anyway.

Product Features
Intel i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz Quad-Core with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz);
8GB DDR3 1333MHz, 4 SODIMM Sockets, up to 16GB;
750GB HDD (7200RPM), Super-Multi Optical Drive
15.6-Inch FULL HD (1920x1080) LED Display; Nvidia GTX 460M Graphics with 1.5GB GDDR5 VRAM
Windows Home Premium 64-bit Operating System

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard
Hardware Platform: PC
Processor: 2 hertz Intel Core Duo
Number of Processors: 1
RAM: 8 MB
RAM Type: SODIMM
Memory Slots: 4

Hard Drive
Size: 750 GB
Type: Serial ATA
Speed: 7200 rpm

Graphics and Display
Graphics RAM: 1536 MB

Ports and Connectivity
USB Ports: 4

Cases and Expandability
Size (LWH): 15.6 inches, 11.9 inches, 2 inches
Weight: 7.9 pounds (I don't care for this.)

It's $1,148.98. Is this a worthwhile buy? ...or is there something even better you'd know to recommend?

 

[nk4e]

Couldn't you build a better desktop with half that price?

 

[12thgear]

Is there.... a cheap HDMI-to-USB adaptor that will allow me to at least view what I see from my PS3 on my Macbook? It's so I can record gameplay footage.

Blackmagic makes a variety of really nice video capture devices, but they're not cheap. They make a nice Thunderbolt model if you have a newer MacBook. It will run you $300: Blackmagic Intensity

If you're willing to go with component video, which can still look great, the Hauppage HD PVR is around $200. You'll need additional software too. Elgato's EyeTV is supposed to work with it too.

Couldn't you build a better desktop with half that price?

You can always build a more powerful desktop for the price. But it does make it pretty tricky if you ever want to, oh I dunno, bring your computer to class.

 

[nk4e]

Who knows, I love to have LAN PARTIES in my computer class. My teacher hosted a Unreal tournament.

 

[Principalities]

Couldn't you build a better desktop with half that price?

I know, but I plan to use it for college as well, so it had to be a laptop, as 12thgear said. I wanted it to have at least decent gaming power.

...and some teacher you have! Was it for a club, or is he simply that awesome?

 

[Sharky.]

But it does make it pretty tricky if you ever want to, oh I dunno, bring your computer to class.

If you're wanting a quick computer and are concerned about how you'll bring it to your classes you have your priorities massively backwards. You don't need, say, 8 gigs of RAM and a 3GHz quad core just to take lecture notes

But to answer the original question, no I wouldn't say that's good value. Gaming laptops are marketing gimmicks, just like Macs and Alienware (dohoho). For that price you'd be a lot better off building a real computer, especially if you want to use it for gaming. An AMD 1090T + 560Ti would poop all over that laptop, and it'll be cheaper too.

 

[dice1998]

Question:

Say i'm playing TF2 and it keeps locking up and black screening.
But this also happens on Left 4 dead..

But! It doesn't happen on other games like San Andreas and Max Payne II...

Would this be a video card problem or just something to do with the source engine/steam?

Or is it something different altogether?

(I wasn't sure if i should ask this here or a video game-related thread)

 

[bergauk]

Sounds like a Source engine issue to me.

 

[dice1998]

Ugh, I hope it is

Oh and for the record: the video card in question is a PNY 9800 GTX+

 

[12thgear]

If you're wanting a quick computer and are concerned about how you'll bring it to your classes you have your priorities massively backwards. You don't need, say, 8 gigs of RAM and a 3GHz quad core just to take lecture notes

But to answer the original question, no I wouldn't say that's good value. Gaming laptops are marketing gimmicks, just like Macs and Alienware (dohoho). For that price you'd be a lot better off building a real computer, especially if you want to use it for gaming. An AMD 1090T + 560Ti would poop all over that laptop, and it'll be cheaper too.

Sure it's overkill for note-taking, but I think Principalities made it clear he would use the laptop for gaming too. I imagine it will be a general use computer. I don't think a gaming laptop is a gimmick at all, though some gaming laptops are gimmicky. Plenty of people use a laptop as their only computer, and I think that may be the case here. There's nothing wrong with getting a laptop with a little grunt if he wants to game too. There are always tradeoffs when getting a laptop. Principalities just needs to decide if these are tradeoffs that make sense for his use cases.

 

[Principalities]

Yes, I was aiming for a multirole laptop. I mean, I know I won't expect the greatest gaming experience from a laptop, but it'll have to do for now.

 

[E28]

Cheapish netbook and a gaming desktop? A netbook would be alot easier to carry round.

 

[nk4e]

...and some teacher you have! Was it for a club, or is he simply that awesome?

When we finished our work. We could play Unreal, he only banned it when people started to install it on a computer twice.

 

[bergauk]

Cheapish netbook and a gaming desktop? A netbook would be alot easier to carry round.

I really like this idea. You can get a pretty decent [As in 12.1 inch, 4GB RAM, 64bit Win7] Netbook for about 400-500$, and then use the rest to build yourself an entry level gaming desktop to keep in your room.

 

[AOS-]

Blackmagic makes a variety of really nice video capture devices, but they're not cheap. They make a nice Thunderbolt model if you have a newer MacBook. It will run you $300: Blackmagic Intensity

Wow! Great stuff! Thanks for the link.