Author Topic: Hardware/OS Geek Thread  (Read 53309 times)

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Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #475: October 30, 2009, 11:19:44 AM »
That's what I had set up before I installed 7. 7 Decided I must have meant PCL when I said PS, and switched it without telling me. Hence the hassle. It's fixed now.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #476: October 30, 2009, 11:25:45 AM »
That's what I had set up before I installed 7. 7 Decided I must have meant PCL when I said PS, and switched it without telling me. Hence the hassle. It's fixed now.

Probably just a side-effect of updated drivers.  PCL is more common, after all, so the hardware wizard (or whatever they're calling it now) went with that first.  I end up with a similar situation at home every time a new graphics driver is released, as I usually get it from the manuf. about two weeks before it shows up on Windows Update, but WU always asks anyway :lol:

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #477: November 01, 2009, 08:58:48 PM »
Apple is so pathetic. Why must they bash Windows in every single one of their commercials? What a sorry ass marketing strategy. Why don't they focus on promoting their own product rather than bashing their counterpart?

Hell, Windows doesn't even give a crap about Apple anyways because they are but a blip on their radar. They represent such a small fraction of the marketshare that they don't even matter.

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #478: November 01, 2009, 09:07:50 PM »
Apple is so pathetic. Why must they bash Windows in every single one of their commercials? What a sorry ass marketing strategy. Why don't they focus on promoting their own product rather than bashing their counterpart?

I agree with this. their commercials are annoying as hell, and they don't make me want to try any of their products at all.

Quote
Hell, Windows doesn't even give a crap about Apple anyways because they are but a blip on their radar. They represent such a small fraction of the marketshare that they don't even matter.

this I disagree with. Microsoft is very concerned about both Apple and Google, marketshare be damned.  and they should be. its sound business.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #479: November 01, 2009, 09:34:19 PM »
this I disagree with. Microsoft is very concerned about both Apple and Google, marketshare be darned.  and they should be. its sound business.

They're more worried about Google than Apple, at least on the computer/operating system side.  Apple sells an expensive niche product and will never open their OS to the unwashed masses.  The only reason they can make half the claims they do is BECAUSE they have such a small market share.

Portable devices, on the other hand...  Apple is doing much better than MS there.  But then again so is Blackberry.  And probably Google, by this point.  Windows Mobile is so bleh.

Offline NatsAddict

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #480: November 02, 2009, 12:23:03 PM »
Quote
Build a Home Server in a Whiskey Bottle

(Image removed from quote.)
Jason Marton was looking for a quieter, hidden home server. So, naturally, he built one into a whiskey bottle that blends in with his existing dry bar.

Over at hack weblog MetkuMods Jason Marton explains how he created a personal PC or home server inside of a discarded and (obviously) empty whiskey bottle. Although it isn't the first thing one might think of, we have to applaud the creativity and problem solving skills that went into the modification.

(Image removed from quote.)

The only part of the hack that needed a small amount of professional help was from a glass cutter. After a few failed attempts to use at home tools, he took it in to a local professional to have the holes drilled and cleaned up. Here's the rest of the materials Jason used for his 2006 hack (you can update accordingly), and you can pick up the assembly details over at MetkuMods:

    * 1.5 liter Ballantine's bottle
    * 3.5" SBC board
    * Intel P3 733EB processor
    * 256MB notebook RAM
    * 40GB notebook HDD
    * 60W mini-ITX PSU
    * 44 pin mini-IDE cable
Life Hacker

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #481: November 02, 2009, 01:02:08 PM »
Is that so home invaders can't steal your private data?

Offline PC

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #482: November 02, 2009, 09:39:27 PM »
I find the new Apple commercials ironic and ludicrous, the ones about the XP users going to a Mac.  Like you can just buy Snow Leopard or any version of OS X and just upgrade XP.  They completely ignore the fact that if those users want to "upgrade" from XP to OS X, they're going to have to buy over a thousand dollars worth of overpriced Apple hardware to get Snow Leopard.  :?  They opened a huge door for Microsoft to make a counter ad.

Lower the price of a new Mac to the upgrade price of Windows 7 and you've got a deal!

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #483: November 02, 2009, 09:44:46 PM »
I find the new Apple commercials ironic and ludicrous, the ones about the XP users going to a Mac.  Like you can just buy Snow Leopard or any version of OS X and just upgrade XP.  They completely ignore the fact that if those users want to "upgrade" from XP to OS X, they're going to have to buy over a thousand dollars worth of overpriced Apple hardware to get Snow Leopard.  :?  They opened a huge door for Microsoft to make a counter ad.

Lower the price of a new Mac to the upgrade price of Windows 7 and you've got a deal!

i find ads from both sides 100% worthless. if you're basing your computer purchase off of advertisements, you're going to get a crappy deal. buying a computer requires extensive research to good deal and everything you want.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #484: November 02, 2009, 09:46:06 PM »
Apple's are the worst. They would rather bash their competitor than promote their own product.

Microsoft's ads are fine.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #485: November 02, 2009, 09:46:12 PM »
I hate to defend Apple but I think the idea of the ad is that most people won't upgrade to 7 on their existing machines (which outside of the tech community is probably true) and since they're going to buy a new computer anyway it might as well be a Mac.  There's some merit to that, but it still glosses over the fact that a new Mac is significantly more expensive than a comparably equipped new PC.  Not to mention the complete change in application environment that would completely disorient most average PC users.

The "everything's fixed, I promise" ad is definitely a joke, though.  As if Apple hasn't had their share of turds over the years.

Offline PC

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #486: November 02, 2009, 09:48:57 PM »
I hate to defend Apple but I think the idea of the ad is that most people won't upgrade to 7 on their existing machines (which outside of the tech community is probably true) and since they're going to buy a new computer anyway it might as well be a Mac.  There's some merit to that, but it still glosses over the fact that a new Mac is significantly more expensive than a comparably equipped new PC.  Not to mention the complete change in application environment that would completely disorient most average PC users.

The "everything's fixed, I promise" ad is definitely a joke, though.  As if Apple hasn't had their share of turds over the years.

And you're still going to have to pay for Apple's overpriced hardware, ie the Apple tax over the price of a new PC, virtually identical to the Apple hardware, it just costs half as much.

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #487: November 02, 2009, 09:56:21 PM »
question, because i'm a noob.

my laptop has vista. how can i upgrade to windows 7? what is that student discount thing i heard about? do i have to clear all my info to upgrade?

Offline sportsfan882

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Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #489: November 02, 2009, 10:00:40 PM »
And you're still going to have to pay for Apple's overpriced hardware, ie the Apple tax over the price of a new PC, virtually identical to the Apple hardware, it just costs half as much.

I'm pretty sure I observed/acknowledged that in the post you quoted :P

The new 27" iMac actually isn't a bad deal for what you're getting, at least at the base price/config.  Similar specs and a similar screen would easily run you into the $1800 range with a PC, though it's hard to do a direct comparison since the screen on the new 27" doesn't really have any peers unless you step up to 30," and even then I'm not sure there are any LED-lit IPS monitors on the open market yet.  Of course as soon as you start adding options to the base config, the price skyrockets, and generally speaking Macs aren't price-competitive, but they do have a couple of sweet spots.

question, because i'm a noob.

my laptop has vista. how can i upgrade to windows 7? what is that student discount thing i heard about? do i have to clear all my info to upgrade?

PANats recently upgraded one of his machines from Vista to 7, you could ask him about his experience with that.  I've only ever performed clean installs myself.  Force of nerdy habit.

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #490: November 02, 2009, 10:02:48 PM »
what version of vista do you have?

for $30 (students): http://windows7.digitalriver.com/store/mswpus/en_US/DisplayHomePage?resid=qpZhRQoBAkgAAFbtMK4AAAAT&rests=1257217097817



no idea. ive heard a lot of good things about windows  7 but dont really feel a need to upgrade; vista has been fine for me. im just curious about it.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #491: November 02, 2009, 10:04:09 PM »
right click on my computer and click on properties to see what version of windows vista you have

here is the vista to 7 upgrade chart:




Offline PC

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #492: November 02, 2009, 10:08:36 PM »
I'm pretty sure I observed/acknowledged that in the post you quoted :P

When you're talking about overpriced Apple crap, it never hurts to say it twice! :lol:

...and I only do clean installs too.  As a matter of fact, I try to do clean Windows install every year.  It was especially necessary in earlier versions of Windows, less so now.  Starting fresh is such a good idea.

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #493: November 02, 2009, 10:11:36 PM »
What's the difference between professional and home premium? i have vista home premium.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #494: November 02, 2009, 10:12:58 PM »

PANats recently upgraded one of his machines from Vista to 7, you could ask him about his experience with that.  I've only ever performed clean installs myself.  Force of nerdy habit.


I got a weird error message once, rebooted, started the installer over. No problems after that. No questions to answer. Painless, really, but it took about 2 hours. The upgrade process is really slick.

The student program will give you Home Premium, but I don't know what extra features you get with Ultimate. With Vista it seemed to be a lot of multimedia stuff I didn't need.

7 is a pleasure to use. It's faster, cleared a bunch of space on my hard drive, is far better at managing wifi, just a cleaner and better overall experience. No down side after a couple of weeks of use. I'm happy.

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #495: November 02, 2009, 10:14:34 PM »

I got a weird error message once, rebooted, started the installer over. No problems after that. No questions to answer. Painless, really, but it took about 2 hours. The upgrade process is really slick.

The student program will give you Home Premium, but I don't know what extra features you get with Ultimate. With Vista it seemed to be a lot of multimedia stuff I didn't need.

7 is a pleasure to use. It's faster, cleared a bunch of space on my hard drive, is far better at managing wifi, just a cleaner and better overall experience. No down side after a couple of weeks of use. I'm happy.

thanks. i'll look into it. What I'll probably do is back up all my stuff (papers, music, etc) on an external hard drive (just to be safe) when i go home for thanksgiving and upgrade it then.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #496: November 02, 2009, 10:16:42 PM »
thanks. i'll look into it. What I'll probably do is back up all my stuff (papers, music, etc) on an external hard drive (just to be safe) when i go home for thanksgiving and upgrade it then.

That's what I did. Make sure to de-authorize your iTunes. The installer will remind you. For 30 bucks, it's worth it. The deal may not be around forever.

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #497: November 02, 2009, 10:20:00 PM »
That's what I did. Make sure to de-authorize your iTunes. The installer will remind you. For 30 bucks, it's worth it. The deal may not be around forever.

why/how do i need to de-authorize my itunes?

Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #498: November 02, 2009, 10:21:23 PM »
I'm familiar enough with the different versions to say that the vast majority of people do not need Ultimate.

One big difference with 7 is that every higher version is a superset of all lower versions.  In Vista, Home Premium had media center but no remote desktop hosting, while Business had remote desktop hosting but no media center.  You had to get Ultimate to get both.  With 7, Home Premium has media center but no remote desktop hosting, while Pro has both.

Honestly, Home Premium is enough for most people.  The two biggest things missing from it (remote desktop hosting and the ability to join a domain) won't be missed by most people, and remote desktop hosting can easily be replaced by third party alternatives.

Offline PANatsFan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #499: November 02, 2009, 10:31:02 PM »
why/how do i need to de-authorize my itunes?

Because your windows key will change. You will lose one of your 5 authorized computers forever. I got burned when I installed Vista Service Pack 1 & 2 (which you need to do before you upgrade vista, by the way). Go to windows.com in internet explore, and search for the manual upgrades.