The thread formerly known as the laptop thread but is now about random tech.

[crimson5pheonix]

My HTPC is 2TB of movies...

Ahah, NOW were talking!

I hope you feel incompetent now...

Not at all Dont worry - at the mo i have 3 500GB HDD's. I need more storage still, so planning to get a 320GB as a boot drive, and then start buying 1TB drives after that.

Well for now, I have more than you

 

[Ameatypie]

Well for now, I have more than you

For now..... *Brings forward plans for storage upgrades*

 

[xitel]

I've got a problem here. My notebook's built in microphone has been making feedback when my speakers are turned on. Normally that would make sense, but the problem is that it makes the feedback even when I have it turned off. It's especailly strange because the microphone input isnt supposed to route to my audio output. One day it just started happening though.

Is there anything on in the background?

No, nothing. It happens when even when I just run my finger over the little hole in the notebook that the sound goes into. It's pissing me off, because it means I can't use my speakers.

Wait, when your microphone is turned off, or when your speakers are turned off?

I can go into the Microsoft Sound center, turn off both input devices including the microphone, and it still picks up the feedback. The only thing that stops the feedback is turning off the speakers. its wierd, because even with a TV in the background and a video going on my computer, when the audio is turned on, the feedback only exists when the audio is really loud. But when I even so much as brush the mic, it starts up.

A bit of a duh thing you've probably already tried, but have you tried muting the mic?

I just checked, and something had kicked up my microphone boost to the full 30 dBs. I turned it off, and now the loopthrough from my microphone to my speakers is still there, but the screeching feedback is gone.

Well that's an improvement.

Yeah... but I'm still worried about the feedback rearing it's ugly head again. It's a wierd problem and it annoys me that I cant fix it.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I've got a problem here. My notebook's built in microphone has been making feedback when my speakers are turned on. Normally that would make sense, but the problem is that it makes the feedback even when I have it turned off. It's especailly strange because the microphone input isnt supposed to route to my audio output. One day it just started happening though.

Is there anything on in the background?

No, nothing. It happens when even when I just run my finger over the little hole in the notebook that the sound goes into. It's pissing me off, because it means I can't use my speakers.

Wait, when your microphone is turned off, or when your speakers are turned off?

I can go into the Microsoft Sound center, turn off both input devices including the microphone, and it still picks up the feedback. The only thing that stops the feedback is turning off the speakers. its wierd, because even with a TV in the background and a video going on my computer, when the audio is turned on, the feedback only exists when the audio is really loud. But when I even so much as brush the mic, it starts up.

A bit of a duh thing you've probably already tried, but have you tried muting the mic?

I just checked, and something had kicked up my microphone boost to the full 30 dBs. I turned it off, and now the loopthrough from my microphone to my speakers is still there, but the screeching feedback is gone.

Well that's an improvement.

Yeah... but I'm still worried about the feedback rearing it's ugly head again. It's a wierd problem and it annoys me that I cant fix it.

You could always go into system devices and disable it manually.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Well for now, I have more than you

For now..... *Brings forward plans for storage upgrades*

And my desktop is faster

 

[Radelaide]

While a notebook is just a little less underpowered, but is substantially less portable and useful

If you can only have one computer, then I think a $1500-$2000 notebook would be the best choice for most people.

But if you can have two, I would pick a $500 netbook and a $1000-$1500 self-built desktop computer. That way, you can have the best of both worlds.

It depends on what you're using it for.

The laptop I'm getting (XPS m1530 by Dell) is essentially a gaming laptop, which is what I'll be using it for, but I'm also going to uni next year, so I'll be using it for that too. If you want a laptop suited for you, custom make one. None of this Netbook nonsense.

As a bit of consumer advice, i'd not buy any laptop for 'gaming'. That 8600 in the top of the range M1530 isn't the same as a desktop chip. It won't be close in performance, closer to 8300/8400. You might be able to play some older games, but certainly not much new.

We got a guy at work a M1330 for office work though, he needed a replacement quickly.

To be honest, i'd rather bring a tower PC to a LAN. It's not like a few years ago, where people were lugging 20"+ CRTs. I'm tempted to get a 26" Monitor, even that is easy. Face flat against a seat, stick a pillow over the back and tie in with the seat belt, and tower wedged in a footwell. Without even using the boot.

The thing is, I'm not going to use it for gaming all the time. I'm not going to play Crysis on it, only a few Steam games. I don't LAN.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

While a notebook is just a little less underpowered, but is substantially less portable and useful

If you can only have one computer, then I think a $1500-$2000 notebook would be the best choice for most people.

But if you can have two, I would pick a $500 netbook and a $1000-$1500 self-built desktop computer. That way, you can have the best of both worlds.

It depends on what you're using it for.

The laptop I'm getting (XPS m1530 by Dell) is essentially a gaming laptop, which is what I'll be using it for, but I'm also going to uni next year, so I'll be using it for that too. If you want a laptop suited for you, custom make one. None of this Netbook nonsense.

As a bit of consumer advice, i'd not buy any laptop for 'gaming'. That 8600 in the top of the range M1530 isn't the same as a desktop chip. It won't be close in performance, closer to 8300/8400. You might be able to play some older games, but certainly not much new.

We got a guy at work a M1330 for office work though, he needed a replacement quickly.

To be honest, i'd rather bring a tower PC to a LAN. It's not like a few years ago, where people were lugging 20"+ CRTs. I'm tempted to get a 26" Monitor, even that is easy. Face flat against a seat, stick a pillow over the back and tie in with the seat belt, and tower wedged in a footwell. Without even using the boot.

The thing is, I'm not going to use it for gaming all the time. I'm not going to play Crysis on it, only a few Steam games. I don't LAN.

Thank you. When I say my laptop plays games, I don't expect it to play Crysis well, I expect it to play World of Goo.

 

[Radelaide]

Not at all Dont worry - at the mo i have 3 500GB HDD's. I need more storage still, so planning to get a 320GB as a boot drive, and then start buying 1TB drives after that.

Holy carp! Who needs that much space!? What are you doing with your computer?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Not at all Dont worry - at the mo i have 3 500GB HDD's. I need more storage still, so planning to get a 320GB as a boot drive, and then start buying 1TB drives after that.

Holy carp! Who needs that much space!? What are you doing with your computer?

Movies! Uncompressed movies take up 5-8GB and that's for SD.

 

[Radelaide]

Not at all Dont worry - at the mo i have 3 500GB HDD's. I need more storage still, so planning to get a 320GB as a boot drive, and then start buying 1TB drives after that.

Holy carp! Who needs that much space!? What are you doing with your computer?

Movies! Uncompressed movies take up 5-8GB and that's for SD.

Jeez... Oh! Do you guys know of any programs that convert .avi into DVD files? My mum wants my friend to download some TV shows for her and he can't find a program to download them and mum can't wait till I get my laptop. (It's HDMI compatible so she'll plug it into the back of the big screen... Or so she says)

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Not at all Dont worry - at the mo i have 3 500GB HDD's. I need more storage still, so planning to get a 320GB as a boot drive, and then start buying 1TB drives after that.

Holy carp! Who needs that much space!? What are you doing with your computer?

Movies! Uncompressed movies take up 5-8GB and that's for SD.

Jeez... Oh! Do you guys know of any programs that convert .avi into DVD files? My mum wants my friend to download some TV shows for her and he can't find a program to download them and mum can't wait till I get my laptop. (It's HDMI compatible so she'll plug it into the back of the big screen... Or so she says)

Why? Most modern DVD players (and computer) can use AVI files. You shouldn't need to convert them. In answer to your question though, no. No I don't.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

The first couple of pages of this thread are ridiculously pointless to everyone who respects actual conversations and frowns upon pointless arguing to which no one will back down.

In my response I would have to say my Netbook is preferred - its just a personal choice though. Whatever floats your boat.

Fixed.

Well done.

Now don't comment on conversations until you learn English.

Seriously, please stop with the witty comments my sides are splitting.
All I said was that the first couple of pages were a big arguement to which no one would back down.
I didn't mean any offence so don't take it that way.

As my first post alluded to, this thread was started partially so we could get off someone else's thread with our child like whining

Teeheehee
Good plan haha

I thought it was. It certainly was successful.

 

[Ameatypie]

Well for now, I have more than you

For now..... *Brings forward plans for storage upgrades*

And my desktop is faster

IS it now? and what are the specifications of your desktop?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Well for now, I have more than you

For now..... *Brings forward plans for storage upgrades*

And my desktop is faster

IS it now? and what are the specifications of your desktop?

Core 2 Duo running at 3GHZ with a 1333 Mhz FSB, 8800GTS 680MB(G80 core), 500GB 7200 RPM HDD, and 4GB of DDr2 800 RAM in Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit). Go!

 

[Ameatypie]

Not at all Dont worry - at the mo i have 3 500GB HDD's. I need more storage still, so planning to get a 320GB as a boot drive, and then start buying 1TB drives after that.

Holy carp! Who needs that much space!? What are you doing with your computer?

Movies! Uncompressed movies take up 5-8GB and that's for SD.

Yes.... Movies.. I have 600 odd movies on my computer, with those and 50GB or so of doco's takng up one drive. On another drive, I have 300GB or so of TV series (Including ALL of Topgear, right up to season 12 episode 4, ALL of the simpsons, and 20 or 30 other series), game setup files, and 60 GB of anime. That takes up another drive along with personal documents and stuff. Then i use the final drive as my boot drive. I have only used 250GB or so on that (I have ALOT of games and stuff) so there is still 215GB or so left. see? Used, and very quickly too.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Not at all Dont worry - at the mo i have 3 500GB HDD's. I need more storage still, so planning to get a 320GB as a boot drive, and then start buying 1TB drives after that.

Holy carp! Who needs that much space!? What are you doing with your computer?

Movies! Uncompressed movies take up 5-8GB and that's for SD.

Yes.... Movies.. I have 600 odd movies on my computer, with those and 50GB or so of doco's takng up one drive. On another drive, I have 300GB or so of TV series (Including ALL of Topgear, right up to season 12 episode 4, ALL of the simpsons, and 20 or 30 other series), game setup files, and 60 GB of anime. That takes up another drive along with personal documents and stuff. Then i use the final drive as my boot drive. I have only used 250GB or so on that (I have ALOT of games and stuff) so there is still 215GB or so left. see? Used, and very quickly too.

I backed up my entire DVD collection on my computer so there's only a couple hundred GB left out of the 2TB HDDs in my HTPC.

 

[Ameatypie]

Well for now, I have more than you

For now..... *Brings forward plans for storage upgrades*

And my desktop is faster

IS it now? and what are the specifications of your desktop?

Core 2 Duo running at 3GHZ with a 1333 Mhz FSB, 8800GTS 680MB(G80 core), 500GB 7200 RPM HDD, and 4GB of DDr2 800 RAM in Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit). Go!

How pitiful. Below i list my specifications:

-2.66GHz Core 2 Quad, 12mb Cache, 1333FSB Processor

-8GB of DDR2-800 SuperTalent RAM w/ Heatsinks

-Asus P5Q P45 1600MHz, Duel Channel DDR2-1200 PCI-E 2.0 Motherboard

-8800GT Turbo Force Edition (11% faster then your average 8800GT) 512mb 256 bit stream single GPU Graphics Card

-3x Seagate 500GB 32mb 7200.11 RPM Hard Drives (making for a total of 1.5TB of space)

-LG DVD/RW Drive

-Centurion 590 Cooler Master Case

-AceBel 607Watt Power Supply Unit

-Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

-Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise

Take THAT! MWHAHAHAHA!

 

[Ameatypie]

I backed up my entire DVD collection on my computer so there's only a couple hundred GB left out of the 2TB HDDs in my HTPC.

Cool - when (not if) I get a couple more TB's, I think i will do the same... What program did you use to do that? Or just copy and paste?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Well for now, I have more than you

For now..... *Brings forward plans for storage upgrades*

And my desktop is faster

IS it now? and what are the specifications of your desktop?

Core 2 Duo running at 3GHZ with a 1333 Mhz FSB, 8800GTS 680MB(G80 core), 500GB 7200 RPM HDD, and 4GB of DDr2 800 RAM in Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit). Go!

How pitiful. Below i list my specifications:

-2.66GHz Core 2 Quad, 12mb Cache, 1333FSB Processor

-8GB of DDR2-800 SuperTalent RAM w/ Heatsinks

-Asus P5Q P45 1600MHz, Duel Channel DDR2-1200 PCI-E 2.0 Motherboard

-8800GT Turbo Force Edition (11% faster then your average 8800GT) 512mb 256 bit stream single GPU Graphics Card

-3x Seagate 500GB 32mb 7200.11 RPM Hard Drives (making for a total of 1.5TB of space)

-LG DVD/RW Drive

-Centurion 590 Cooler Master Case

-AceBel 607Watt Power Supply Unit

-Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit

-Microsoft Office 2007 Enterprise

Take THAT! MWHAHAHAHA!

Your RAM is the only thing that has a major advantage over mine.

Mine is, of course, before my Christmas upgrades.

Core i7 3GHz
8GB DDR3 1600
Nvidia GTX 280
2 Velociraptors in RAID 0 for OS drives
I'm putting my 2 TB of HDD in my computer
Sony Blu-ray drive
and my Open office is free and better than your MS office so HA!

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I backed up my entire DVD collection on my computer so there's only a couple hundred GB left out of the 2TB HDDs in my HTPC.

Cool - when (not if) I get a couple more TB's, I think i will do the same... What program did you use to do that? Or just copy and paste?

You can't copy and paste, there's copyright protection and as such,

Don't talk to me about these programs as they are
Very law unfriendly. Backing up
DVD's is a
stupid idea. I just
hope you don't
request other to help you
in finding this
new for you program.
Klappy!