GoRedwings19's Computer Help Hotline

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I've had in mind for a while to build myself a decent gaming PC (~1000$) and I've started researching on the subject today. After a few hours of reading, I have to say I'm still clueless about which hardware to choose and I'm fucking overwhelmed by the amount of information, reviews and discussion out there. I was wondering if you guys knew of any reliable forums with something like "build of the week" or a regularly updated website that recommends PC components? I'll be ordering all my stuff online (probably from NCIX) and I don't feel like taking a shot in the dark and ordering hardware based on the reviews there, but at the same time I have no interest in readin…

So I am tired of being a cheapskate and using limited capability storage solutions. I need to get a real NAS that will not be limited for a while. Anyone have experience with recent Synology NASs? I am looking specifically at either the DS413 or the DS412+. Any experiences positive or negative with these units or the Synology software interface would be appreciated.

Courier: First Details of Microsoft's Secret Tablet - Microsoft courier tablet - Gizmodo Pretty damn cool vision for a future tablet/booklet pc. If the final devices are even close to as responsive as the video shows I'll be very impressed.

Looking at getting a 13" MacBook Pro, and am trying to decide which one to get... 2.4 GHz Core2Duo, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB HD or 2.66 GHz Core2Duo, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB HD, which can be had for $260 more. Is the performance bump between the 2.4 & 2.66 worth while for $215, knowing the 250 GB to 320 GB HD upgrade is a $45 upcharge? Thoughts? Input? And no, I don't want to wait for the rumored new model in a few months. I'm not liking what I'm hearing.

My music library is accessed via my iMac and iTunes. AFAIK, iTunes does not support high resolution audio files. Is there any way I can get hi rez files to pump out of the optical out of my iMac?

Mozilla released the final version of Firefox 3 today. You can grab it from our download section here

I haven't really used a Windows computer much* in the past 10 years but now have a Surface Pro 3 and thought I might end up using it on trips when I want a tablet with me. My hope is that I can successfully install Ubuntu on it in the future and maybe someone can figure out how to get the Type Keyboard working with Ubuntu. For now, I'll probably be sticking to Windows so I need software advice. What is the best/fastest/least buggy... 1) Virus Scan (I assume I will need one of these). I am leaning towards Avast or Sophos right now. 2) Pdf reader - Chrome reader it ok but it would be nice to have one not tied to the browser. I tried Sumatra but it is a litt…

Just thought I'd get a pulse on how Mac fans handle their digital music libraries. For example, do you ALAC + iTunes, or do you FLAC + some heretofore unknown program to postjack, or do you bypass all of that with a Squeezebox, etc. Currently on the PC I'm finding the Squeezebox to be the best thing since peanut butter since I don't have to screw with clunky buggy slow foobar (just my experience) or ASIO. Its my understanding that Macs don't need ASIO because Core Audio > kmixer, is this correct?

I thought that I might take advantage of Black Friday/Cyber Monday to replace my laptop. This HP Pavilion has the features I'm looking for and is only a little more than I hoped to pay. However, I'm so out of the Windows laptop market these days that I have no idea if this is a good deal or not. Could anyone please comment on whether I should get this or maybe suggest alternatives? Thanks in advance.

So my home computer is dying. Well, it's more dead than dying but you get the picture. It's had a good life, some 8 years now, and just can't cope with even the most basic tasks anymore. After installing a fresh OS this weekend and having it struggle for an entire day just trying to auto-update it's become painfully clear that it's time to move on. Basically what I'm thinking about doing is picking up a pre-assembled motherboard/processor/ram bundle from someone like mwave and installing it in a chassis myself. But I don't have the time or patience required to research this stuff much these days so I figured I'd throw it out there and see if anyone has any great …

Hi guys I have a problem, I need some suggestions from all the experts and those who have experience in Linux. Before we go any further, I just wanna say a big THANK YOU to you guys for taking the time to help me out. I truly appreciate the help. I'm a total newbie to this so any help you guys can give me would be great! Right, I ran into a problem when trying to install BlueCat Linux. I'm using Ubuntu 8.04.1. My problem is this: root@sanjeev-desktop:/tmp# cd /opt/BlueCat root@sanjeev-desktop:/opt/BlueCat# /tmp/install Installation directory must be empty install: terminating root@sanjeev-desktop:/opt/BlueCat# /bin/ls: cannot access *: No such file or direct…

Well, I got this wonderful virus that offers me free shit! The PITA, is that it launches iexplorer and when it does, my computer just freezes because it takes too long to process the request from the adware virus. If I am listening to music, the music stops and resumes 7 - 15 minutes later. Bringing up task manager to shut the damn thing down takes 5 minutes by itself. Any suggestions on how to get rid of this annoying adware?

I'll probably be getting myself a laptop (my first!) at some point in the next several months. I hate touchpads. What are my options? Disable in software Disable in firmware Disable in hardware (open, disconnect or snip, close) Build my own Lenovo X200 Sony Vaio Lifestyle Any others?

Google Chrome 4 lands (Windows) extensions on world+dog ? The Register Now with extensions! Including AdBlock https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gighmmpiobklfepjocnamgkkbiglidom And FlashBlock https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/cdngiadmnkhgemkimkhiilgffbjijcie

I'm considering the idea of building a very small size RAID box using 2.5" SSD drives, so it probably wouldn't need a fan nor a built-in PS. I'd fit 4 drives for a RAID-1 configuration. Since it'd be in a Mac computer, it's not necessary the box has built-in RAID firmware and it could be either USB-C 3.1 or Thunderbolt for faster performance. My google mojo seems to be really bad for this, everything I find are conventional 3.5" drive RAID boxes (large, noisy and pricey), single drive enclosures or in the best case, those docks that can fit 2 internal HDD drives (I've had one already for four years) but are large for they can hold either 3.5" or 2.5" drives. In the w…

I'm looking for an external HD for my iMac. Will be used for backup and storage. Looking for 500GB. Recommendations appreciated.

I've posted some of my initial impressions on another thread, but figured I'd start another thread since there are few Mac users on the forum. Few things - The installation went smoothly without a hitch, even though I took a risk and chose the Upgrade option. No reboot or DVD mounting issues here. Safari runs much better than the beta (duh). No random crashes in middle of surfing and I think it's marginally faster than beta, but I could be imagining that. Stacks are stupid. It may be useful if you only have handful of document/downloads, but that's not the case here. I like the Tiger's folder on Dock better. I love Quick Look - I make multiple revisions of same docu…

last night i restarted my computer and windows said something happened and started to run chkdsk on a drive. i let it run and left the office. this morning when i can back and logged into windows, i was welcomed with a lovely sight showing 3 of my drives had been wiped by chkdsk...good going xp. ive googled this issue and it seems to be quite common with external drives. have tried 3 recovery softwares with no results. yall have any suggestions or did i just lose 3tb of media

So I get home from the gym last Friday to find a brown box on my doorstep. It was odd, as a Mexican hadn't stolen it yet, but I digress. I wasn't expecting anything, but I opened it up and lo and behold, a box of awesomeness. I even got the new stickers! Anyways... I really like a lot about this thing. The size is just about perfect, the build quality is very good. For a daily carry machine, I love it, but there is a bit lacking, as of now. I have a lot more playing to do, but for now, I post a pic for Jeff's sake. No review yet, as I've been rather busy as of late, but I wanted to throw this out there saying that "one of us has one." If you want to know …

Have any of you downloaded it yet? It handles complex code really well and loads pages fast. I'm really liking it.

I'm looking into getting a 2560 x 1600 30" monitor or so -- what's the best place to look up these guys? I know how to google, but someone posted a couple of good sites to look up laptops, I was wondering if there was an equivalent site for desktop components -- Tom's Hardware? I mean, I know to look at things like contrast ratio and response time, but things like color temperature are so subjective, it'd be really nice to find a place where people have more experience with these things, because most of the local shops don't have much in the way of selection.

Yay! Looking forward to my 15/2 package being bumped up to 20/5 sometime next week.

My iPhone 4 took a dip in the pool this weekend due to my jumping in fully clothed to grab Jack who was in trouble in the deep end. I put it in a bag of rice for 24 hours--no joy. Also, I made a big mistake, I think, by pressing one of the buttons very soon after drying off the phone. It never came on, but it did get very hot. That can't be good. Any suggestions?

Does anyone know of a program in which a novice graphics artist could get started? I have an idea for the logo for my band, and I wouldn't mind being able to create a rough (computer) sketch of it.