Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

A forum for video games, new & retro, on consoles, computers, handheld & mobile. Also for tech talk, things like PC parts, phones etc.
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Hawq
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Hawq »

Buffalo TS1200D TeraStation 2-Bay Network Attached NAS Storage Enclosure 2TB version, all for the low low cost of a contest entry

Code-Red
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Code-Red »

....still waiting for a motherboard. Worst tech launch I've ever seen, AMD and all of the AIBs have managed to completely and royally fuck every aspect of the launch up. No boards, what boards are out there are the "gamer" budget stuff, the BIOS's are atrocious, boards don't post, RAM barely runs over 2933Mhz.

If I didn't absolutely loathe Intel for what they've done to the CPU market, I'd have ditched this setup weeks ago.

Code-Red
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Code-Red »

90% done. Painted the motherboard, everything minus the watercooling stuff is together. 144fps in BF1 is quite sweet, I must say.

Image

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Big Boss Man
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Big Boss Man »

So I got this USB to Scart or Scart to USB cable recently. Googled and there's nothing about it. I have a hunch it's for like a CCTV setup, or maybe I can use it to connect a VCR to a PC. It was pre owned so no documentation or whatever with it. Interestingly it has a micro USB connector attached to it too, so not sure what it's for. Anyone have any clue, thanks.

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Dr. Zoidberg
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »


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Big Boss Man
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Big Boss Man »

Well, sorta. It's a direct Scart to USB/micro USB. There's no like middle bit to decode anything so I'll have to post a pic as I've found nothing like it online, thanks for looking though Zoidy.

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

so when my desktop died I went out and bought a little HP laptop for $50.

It's a 10" pavilion with windows 8.1 upgraded to 10, 500GB hdd, 2gb of ram and a nice little dual core 1GHz APU with 8000 series graphics.
Battery life is 4-5 hours. It's quite annoying how laggy it is, but for what I do these days it's enough

Still haven't decided what to do with computer.. I'm not gaming anymore so I'll probably sell it and get something a lot cheaper, or wait for a nice 1080 to come on sale.

Also bought a 39.5" Akai full hd TV for $100 which I'll keep since I'm without projector.
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

I bought an Acer Aspire M5 ultrabook cheap recently. Was in a bit of a rough shape (well very, but it was very cheap) missing hard drive, Really dusty inside, and a few screws loose.. Completely overhauled it. (well I didn't take the screen assembly apart) but everything else was stripped, cleaned, re-thermalpasted, put back together and has been in use for a couple of weeks now.

It's got:
Core i5 3337U CPU
6Gb DDR3 1600 Mhz RAM
15.6" 720P screen
320GB WD black (that I put in it)
20GB MSATA Cache drive
DVD-RW burner (Very uncommon for ultrabooks)
Backlit keyboard
Lithium polymer battery (no shitty Ions here) that still lasts about 3.5 - 4 hours of normal use despite being 5 years old.
Legit windows 7 plus all the other standards for laptops and some really good speakers..

I'm actually really impressed.. Acer has got a bum wrap for build quality of laptops over the years..
Pulling this thing apart showed how far they've come, With a metal keyboard top, this actually feels nicer and better built than a friends brand new ASUS Zenbook ($1500) So I'm guessing ASUS went downhill a little unless you buy one of those ROG things.
I'd say the level of this laptops quality is just shy of HP (who's quality is always good despite how cheap or expensive they are)
There's a little bit of flex in the middle of the keyboard, but compared to my old ACER laptop (2009-2013) and newer ASUS ones, it's very insignificant, ghjk vbnm, are the only keys that even flex when I'm typing quickly.

For the $140 total cost (including charger and cable, the WD black, Sleeve case and bonus 16GB sd card left in the reader, I am very happy.)
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

Also, I upgraded my tiny little HP.. Ditched the hard drive, Cleaned it all out, re pasted and put in a 240GB Transcend SSD.
Reduced weight of it by a lot, and extended it's battery life to 6 - 6.5 hours.

It has no fan, Entirely passive, but 2GB is the max RAM it can take, so the SSD helps it along quite a lot. Also without the Hard drive, the thing is 100% silent and vibration free. So Very happy with that one.
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

Well an update on the Acer.. I installed some new drivers, updated windows etc etc.. have been using it for about 5 hours this arvo..
Battery hit 1 percent about 45 minutes ago.. and it's still going? That can't be good right??

I'm not complaining, But I don't want to over drain the battery, if that's a thing?
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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Prophet][
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Prophet][ »

I would just be the calibration that is off. Next time its charged it will know what the charge state is properly.

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

It's better now after a couple of charges, but the battery level calibration is way off, like the fuel gauge in my car (car goes full to half in 10 seconds, then 10 weeks half to empty).

Drops from 100% to 60% in half an hour, spends 4 hours going from 60% to 20% then the last 20 lasts about 45 minutes before it just dies out.. so it's still odd, but at least it's dead when it says it is now. but Whatever the updates and drivers did, battery life is closer to 5 and a half hours now :)
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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Prophet][
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Prophet][ »

Sometimes in the bios you can force a full re-calibration

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

I didn't see that option when I was setting it all up, as long as I'm not killing the battery, it doesn't really phase me, I'm just not too used to laptop / batteries in general (last time I had one it spent all its time plugged in.)
and didn't want to kill it, but if the cells don't actually hit the minimum state, I assume it's all fine.
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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Skynet
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Skynet »

Oculus Rift with third sensor

I wasn't going to do it but at the price I bit the bullet. I really do want a Vive instead, but with the sale Oculus is having I bought it.

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

Many VR porn for Skynet.
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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melancholy
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by melancholy »

My LG TV started getting light bleed really bad on the corners. The TV isn't anything fancy, just a basic 55" 1080p I bought 4 1/2 years ago. No smart features, low refresh rate...but it has 3D capability. Well I purchased the 5 year warranty on it, so I called and emailed them pictures of the light bleed. They said yep, warranty covers that but since it's over 4 years old they will have to replace it.

Then they said, "So, how attached are you to the 3D? Because they don't really make 3D TV's anymore." I told him I liked it and I use it a handful of times a year. So he told me they normally swap for a TV with the same specs, but since I would be losing features, he could upgrade me a bit to something better.

That something better is a Sony 55" 4K LED Smart TV with 240Hz. The only thing it's missing is HDR, but considering I'm pretty much getting it for free I can't complain.

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Dr. Zoidberg
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by Dr. Zoidberg »

LG 1080p to Sony 4k, that's a nice free upgrade.

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melancholy
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by melancholy »

So according to Sony's website, the TV does have HDR. I guess I'll know for sure when it arrives tomorrow. And if it does, holy shit what an upgrade.

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ian
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Re: Post here when you buy computer/tech stuff

Post by ian »

melancholy wrote:So according to Sony's website, the TV does have HDR. I guess I'll know for sure when it arrives tomorrow. And if it does, holy shit what an upgrade.
Even if it doesn't, it's still holy shit what an upgrade.
LG to Sony is holy shit by itself.
1080 to 4k is holy shit by itself (be sure you have lots of 4k content)
Any Hz under 100 to 240 is holy shit by itself.
5 year old tv to brand new smart TV is holy shit by itself.
You're gonna have an eyegasm with or without HDR ;)

And the fact you're not paying extra for the amazing upgrade makes it even better.
If I should Die Hard Arcade before I Alan Wake.
PREY the Lords of Lore my Soul Calibur to Take
-Two Interactive.

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