THE COMPUTER THREAD

[kodiakthejuggler]

Damn! All that for $320?!

Not bad..

Seems about what market price would be. Nothing too amazing to get excited about...

[kodiakthejuggler]

You can edit photos in that?

If by 'edit' you mean 'ruin,' then yes.

I mean, you can edit jpgs. But the tools are at best clumsy.  At worst, rage inducing.

QFT. I use Paint only as a last resort. And I mean LAST.

[Tony]

Man I don't want to spend $70 just to edit photos

FWIW, looks like there are a few decent editors here. Decent being better than MS Paint...

Top 10 Free Photo Editors for Windows

[gbeenie]

You can edit photos in that?

If by 'edit' you mean 'ruin,' then yes.

I mean, you can edit jpgs. But the tools are at best clumsy.  At worst, rage inducing.

QFT. I use Paint only as a last resort. And I mean LAST.

My partner uses it constantly, and it drives me up the wall. We've got CoreDraw 12 and PhotoPaint, and I can't convince her to learn how to use them (not that I'm an expert; sometimes I feel like a monkey sitting at controls at NORAD when I use the things).

[MSTJedi]

When I figured out what layers were used for, the scales fell from my eyes.

I have Photshop Elements courtesy of my Epson scanner. I've used layers before, but so infrequently that I couldn't tell you how I did it. Mostly I use it for resizing and cropping. And a little red-eye work every now and then.

So I'm finished building the PC.  Looks and runs okay, except for a few dents on the chassis.  I like that it glows blue.  The temperature gauge and the adjustable fan dial don't work, but that doesn't really matter.

Now I have a software problem.  I reinstalled Nero yesterday.  First off, the 350 Mb downloader took like 6 hours to download, then about 90 minutes to install.  That was weird, but it's in the past. 

Now Nero has somehow taken over my computer.  All the thumbnails for all video and audio type files have been replaced by Nero's golden disc icon.

I have this same problem with some of my files, too. 7-Zip somehow took over the iso icons and won't give them back to DVD Decrypter.

[MSTJedi]

But basically anything you want to know how to do, there's a free tutorial for somewhere on the internet. 

I'm reminded of the "You Suck at Photoshop" videos.

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/Big_Fat_Brain/You_Suck_at_Photoshop/YouSuckatPhotoshop1_398.aspx

[Tripe]

OK so I was able to make a region free copy of that Doctor Who DVD I bought. However my computer needed me to change the regionsetting on my DVD burner to initially read the disc.

This is fine, next time i put in a normal region (1 in my case) disc, it'll switch back. But then I wondered, is it possible to set my computer's DVD drive to region free?

Well is it? If so how?

[kodiakthejuggler]

Okay, so after Uncle Sam gives me some of my hard-earned money back in a week or two, I'll be upgrading my computer hardware to something a little more up to date. Here's what I've got my eyes on:

MOBO:
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P


CPU:
Intel Core 2 Duo E7500


RAM:
TBD, but I want at least 2 gigs of DDR2 memory running in Dual Channel mode. Either 800 MHz or 1066MHz.
Brands in contention are Crucial, OCZ, Corsair, or Mushkin.

HDD:
One or two 500 gig drives in SATA from either Seagate or Western Digital.

VIDEO CARD:
TBD, but here are a few contenders:
ATi's Radeon HD 4830 or 4670, (example here and here)

DVD/CD Burner:
Not picky about that, but it would be SATA interface for ease of use and connection.


The components I'll be keeping from my current build are:

CASE:
Antec P180B


CPU COOLER:
Zalman CNPS9500A LED


POWER SUPPLY:
Thermaltake W0100RU Purepower 500W, featuring dual 12v. rails. Though, I would upgrade it should I decide to upgrade to a quad core processor or CrossFire V/C setup.

[RVR II]

That's a perty Setup

If you haven't decided on a DVD burner, I'd recommend the LG 'Super Multi' w/ SATA interface from NewEgg..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153
Don't  Get Any 'Lite On' brands.. I toasted 3 of them in 6 months a couple years back

[kodiakthejuggler]

That's a perty Setup

If you haven't decided on a DVD burner, I'd recommend the LG 'Super Multi' w/ SATA interface from NewEgg..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153
Don't  Get Any 'Lite On' brands.. I toasted 3 of them in 6 months a couple years back

Awesome, I'll look into that! And I agree, it truly is a perty setup! Can't wait to see it all put together. Plus it will kick the crap out of my current setup!

[gbeenie]

Definitely look for deals on RAM. I got 2 2gig sticks direct from Kingston for $34 SHIPPED.

[Tony]

Okay, so after Uncle Sam gives me some of my hard-earned money back in a week or two, I'll be upgrading my computer hardware to something a little more up to date. Here's what I've got my eyes on:

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E7500

RAM: TBD, but I want at least 2 gigs of DDR2 memory running in Dual Channel mode. Either 800 MHz or 1066MHz.
Brands in contention are Crucial, OCZ, Corsair, or Mushkin.

HDD: One or two 500 gig drives in SATA from either Seagate or Western Digital.

VIDEO CARD: TBD, but here are a few contenders:
ATi's Radeon HD 4830 or 4670, (example here and

DVD/CD Burner: Not picky about that, but it would be SATA interface for ease of use and connection.

The components I'll be keeping from my current build are:

CASE:
Antec P180B

CPU COOLER:
Zalman CNPS9500A LED

POWER SUPPLY:
Thermaltake W0100RU Purepower 500W, featuring dual 12v. rails. Though, I would upgrade it should I decide to upgrade to a quad core processor or CrossFire V/C setup.

Mind if I chime in? This will be a very nice setup. I have two boxes with very similar components and they all look and work great together.

If I were doing this build, I'd probably slightly alter your selection:

MOBO: No change. Gigabyte boards have excellent design, quality parts, and great performance. Unlike the Asus boards I always used, the Gig boards have never failed me.

CPU: Spend the extra $25 and go for at least the E8400 instead of the E7500. It's got a very slightly faster clock, but more important is twice the L2 cache, and a significantly faster FSB speed that matches your motherboard's 1600/1333 MHz FSB rating. (7500 = 1066MHz FSB, 8400 = 1333MHz FSB)

RAM: I've used all four of your chosen brands, but OCZ Gold & Platinums have been the best working cheap-ish RAM of anything else I've used (so far). There's not a HUGE performance difference between 800 and 1066 DDR2 for most apps, but 1066's are only slightly more expensive...

HDD: I got tired of getting bad Seagate drives over the last two years: It's their turn to be the red-headed step-child of problem hard drives, especially after they moved a major manufacturing plant to China. Lately it seems like every Seagate drive's firmware is faulty and needs to be upgraded. Western Digital has my vote with zero problems with 8 drives bought over the last two years.

VIDEO CARD: EVGA makes excellent cards, and has a great 90-day upgrade program, but they are exclusively Nvidia so... Nevermind.

DVD/CD Burner: FWIW, I've had an LG 20x SATA DVD drive chugging away in one box since September, no problems. After I realized that DVD read speed was locked to only 2x max,  I had to unlock it using MediaCodeSpeedEdit, but that was easy.

FWIW a rule of thumb I use on Newegg parts is that if the product falls much below an 80% positive review (add 4's and 5's together), I don't touch it. So far I've had great luck with dozens of parts sticking to this rule.

[Tony]

OK so I was able to make a region free copy of that Doctor Who DVD I bought. However my computer needed me to change the region setting on my DVD burner to initially read the disc.

This is fine, next time i put in a normal region (1 in my case) disc, it'll switch back. But then I wondered, is it possible to set my computer's DVD drive to region free?

Well is it? If so how?

This pretty much requires a firmware hack, and there are many out there.

There are also sometimes hardware-specific "switches" for drives that will reset a drive's region setting count, but it may only work so many times before the drive locks. Depends on the drive, but for some of them holding the eject button during power-up will do it.

Try searching for your drive here or search Google for your drive model + region + firmware for a permanent solution.

[kodiakthejuggler]

Mind if I chime in? This will be a very nice setup. I have two boxes with very similar components and they all look and work great together.

If I were doing this build, I'd probably slightly alter your selection:

MOBO: No change. Gigabyte boards have excellent design, quality parts, and great performance. Unlike the Asus boards I always used, the Gig boards have never failed me.

CPU: Spend the extra $25 and go for at least the E8400 instead of the E7500. It's got a very slightly faster clock, but more important is twice the L2 cache, and a significantly faster FSB speed that matches your motherboard's 1600/1333 MHz FSB rating. (7500 = 1066MHz FSB, 8400 = 1333MHz FSB)

RAM: I've used all four of your chosen brands, but OCZ Gold & Platinums have been the best working cheap-ish RAM of anything else I've used (so far). There's not a HUGE performance difference between 800 and 1066 DDR2 for most apps, but 1066's are only slightly more expensive...

HDD: I got tired of getting bad Seagate drives over the last two years: It's their turn to be the red-headed step-child of problem hard drives, especially after they moved a major manufacturing plant to China. Lately it seems like every Seagate drive's firmware is faulty and needs to be upgraded. Western Digital has my vote with zero problems with 8 drives bought over the last two years.

VIDEO CARD: EVGA makes excellent cards, and has a great 90-day upgrade program, but they are exclusively Nvidia so... Nevermind.

DVD/CD Burner: FWIW, I've had an LG 20x SATA DVD drive chugging away in one box since September, no problems. After I realized that DVD read speed was locked to only 2x max,  I had to unlock it using MediaCodeSpeedEdit, but that was easy.

FWIW a rule of thumb I use on Newegg parts is that if the product falls much below an 80% positive review (add 4's and 5's together), I don't touch it. So far I've had great luck with dozens of parts sticking to this rule.

Awesome. Thanks a bunch for the input. Unlike the way I normally do things, I'm taking my time to fully research these purchases to get the best bang for my buck. Being that my hardware choices are usually at least a year behind when it comes to technology, prices have come down so far that I can get something that's really not that old in terms of how fast technology advances. I'll be quite pleased with my new setup, and it will last me for a while.

[jewishcarpenter]

If you're getting DDR2 I'd recommend paying $20 more for 2x2GB sticks of DDR2 1066 and getting an E8400 rather than the E7500 it's got double the amount of L2 cache for around $24 more. Upgrades in stuff like that you'll see a difference in performance if you were to play any games on the system.

EDIT: And then I go ahead and read that icagnncheez has already recommended these things. Doh.