Logitech Cordless MX Duo - RETAIL Ultimate performance, design and control. The ultra-comfortable Cordless Elite Keyboard combines ultra-flat Zero-Degree Tilt(tm) design with a media center, smart navigation, and expert controls. The cordless MX(tm) 700 Optical Mouse integrates a revolutionary optical sensor with fast RF cordless technology to provide corded performance without the cord.
Newegg is great, especially when u live 20 miles from them, express saver turns into 2day shipping. :P
For combo dvd-rom/cd-rw drives, I really do like the samsung, its quiet, fast, and it looks really nice. Should be the same price as the lite-on, and has a black bezel.
The refurb AIW cards don't come with the remote or any software... makes the AIW features useless.
Samsung drives are good too, I've had one (still do, actually!) and like it as much as Lite-On. I think they have pretty equally high quality. The Samsung is a little quieter, but the Lite-On reads through some disc errors that the Samsung sometimes can't.
You can DL the software free from ATI's website, but you can't install it.
During the installation process, the installer requests that you insert the original installation disc to verify that you actually own a retail copy of the program. There's no way around it and without this software, the AIW features of the AIW are completely useless.
Plus, the Retail All-In-Wonder comes with all the required dongles, accessories, adapters, remotes, etc.. and a 3 (maybe 5) year warranty.
Yeah. This system is going into an armois acros from the bed and it will be used as a TV, Gaming system, mulitmedia platform, and Web browser. All of the functions of al the above hardware are important. So am I good to go or are there things I haven't thought of or addressed yet?
He wanted to use it as a MultiMedia/Gaming computer, which in my mind should have the AIW features. He wanted to be able to attach a Camcorder and have a Video In/Video Out signal for dubbing and a TV-Out feature so he can output the signal to a Television.
You can't do that with anything less than an AIW and still have a great gaming card
ourlove2082: Looks like you've got everything setup perfectly well.
Don't skimp $$$ on your monitor though. It's what you will spend your hours and hours of computing time staring at. Cheap monitors don't support higher refresh rates and resolutions, so you won't get to enjoy the super high resolutions and graphical rendering power of that Radeon 9800 Pro AIW to it's fullest potential. As well, most people keep monitors for a long time, so it's best to invest in something that provides the largest screen size, highest resolution and highest refresh rate you can afford.
As was mentioned before, look around locally for an Aperture Grille CRT (if you want a nice big screen). The major vendors of Aperture Grille CRT's are Sony, NEC, Mitsubishi, Dell, HP IBM & Compaq. You can usually pickup a great 19" Aperture Grille CRT or mid-range 21" for a decent price (such as that NEC FP912SB-BK I mentioned. It really is a sweet monitor).
If you are ever having any trouble assembling that PC, drop us a line here @ SM and we'll help you through it
You can definitely output to the TV for all your movie watching and such, but it doesn't really suffice as a regular monitor for anything that's text-based.
TV as monitor - no way, for quality reasons, though you might get a halfway decent picture for something like VCD's. The resolution on TV's is way lower than even a small monitor. Your text will look fuzzy. So will everything else, for that matter...
I use a TV as monitor for my home theatre PC, and it just plain sucks for anything non video or non game related. I am even using S-Video for output instead of standard composite. S-Vid makes it bearable but not usable.
yeah I tried playing counterstrike on a 40" sony trinitron (If I remember correctly) using s-video .... lemme tell you, it was fun ONLY because it was a 40", otherwise, it was the worst experince I have ever had on a computer.
Even multiplayer FPS' suck because you can't read team chat text.... bleh. I use it for video only.
0
Geeky1University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
edited November 2003
Well, I'm going to try to throw something together tonight...
But for now, things to keep in mind:
Power supply quality is important; bad power can cause all sorts of problems, from random crashes to the destruction of some or all of the hardware in your system. Antec, Enermax, and PC Power & Cooling are the three best brands there are.
RAM quality is also important- cheap ram is more likely to die, and if/when it does, it'll make your system unstable as hell. Corsair, Samsung, Crucial, Dane-Elec, SimpleTech, and Kingston are good.
Motherboards contribute a great deal to the stability of the system; ASUS and MSI are my top recommendations for someone who's never built a PC before. They're reliable, fast, stable boards that are less fickle than ABITs can be. ABIT makes outstanding boards that overclock exceedingly well. They tend to be very reliable on top of it, but they can sometimes be a bit fickle initially, which is why for your first system, I'd go with ASUS or MSI.
from what I have read (and thats not much) regular TV is 640x480 and HDTV is 800x600??? I don't think it makes it look good enough to be useable still. Maybe someone who knows exact numbers can help out more.
0
Mt_GoatHead Cheezy KnobPflugerville (north of Austin)Icrontian
edited November 2003
I have seen one of these TV's used for puter games and it was awesome!!! Then again for something with an on sale price of $7,000 it should be good. As a desktop it was mediocre.
I didn't see a floppy drive anywhere in your sales list. I find mine to be _extremely_ useful, though your mileage may vary.
The All-In-Wonder 9700 and 9800 both have component video out dongles with RGB (YPbPr) RCA connectors, which go up to 1080i assuming your TV will support that resolution. My TV only goes up to 480p, which makes it useful for watching DVD's and anime from my PC. Incidentally, I was an early adopter of the All in Wonder 9700 Pro, and have no regrets.
I don't get a whole lot of use out of the ATI remote, since I have a Logitech Elite (corded) keyboard with the multimedia panel and iPod-esque volume control and no free USB ports. I've got an MX500 mouse, which is also hardcore. All the MX mice are essentially the same, except the 500 is corded, the 700 is uhf? and the 900 is bluetooth. I prefer corded peripherals because I'm too ch33p to buy batteries, but you might prefer the freedom of not having to tug on the cable when you need more space.
And yes I'm aware that the MX900 has a charging cradle, which is why I'm considering getting one in the future.
Alright, I downloaded the folding at home program but I'm not sure if I set it up right. I am going to have it at home and at work. What do I need to do to be a functioning member of the team? Folding seems like a great cause as my grandfather has parkinson's that has made his life difficult. He is my best friend and anything I can do to help is a wonderful thing.
Oh, I think that I will look into a HDTV eventually but I will probably get a nice, big moinitor for now.
Comments
Logitech Cordless MX Duo - RETAIL Ultimate performance, design and control. The ultra-comfortable Cordless Elite Keyboard combines ultra-flat Zero-Degree Tilt(tm) design with a media center, smart navigation, and expert controls. The cordless MX(tm) 700 Optical Mouse integrates a revolutionary optical sensor with fast RF cordless technology to provide corded performance without the cord.
Is this the one you speak of?
Any other suggestions?
For combo dvd-rom/cd-rw drives, I really do like the samsung, its quiet, fast, and it looks really nice. Should be the same price as the lite-on, and has a black bezel.
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/Viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=manufactory&catalog=5&manufactory=1077&description=&srchFor=Samsung CDRW/DVD Combo Drive 52x24x52 CD-RW 16x DVD (Black)">Samsung SM-352BENB</a>
Oh, if you want a 9800 pro check this out for 280.50: <a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1126&Type=Refurbish&sortby=14&order=1">Refurbished 9800 pro AIW</a>
Samsung drives are good too, I've had one (still do, actually!) and like it as much as Lite-On. I think they have pretty equally high quality. The Samsung is a little quieter, but the Lite-On reads through some disc errors that the Samsung sometimes can't.
edit: scratch that, looks like you can dl the software free on the site.
During the installation process, the installer requests that you insert the original installation disc to verify that you actually own a retail copy of the program. There's no way around it and without this software, the AIW features of the AIW are completely useless.
Plus, the Retail All-In-Wonder comes with all the required dongles, accessories, adapters, remotes, etc.. and a 3 (maybe 5) year warranty.
That's worth the extra $$$ in my books
ok .... yeah ... I was lazy, didn't really read the details, just saw that it was 100 less and was like OMFGWTFXOR?! :P
but really, are you going to use the AIW features? *shrug*
He wanted to use it as a MultiMedia/Gaming computer, which in my mind should have the AIW features. He wanted to be able to attach a Camcorder and have a Video In/Video Out signal for dubbing and a TV-Out feature so he can output the signal to a Television.
You can't do that with anything less than an AIW and still have a great gaming card
ourlove2082: Looks like you've got everything setup perfectly well.
Don't skimp $$$ on your monitor though. It's what you will spend your hours and hours of computing time staring at. Cheap monitors don't support higher refresh rates and resolutions, so you won't get to enjoy the super high resolutions and graphical rendering power of that Radeon 9800 Pro AIW to it's fullest potential. As well, most people keep monitors for a long time, so it's best to invest in something that provides the largest screen size, highest resolution and highest refresh rate you can afford.
As was mentioned before, look around locally for an Aperture Grille CRT (if you want a nice big screen). The major vendors of Aperture Grille CRT's are Sony, NEC, Mitsubishi, Dell, HP IBM & Compaq. You can usually pickup a great 19" Aperture Grille CRT or mid-range 21" for a decent price (such as that NEC FP912SB-BK I mentioned. It really is a sweet monitor).
If you are ever having any trouble assembling that PC, drop us a line here @ SM and we'll help you through it
These P4C's with HT really chew down the Gromac units quite well. HT sure helps production. 2 Gromac's on the P4C's fold faster than a single Tinker
We'll make ourlove2082 fold for team 93 as repayment for helping choose the parts that went into his new PC and aiding in the assembly process
What is folding and how do I join?
Can I use a regular 32" TV as the monitor?
Just so you have some idea as to what we're referring to.
TV as monitor - no way, for quality reasons, though you might get a halfway decent picture for something like VCD's. The resolution on TV's is way lower than even a small monitor. Your text will look fuzzy. So will everything else, for that matter...
You could, but the resolution, image quality and refresh rate would be very inferior to a proper CRT monitor.
But for now, things to keep in mind:
Power supply quality is important; bad power can cause all sorts of problems, from random crashes to the destruction of some or all of the hardware in your system. Antec, Enermax, and PC Power & Cooling are the three best brands there are.
RAM quality is also important- cheap ram is more likely to die, and if/when it does, it'll make your system unstable as hell. Corsair, Samsung, Crucial, Dane-Elec, SimpleTech, and Kingston are good.
Motherboards contribute a great deal to the stability of the system; ASUS and MSI are my top recommendations for someone who's never built a PC before. They're reliable, fast, stable boards that are less fickle than ABITs can be. ABIT makes outstanding boards that overclock exceedingly well. They tend to be very reliable on top of it, but they can sometimes be a bit fickle initially, which is why for your first system, I'd go with ASUS or MSI.
Utilizing DVI?
AFAIK, you can't output DVI signals from the AIW 9800 Pro to an HDTV DVI-compatable TV. They use 2 different standards of DVI.
The TV is DVI-D, the Video card is DVI-I.
ATI sells a component out cable for HDTV.
The All-In-Wonder 9700 and 9800 both have component video out dongles with RGB (YPbPr) RCA connectors, which go up to 1080i assuming your TV will support that resolution. My TV only goes up to 480p, which makes it useful for watching DVD's and anime from my PC. Incidentally, I was an early adopter of the All in Wonder 9700 Pro, and have no regrets.
I don't get a whole lot of use out of the ATI remote, since I have a Logitech Elite (corded) keyboard with the multimedia panel and iPod-esque volume control and no free USB ports. I've got an MX500 mouse, which is also hardcore. All the MX mice are essentially the same, except the 500 is corded, the 700 is uhf? and the 900 is bluetooth. I prefer corded peripherals because I'm too ch33p to buy batteries, but you might prefer the freedom of not having to tug on the cable when you need more space.
And yes I'm aware that the MX900 has a charging cradle, which is why I'm considering getting one in the future.
-drasnor
Oh, I think that I will look into a HDTV eventually but I will probably get a nice, big moinitor for now.