[LaW]Maverick

CableLABs officially sucks...ty .fx...I had found some of this info myself, and have found places that sell that card separate from PCs as well.

I'm with you!

6th, 7th, and 8th grade science

we live in NE OH, the job she got is in Akron. :-) Where does your wife teach Wolfsblood? My Mom also worked as a teacher in Jackson (also NE OH) for a looong time, my brother teaches in Warren...which is Eastern Ohio really...though it's more north than south, near Youngstown. Her other job offer was in Massillon, but that's not the greatest district in the world to work for.... Anyway, thanks for all the congrats! I was getting really sick of being flat-broke all the bloody time....this will go a long way in helping as she will be making about $12,000 or $13,000 more this year than she did last year.

Yeah, Valve should know the old axiom: An unhappy customer tells 10 friends, and a happy customer tells only 1 or no one at all. People are just more likely to vent when they're ticked, that's all. I want a resurgence of CS glory days!

Well, one thing's for sure, we don't get to play it. And it still looks like the AWP is lame to me, but I think CS:O was built on CS:CZ, so, meh....I want a complete overhaul to the engine too! Source2 or something, I dunno. CZ was never that good.

OK, so I think we're due for a new CS, it's been since 2004 since we got Source, and it's time. In Asia, they released Counter-Strike Online in 2008, but I'm not even entirely sure what the devil that is. Here's what I'd like to see: 1.) Grenades that do grenade damage (i.e., a grenade lands in your lap, you die) 2.) Destructible environments 3.) Proper damage through various materials (i.e., going through stone does less damage than going through wood...additionally, going through thick wood does less damage than going through thin wood) 4.) The ability to go prone 5.) Waver and movement penalties when wielding an AWP (it's a freaking heavy rifle designed to sit on a bi-pod, you can't hope around like Roger Rabbit and hit people with it, sorry) 6.) Improved overall graphics. 7.) Re-introduction of vehicles, but ONLY ON SELECT MAPS (not like COD4, just the occasional vehicle map like we used to have waaaay back in the day--remember the jeep map?) All they'd have to do is a little advertising, make it appeal to the nostalgic players that used to play, and they'd make a fortune. I'd buy it. What do you guys think?

I wasn't intentionally dissing Macs, they're very good machines...however, they're overpriced. That isn't even ASUS's gaming line of laptops, it's just a fairly loaded system for just under $1,000, and it's new and has a better warranty. I don't see why you'd buy a system with less power, that has been refurbished, and has a worse warranty in all honesty...unless you absolutely HAD to have the Mac OS, which wouldn't be that great for playing the few games he does want to play. And with that, I am stepping out of the discussion before starting yet another Mac Vs. PC flame war

Yes, but this $999 ASUS has better specs, a better warranty, and isn't refurbished.....hmmmm...I wonder which I'd buy.... Not real tough: buy the new one with more power

OK, so I wanted to build my brother a Home Theater PC (HTPC) to eliminate some of the components he currently has to have sitting out while giving him even more power with his TV viewing options. It was a simple idea in my head, and I know how to make it work (he'd eliminate his cable-box and receiver, by the way). Anyway, the problem I've run into is this: I figured that a QAM tuner would pick up the digital HD channels no problem. I was right, however, some of them are encrypted so that you need a CableLabs certified device from your cable company to get them. Well, the problem with that is that, apparently, you can't put one in yourself--only OEM PCs have them, not DIY builds. Some people have defeated this buy buying an ASUS PQ5 mobo and an ATI Wonder TV card, then they plug in a generic PID to get access...THEN they have to get the actual CableCard from their provider (assuming they offer them). So, my question is this, does anyone know if there is another way to do this? Or if there's simply an external device that accepts the cablecard and plugs into the computer? HTPCs are sweet, but I wouldn't want to sacrifice all of my "premium" HD channels for it (I live DiscoveryHD)

My wife and I have been pretty ridiculously broke for the past year or so because the state of Ohio is pretty crappy when it comes to getting a job as a teacher. For each opening in a public school, there are could be anywhere from 300 to 700 applicants...it was pretty bad. However, this year, my wife got hired! She has a pretty killer classroom too! On top of that, shortly after on school hired her, a second one called to offer her a job! That's...insane if you're at all familiar with the teacher situation in Ohio. Anyway, just wanted to share the good news with my good friends at GC!

I figured I'd just poke in here to see if anyone was looking to get rid of/sell their computer desk. I need something with lots of storage, and I was hoping for an L-shaped corner desk of some sort. I've found a a few on Craigslist, and I found a sweet one at Office Max for $400...but I was hoping to spend considerably less than $400.

The add-ons look pretty sweet....I must say. But sheesh, it's either really uncomfortable, or those buttons are REALLY tiny...

I have a friend that would definitely be interested, but it's a little more expensive than he was wanting to spend. It's a better laptop (by quite a bit) than what he's been looking at though. I know he wanted to keep the price lower though If you think about dropping the price a bit (which I know is painful for that nice system), let me know. Heck, if I had the money, I'd replace my laptop with that one. Mine's 3 years old now (a little over that actually), and my old AMD Turion64 processor is feeling it's age a bit..not to mention the max of 2GB of RAM kinda sucks.

I'd definitely try replacing the PSU first--I have nearly the same system and I'm using an Antec 850 with no trouble what-so-ever. Systems tend to peak and draw more power during game-play, and if the PSU can't keep the power supply steady during those spikes, it'll lock right up. FK Has a good point as well--but it sounds to me like your problem COULD be power related. I know with my 8800 GTX and mobo, EVGA recommended I have at least a 600W supply, thought they said it SHOULD work with a weaker one.

I'd just like to say that I recommended SEAGATE WD just doesn't make drives like they used to--I used them exclusively for a long time, now I use Seagate.

If I were seriously interested in it, I would research which company makes the LCD panel inside it. There are a few major manufacturers (Sharp, Sony, etc) that supply off-brand and some not-off brand companies their panels (i.e., Sony makes panels for Samsung, and Sharp makes panels for Olevia).

I just thought I'd let everyone know, there's a killer deal on a 1080p (1920 x 1200, I'm assuming) 24" monitor at Tiger Direct right now.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Congrats!!!

Who is that dude?

Just an update, I threw Win7 on an old P4 computer with only 512 MB of RAM....and it works! That's...good. It runs better than XP ran on that computer with only 512 MB of RAM....that being said, they are ordering MORE ram, because it does have to dip into the page file quite often. But still...it's impressive it would work at all. Vista would have probably melted the computer.

There's at least 12 of us seriously though, look up the ZuneHD specs, even you'll be impressed...720p output is pretty In any case, this has a ton of potential...now if they could superimpose zombies through a set of goggles into wherever you happen to be, then read gestures to shoot, reload, etc, that would be amazing....VR, but superimposed over real life...how killer would that be?

This post is just for SJ: The new ZuneHD has confirmed Tegra graphics

I have to say, the movie quality on the Storm is pretty killer--I can't say it's better or worse than on the iPhone/iPod Touch as I haven't had the opportunity to watch movies on them in person, but it the best quality I've ever seen on a phone. I use my Storm 90% for personal use, and I have found a lot of ways to use it for entertainment--there are also a whole lot of apps out there for it now, although, to be fair, they're not always as easy to find (that's why I pointed you toward the AppWorld...makes life easier).