[Jusentantaka]

 Silencer, on 18 February 2010 - 11:33 PM, said:

Or, just buy a netbook, then get a good desktop.

@Jusen, the scary thing is, you can buy a configuration from Alienware's desktop department that actually scares me: Core i7 @3.8GHz, 12Gb of DDR3 RAM (not a great clock speed, mind you...only 1333MHz...still, plenty with that amount of space behind it! XD), and the default card setup is a GTX 285. You can also upgrade to:
A GTX 295
Dual GTX 295's
An ATI 5970(!!!)
OR....

Dual. ATI 5970's. Crossfired, ofc. Who the fuck needs dual, dual-GPU cards, two of the most powerful GPU to yet be released, for any game, hell, for any game in the next year or two? :S Especially with that processor and RAM configuration.

Sure, being Alienware, it is hugely overpriced - $6,000NZD for the basic, 4GB RAM configuration :S - and you could buy the same thing for much less with better RAM and build it yourself. But...holy fuck. That sort of specification is just plain crazy. It's pointless to buy even a single 5970 - you will be able to cope with modern games at highest graphics settings with ease using a 5870 or less for the next six months. And by that time a new raft of graphics cards will have been released (Nvidia Fermi/4xx series, anyone?), and you will then be able to buy another, newer graphics card that is just as effective for the next six months, and you will STILL have cash left over compared to the price of two 5970's. In fact, if you started with a single 5870, you could then buy a second one and SLI it for half it's current price, and have pretty damn good performance from there.

Actually, my husband's company uses SLI'd ATI cards for whatever it is they do some kinda consultant-design-buildings thing - they could use an oxygen-type card (thats what they were called last I looked at that stuff - big, loud, lots of memory and good for everything but video games), but those run like 4 grand for a good one, 2 of the new 58xx series cards run well under a grand, even less with a buy in bulk discount, and they'll easily match a dedicated card for almost anything. Not the market they were intended for I imagine, but hey, sales are sales, right? One has to be enough for anything gamey though - can run anything maxed, pretty much whatever resolution you want. Obviously, having two of those cards is for people who are such hardcore gamers that they need to play two games at once.

Oh, and the new AvP. It looky the nicey with a lalalalalalalala it looks reallly nice.

And funny enough, off newegg.com, a dual 5970 PC will run under! 2300 USD going with all AMD (fuck overpriced intel, cause seriously. Its still stupidly overpowered so paying half the price for 95% the power is damn fine. I remember paying about four thousand of significantly higher-valued dollars for my first 133mhz computer, so its really not that bad...

This post has been edited by Jusentantaka: 19 February 2010 - 12:55 AM

[Tiste Simeon]

Wait til the iPad comes out and... Oh wait, it's not that much use for well, anything... Don't do that...

[maro]

 Adjutant Stormy, on 18 February 2010 - 10:21 PM, said:

I would strongly suggest that you do not, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES purchase a Dell. They have been nothing but trouble for me, and their customer service, (which you're going to need...) sucks.

If you want to hear my gigantic Dell rant, you may ask for it, but I will spare you all until then.

For day to day stuff, with a little power on the side, I'd look into Lenovo (formerly IBM, clunky functional) or my personal favorite, Asus.

Having supported over 4000 Dell Laptops over the last 3 years, that's a long bow to draw.

Their build quality is in the top tier now and their pricepoint is also great. For general computer requirements, you can't go past them.

If you think Dell Customer Service is bad, try Lenovo, HP etc

[Silencer]

I actually just purchased AVP. XD

Got it on the Xbox, though. And yeah, it looks pretty good, but it's not top-tier graphics. Gameplay is pretty good, as far as nostalgia tripping goes, though I do feel that requiring more than one plasmacaster shot to kill a basic xeno is a bit tough, really. The thing should kill PEOPLE in one hit, and then aliens could, I suppose, be a one charged or two normal hits...and my god, always having those wrist blades on screen, what were they thinking? :S

Motion tracker is good fun, however, the first level really took me back to AvP2 on the PC. Sadly, the pulse rifle, while mostly accurate sound and with accompanying ammo counter, is maybe just a tad underpowered, considering it's an absolute bitch to hit aliens running about in the dark, but more the point; full auto, what? It's a 'Pulse' rifle, aka burst fire. Yes, it has that nice burst sound to it...if you pulse the trigger.

So, basically, the game is fairly pretty and has great nostalgia value...but if only they'd taken just a *bit* more care with some things, just that extra mile that really would have put this game over the top. Can't see why half the 'net is bitching about the graphics, though. Or the controls - yeah, it can be a bit clunky/slow in some places...but it's not a major issue, it just detracts a tad from the overall experience...I've played plenty of games with worse setups.

>.>

What were we talking about? Oh, graphics cards. Yeah, the Quadro/Tesla series of cards are way overpriced for what they deliver, but that's what a nearly monopolised market gives you! XD

Also, HP: most overpriced company EVER. At least down here in NZ, they're shortchanging people by using 1066MHz RAM and dual-core processors while still charging i3/i5/i7 prices and pretending like the quantity of RAM is the only important factor, rather than the speed. THEN they give you a huge hard drive with bloody 5400rpm! Hello, solid state drives may be incredibly expensive, but they should also make 7200rpm hard drives the MINIMUM you can live with, drop the price of 10,000rpm speciality ones, and then slowly start to phase them out. How can you justify that kind of markup for a 5400rpm HDD these days?

Don't even get me started on the big 'fuck you' that the HP Envy is, either. :S

[Jusentantaka]

 Silencer, on 19 February 2010 - 02:53 AM, said:

I actually just purchased AVP. XD

Got it on the Xbox, though. And yeah, it looks pretty good, but it's not top-tier graphics.

Looks 'better' than Crysis on PC (aka: The thing attached to a long wire connecting to my tv), subjective as hell considering its rendering under DX11 and Shader 5.0. Sad though that it doesn't feel like it'll turn out to be as good of a game in the end though.

And pulse doesn't mean burst, after all, no one calls *pick your modern rifle de jour* a pulse rifle... it could be any damned sci-fi thing in the world. And it was always full auto, so sayeth The Movie. Haven't felt it was underpowered though, but its a lot easier to make a shot on the pc.


and the damned blades too. ewww.

This post has been edited by Jusentantaka: 19 February 2010 - 03:22 AM

[D'rek]

I have a little Acer netbook and my boyriend has a big 16" Acer laptop. Acer used to do all clunky-looking business-type laptops that were about average, but they've completely changed in the last few years and now have lots of very pretty-looking ones that (in my own experience and those of people I know) work great and can be quite powerful. If you go with a netbook, the acer ones come with a real operating system on them (ie: windows) instead of the crappy app-manager-type thing that come on some other netbooks.

Mine is kinda like this one -> Aspire 1410
Boyfriend's is this -> Aspire 6935 (gotta love that little media controller touch-thingy on the left)

Both a couple years old, now.

[alt146]

I do agree with the desktop + netbook/kickass smartphone concept, but it would probably raise the pricepoint well above that of a normal laptop, unless we're talking alienware monster type thing. The one reason a netbook might work better than a smartphone in this case specifically is document editing, although a desktop would cover that if he got/has one.

I read a couple of favourable reviews about the Nvidia Atom-based system when it first came out - it way outperforms vanilla Atoms, but it does add a bit to the pricetag too. HDMI, multiple USB, eSATA other nifty interfaces are definitely a good idea. As for watching movies - the extra inch or two of screen real-estate make a big difference when compared to a phone. It's still small, but it is watchable, plus the nvidia based system can apparently handle 1080P out.

As for operating systems - I have nothing against windows, but it is still pretty resource intensive. If the main point in getting a netbook is low price and low usage requirements, it seems a bit silly to fork out the extra money for the OS as well as the additional RAM needed to run it. The app-manager type OS's serve their purpose and if they're too restricting, there's still Ubuntu's netbook remix.

The other option is to keep a look out for the newer netbooks that run on what's essentially phone hardware. I've seen a couple of previews that have the Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, run android and can function as tablets. The concept looks pretty cool, but time will tell how well they actually perform.

[Cougar]

I have an Asus N10J and it's a smart little machine, if you turn off the graphics card (they have a little switch on the side) and whack it on power saver you get about 6 hours out of it and can get a battery that'll make it more like 8.5. I always thought Asus were shit, but I've nothing but good stuff to say about them.

[Gothos]

Go ahead, blame public transport for your mistake. Carelessness is a direct consequence of lack of appreciation for your priviledged position in life.

Anyway, on topic. It's always been a mystery to me: why do people want monster hardware in a laptop? A decent processor, fast hard drive and RAM are all that should be needed for work-related stuff. If you need more, e.g. if you need rendering or multiboxing, just get a monster desktop with 2+ monitors. What's the point of monster laptops? Playing Crysis on the bus/train?

[D'rek]

 Gothos, on 19 February 2010 - 01:04 PM, said:

Go ahead, blame public transport for your mistake. Carelessness is a direct consequence of lack of appreciation for your priviledged position in life.

Anyway, on topic. It's always been a mystery to me: why do people want monster hardware in a laptop? A decent processor, fast hard drive and RAM are all that should be needed for work-related stuff. If you need more, e.g. if you need rendering or multiboxing, just get a monster desktop with 2+ monitors. What's the point of monster laptops? Playing Crysis on the bus/train?

Playing games during boring lectures

This post has been edited by D'rek: 19 February 2010 - 02:55 PM

[AlanH]

 masan, on 18 February 2010 - 08:53 PM, said:

@ AlanH I'm currently using a Hewlett Packard Mini netbook and I've had no problems with it whatsoever. I use it for similar things as yourself (web browsing, music and occasionally a bit of work shite).

It's got Windows7 Starter, Intel Atom, a funky splashtop and loads of other shit that i'm not technically proficient enough to understand. I've managed to divulge from my beloved that it cost just under 300 quid (Crimbo pressie) and that she got it as part of some special deal QVC are running with HP. I got a load of "free" stuff with it as well (couple of memory sticks, some downloading apps, mouse, mat, sexy padded bag and a suped up RAM capacity, whatever the fuck that means.)

It's compact,got very fast HP Instant Web and it's quite stylish in design. I got used to the smaller keyboard quite quickly and to be honest I no longer notice the difference with my old lappy.

Check it out.

Will do. Thanks for the advice.

 Gothos, on 19 February 2010 - 01:04 PM, said:

Go ahead, blame public transport for your mistake. Carelessness is a direct consequence of lack of appreciation for your priviledged position in life.

No, carelessness is a direct consequence of waking up 10 minutes before a lecture and therefore being in a rush.

 D, on 19 February 2010 - 02:54 PM, said:

 Gothos, on 19 February 2010 - 01:04 PM, said:

Go ahead, blame public transport for your mistake. Carelessness is a direct consequence of lack of appreciation for your priviledged position in life.

Anyway, on topic. It's always been a mystery to me: why do people want monster hardware in a laptop? A decent processor, fast hard drive and RAM are all that should be needed for work-related stuff. If you need more, e.g. if you need rendering or multiboxing, just get a monster desktop with 2+ monitors. What's the point of monster laptops? Playing Crysis on the bus/train?

Playing games during boring lectures

I would never dream of it...

[Silencer]

 Jusentantaka, on 19 February 2010 - 03:19 AM, said:

 Silencer, on 19 February 2010 - 02:53 AM, said:

I actually just purchased AVP. XD

Got it on the Xbox, though. And yeah, it looks pretty good, but it's not top-tier graphics.

Looks 'better' than Crysis on PC (aka: The thing attached to a long wire connecting to my tv), subjective as hell considering its rendering under DX11 and Shader 5.0. Sad though that it doesn't feel like it'll turn out to be as good of a game in the end though.

And pulse doesn't mean burst, after all, no one calls *pick your modern rifle de jour* a pulse rifle... it could be any damned sci-fi thing in the world. And it was always full auto, so sayeth The Movie. Haven't felt it was underpowered though, but its a lot easier to make a shot on the pc.


and the damned blades too. ewww.

The 'pulse' sound is a very distinctive part of the entire rifle, though. Why not just make it that holding down the trigger still makes a pulse sound? I dunno, maybe I'm misremebering but I thought that was the way they did it in AVP2...

And amen to the PC accuracy. Had to play Modern Warfare 2 on a PS3 today at a friend's party. Look at it this way: if Xbox 360's high/7/8 sensitivity is low compared to the comptuer, then the PS3's high setting is about the 360's default. :S
Especially on a 25" CRT monitor. And when you split that screen four ways, well, goodbye headshots, my friend. XD

 Gothos, on 19 February 2010 - 01:04 PM, said:

Go ahead, blame public transport for your mistake. Carelessness is a direct consequence of lack of appreciation for your priviledged position in life.

Anyway, on topic. It's always been a mystery to me: why do people want monster hardware in a laptop? A decent processor, fast hard drive and RAM are all that should be needed for work-related stuff. If you need more, e.g. if you need rendering or multiboxing, just get a monster desktop with 2+ monitors. What's the point of monster laptops? Playing Crysis on the bus/train?

Indeed, that is all that's needed for work-related stuff. Some of us can't afford to buy that, *and* a gaming desktop, however; hence you either end up with a desktop/netbook combo, or a powerful laptop.
"Desktop replacment" laptops have been around for ages, and in most cases they refer to laptops which spend most of their life plugged in. The difference is that you can, fairly easily, transport them to a bach/summer house/on a business trip if you need to, as opposed to a desktop, which would be...well, I don't even want to think about transporting one long-distance even once a year, if I'm honest.
So the answer is: play Crysis at home, take laptop to university, and don't have all the hassle of syncing two computers or having one computer for one thing and another computer the other...which I've found doesn't work for me, personally.
And playing games in boring lectures. That too. XD

[Jusentantaka]

Quote

The 'pulse' sound is a very distinctive part of the entire rifle, though. Why not just make it that holding down the trigger still makes a pulse sound? I dunno, maybe I'm misremebering but I thought that was the way they did it in AVP2...

Now I'm just absolutely lost. wtf is a 'pulse sound'? The only sound the gun makes is the sound of it firing, because of uhm... things. science fiction things. (ok, not really science fiction, but H&K doesn't have any soundbytes of a G11 firing)

[Silencer]

Now we're totally derailing the thread, lol, but whatever:

From the Aliens trailer - skip to about 1:20 to 1:40, you'll note the pulse rifles firing in distinctive bursts, rather than on full automatic, even within cohesive scenes (it's not just because they're jumping the footage)

From the AVP game Marine Trailer - note at around 50 seconds/1 minute the full automatic fire, which has but a passing resemblance to the distinctive sound of the one in the first link; purely because it goes onto full auto.

Now, I've go the Aliens movie right here, and I can watch the whole thing to try and find a situation where the pulse rifle is fired on full automatic, but I don't think it exists.

Incidentally, there are actually real, working replicas of the M41a 'Pulse' rifle as seen in the movies...they fire real bullets and everything! Don't have the sound effect down, though, yet. XD

[Jusentantaka]

I still don't get it. Its just a fucked up science-fictiony sound they decided on for the rifle, like the slap-a-tuning-fork-on-a-slinky for suck wars. It fires in bursts because Cameron isn't a moron and found out the military (that's any professional military) teaches soldiers to fire assault rifles in bursts, even if they have the selector set to automatic... ok, any professional military whose budget is high enough they can buy more than fifteen rounds a year for their soldiers to use on a range. Pity those clips don't have shots of the hands...


& I only referenced the G11 cause it is the only assault rifle which fires caseless ammunition, which is what the aliens gun uses, and it doesn't at all match the 'screamy sound' of the M41, but the firing rhythm is very similar. Or something. I don't even know what is in dispute anymore.

also saw those guns... its the sci fi version of cosplay. creepy.

This post has been edited by Jusentantaka: 20 February 2010 - 03:59 PM

[Mentalist]

The Satellite Series from Toshiba is a mid-price range "desktop in a laptop" build that I have enjoyed for the past 5 years now. Just recently upgraded (read: got a new one), and my new precioussss wiht its 6 gigs of RAM and Dual core Windows 7 is willing to run just about anyhting I decide to drop into it.

@ Gothos: What Silencer said. being a student and living away form home there's no point in getting a powerful desktop for home and a mobility-focused laptop....when I can get all the power of a kickass desktop in a laptop for about the same price and be capable of easily taking it just about anywhere.

[D'rek]

 Jusentantaka, on 20 February 2010 - 04:21 AM, said:

Quote

The 'pulse' sound is a very distinctive part of the entire rifle, though. Why not just make it that holding down the trigger still makes a pulse sound? I dunno, maybe I'm misremebering but I thought that was the way they did it in AVP2...

Now I'm just absolutely lost. wtf is a 'pulse sound'? The only sound the gun makes is the sound of it firing, because of uhm... things. science fiction things. (ok, not really science fiction, but H&K doesn't have any soundbytes of a G11 firing)

I assume it's the sound that is like "peeoo peeoo". Or maybe just "zap!"

[Gothos]

 Mentalist, on 20 February 2010 - 05:33 PM, said:

The Satellite Series from Toshiba is a mid-price range "desktop in a laptop" build that I have enjoyed for the past 5 years now. Just recently upgraded (read: got a new one), and my new precioussss wiht its 6 gigs of RAM and Dual core Windows 7 is willing to run just about anyhting I decide to drop into it.

@ Gothos: What Silencer said. being a student and living away form home there's no point in getting a powerful desktop for home and a mobility-focused laptop....when I can get all the power of a kickass desktop in a laptop for about the same price and be capable of easily taking it just about anywhere.

me I only had an outdated desktop. laptops were too expensive.

[Dutch]

To get back on topic, I'm thinking of getting a netbook too.

Wanna use it for browsing the internet, PHP programming and listening to music when I'm on the road.

I'm kinda thinking of an Asus EEE pc, what's your idea about it?

[alt146]

 Dutch Master of the Deck, on 20 February 2010 - 10:07 PM, said:

To get back on topic, I'm thinking of getting a netbook too.

Wanna use it for browsing the internet, PHP programming and listening to music when I'm on the road.

I'm kinda thinking of an Asus EEE pc, what's your idea about it?

IIRC those runs Asus's linux build. If you can install LAMPP and a decent text editor on it you should be fine to do all of the above. Just make sure you get WiFi and check what 3G modems are known to be compatible, 3G can sometimes be a little iffy in linux.