I'm going to have to agree with (apparently) everyone else here. Unless performance on linux is *way* (and I mean *way* way) worse than on windows (I've never tried gaming on linux, sorry. Just developement/fooling around) a 1.7gHz P4 with a 2-year-old graphics card ought to be pretty darn good for gaming. I've got a 1.4gHz Athlon and a GeForce 3 Ti200 (the cheapo version) and it handles basically everything I've tried to run on it quite well, if you don't count the techdemos that require new-fangled features that I don't have (Pixel Shaders 2.0? We've only had 1.0 for about 6 months before we've got a whole new version? That's as big a deal as a point release for Nethack? It shouldn't happen that quick). But I digress. The point is that if your machines are in the ballpark you're indicating and they won't run Quake 3, chances are with a little re-configuring and a little driver updating, they should be able to run it, and just about any other game for linux, just fine. All it will take is a little bit of thought, and you'll be fine. And seeing as you've asked slashdot, you're clearly up to the task.
I've semi-inherited (semi because it's still technically his) a Nikon from the mid-'80s from my dad - he used to be a semi-pro photographer (he even got an article published in a motorcycle magazine on shooting races). It's got a couple automatic functions - it has a small CCD just in front of the shutter that samples light levels so it can do auto-exposure in a couple different ways, plust you can get auto-focus lenses for it, or an attachment to automatically advance the film, but for the most part (and the whole part if you disable these features) it's manual. And adjustable auto-exposure is nice if you want to see how it would set things and/or don't want to carry around a light-meter.
In any case, it's a really nice camera - high quality, nothing fancy that you can't turn off, nothing fancy that can break and render it un-usable. And they made a whole range of different models that are the same basic design, so you can probably get one that doesn't have *any* of the "extras". He also has this book - "How to select & use Nikon SLR Cameras" that's kind of a combination users-manual/beginners guide to photography with Nikon cameras; it covers the entire line of cameras.
Plus, there are a whole bunch of additional stuff you can get for it - there are a bunch of lenses, you can exchange a little glass plate in the viewfinder which is overlayed over what you see (the one mine has features a little circle in the center that assists with focusing, it's complicated to explain, but it's really useful without being distracting), you can attach a flash either directly to the camera or you can put one somewhere arbitrary and run a cable to the camera. It has a couple of features that are helpful for special-effect type things too - re-cock the shutter without advancing the frame, long exposure times (from 1/4000 up to 1 second, or for as long as you hold the shutter release).
About the only downside is that since the auto-exposure can change both the aperture and exposure time, the shutter is electronically actuated, so you have to have a battery installed - but i'm not sure, could be most SLR cameras need one, as I've never used a camera beside this one.
I'd certainly feel comfortable recommending it to someone, but i'd suggest to check out that book first, to compare the other models - it was written by Carl Shipman (I think my dad may have actually known him) - it's ISBN number is 0-912656-77-8.
I'm gonna put a big D-U-H on that. After all, hasn't he been telling us that "windows is secure," "the windows api is open to developers," "windows actually works," and the likes of that for years? And been believed by some (nobody here, I'm sure)? I mean, even for the matrix movie that was *good* we all knew it was just a movie (once again, excluding the same people)
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I'm going to have to agree with (apparently) everyone else here. Unless performance on linux is *way* (and I mean *way* way) worse than on windows (I've never tried gaming on linux, sorry. Just developement/fooling around) a 1.7gHz P4 with a 2-year-old graphics card ought to be pretty darn good for gaming. I've got a 1.4gHz Athlon and a GeForce 3 Ti200 (the cheapo version) and it handles basically everything I've tried to run on it quite well, if you don't count the techdemos that require new-fangled features that I don't have (Pixel Shaders 2.0? We've only had 1.0 for about 6 months before we've got a whole new version? That's as big a deal as a point release for Nethack? It shouldn't happen that quick). But I digress. The point is that if your machines are in the ballpark you're indicating and they won't run Quake 3, chances are with a little re-configuring and a little driver updating, they should be able to run it, and just about any other game for linux, just fine. All it will take is a little bit of thought, and you'll be fine. And seeing as you've asked slashdot, you're clearly up to the task.
I've semi-inherited (semi because it's still technically his) a Nikon from the mid-'80s from my dad - he used to be a semi-pro photographer (he even got an article published in a motorcycle magazine on shooting races). It's got a couple automatic functions - it has a small CCD just in front of the shutter that samples light levels so it can do auto-exposure in a couple different ways, plust you can get auto-focus lenses for it, or an attachment to automatically advance the film, but for the most part (and the whole part if you disable these features) it's manual. And adjustable auto-exposure is nice if you want to see how it would set things and/or don't want to carry around a light-meter. In any case, it's a really nice camera - high quality, nothing fancy that you can't turn off, nothing fancy that can break and render it un-usable. And they made a whole range of different models that are the same basic design, so you can probably get one that doesn't have *any* of the "extras". He also has this book - "How to select & use Nikon SLR Cameras" that's kind of a combination users-manual/beginners guide to photography with Nikon cameras; it covers the entire line of cameras. Plus, there are a whole bunch of additional stuff you can get for it - there are a bunch of lenses, you can exchange a little glass plate in the viewfinder which is overlayed over what you see (the one mine has features a little circle in the center that assists with focusing, it's complicated to explain, but it's really useful without being distracting), you can attach a flash either directly to the camera or you can put one somewhere arbitrary and run a cable to the camera. It has a couple of features that are helpful for special-effect type things too - re-cock the shutter without advancing the frame, long exposure times (from 1/4000 up to 1 second, or for as long as you hold the shutter release). About the only downside is that since the auto-exposure can change both the aperture and exposure time, the shutter is electronically actuated, so you have to have a battery installed - but i'm not sure, could be most SLR cameras need one, as I've never used a camera beside this one. I'd certainly feel comfortable recommending it to someone, but i'd suggest to check out that book first, to compare the other models - it was written by Carl Shipman (I think my dad may have actually known him) - it's ISBN number is 0-912656-77-8.
I'm gonna put a big D-U-H on that. After all, hasn't he been telling us that "windows is secure," "the windows api is open to developers," "windows actually works," and the likes of that for years? And been believed by some (nobody here, I'm sure)? I mean, even for the matrix movie that was *good* we all knew it was just a movie (once again, excluding the same people)