Your first step should be to research the product/s that you are considering to put in your system. While many products look very appealing a review may shine light on severe problems that you would have never have noticed unless you found out for yourself. There are tons of Tech websites that review products read several so that you are making an educated buy.
Pricewatch is hands down the best Street Price finder on the Internet. At pricewatch.com you can find almost anything that you're looking for to build your computer. You should know what OEM, White Box, and Retail mean so that you don't end up with just the product itself and not the box / drivers. Another thing to be aware of is that sometimes the companies set their own warranties. For Example: If you buy a licensed retail version a 3yr warranty is included. If you buy an OEM version the warranty may only be 15days. It's very hard to return a faulty product to a vendor in 15days since most require you to get a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) first. Before you decide to buy please see step 3)....
Part of making an educated buy is knowing WHO you are buying from. The business-rating guide is a collection of ratings from users who have bought items from a company. By reading their experiences you can get a better feel of whether or not the company is reputable. This is a very important step, there is nothing worse then getting ripped off by a company that is thousands of miles a way.
4) Brick and Mortar Stores:
Don't forget regular stores. While some stores may not be the most friendly of places (Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, etc.) they do have occasional deals that are much better than anything you'll find online. So keep your eyes on the newspapers for advertisements.
5) Paying Online / Deals That Are Too Good to Be True
Our final step is to pay for the products. Make sure when you pay that the site has some sort of secure buying system. I realize that some companies are run out of their home and might just use PayPal, BillPoint, etc... Just be careful when you're giving out your credit card number.
Deals that are too good to be true: almost always are. Stay away from people who sell $3,000 items for $400 when everyone else on the Internet is selling them for $2299. It will save yourself a lot of time and headaches if you don't fall prey to people who are running scams.
Building your system yourself is definitely the right choice. Not only does it give you the freedom of choosing the right components it also helps you learn just how your computer functions. It's a really fun and exciting process. Enjoy!
So far all of the posts have become: "Oh no my boss will catch me using an instant messager."
What about your instant messages being logged by companies who will then in turn use your information to make a profit (either through advertising, private investigation, etc.) Personal data can be stored and later used for blackmail. I know that it is very improbable but after years of using instant messaging don't you think you will say 1) something incriminating and 2) something about your personal life that you probably wouldn't want others to know to a trusted source (family members, best friend, significant other).
There is also the issue of instant messages being used in court. Now, more than often instant messages are being used as evidence. Most of the time there are hard copies of conversations on the hard drive that are used. Who is to say that "intercepted" messages won't be used in the future.
Some of the encryption suggestions I read are interesting. It would definitely help to protect your privacy. It's not a matter of having something to hide it's the principal of not letting others have a window into your life.
Prices based on components and reflect such.
on
PC Prices to Rise?
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· Score: 1
I think a lot of people don't really understand why prices fluctuate like they do. Especially when you have large manufacturers such as Dell, Gateway, Micron, etc.
These companies certainly can adjust prices to allow for more profit; the same as any other business. What it all comes down to is the part manufacturers raising or lowering prices due to a number of factors.
Everyone seems to be tied up on LCD's so lets go there. (Geez guys don't you read theInquirer)
LCD screens cost on average $15-30 US per screen. Add all that plastic bezel crap and I'm sure that adds up to about $350 US;)
So, when Company X in Taiwan wants to raise prices on LCDs (say maybe by discontinuing its 15" LCD Monitor Line like Samsung did earlier this month) they simply raise them. There are, however, certain economic aspects to this which are boring and as such we shouldn't discuss. So basically the self induced shortage of LCD's by large companies in the East, coupled with high demand for LCD monitors, and other phenomena (Earthquakes anyone?) all affect those distributors so that by the time Dell, Micron, etc. get their LCD's they have to compensate their pricing to reflect those factors. All simply because these companies like money, want more of it, and want a continual flow of instead of settling for less money.
So that is why LCD's are expensive (Got tired of people saying that "This Company" was raising their LCD prices when we all know that they don't even make the LCDs, they just slap their logo on the damn things).
Now onto Ram. I am of the opinion that as computer technology ages we should see a gradual decrease in price as the technology slowly becomes obsolete. For some things, such as ram, this doesn't ever seem to be true.
Yes, I now tell stories to my children about how I used to be able to get a 256mb Stick of SDRAM for $15 dollars and a 512mb Stick for $35. The excess supply no longer exists so Ram manufacturers (Some have coined the phrase Dramurai [Probably Mike Magee]) sort of make sure that there isn't too much of it in the market anymore so that pricing stays very competitive. We have seen the controversial RDRAM steadily decline in price as DDR Motherboards started to replace Intel's Rdram only P4 Chipsets. DDR and RDRAM are pretty much even now which is amazing considering that at one time you could expect to pay $600 US for 512mb of RDRAM (ouch). So, as everyone should know SDRAM is back to normal and the RAM Manufacturers keep coming up with creative new ways to introduce new ram types DDR333 anyone that can increase demand on different modules and they just kind of pull a wheel barrow of cash up to JEDEC so it all (eventually) gets through. Don't believe me? Look for DDR400 in the next month or so.
So Ram to is at the mercy of the manufacturer and then the retailer. It sure doesn't help that when you buy a new computer from Company X that a 512mb Stick of PC2100 DDR (DDR266 for those of you who think that way) which goes for $170-$200 on Crucial.com costs $300-500 to upgrade. Watch out for those tricks.
So the question comes down to: Are PC's really getting more expensive? Maybe through retail vendors. Anywhere else, the prices are pretty much the same with some fluctuations every now and then which are usually based on economic decisions based by the companies that manufacturer everything.
Calm down the fire that fuels the troll inside of you. Delete the nasty letter you're about to send to Dell and try and appreciate how very many factors affect the end result.
He seemed a pretty decent guy. He died trying to save his cat and he played asteroids two hours away for a fund raiser. Shame some one like him still isn't around to bring some more joy to this sometimes sorrow filled world.
First everyone has to question the integrity of these overclocks. Especially when there have been so many people who have been using "tricks" to make programs such as WCPUID think that the computer is running actually faster than it is. (The infamous Speed Hack which plagued game servers for one).
Also, spending an insane amount of money on Liquid Nitrogen just so you can run a computer for an hour or too is not a viable solution to anything. There is absolutely no stability, and the danger to the CPU is 1000X greater then most common overclocking.
I know that the "Wow" factor of having a chip being able to reach the 3.6-3.7ghz mark may impress some. It seems to me that their money (and time) could be better spent elsewhere.
Anandtech already reviewed this on December 27th 2001(compared to THG's Review on January 11th 2002).
"Final Thoughts
Overall, we were quite impressed with this little box. It's small, cute and well thought out. However, it lacks the expandability of a desktop, which brings up the whole "beige vs. unique" debate. So, why buy this instead of a desktop? If space, heat or looks are an issue, this is a system to consider. We wouldn't recommend this for a primary machine, nor for an average desktop (which has room to store that big, beige PC), but there are lots of other places in which it excels.
As we found out, this makes a great "living room," or "average use" PC. It also makes a great "TV PC." If the applications you use most include Office, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Winamp, ICQ, AIM, etc, you're fine. Of course, you're probably fine with just about any computer out there.
Gamers should look elsewhere. Although the Savage4 core is now quite mature, it wasn't designed to compete against top-of-the-line desktop cards. It will work fine with 2D applications and will probably make a good mobile 3D chipset, but a Doom 3 tamer it is not.
Finally, this model is limited by its support for (only) Pentium III / Celeron CPUs. Support for newer Pentium III Tualatin CPUs is crucial to upgradability and unfortunately not provided by this version of the motherboard. VIA does offer a PL133T chipset with Tualatin support but it is unclear as to if/when we can expect to see that implemented on the board. Shuttle has informed us however that they will be producing a version of the SV24 based on the Pentium 4 processor. With the 0.13-micron Northwood core producing very little heat and running at speeds greater than 2GHz, the SV24's successor might be able to offer some killer performance.
After this endeavor, we like the SV24; it doesn't rethink everything, it shrinks everything...and covers it in attractive aluminum. It doesn't replace that beige PC, it complements it. We expect that Shuttle should have no problem selling them at their list price of $250 USD. Hopefully, that will eventually lead to more interesting machines elsewhere as well. "
"years of work in transferring data off 140-some 10" magnetic tapes (~120megs of data)"
Crap, 10" magnetic tapes. And to think all of these years I have been archiving the history of USENET on 5.25" Floppies.:/
"XM Radio uses two Boeing HS-702 satellites that are positioned over the East and West Coasts of the United States. The satellites, aptly named "Rock" and "Roll", maintain a geostationary orbit at 22,000 miles above the earth. XM Radio has a third back-up satellite on the ground should something go wrong in orbit."
A backup satellite that is earthbound? Hmm.. that's like having a backup harddrive lying on the floor next to your computer.
According to the article here if Tolkien hadn't of sold the rights to the movie for $250,000 before he died then there never would have been a LOTR film. Christopher Tolkien (son of JRR) has ceased almost all contact with his son Simon since Simon began working with Jackson (the Director) on the film. So I am thankful that the movie rights were sold so that I have the opportunity of seeing the epic story depicted on film.
I do, however, think it's a shame that the LOTR is going to be bastardized (and is: eg Burger King) into so many commercial products that we're going to lose site of the brilliance of the literature behind it. The "Hollywood Effect" I suppose.
I guess the real question is: Is it worth releasing the LOTR as a motion picture even though the film (and the commercialism, etc. that comes with it) might forever scar Tolkien's epic??
When I look at it that way i can see why Christopher is so vehement about it not being released as a film.
Alright, for all of you who seem pretty uneducated about the Cyberathletes Professional League [thecpl.com] I'll try to fill you in. The CPL was formed several years ago (right around when StarCraft was the hottest game on everybody's list).
Generally there are several tournament's a year (one in the winter, one in the summer). This past event is held in Texas where some other tournaments are held as well (QuakeCon for one). Each CPL tournament has a featured game. This tournament's game was Counter-Strike.
The event hosts a Bring Your Own Computer Area, (for those who want to frag all through the night) as well as workshops, (HardOCP had one this year on overclocking) prize raffles/giveaways, and of course the tournaments.
This year there was also an Alien vs. Predator 2 Deathmatch tourney going on too. (Fatality of Quake3Arena fame wiped the floor with everyone and won a Ford Focus with a custom AVP2 paintjob) See Adrenaline Vault and TheCPL for photos.
The CStrike tourney was a 5 on 5 clan competition and players from all over the world come to compete in it. The prize money for the tournament totals to some $150,000 dollars and comes almost entirely from Sponsors. The fees that they charge for admission into the tournament go mostly to cover the expenses of the hotel, setup, etc. And while a $50,000 US purse may sound like a lot, after it gets divided 5 ways to $10,000 minus the cost of Food and Board and Airfare (When applicable) you might be a little bit surprised when you don't have as much money as you thought you had. And that really only applies to the winner! There are tons of people who come a long way and don't even make it into the top 100. But if the money were all the tournament was about then I think a lot of people wouldn't even bother going to one of these events. The tournament is mostly about having fun and working on becoming better at Video Games (LAN differs quite a bit from Online play).
One of the most amazing things about this tournament was the ability for Counter-Strike enthusiasts to be able to watch the Tournament on the internet with Half-Life. By joining a specially designed server, up to 80,000 people could have watched the final round (there were only 40 of 128 slots filled on the server I was on) here's some info:
Speakeasy.net, Valve Software Launch 11 City Half-Life TV Network First-ever PC Game Broadcast Network built to support 80,000 Simultaneous Viewers Seattle - Broadband ISP Speakeasy.net and Kirkland based game developer Valve Software announced today the first ever launch of a fully national broadcast network of live video game coverage. The inaugural use of this network will give tens of thousands of viewers from around the world the best-possible spectator experience for the $150,000 Counter-Strike World Championships this week in Dallas, TX. The World Championships represent the largest of such competitions ever and is produced by the Dallas-based Cyberathlete Professional League. Speakeasy has partnered with Valve Software to support the largest broadcast installation ever using Valve's Half-Life TV server software. The software allows for anyone with a broadband connection and PC to connect to a live game and watch their favorite teams play as if they were playing along side them. Teams from Seattle to Sweden are flying in to compete in the four-day event; thousands more will stay home and watch the competition unfold live on the Speakeasy Network.
"Broadcasting the CPL finals to 80,000 viewers is an incredible achievement and a huge advance in our efforts to bring competitive gaming, and gaming in general, further into the mainstream," said Doug Lombardi, director of marketing at Valve. Spectators will be able to tune in to a live broadcast of the match simply by using their PC and installation of Half-Life, and will have the option of 11 different locations to choose from to guarantee the best experience.
"We have customers that are running cable from their PC to a large screen TV just to watch this," said Edward Bender, Director of Online Gaming for Speakeasy.net. "I think this event will definitely get more people to recognize competitive gaming as a spectator sport." Counter-Strike, the number one online action game in the world, is a team-based multiplayer game built atop Valve's award-winning game engine. Valve released the multicast spectator technology (aka Half-Life TV) as a free update earlier this year.
Read about how to use HLTV @- http://www.cs-extreme.net/guides/HLTV/HLTV.asp
I think we're not at the stage yet where this should be considered Professional Gaming. I don't think anyone can make a true living off of winnings from the CPL. Maybe someday it will reach that point, and this is a great step to getting there. Sorry for the long post! Hope it helped some of you learn about professional gaming.
I remember having my SNES console and thinking that there would never be games that could be superior to some of the first games that came out (Super Mario World, FZERO, Zelda, etc..) but as the years went by the console continued to mature (FX Technology in Starfox, Amazing graphics in Super Mario World 2, Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid!) It took several years before games of that caliber were finally released. The hardware on the SNES never changed, so it is absurd to dwell on the hardware of a system to measure how great of a console it is.
Then what makes a console great? If hardware was what made the SNES better than its predecessors then why are millions of people (including myself) still playing and discovering games that actually surpass PS2,XBOX,GCUBE, et cetera on almost every level?
The answer is simple, it's the games. Which is what many posts ahead me have said. But what makes a game great? The CODING and DEVELOPMENT behind the game. I think we are forgetting about how much CODING and DEVELOPMENT has to do with a consoles success. (Which is why many top level game designers [recently: Hideo Kojima MGS, MGS2; Shigeru Miyamoto Mario, Zelda, Pikmin] People always attribute a consoles success to games, but the success of the games is caused by the great coding behind the games. And for coding to get to that level coders need time to work with the console and also the technology within that console. It took many years before the full potential of the SNES was realized. My biggest fear is that the Console Gaming Industry is rushing too fast to try and compete with the new developments in technology to appease all the uneducated consumers who just demand the fastest, most powerful machine; and in doing so is not letting their console systems reach their true potential.
I don't know about anyone else, but I will take Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 2, Final Fantasy 3, Super Metroid, et cetera over almost all of the current games for the next generation of consoles (granted PS2 is FINALLY starting to get some good material).
Bottom line: We shouldn't spend so much time analyzing and over-analyzing the hardware behind the systems (we've argued about bits [4bit, 8bit, 16bit, 32bit] and now it's X-CPU vs. GCube-CPU, and nVidia NV2A vs. ATI Flipper). We should focus more attention to those who spend YEARS developing some of the most imaginative and engrossing games in the world, and give payment where it's due: the people behind the games.
I went to the website expecting to see this amazing product that he talked about. Instead I am greeted with yuppies relaxing on their plush red couch, a "Back to the Future" clad Michael Fo... Er Connie Chung, and Andre the Giants son trying to "sell" me their product.
Frankly, I was a bit scared by their index webpage. Their front page should focus more on their product rather than having weird people trying to make the product seem enjoyable. Show me that it's enjoyable in other ways, with more info, interactive demos, reviews and pricing. I want to feel like I can relate to this product (by having a need for it in my house/office/etc.) instead I feel like I'm not the target audience they're trying to reach.
Now these games might have been ones you've missed, but in my opinion warrant a place in anyone's collections.
(Starting from oldest system first)
Sega Genesis:
Beyond Oasis (It's sequel is on the Sega Saturn in case anyone wants more Oasis action)
Snes:
Lufia Series
Breath of Fire Series
FF Series (Of course)
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore (not as good as mana but still fun)
Chrono Trigger (if you've been living in a cave and don't know this one)
Super Metroid (Amazing Game)
Playstation:
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 3 Nemesis
(stay away from the ResEvil shooter)
Vandal Hearts (Turn based strategy sleeper)
FinalFantasy Tactics (Rereleased as greatest hit $19.99)
FF Series
Parasite Eve (Skip PE 2 or at least watch the opening movie which pretty much tells the whole story.)
Chrono Cross
Xenogears
Vagrant Story
Metal Gear Solid
Nintendo 64:
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Zelda: Legend of Majora's Mask
Goldeneye: 007
Perfect Dark
Tactics Ogre
Dreamcast:
Jet Grind Radio
Tony Hawk 1&2
Skies of Arcadia (Do NOT miss this one)
Resident Evil CODE: Veronica
Playstation 2:
Grand Theft Auto 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Metal Gear Solid 2
Final Fantasy X (December release)
Devil May Cry
Game Boy Advance:
Castlevania
Advance Wars (If you can get only one game, get this one)
Tony Hawk 2 (Almost Identical to the Console version)
XBox:
Halo
Gamecube:
Super Smash Bros.
Pikmin? (Maybe. Read reviews before buying)
PC:
(Doing some more recent games)
No One Lives Forever
Serious Sam
Max Payne
Half-life (Cstrike & DOD & TFC)
Quake 3 (TeamArena & Rocket Arena)
Starcraft (Still going strong...)
Tribes 2 (Online only pretty much single player offers very few challenges)
Clive Barker's Undying (GREAT sleeper hit.)
American McGee's Alice
Black & White (some people like it, not my thing though)
Fifa 2k1, 2k2
NHL 2k1, 2k2
*Note* this is just going off of my memory, all of these games are AT LEAST worth renting / ROM'ing and I believe many of these will open new doors of imagination in your minds and hearts.
Slashdot Mirror
Guide to Educated Online Buying
1) http://www.google.com
Your first step should be to research the product/s that you are considering to put in your system. While many products look very appealing a review may shine light on severe problems that you would have never have noticed unless you found out for yourself. There are tons of Tech websites that review products read several so that you are making an educated buy.
2) http://www.pricewatch.com
Pricewatch is hands down the best Street Price finder on the Internet. At pricewatch.com you can find almost anything that you're looking for to build your computer. You should know what OEM, White Box, and Retail mean so that you don't end up with just the product itself and not the box / drivers. Another thing to be aware of is that sometimes the companies set their own warranties. For Example: If you buy a licensed retail version a 3yr warranty is included. If you buy an OEM version the warranty may only be 15days. It's very hard to return a faulty product to a vendor in 15days since most require you to get a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) first. Before you decide to buy please see step 3)....
3) http://bizrate.com/ (especially the: ratings guide
Part of making an educated buy is knowing WHO you are buying from. The business-rating guide is a collection of ratings from users who have bought items from a company. By reading their experiences you can get a better feel of whether or not the company is reputable. This is a very important step, there is nothing worse then getting ripped off by a company that is thousands of miles a way.
4) Brick and Mortar Stores:
Don't forget regular stores. While some stores may not be the most friendly of places (Fry's Electronics, Best Buy, etc.) they do have occasional deals that are much better than anything you'll find online. So keep your eyes on the newspapers for advertisements.
5) Paying Online / Deals That Are Too Good to Be True
Our final step is to pay for the products. Make sure when you pay that the site has some sort of secure buying system. I realize that some companies are run out of their home and might just use PayPal, BillPoint, etc... Just be careful when you're giving out your credit card number.
Deals that are too good to be true: almost always are. Stay away from people who sell $3,000 items for $400 when everyone else on the Internet is selling them for $2299. It will save yourself a lot of time and headaches if you don't fall prey to people who are running scams.
Building your system yourself is definitely the right choice. Not only does it give you the freedom of choosing the right components it also helps you learn just how your computer functions. It's a really fun and exciting process. Enjoy!
The FBI deleted this poster's Spell/Grammar check as well. :/
Since when is IT about anything other than cutting corners? Now if only every other IT Manager in the world could learn from this.
So far all of the posts have become: "Oh no my boss will catch me using an instant messager." What about your instant messages being logged by companies who will then in turn use your information to make a profit (either through advertising, private investigation, etc.) Personal data can be stored and later used for blackmail. I know that it is very improbable but after years of using instant messaging don't you think you will say 1) something incriminating and 2) something about your personal life that you probably wouldn't want others to know to a trusted source (family members, best friend, significant other). There is also the issue of instant messages being used in court. Now, more than often instant messages are being used as evidence. Most of the time there are hard copies of conversations on the hard drive that are used. Who is to say that "intercepted" messages won't be used in the future. Some of the encryption suggestions I read are interesting. It would definitely help to protect your privacy. It's not a matter of having something to hide it's the principal of not letting others have a window into your life.
I think a lot of people don't really understand why prices fluctuate like they do. Especially when you have large manufacturers such as Dell, Gateway, Micron, etc.
;)
These companies certainly can adjust prices to allow for more profit; the same as any other business. What it all comes down to is the part manufacturers raising or lowering prices due to a number of factors.
Everyone seems to be tied up on LCD's so lets go there. (Geez guys don't you read theInquirer)
LCD Monitor Prices Set to Soar
LCD prices continue rise as CRTs decline
LCD screens cost on average $15-30 US per screen. Add all that plastic bezel crap and I'm sure that adds up to about $350 US
So, when Company X in Taiwan wants to raise prices on LCDs (say maybe by discontinuing its 15" LCD Monitor Line like Samsung did earlier this month) they simply raise them. There are, however, certain economic aspects to this which are boring and as such we shouldn't discuss. So basically the self induced shortage of LCD's by large companies in the East, coupled with high demand for LCD monitors, and other phenomena (Earthquakes anyone?) all affect those distributors so that by the time Dell, Micron, etc. get their LCD's they have to compensate their pricing to reflect those factors. All simply because these companies like money, want more of it, and want a continual flow of instead of settling for less money.
So that is why LCD's are expensive (Got tired of people saying that "This Company" was raising their LCD prices when we all know that they don't even make the LCDs, they just slap their logo on the damn things).
Now onto Ram. I am of the opinion that as computer technology ages we should see a gradual decrease in price as the technology slowly becomes obsolete. For some things, such as ram, this doesn't ever seem to be true.
Yes, I now tell stories to my children about how I used to be able to get a 256mb Stick of SDRAM for $15 dollars and a 512mb Stick for $35. The excess supply no longer exists so Ram manufacturers (Some have coined the phrase Dramurai [Probably Mike Magee]) sort of make sure that there isn't too much of it in the market anymore so that pricing stays very competitive. We have seen the controversial RDRAM steadily decline in price as DDR Motherboards started to replace Intel's Rdram only P4 Chipsets. DDR and RDRAM are pretty much even now which is amazing considering that at one time you could expect to pay $600 US for 512mb of RDRAM (ouch). So, as everyone should know SDRAM is back to normal and the RAM Manufacturers keep coming up with creative new ways to introduce new ram types DDR333 anyone that can increase demand on different modules and they just kind of pull a wheel barrow of cash up to JEDEC so it all (eventually) gets through. Don't believe me? Look for DDR400 in the next month or so.
So Ram to is at the mercy of the manufacturer and then the retailer. It sure doesn't help that when you buy a new computer from Company X that a 512mb Stick of PC2100 DDR (DDR266 for those of you who think that way) which goes for $170-$200 on Crucial.com costs $300-500 to upgrade. Watch out for those tricks.
So the question comes down to: Are PC's really getting more expensive? Maybe through retail vendors. Anywhere else, the prices are pretty much the same with some fluctuations every now and then which are usually based on economic decisions based by the companies that manufacturer everything.
Calm down the fire that fuels the troll inside of you. Delete the nasty letter you're about to send to Dell and try and appreciate how very many factors affect the end result.
:)
He seemed a pretty decent guy. He died trying to save his cat and he played asteroids two hours away for a fund raiser. Shame some one like him still isn't around to bring some more joy to this sometimes sorrow filled world.
First everyone has to question the integrity of these overclocks. Especially when there have been so many people who have been using "tricks" to make programs such as WCPUID think that the computer is running actually faster than it is. (The infamous Speed Hack which plagued game servers for one).
Also, spending an insane amount of money on Liquid Nitrogen just so you can run a computer for an hour or too is not a viable solution to anything. There is absolutely no stability, and the danger to the CPU is 1000X greater then most common overclocking.
I know that the "Wow" factor of having a chip being able to reach the 3.6-3.7ghz mark may impress some. It seems to me that their money (and time) could be better spent elsewhere.
Anandtech
already reviewed this on December 27th 2001(compared to THG's Review on January 11th 2002).
"Final Thoughts
Overall, we were quite impressed with this little box. It's small, cute and well thought out. However, it lacks the expandability of a desktop, which brings up the whole "beige vs. unique" debate. So, why buy this instead of a desktop? If space, heat or looks are an issue, this is a system to consider. We wouldn't recommend this for a primary machine, nor for an average desktop (which has room to store that big, beige PC), but there are lots of other places in which it excels.
As we found out, this makes a great "living room," or "average use" PC. It also makes a great "TV PC." If the applications you use most include Office, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Winamp, ICQ, AIM, etc, you're fine. Of course, you're probably fine with just about any computer out there.
Gamers should look elsewhere. Although the Savage4 core is now quite mature, it wasn't designed to compete against top-of-the-line desktop cards. It will work fine with 2D applications and will probably make a good mobile 3D chipset, but a Doom 3 tamer it is not.
Finally, this model is limited by its support for (only) Pentium III / Celeron CPUs. Support for newer Pentium III Tualatin CPUs is crucial to upgradability and unfortunately not provided by this version of the motherboard. VIA does offer a PL133T chipset with Tualatin support but it is unclear as to if/when we can expect to see that implemented on the board. Shuttle has informed us however that they will be producing a version of the SV24 based on the Pentium 4 processor. With the 0.13-micron Northwood core producing very little heat and running at speeds greater than 2GHz, the SV24's successor might be able to offer some killer performance.
After this endeavor, we like the SV24; it doesn't rethink everything, it shrinks everything...and covers it in attractive aluminum. It doesn't replace that beige PC, it complements it. We expect that Shuttle should have no problem selling them at their list price of $250 USD. Hopefully, that will eventually lead to more interesting machines elsewhere as well. "
"years of work in transferring data off 140-some 10" magnetic tapes (~120megs of data)" Crap, 10" magnetic tapes. And to think all of these years I have been archiving the history of USENET on 5.25" Floppies. :/
"XM Radio uses two Boeing HS-702 satellites that are positioned over the East and West Coasts of the United States. The satellites, aptly named "Rock" and "Roll", maintain a geostationary orbit at 22,000 miles above the earth. XM Radio has a third back-up satellite on the ground should something go wrong in orbit."
A backup satellite that is earthbound? Hmm.. that's like having a backup harddrive lying on the floor next to your computer.
According to the article here if Tolkien hadn't of sold the rights to the movie for $250,000 before he died then there never would have been a LOTR film. Christopher Tolkien (son of JRR) has ceased almost all contact with his son Simon since Simon began working with Jackson (the Director) on the film. So I am thankful that the movie rights were sold so that I have the opportunity of seeing the epic story depicted on film.
I do, however, think it's a shame that the LOTR is going to be bastardized (and is: eg Burger King) into so many commercial products that we're going to lose site of the brilliance of the literature behind it. The "Hollywood Effect" I suppose.
I guess the real question is: Is it worth releasing the LOTR as a motion picture even though the film (and the commercialism, etc. that comes with it) might forever scar Tolkien's epic??
When I look at it that way i can see why Christopher is so vehement about it not being released as a film.
~shlamo
Alright, for all of you who seem pretty uneducated about the Cyberathletes Professional League [thecpl.com] I'll try to fill you in. The CPL was formed several years ago (right around when StarCraft was the hottest game on everybody's list).
Generally there are several tournament's a year (one in the winter, one in the summer). This past event is held in Texas where some other tournaments are held as well (QuakeCon for one). Each CPL tournament has a featured game. This tournament's game was Counter-Strike.
The event hosts a Bring Your Own Computer Area, (for those who want to frag all through the night) as well as workshops, (HardOCP had one this year on overclocking) prize raffles/giveaways, and of course the tournaments.
This year there was also an Alien vs. Predator 2 Deathmatch tourney going on too. (Fatality of Quake3Arena fame wiped the floor with everyone and won a Ford Focus with a custom AVP2 paintjob) See Adrenaline Vault and TheCPL for photos.
The CStrike tourney was a 5 on 5 clan competition and players from all over the world come to compete in it. The prize money for the tournament totals to some $150,000 dollars and comes almost entirely from Sponsors. The fees that they charge for admission into the tournament go mostly to cover the expenses of the hotel, setup, etc. And while a $50,000 US purse may sound like a lot, after it gets divided 5 ways to $10,000 minus the cost of Food and Board and Airfare (When applicable) you might be a little bit surprised when you don't have as much money as you thought you had. And that really only applies to the winner! There are tons of people who come a long way and don't even make it into the top 100. But if the money were all the tournament was about then I think a lot of people wouldn't even bother going to one of these events. The tournament is mostly about having fun and working on becoming better at Video Games (LAN differs quite a bit from Online play).
One of the most amazing things about this tournament was the ability for Counter-Strike enthusiasts to be able to watch the Tournament on the internet with Half-Life. By joining a specially designed server, up to 80,000 people could have watched the final round (there were only 40 of 128 slots filled on the server I was on)
here's some info:
Speakeasy.net, Valve Software Launch 11 City Half-Life TV Network First-ever PC Game Broadcast Network built to support 80,000 Simultaneous Viewers Seattle - Broadband ISP Speakeasy.net and Kirkland based game developer Valve Software announced today the first ever launch of a fully national broadcast network of live video game coverage. The inaugural use of this network will give tens of thousands of viewers from around the world the best-possible spectator experience for the $150,000 Counter-Strike World Championships this week in Dallas, TX. The World Championships represent the largest of such competitions ever and is produced by the Dallas-based Cyberathlete Professional League. Speakeasy has partnered with Valve Software to support the largest broadcast installation ever using Valve's Half-Life TV server software. The software allows for anyone with a broadband connection and PC to connect to a live game and watch their favorite teams play as if they were playing along side them. Teams from Seattle to Sweden are flying in to compete in the four-day event; thousands more will stay home and watch the competition unfold live on the Speakeasy Network.
"Broadcasting the CPL finals to 80,000 viewers is an incredible achievement and a huge advance in our efforts to bring competitive gaming, and gaming in general, further into the mainstream," said Doug Lombardi, director of marketing at Valve. Spectators will be able to tune in to a live broadcast of the match simply by using their PC and installation of Half-Life, and will have the option of 11 different locations to choose from to guarantee the best experience.
"We have customers that are running cable from their PC to a large screen TV just to watch this," said Edward Bender, Director of Online Gaming for Speakeasy.net. "I think this event will definitely get more people to recognize competitive gaming as a spectator sport." Counter-Strike, the number one online action game in the world, is a team-based multiplayer game built atop Valve's award-winning game engine. Valve released the multicast spectator technology (aka Half-Life TV) as a free update earlier this year.
Read about how to use HLTV @- http://www.cs-extreme.net/guides/HLTV/HLTV.asp
I think we're not at the stage yet where this should be considered Professional Gaming. I don't think anyone can make a true living off of winnings from the CPL. Maybe someday it will reach that point, and this is a great step to getting there. Sorry for the long post! Hope it helped some of you learn about professional gaming.
I remember having my SNES console and thinking that there would never be games that could be superior to some of the first games that came out (Super Mario World, FZERO, Zelda, etc..) but as the years went by the console continued to mature (FX Technology in Starfox, Amazing graphics in Super Mario World 2, Chrono Trigger, Super Metroid!) It took several years before games of that caliber were finally released. The hardware on the SNES never changed, so it is absurd to dwell on the hardware of a system to measure how great of a console it is.
Then what makes a console great? If hardware was what made the SNES better than its predecessors then why are millions of people (including myself) still playing and discovering games that actually surpass PS2,XBOX,GCUBE, et cetera on almost every level?
The answer is simple, it's the games. Which is what many posts ahead me have said. But what makes a game great? The CODING and DEVELOPMENT behind the game. I think we are forgetting about how much CODING and DEVELOPMENT has to do with a consoles success. (Which is why many top level game designers [recently: Hideo Kojima MGS, MGS2; Shigeru Miyamoto Mario, Zelda, Pikmin] People always attribute a consoles success to games, but the success of the games is caused by the great coding behind the games. And for coding to get to that level coders need time to work with the console and also the technology within that console. It took many years before the full potential of the SNES was realized. My biggest fear is that the Console Gaming Industry is rushing too fast to try and compete with the new developments in technology to appease all the uneducated consumers who just demand the fastest, most powerful machine; and in doing so is not letting their console systems reach their true potential.
I don't know about anyone else, but I will take Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 2, Final Fantasy 3, Super Metroid, et cetera over almost all of the current games for the next generation of consoles (granted PS2 is FINALLY starting to get some good material).
Bottom line: We shouldn't spend so much time analyzing and over-analyzing the hardware behind the systems (we've argued about bits [4bit, 8bit, 16bit, 32bit] and now it's X-CPU vs. GCube-CPU, and nVidia NV2A vs. ATI Flipper). We should focus more attention to those who spend YEARS developing some of the most imaginative and engrossing games in the world, and give payment where it's due: the people behind the games.
I went to the website expecting to see this amazing product that he talked about. Instead I am greeted with yuppies relaxing on their plush red couch, a "Back to the Future" clad Michael Fo... Er Connie Chung, and Andre the Giants son trying to "sell" me their product.
Frankly, I was a bit scared by their index webpage. Their front page should focus more on their product rather than having weird people trying to make the product seem enjoyable. Show me that it's enjoyable in other ways, with more info, interactive demos, reviews and pricing. I want to feel like I can relate to this product (by having a need for it in my house/office/etc.) instead I feel like I'm not the target audience they're trying to reach.
Now these games might have been ones you've missed, but in my opinion warrant a place in anyone's collections.
(Starting from oldest system first)
Sega Genesis:
Beyond Oasis (It's sequel is on the Sega Saturn in case anyone wants more Oasis action)
Snes:
Lufia Series
Breath of Fire Series
FF Series (Of course)
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore (not as good as mana but still fun)
Chrono Trigger (if you've been living in a cave and don't know this one)
Super Metroid (Amazing Game)
Playstation:
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil 3 Nemesis
(stay away from the ResEvil shooter)
Vandal Hearts (Turn based strategy sleeper)
FinalFantasy Tactics (Rereleased as greatest hit $19.99)
FF Series
Parasite Eve (Skip PE 2 or at least watch the opening movie which pretty much tells the whole story.)
Chrono Cross
Xenogears
Vagrant Story
Metal Gear Solid
Nintendo 64:
Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Zelda: Legend of Majora's Mask
Goldeneye: 007
Perfect Dark
Tactics Ogre
Dreamcast:
Jet Grind Radio
Tony Hawk 1&2
Skies of Arcadia (Do NOT miss this one)
Resident Evil CODE: Veronica
Playstation 2:
Grand Theft Auto 3
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Metal Gear Solid 2
Final Fantasy X (December release)
Devil May Cry
Game Boy Advance:
Castlevania
Advance Wars (If you can get only one game, get this one)
Tony Hawk 2 (Almost Identical to the Console version)
XBox:
Halo
Gamecube:
Super Smash Bros.
Pikmin? (Maybe. Read reviews before buying)
PC:
(Doing some more recent games)
No One Lives Forever
Serious Sam
Max Payne
Half-life (Cstrike & DOD & TFC)
Quake 3 (TeamArena & Rocket Arena)
Starcraft (Still going strong...)
Tribes 2 (Online only pretty much single player offers very few challenges)
Clive Barker's Undying (GREAT sleeper hit.)
American McGee's Alice
Black & White (some people like it, not my thing though)
Fifa 2k1, 2k2
NHL 2k1, 2k2
*Note* this is just going off of my memory, all of these games are AT LEAST worth renting / ROM'ing and I believe many of these will open new doors of imagination in your minds and hearts.
Have a great Christmas everybody!