[Lexy Corpsey]

Originally by Powerslide
LET'S MAKE THIS WORK PEOPLE!

Okay, now as anyone could see there are HUNDREDS of tech threads floating around in CD - ranging from questions about graphics hardware, to questions about pricier graphics hardware and other tech such as monitors, hard drives and Processors to announcement threads of new technology and more. (I accede - I'm not being very eloquent here

Any questions you have, tech news or ANYTHING related to buying/selling/information/announcements of new hardware should go here.

For example, if you come to the forums to ask "What is the better graphics hardware" or "What sort of RAM should I put in my PC?" then it should go here - I'm a little hazy, I know - but please keep all those graphics card and tech questions to one thread! Please!
So here's the summary, all:

• Announcements and queries on new or unreleased tech
  
• Benchmarks and results of hardware/discussion
  
• Questions on what sort of hardware you need/want for your machine
  
• Questions about existing tech and/or function
  
• Pricing and recommendations

Should be kept to THIS THREAD.

This has been A-okayed by CCNA for all who were wondering - it's up to you to stop filling CD with the same topics again and again that ask what the most powerful card in existence is so you can (not) buy it.

If you feel you have a question or can answer one - please feel free to do so.

Also, this is a great thread for you PC newbs, for learning more about your PC and hardware. http://www.elderscrolls.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=258050&st=0&p=4626051&#entry4626051

Also, a useful site for a frame of reference (not actual numbers), http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=476&model2=477&chart=174, and http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=519&model2=547&chart=211


Thanks all.
Adding more links shortly, thank you for your patience.

(Threads 1-82 have been all pruned, may they rest in peace)


http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1069729
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1073705
http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1076918
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1079401-the-community-tech-thread-%2386/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1084024-the-community-tech-thread-no-87/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1090141-the-community-tech-thread-no-88/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1094900-the-community-tech-thread-no-89/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1102258-the-community-tech-thread-no-90/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1108118-the-community-tech-thread-no-91/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1112884-the-community-tech-thread-no-92/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1118559-the-community-tech-thread-no-93/
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1145193-the-community-tech-thread-no-94/

Do I also have to put a big glowing neon sign to this in my signature? THERE ARE TOO MANY TECH THREADS - THIS IS NOT A FORUM FOR YOUR TECH WOES!

But we will gladly help you anyway.

Honour list:
Nottheking
Lord Athanar (SUPER-PINK!)
Insaneturbo13
Anothercanadian
Tig Ol' Bitties
Dogsbody
CCNA (Moderator)
Níeh?ggr
wolfpup
Wierd
Softnerd
wingus
DEFRON
Qwaxalot

Oh and PLEASE, if you want us to "Build" you a PC, please indicate the following:
1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.
5.) product preferences, preferred seller, and intended aim

but please, no "I want teh superererest Peecee evar1!!!!11!1", because really, only Bill Gates has that much moolah.

And, speaking of building your own PC, two good how-to videos from Newegg (thanks to SpankyTheElf for finding these):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CStOC0hET8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3buj5cIh2Bs&feature=related

Other useful links
http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1&front_id=12
http://tools.corsairmemory.com/systembuild/report.aspx?report_id=12472
http://www.memtest86.com/
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/
http://entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm
http://www.irfanview.com/
http://www.knoppix.org/
http://www.jonnyguru.com/
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread.php?t=136602
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html
http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php
http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
http://tftcentral.co.uk/
http://www.apple.com/itunes/
http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmark06/
http://www.fraps.com/

[Matt Gammond]

Friend of mine needs a new laptop. hers is dead and she says it tries to turn on but goes nowhere, she is not technical and I am nowhere near the area to inspect it myself. She says the lights come on on the laptop but not the screen and the laptop reboots within a few seconds. Any ideas what could cause this? Again she is not technical in the slightest and I am not near her to be able to look at it for myself.

If nobody has any idea she needs a new laptop between $400 and $550 USD, $600 would be an absolute max. Its mainly a school computer so 2gb of RAM is fine, she does play Sims 2 and some simple games from Steam (mainly Plants vs Zombies), and she does not need a number pad for it. Any suggestions for this? I found a couple bit she is nit picky for some reason because she is more concerned about price than what she wants to use it for to me.

She lives in the middle of nowhere so NewEgg or TigerDirect would be good if it is online or Best Buy and Wal-Mart, if it is obtainable at a store that would be a plus but not required. I was also just told an acciental type warranty would be good so long as it falls within or close to the price range.

Tell her to order this NOW:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6438767&CatId=4938...$550 as of this post

Super cheap, but capable:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Laptop+/+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+X2+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500+GB+Hard+Drive+-+Velvet+Blue/1250655.p?id=1218242897223&skuId=1250655...$399 sale
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+Inspiron+Laptop+/+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+3GB+Memory+/+320GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/1179872.p?id=1218231017163&skuId=1179872...$379 sale

Here's a few others that don't compare to first one, but fallback items I guess:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214023 ...$599
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+AMD+Phenom%26%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+17.3%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Helios+Gray/1261624.p?id=1218244144048&skuId=1261624 ...$549
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+14%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+250GB+Hard+Drive+-+Helios+Blue/1201235.p?id=1218232916142&skuId=1201235...$449

[Sarah Unwin]

can someone give me a suggestion for a new motherboard, basically I got a new computer chassis and right now I have a micro ATX, but it doesn't fit in I need a full ATX, I would also like something that can use the phenom 2 processer, since I do need a new processer 100-200 dollars would be good, but I may be able to go a little higher

[Trevi]

can someone give me a suggestion for a new motherboard, basically I got a new computer chassis and right now I have a micro ATX, but it doesn't fit in I need a full ATX, I would also like something that can use the phenom 2 processer, since I do need a new processer 100-200 dollars would be good, but I may be able to go a little higher

Any particular things you want too look for? USB 3.0, or a specific amount of PCIe x16 slots?

[JUDY FIGHTS]

Any particular things you want too look for? USB 3.0, or a specific amount of PCIe x16 slots?

not really as long as I have 2 or 3 PCI slots ill be fine

I actually did find a good one (I think), but I do have 2 questions about it that I have no idea how to check
is ATX the same as full ATX?
also I am not sure what type of RAM I have right now, but I have a dell e520 and I used whatever RAM was meant for that, anyways I need to know if it is DDR3

[Carys]

So I've been looking for a new computer for gaming. I'm willing to spend $1100 USD at the most. Any suggestions? Or, better yet, what specifics should I look for when finding a computer? For example, I know nothing about "graphics memory", which I've been seeing on labels.

[Natasha Biss]

Alright, I got a new flat-panel TV for Christmas (a 40" Sharp Aquos), and I'm unsure whether or not it's LCD or LED. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the packaging said both LED and LCD, and the back of the device itself says "Liquid Crystal television". How can I tell which it is? (I have no complaints with it either way, it's beautiful, I just want to know if QVC got the order wrong again so that my Grandma can get a refund or something)

Another thing is that my PC does not have an HDMI or a DVI port (I swear that QVC must be [censored] [censored]), but it does have a 15 pin VGA port. Is this as good as a DVI or HDMI in terms of visual quality? I want to hook-up said Sharp Aquos for use as my monitor/ speakers.

[D IV]

is ATX the same as full ATX?
also I am not sure what type of RAM I have right now, but I have a dell e520 and I used whatever RAM was meant for that, anyways I need to know if it is DDR3

1. Yes.
2. That model of Dell uses DDR2.

So I've been looking for a new computer for gaming. I'm willing to spend $1100 USD at the most. Any suggestions? Or, better yet, what specifics should I look for when finding a computer? For example, I know nothing about "graphics memory", which I've been seeing on labels.

That depends on how much you need to replace, and if you need things like a new monitor etc. Generally for a gaming machine you'll want to spend the most on a good graphics card, since this is what drives your ability to play games at decent framerates. You'll also want a dual-core (or more) processor that can take full advantage of your graphics card, a solid motherboard with all the features you might want, and at least 4GB of RAM. You'll also need a PSU with enough wattage to power it all - 700W or more is pretty normal these days. I hope you're not intimidated by assembling it yourself, as this is the best way to get the most bang for your buck (prebuilt machines tend to be over-priced, imo) and the process isn't all that hard.

Bit-Tech do a monthly http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2010/11/03/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-november-2010/1 that you could have a look at, they do a pretty nice breakdown of different rigs (some things you can ignore, like the solid-state drives and custom cooling.)

Alright, I got a new flat-panel TV for Christmas (a 40" Sharp Aquos), and I'm unsure whether or not it's LCD or LED. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the packaging said both LED and LCD, and the back of the device itself says "Liquid Crystal television". How can I tell which it is? (I have no complaints with it either way, it's beautiful, I just want to know if QVC got the order wrong again so that my Grandma can get a refund or something)

Another thing is that my PC does not have an HDMI or a DVI port (I swear that QVC must be [censored] [censored]), but it does have a 15 pin VGA port. Is this as good as a DVI or HDMI in terms of visual quality? I want to hook-up said Sharp Aquos for use as my monitor/ speakers.

It's an LCD screen, backlit by an LED (but it's still an LCD.)

VGA does not have the same quality as either DVI or HDMI. As its name suggests, HDMI supports digital High Definition, whereas VGA transmits in anologue, which generally makes it less sharp. DVI is pretty much as good as HDMI, except that it doesn't also stream audio like HDMI does (and for most purposes HDMI offers the best visual quality.)

Btw, do you mean QVC as in the TV shopping channel?

[TASTY TRACY]

1. Yes.
2. That model of Dell uses DDR2.



That depends on how much you need to replace, and if you need things like a new monitor etc. Generally for a gaming machine you'll want to spend the most on a good graphics card, since this is what drives your ability to play games at decent framerates. You'll also want a dual-core (or more) processor that can take full advantage of your graphics card, a solid motherboard with all the features you might want, and at least 4GB of RAM. You'll also need a PSU with enough wattage to power it all - 700W or more is pretty normal these days. I hope you're not intimidated by assembling it yourself, as this is the best way to get the most bang for your buck (prebuilt machines tend to be over-priced, imo) and the process isn't all that hard.

Bit-Tech do a monthly http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/buyers-guide/2010/11/03/pc-hardware-buyer-s-guide-november-2010/1 that you could have a look at, they do a pretty nice breakdown of different rigs (some things you can ignore, like the solid-state drives and custom cooling.)



It's an LCD screen, backlit by an LED (but it's still an LCD.)

VGA does not have the same quality as either DVI or HDMI. As its name suggests, HDMI supports digital High Definition, whereas VGA transmits in anologue, which generally makes it less sharp. DVI is pretty much as good as HDMI, except that it doesn't also stream audio like HDMI does (and for most purposes HDMI offers the best visual quality.)

Btw, do you mean QVC as in the TV shopping channel?

Yes, QVC the horrid home-shopping network. I know they svck-ass, but it would be impossible to explain that to my Grandma...

[Kevin S]

Yes, QVC the horrid home-shopping network. I know they svck-ass, but it would be impossible to explain that to my Grandma...

Fair enough.

[Antony Holdsworth]

Fair enough.

Actually, one more thing: would a 15 pin VGA to HDMI conversion cord allow 1080p from my laptop to my TV if a straight VGA won't?

Random tech question: Why did Blu-ray beat HD DVD? I've never actually seen an HD DVD play, so Idk the difference. Just wondering.

[jenny goodwin]

Been a while since I've been on here but I once again need the help of you smart people who know things and junk and stuff.

Tomorrow I'm going to get an Xbox 360 Slim. I'm selling my old Pro to Gamestop and I'm going to use all the giftcards and whatnot I got for Christmas to pay the difference. Since I have a little extra money thanks to the generosity of my family, I decided to go all out and buy something else I've really wanted for my gaming niche. A headset that not only acts as a mic for Xbox Live and PC games, but also acts as a pair of surround sound headphones for the game.

I have a $50 gift card to Newegg so I would like to buy it on that website. I'd be willing to put forth $50 of my own as well so the max is $100. Does anyone here have any experience with these kinds of things? I found a few and will post them below but suggestions are welcomed as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874502004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874106005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874502007

Is this as simple as "the more expensive the better"? I'm in no way an audiophile, will I even notice a difference between the Ear Force X11's and the X31's?

Thanks for the help,

Ravin

[A Boy called Marilyn]

One more thing that's TV related: My TV came with a 4.95Gbps HDMI cord. Do I really need to eventually get one faster than that, or will this one suffice for Hi-Def Gaming and Movie watching? Right now my Xbox 360 is hooked in via the HD AV cable that it came with (like the normal AV, but with the Red, Blue, and Green plugs as apposed to the single yellow). Is this as good as the before-mentioned HDMI cord for gaming in 1080p? I don't know it's speed, but it looks just as good atm.

[Nancy RIP]

not really as long as I have 2 or 3 PCI slots ill be fine

I actually did find a good one (I think), but I do have 2 questions about it that I have no idea how to check
is ATX the same as full ATX?
also I am not sure what type of RAM I have right now, but I have a dell e520 and I used whatever RAM was meant for that, anyways I need to know if it is DDR3

Ok, so you got a new chassis and want a motherboard that supports Phenom II CPUs, yet you want to use DDR2 RAM that's from your old Dell? The more modern AM3 motherboards support DDR3 RAM...the older AM2+/AM3 motherboards take DDR2. I suggest getting something more recent and use some of that $200 budget towards newer and faster RAM...it's rather cheap these days too.

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128444
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277&cm_re=g_skill_ddr3_1600-_-20-231-277-_-Product

So I've been looking for a new computer for gaming. I'm willing to spend $1100 USD at the most. Any suggestions? Or, better yet, what specifics should I look for when finding a computer? For example, I know nothing about "graphics memory", which I've been seeing on labels.

Gonna need a bit more info....I presume that you can't build your own PC and need a pre-assembled one???

Also what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.

Actually, one more thing: would a 15 pin VGA to HDMI conversion cord allow 1080p from my laptop to my TV if a straight VGA won't?

Random tech question: Why did Blu-ray beat HD DVD? I've never actually seen an HD DVD play, so Idk the difference. Just wondering.

NO. It will not. VGA is an anolog signal (waves)...HDMI is a digital one (1's and 0's). You cannot convert an anolog signal to a digital one with a cheap conversion cable. That conversion cable is likely to work opposite of what you're thinking....meaning that it can only transfer HDMI output signals to a display device that only has a VGA input. You'd need something like this to make that VGA output on your PC work:
http://vgatohdmicable.info/

...and I personally don't find it worth it. Good info there though.


Blu-Ray won for a variety of reasons, but it ultimately came down to movie industry support, consistent wins in movie sales, better advertising, and the PS3 advantage. Time Warner was the last of the major movie companies that had yet to pick a side during "the war"as they were still supporting both formats. This was around 3rd and 4th quarters of 2007. Blu-Ray for the most part dominated in movie sales in the hi-def wars up to the end, even with movies that made it on both formats. During these quarters, the PS3 was also picking up in sales across the world. The combination of these facts had a big part in Time Warner taking the "Blu pill". Once that decision was made, Toshiba (biggest HD-DVD supporter at the time) pulled the plug on making HD DVD players and everything went downhill from there for the format.

I actually invested in both formats during that time and followed the war pretty closely. To be honest, there wasn't much difference in terms of video and audio quality for the titles that made both formats. The Blu-Ray disc supports more capacity than HD-DVD (25/50GB vs 15/30GB) and the Blu-Ray discs has a nice protective film on the playable area that helps prevent scratches. At the time I was leaning towards the HD-DVD side because of the better amount of movie titles that were out and because the players were significantly cheaper. However, even I knew Blu was going to win simply due to the PS3 adoption bandwagon.

Been a while since I've been on here but I once again need the help of you smart people who know things and junk and stuff.

Tomorrow I'm going to get an Xbox 360 Slim. I'm selling my old Pro to Gamestop and I'm going to use all the giftcards and whatnot I got for Christmas to pay the difference. Since I have a little extra money thanks to the generosity of my family, I decided to go all out and buy something else I've really wanted for my gaming niche. A headset that not only acts as a mic for Xbox Live and PC games, but also acts as a pair of surround sound headphones for the game.

I have a $50 gift card to Newegg so I would like to buy it on that website. I'd be willing to put forth $50 of my own as well so the max is $100. Does anyone here have any experience with these kinds of things? I found a few and will post them below but suggestions are welcomed as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874502004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874106005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235009

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16874502007

Is this as simple as "the more expensive the better"? I'm in no way an audiophile, will I even notice a difference between the Ear Force X11's and the X31's?

Thanks for the help,

Ravin

Only the Turtle Beach Ear Force X31 is ok.

Tritton is an alright maker, but that model isn't. This is the only one to really consider if you're really dead-set on these 5.1 headsets:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235008

IMO, these "5.1 surround headsets" are gimmicks. The biggest flaw in 5.1 headsets is the interference between the individual tiny speakers. They're so close together that you cannot expect there not to be any push/pull one way or the other. A good set of stereo headphones really do sound better. However, the budget isn't the best in the world and the limitation to newegg doesn't leave too many options. And unfortunately the SteelSeries headsets are mostly out of stock with the remaining set only for PC. So that leaves me comfortable with only those two options I just suggested

One more thing that's TV related: My TV came with a 4.95Gbps HDMI cord. Do I really need to eventually get one faster than that, or will this one suffice for Hi-Def Gaming and Movie watching? Right now my Xbox 360 is hooked in via the HD AV cable that it came with (like the normal AV, but with the Red, Blue, and Green plugs as apposed to the single yellow). Is this as good as the before-mentioned HDMI cord for gaming in 1080p? I don't know it's speed, but it looks just as good atm.

That 4.95Gbps is just the transfer rate spec. HDMI 1.3, which is rather common nowadays, is rated up to 10.2Gbps. All you need to know about HDMI cables is that they shouldn't cost more than $10. I've gotten them for as cheap a 1$ and they work just as good as any of those ridiculous $100 Monster cables. This is one of the biggest scams in the industry, so be warned. Good places for cables are Amazon and Monoprice.

Your X360 is hooked up via Component Cables. Component Cables can carry signals up to 1080p on the more newer high definition TVs. A lot of the older TV's were limited to allow only 1080i or 720p. Presuming your HDTV supports component at 1080p, the visual quality will be just as good as HDMI. But even if it doesn't, not a lot of people can tell the difference between 1080i/720p and 1080p. And most X360 games are programmed in 720p anyways and just upscaled to be 1080p.

[Andres Lechuga]

Random tech question: Why did Blu-ray beat HD DVD? I've never actually seen an HD DVD play, so Idk the difference. Just wondering.

Blu-ray won because they had the better marketing stance, I believe. Sony included one as standard on the PS3, whereas the 360 needed an external HD-DVD drive to be purchased seperately, which by itself gave Sony quite an advantage. The rest came down to consumer preference, like the old Betamax vs. VHS battle.

edit: ninja'd by the master

[Oyuki Manson Lavey]

Only the Turtle Beach Ear Force X31 is ok.

Tritton is an alright maker, but that model isn't. This is the only one to really consider if you're really dead-set on these 5.1 headsets:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826235008

IMO, these "5.1 surround headsets" are gimmicks. The biggest flaw in 5.1 headsets is the interference between the individual tiny speakers. They're so close together that you cannot expect there not to be any push/pull one way or the other. A good set of stereo headphones really do sound better. However, the budget isn't the best in the world and the limitation to newegg doesn't leave too many options. And unfortunately the SteelSeries headsets are mostly out of stock with the remaining set only for PC. So that leaves me comfortable with only those two options I just suggested

Thanks for the response Tig. Would you rate those Trittons you suggested above the X31's? I'm willing to stretch a little bit on the money if it will make a difference.
As for it being a gimmick, the main reason I want them is because the walls here are thin and my uncle's bed is unfortunately right on the other side of the wall as my TV. That and I need a new mic, so two birds with one stone I guess


Ravin

[Pete Schmitzer]

Alright, I got a new flat-panel TV for Christmas (a 40" Sharp Aquos), and I'm unsure whether or not it's LCD or LED. I know it sounds ridiculous, but the packaging said both LED and LCD, and the back of the device itself says "Liquid Crystal television". How can I tell which it is? (I have no complaints with it either way, it's beautiful, I just want to know if QVC got the order wrong again so that my Grandma can get a refund or something)

Another thing is that my PC does not have an HDMI or a DVI port (I swear that QVC must be [censored] [censored]), but it does have a 15 pin VGA port. Is this as good as a DVI or HDMI in terms of visual quality? I want to hook-up said Sharp Aquos for use as my monitor/ speakers.

If you can provide the model number I'd like to have a look at it.

A 40" LCD with no HDMI or Component inputs? Sounds fishy (stupid) to me.

P.S.

Just to be clear, that stupid remark is directed at the manufacturer if indeed true.

[Lindsay Dunn]

Ok, so you got a new chassis and want a motherboard that supports Phenom II CPUs, yet you want to use DDR2 RAM that's from your old Dell? The more modern AM3 motherboards support DDR3 RAM...the older AM2+/AM3 motherboards take DDR2. I suggest getting something more recent and use some of that $200 budget towards newer and faster RAM...it's rather cheap these days too.

I didn't know what RAM it had I bought it when Fallout came out, and thanks for the sites.

anyone wanna buy some RAM?

[rebecca moody]

If you can provide the model number I'd like to have a look at it.

A 40" LCD with no HDMI or Component inputs? Sounds fishy (stupid) to me.

P.S.

Just to be clear, that stupid remark is directed at the manufacturer if indeed true.

Its pretty easy to tell if its "LED" or simply LCD. LED HDTV are a LCD HDTV with a LED backlight. The major difference between them and older (CCFL backlight) LCD HDTV is the thickness of the TV. LED HDTV are very thin.

[BethanyRhain]

oh also I did just order a phenom 2 from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Processors+-+Desktops-_-AMD-_-19103808 I really dont know know that much about motherboards and I just want to know the deal with heatsinks on it and what I need to do to install it and everything

[Philip Rua]

I got a 500gb Canvio external hard drive for xmas. I want to store videos on it so i can play them on my ps3. Does anyone know how to make it work?

[Chris Johnston]

I got a 500gb Canvio external hard drive for xmas. I want to store videos on it so i can play them on my ps3. Does anyone know how to make it work?

http://www.wikihow.com/Add-an-External-Hard-Drive-to-a-PlayStation-3

[Cedric Pearson]

@Tig Ol Biddies: Thank you very much for the info, I think that my current HDMI will suffice just fine (not surprised at all about the scam-esque nature of these things;my cord's packaging came with advertisemant for much "faster" and expensive cables), and I think my Xbox will be perfectly fine with its component cables

@wolfpup & Níeh?ggr: It is an LED (I did a little research and found out what the difference is; it's minuscule). It's not the tv that lacks inputs (it has like 5 HDMI inputs, 2 usb ports, VGA, audio, and component. There is no shortage of sockets on that thing), it's my Laptop that lacks HDMI and DVI. It kinda svcks, because it's a good PC, but QVC are [censored] morons, and I think that the Inspirons that they sell are built to their "specs".

[Rebecca Dosch]

@Tig Ol Biddies: Thank you very much for the info, I think that my current HDMI will suffice just fine (not surprised at all about the scam-esque nature of these things;my cord's packaging came with advertisemant for much "faster" and expensive cables), and I think my Xbox will be perfectly fine with its component cables

@wolfpup & Níeh?ggr: It is an LED (I did a little research and found out what the difference is; it's minuscule). It's not the tv that lacks inputs (it has like 5 HDMI inputs, 2 usb ports, VGA, audio, and component. There is no shortage of sockets on that thing), it's my Laptop that lacks HDMI and DVI. It kinda svcks, because it's a good PC, but QVC are [censored] morons, and I think that the Inspirons that they sell are built to their "specs".

Laptops rarely have DVI or HDMI out. VGA out is common. Since the HDTV has a VGA port you may use that. VGA supports full HD (1080p). Now you may have to play around when the settings in Windows to get the output to display correctly.

Edit: Since VGA is anolog it can easily be converted to another anolog source. For example if the HDTV didn't have VGA you could convert it to Component, S-Video or Composite.

[Kayla Bee]

Thanks for the response Tig. Would you rate those Trittons you suggested above the X31's? I'm willing to stretch a little bit on the money if it will make a difference.
As for it being a gimmick, the main reason I want them is because the walls here are thin and my uncle's bed is unfortunately right on the other side of the wall as my TV. That and I need a new mic, so two birds with one stone I guess


Ravin

I'd pick the Trittons over the Turtles any day of the week.

If you can provide the model number I'd like to have a look at it.

A 40" LCD with no HDMI or Component inputs? Sounds fishy (stupid) to me.

P.S.

Just to be clear, that stupid remark is directed at the manufacturer if indeed true.

I initially misread that post too, but after re-reading it Snow Dog was actually posting about two different things. It's his PC/Laptop that has only the VGA output.

oh also I did just order a phenom 2 from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103808&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Processors+-+Desktops-_-AMD-_-19103808 I really dont know know that much about motherboards and I just want to know the deal with heatsinks on it and what I need to do to install it and everything

If I had known you hadn't gotten the CPU yet, you could've gotten a decent combo deal with it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.572742

Heatsink for the CPU? There are tutorials and youtube videos all over the web on how to do install a CPU and its heatsink. Google is your friend

@Tig Ol Biddies: Thank you very much for the info, I think that my current HDMI will suffice just fine (not surprised at all about the scam-esque nature of these things;my cord's packaging came with advertisemant for much "faster" and expensive cables), and I think my Xbox will be perfectly fine with its component cables

@wolfpup & Níeh?ggr: It is an LED (I did a little research and found out what the difference is; it's minuscule). It's not the tv that lacks inputs (it has like 5 HDMI inputs, 2 usb ports, VGA, audio, and component. There is no shortage of sockets on that thing), it's my Laptop that lacks HDMI and DVI. It kinda svcks, because it's a good PC, but QVC are [censored] morons, and I think that the Inspirons that they sell are built to their "specs".

Just noticed the little bit on your TV having a VGA input? As Níeh?ggr said, you can just utilize that port. The quality won't be as crystal clear as HDMI/DVI, a bit fuzzier, but you may not even notice.