[jadie kell]

I was just wondering what are your personal feelings on B&Ws P5 vs BOSEs QC15...

These are amongst the best headphones I can think of but have never seen a topic discussing one against the other, so has anyone ever tried one of those?

The B&Ws would be a perfectly fine buy, but there are plenty other headphones in that price range to consider. The QC15s, like all Bose headphones, are overpriced and mediocre.

The P5s are supraaural, which I find to be inferior in pretty much every way to circumaural. What are you looking to use your headphones for? Where do you plan to use them? Do you want portable? Noise isolation? Low impedance so you don't need to amp?

[John Moore]

snip

Actually I was just asking out of the blue since I always like checking the latest hardware and acessories and I saw those 2 when they came out but have never tried them so was just trying to get some input.

I have a cousin who has a QC15 and she loves it, she says the noise cancelation is great for when travelling by plane (she's deff from 1 ear so I'm not sure if it's related). But then I saw the P5s and saw some reviews and since they were comparing them against the QC15...you get the point

Personally I use my headphones for music and sometimes gaming, at my laptop but it works as a desktop replacer so they don't need to be portable which is why I thought these would be a good buy. As for noise isolation and other features...they're always nice right?

[My blood]

Actually I was just asking out of the blue since I always like checking the latest hardware and acessories and I saw those 2 when they came out but have never tried them so was just trying to get some input.

I have a cousin who has a QC15 and she loves it, she says the noise cancelation is great for when travelling by plane (she's deff from 1 ear so I'm not sure if it's related). But then I saw the P5s and saw some reviews and since they were comparing them against the QC15...you get the point

Personally I use my headphones for music and sometimes gaming, at my laptop but it works as a desktop replacer so they don't need to be portable which is why I thought these would be a good buy. As for noise isolation and other features...they're always nice right?

Active noise cancelling is something to stay far away from. It takes batteries, really hurts sound quality, and having noise isolating headphones serves the same purpose. And noise isolation is a "feature" if you want it, but it means closed-back headphones, which have disadvantages compared to open headphones. So if you don't need it, then you can go open, which are more comfortable, and have better clarity.

And the P5s ARE portable, at least compared to circumaural headphones like the Beyer DT990 or the ATH AD900s.

[Hussnein Amin]

Hey, I'm back
Anyways, I have a tech question! (obviously)

In short:
I want this http://store.turtlebeach.com/ps3pcchatadaptercable-cab.aspx, but their sold out right now.
So would combining this http://www.amazon.com/2-5mm-Mobile-Headset-PC-Converter/dp/B000IZCUTQ with this http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mini-Stereo-Cable-2-5mm-mimi/dp/B0013JV8E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299256908&sr=1-1 have the same effect?

Story:
I have a headset for my Xbox 360, which I want to use for my PC, its the Turtle Beach x31 headset. Problem is, Turtle Beach is out of stock on their "http://store.turtlebeach.com/ps3pcchatadaptercable-cab.aspx", and idk when it will be in stock, and im not very patient. Plus, if my theory works, i'll save money. So anyways, as you can see (or read) that cable is just a 2.5mm male to PC Audio and PC Mic (3.5mms). The 2.5mm end plugs into the headset, then obviously the PC parts go to my PC. Well, I looked around to try to find another one, then ran into this. Another "http://www.amazon.com/2-5mm-Mobile-Headset-PC-Converter/dp/B000IZCUTQ". Only problem with that (that I can see) is the fact that its female 2.5mm, and I need 3.5mm. So I get a http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mini-Stereo-Cable-2-5mm-mimi/dp/B0013JV8E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299256908&sr=1-1. So will the two cables from Amazon work like the cable from the Turtle Beach website would?

edit: I lied when I said "the only problem I see", because I noticed that the color on the 2.5mm to PC adapter is red on one of the plugs? It's usually pink I though. I don't have a red input port on my PC. Is that just random coloring, or does that have an effect on the cable?

I suppose that would work. Dunno how the sound quality would end up being, but not like those are expensive cables anyways.

In all honesty I could probably wait until September, no need to buy it over the summer. Thanks again.

Yes, do ask when you're just about ready to buy. Notebook tend to have about a 6 month lifespan before a new model replaces it. The Asus notebook suggested to you is nice, but by the time you're ready to buy...there will probably be something better out there in the wild.

[Johanna Van Drunick]

EDIT: false alarm, it seems the problem lies with the router, not my laptop.

Spoiler

Hi all,

My university has wireless internet so I decided to try it out yesterday:
It required me to 'manually create a network profile' with the network name, WPA2-Enterprise security type and AES encryption.
After creating that profile I had to change some settings: (in advanced settings) specify authentication mode > user authentication;
And in settings (not advanced) I had to add Equifax Secure Certificate Authority (leaving the rest unchecked);
and (also in settings): change the 'select authentication methode to: Secured password (EAP-MASHAP v2) and at the configure part uncheck the 'automatically use my windows login and password'.

This worked as it should have, making it possible for me to access the universities wireless network using my university mail-adress and password..

However when I got home I could no longer connect to my home network (also wireless). My laptop sees the home network, has sufficient signal strength but gives a failed to connect notice.
I already tried making a manual profile for the home network so I could re-enter the wep-key but nothing seems to help. Could it be that one of the changes I made to get access to the university network interferes with the configuration my home network needs?


There's a manual I followed in order to get access to the universities network available http://www.uu.nl/SiteCollectionDocuments/ICT/HDL-Solis-air-Win7NL.pdf, it's in Dutch but does discus the English version of Windows 7..
My home network goes through a 'livebox' from the provider 'online' (although the actual livebox we're using dates back to wanadoo) and uses a wep-key.

Any ideas as to what is going wrong?

[Aman Bhattal]

Active noise cancelling is something to stay far away from. It takes batteries, really hurts sound quality, and having noise isolating headphones serves the same purpose. And noise isolation is a "feature" if you want it, but it means closed-back headphones, which have disadvantages compared to open headphones. So if you don't need it, then you can go open, which are more comfortable, and have better clarity.

And the P5s ARE portable, at least compared to circumaural headphones like the Beyer DT990 or the ATH AD900s.

Hmmm...didn't know about that. As I said I've never tried any, or any with noise cancelation so I wouldn't know that.

As for being portable, I wouldn't use them as portable anyway for the simple fact that they're a bit expensive and wouldn't use them on the streets for obvious reasons...

[Brittany Abner]

I'm thinking about picking up a new hard drive, but haven't kept track of how the various brands are rating, quality wise. Which ones should be avoided at the moment? And do you have some specific recommendations for a one or two terabyte drive for use as a primary HD?

Thanks .

[kennedy]

I'm thinking about picking up a new hard drive, but haven't kept track of how the various brands are rating, quality wise. Which ones should be avoided at the moment? And do you have some specific recommendations for a one or two terabyte drive for use as a primary HD?

Thanks .

Western Digital Caviar Black, Samsung Spinpoint F3, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (NOT 7200.11).

Get 1TB, not 2TB.

[cassy]

Western Digital Caviar Black, Samsung Spinpoint F3, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (NOT 7200.11).

Get 1TB, not 2TB.

Awesome .

[Lily]

Western Digital Caviar Black, Samsung Spinpoint F3, Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 (NOT 7200.11).

Get 1TB, not 2TB.

What about the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C ? IMO it's a pretty good HDD and it costed me 80 euros or something...

[gemma king]

I've never really owned a notebook/netbook in my life and a friend asked if I could suggest a laptop for under 850USD. He mainly wants it for general use and things like minecraft and probably TES or something. I've always been a fan of AMD over Intel for the most part and I'm not sure if it matters when it comes to laptops. I believe this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214190 ) looks like a good candidate, but could use a second opinion if you wouldn't mind.

[BaNK.RoLL]

Yes, do ask when you're just about ready to buy. Notebook tend to have about a 6 month lifespan before a new model replaces it. The Asus notebook suggested to you is nice, but by the time you're ready to buy...there will probably be something better out there in the wild.

Okay, cool. It's still killing me to think of not having a Mac but the standard 15 inch Macbook Pro has (according to my research and limited knowledge) a terrible graphics card and the high end 15 inch is over $2,000 and has a mid-range, but still not so great graphics card and a slower hard drive. Good thing I have half a year to really get used to the idea of not having a Mac (worth it to finally enjoy some PC games though) . . . guess I'll be back when it's closer to buying time. Thanks.

[Vickey Martinez]

What about the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C ? IMO it's a pretty good HDD and it costed me 80 euros or something...

Hitachi drives are actually pretty good and have some of the lowest failure rates, so it's not a bad suggestion. The Samsung F3 is marginally quicker with the read/writes though and tends to be quieter. I can't even suggest Seagate anymore...acquisition of Maxtor has really dragged their quality down.

Oh and Western Digital just acquired Hitachi's hard drive division:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20040001-92.html

I've never really owned a notebook/netbook in my life and a friend asked if I could suggest a laptop for under 850USD. He mainly wants it for general use and things like minecraft and probably TES or something. I've always been a fan of AMD over Intel for the most part and I'm not sure if it matters when it comes to laptops. I believe this ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214190 ) looks like a good candidate, but could use a second opinion if you wouldn't mind.

Not bad, but there are better alternatives for a $850 budget:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Ideapad-06465LU-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B004G60AQS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1299571412&sr=8-2...bout $750 as of this post.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146848...nice deal here at $850

[lydia nekongo]

It appears that I'm in constant need of a second opinion. Hahaha, that and I'm not necessarily informed on network hardware(in this case). I require a new 8-port router because my devices seem to be growing in number. My current set-up is a cable modem that connects to my 4-port Belkin router, which has three PCs and an Xbox running into it. My subscription is 15Mb/s down, but I'm not getting it and I believe it's because both my router and modem are ancient. I'm unsure of a reasonable price range for a router and what specs I should look for besides it being DOCSIS 3.0. If the dl speed would be greater affected by my modem, I would appreciate a recommendation for that as well as the router. Thank you in advanced, guys. ^.^

[Dagan Wilkin]

It appears that I'm in constant need of a second opinion. Hahaha, that and I'm not necessarily informed on network hardware(in this case). I require a new 8-port router because my devices seem to be growing in number. My current set-up is a cable modem that connects to my 4-port Belkin router, which has three PCs and an Xbox running into it. My subscription is 15Mb/s down, but I'm not getting it and I believe it's because both my router and modem are ancient. I'm unsure of a reasonable price range for a router and what specs I should look for besides it being DOCSIS 3.0. If the dl speed would be greater affected by my modem, I would appreciate a recommendation for that as well as the router. Thank you in advanced, guys. ^.^

1) 15mbit/sec is roughly 1.875MB/s (or megabytes/sec).

2) DOCSIS refers to a Cable Modem terminology. I have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, however you don't need a DOCSIS 3.0 to get 15mbit/sec sync rates. Mine syncs at DOCSIS 1.1 and get can get up to 32mbit/sec. Maximum throughput for DOCSIS 1.1/2.0 is 38mbit/sec (at 64 QAM) and 43mbit/sec (at 256 QAM). DOCSIS 3.0 only needed for 50mbit/sec or faster Internet throughput.

3) Do you really need an 8 port Router, cannot you use some devices using a Wifi (802.11b/g/n)?

[Chris Guerin]

Spoiler

Hey, I'm back
Anyways, I have a tech question! (obviously)

In short:
I want this http://store.turtlebeach.com/ps3pcchatadaptercable-cab.aspx, but their sold out right now.
So would combining this http://www.amazon.com/2-5mm-Mobile-Headset-PC-Converter/dp/B000IZCUTQ with this http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mini-Stereo-Cable-2-5mm-mimi/dp/B0013JV8E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299256908&sr=1-1 have the same effect?

Story:
I have a headset for my Xbox 360, which I want to use for my PC, its the Turtle Beach x31 headset. Problem is, Turtle Beach is out of stock on their "http://store.turtlebeach.com/ps3pcchatadaptercable-cab.aspx", and idk when it will be in stock, and im not very patient. Plus, if my theory works, i'll save money. So anyways, as you can see (or read) that cable is just a 2.5mm male to PC Audio and PC Mic (3.5mms). The 2.5mm end plugs into the headset, then obviously the PC parts go to my PC. Well, I looked around to try to find another one, then ran into this. Another "http://www.amazon.com/2-5mm-Mobile-Headset-PC-Converter/dp/B000IZCUTQ". Only problem with that (that I can see) is the fact that its female 2.5mm, and I need 3.5mm. So I get a http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mini-Stereo-Cable-2-5mm-mimi/dp/B0013JV8E4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1299256908&sr=1-1. So will the two cables from Amazon work like the cable from the Turtle Beach website would?

edit: I lied when I said "the only problem I see", because I noticed that the color on the 2.5mm to PC adapter is red on one of the plugs? It's usually pink I though. I don't have a red input port on my PC. Is that just random coloring, or does that have an effect on the cable?

I suppose that would work. Dunno how the sound quality would end up being, but not like those are expensive cables anyways.

^Previous chat
Anyways, about my computer mic thing. So my idea worked... Kind of... I have Audio through my headset, and the mic piece "somewhat" works. and by "somewhat" I mean its super low. I went into audacity and recorded a bit of it, and I could hardly hear what is normally blasting loud. And in MSN Messenger, if I try to send a voice clip it says no sound detected, so it doesnt send. So basically, is there a way I can make the sound louder from the mic piece?

[Esther Fernandez]

Cheap video cards:

Hubby wants $80-$120 pci-e video card. He doesn't care about uber-benchmarks and is fine w/low settings/low resolutions etc...but does want to be able to at least run more modern games. Needs HDMI port to connect to TV. I'll be upgrading my nvida in 3-6 months & he can then have my GTX-275, but he wants something else until then. I don't know much about cards in this price range/what he wants.

The rig he's currently using as the gaming-tv rig is an AMD Phenom triple core, if that matters at all (I know nothing about AMD/ATI either...).

Any quick suggestions/tips for us to research/look at?

[Emily Graham]

Cheap video cards:

Hubby wants $80-$120 pci-e video card. He doesn't care about uber-benchmarks and is fine w/low settings/low resolutions etc...but does want to be able to at least run more modern games. Needs HDMI port to connect to TV. I'll be upgrading my nvida in 3-6 months & he can then have my GTX-275, but he wants something else until then. I don't know much about cards in this price range/what he wants.

The rig he's currently using as the gaming-tv rig is an AMD Phenom triple core, if that matters at all (I know nothing about AMD/ATI either...).

Any quick suggestions/tips for us to research/look at?

Should be able to pick up an Nvidia 9800 gt or gtx in that price range. I've been running mine for almost 2 years and it handles Fallout 3 (and yawns) and Morrowind running MGE (not that it's new) and it does really good. It does have HDMI, but I don't use it. Search eBay or a general Google search.

[sexy zara]

Just remembered my gtx275 doesn't have HDMI...so that won't work for him. Bah. Hm. He should just get a console, he's that kind of gamer.

Anyway...he was looking at some version of the gts450 for $130...but there's so many versions/letters/numbers these days it's confusing to know what's better or worse etc. His current card is an ATI-2600 HD/XT, whatever that means.

[lacy lake]

im back for more guys! ive been gone for so long im amazed that my name is still on the friggin list! i remember when we first started this thread, im one of the ones who helped answer questions in the beginning! haha

[maddison]

Just remembered my gtx275 doesn't have HDMI...so that won't work for him. Bah.

Grab an http://www.amazon.com/RiteAV-HDMI-Female-Male-Adaptor/dp/B000V1O1JO. Depending on the card's manufacturer it might've even came with one so I'd check the box if you still have it.

[Bitter End]

1) 15mbit/sec is roughly 1.875MB/s (or megabytes/sec).

2) DOCSIS refers to a Cable Modem terminology. I have a DOCSIS 3.0 modem, however you don't need a DOCSIS 3.0 to get 15mbit/sec sync rates. Mine syncs at DOCSIS 1.1 and get can get up to 32mbit/sec. Maximum throughput for DOCSIS 1.1/2.0 is 38mbit/sec (at 64 QAM) and 43mbit/sec (at 256 QAM). DOCSIS 3.0 only needed for 50mbit/sec or faster Internet throughput.

3) Do you really need an 8 port Router, cannot you use some devices using a Wifi (802.11b/g/n)?

1) I know what the difference between bits and bytes is. Haha.
2) I was just throwing that out there, to be honest. I just know it's something on my end.
3) Yes, I really need an 8-port router. Don't really like WiFi much nor do I have any devices that currently are able for WiFi besides one.

[Charlie Sarson]

Grab an http://www.amazon.com/RiteAV-HDMI-Female-Male-Adaptor/dp/B000V1O1JO. Depending on the card's manufacturer it might've even came with one so I'd check the box if you still have it.

You'd want to get one that includes passing audio to the HDMI cable too, though, probably, unless the TV in question has a 3.5 mm audio-in jack

[Claudia Cook]

Just remembered my gtx275 doesn't have HDMI...so that won't work for him. Bah. Hm. He should just get a console, he's that kind of gamer.

Anyway...he was looking at some version of the gts450 for $130...but there's so many versions/letters/numbers these days it's confusing to know what's better or worse etc. His current card is an ATI-2600 HD/XT, whatever that means.

Don't bother with a 9800GT...it was great for its time, but old technology, old card. The GTS 450 is fine if it must be a Nvidia card, but the Radeon 5770 is a bit better in terms of gaming performance:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102898&cm_re=radeon_5770-_-14-102-898-_-Product

There are plenty DVI-to-HDMI adapters in the market for cheap as mentioned.

im back for more guys! ive been gone for so long im amazed that my name is still on the friggin list! i remember when we first started this thread, im one of the ones who helped answer questions in the beginning! haha

Wow, welcome back. It's been like what...3 years since I've last seen you?

[naana]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4683600&SRCCODE=JELLYFISH&cm_mmc_o=2mHCjC3wkkYubltCjCVqHCjCdwwp

will this card be able to run it.

If not, will it if i overclock it a bit

(its cheap there because it is refurbished)

LOL forgot to put link