Search results

  1. J

    New ATi drivers...

    Just curious. You have a nice system there. Why in the world are you using a crappy monitor to look at the output of that system? CRTs are dirt cheap right now. You could have a real nice 19" or 21" that will do 85hz at 1600x1200.
  2. J

    New Monitor, Custom Refresh Rates, and My Concerns.

    Generally, outside of gaming, you'll want to use the LOWEST flicker-free refresh rate you can, probably 85hz. Increasing the refresh rate beyond that just causes the image (especially noticeable with text) to become more blurry.
  3. J

    keeping printer on always = bad?

    I simply hate the noise. Maybe ink jet printers are more quiet? This HP LaserJet 4MV makes a bit of an electrical humming sound, even when it's "sleeping". Lucky it has an off switch, unlike your 1200? I always thought that the general rule, when deciding whether to leave a piece of...
  4. J

    What is it about Gnome or KDE that makes the GUi interface look primitive?

    Course Ubuntu doesn't officially support KDE. Not to mention you're using Hoary (unstable/dev). Most of my experience with KDE was with Mandrake, and for some reason I never had nice looking fonts - despite fiddling with the anti-aliasing and every other setting under the sun. That's what...
  5. J

    What is it about Gnome or KDE that makes the GUi interface look primitive?

    In my mind, Windows has by far the best fonts themselves. Verdana, Georgia, Tahoma, Trebuchet are fantastic. I'd like to use KDE but the font rendering is so piss poor, I can't stand to look at it for more than a few minutes. Really irks me because I prefer it to any other desktop...
  6. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    Good to hear you found one you like!
  7. J

    Sigh....dead pixel

    Be very careful "massaging" them. This can very often change how the anti-glare coating looks, since the screen flexes a bit when you do it. I have a friend that tried it with VERY light pressure. Now he has a very light "smudge" in the anti-glare coating at that place. So now he's looking...
  8. J

    19" CRT Decision

    I haven't seen the E90f in action, but I have seen several of the 997DF's. I didn't like it at all. It has a very grainy texture to the image, and the colors look washed out and anemic. If you can, you should take a look at one in a store before you decide. The 997DF is fairly well rated...
  9. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    Well I got my P95f+ yesterday, and it looks fantastic. Played some games, looked great, well focused and nice color all around. So I'm happily surfing the web and I come across a page with a white background and black text... and I see a very strange thing. To the right of the text, after it...
  10. J

    Video Smearing/Fading to the Right of Screen

    I just bought a NEW ViewSonic P95f+ and I'm seeing this same problem you describe. Oddly, it only occurs with text. There is no ghosting or shadow of this type on anything but text. Black *graphics* (of any kind) on white background look flawless. No amount of adjustment for moire...
  11. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    Sucky. Seems from looking at the ViewSonic website that the A series only get a one year warranty. All the others get three?
  12. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    It's likely that my bias towards aperture grill tubes is based on the fact that I've been using one for 6-7 years, 8-12 hours a day. At this point, it's difficult for me to look at shadow masks. They look grainy, no matter the resolution. In addition, the colors look somewhat pale and anemic...
  13. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    Well I think I'm going to get a ViewSonic P95f+. It is by far the best monitor I've seen yet. The Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 930SB may or may not be better, but I can't seem to find a store that has one. I'm very apprehensive about buying a monitor I haven't seen. I did get a look at a couple...
  14. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    I hear ya. I've never been able to web surf comfortably at 1600x1200. There are just too many things that are too small for my liking. 1280x960 is about the highest I can handle for that, but I usually stick to 1152x864. I don't use 1280x1024 at all, as it's the wrong aspect ratio (5:4)...
  15. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    I'm sure you're not blind, and I trust what you say for one reason. The monitor has gotten good reviews across the web - both professional and amateur reviews. Surely everyone isn't lying, or blind? That's why I thought that: a) they were both defective, or; b) I'm not setting it up...
  16. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    I had a look at NM-Select, Synon. I feel more at ease knowing it's a subsidiary of the actual manufacturer. They really have some good deals there. If I can get a look at the DP-930SB tomorrow, in person, and it looks good, I might get one too. Can't really beat that price. When is yours...
  17. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    Well the wifey and I took a road trip (2 hours away) yesterday so I could get a look at a couple of these monitors. The only ones, on my list, that I actually saw were the: ViewSonic P95f+(aperature grille) - by far the best picture quality. Deep rich color, geometry seemed dead on the...
  18. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    Seems the ViewSonic's are very "hit or miss" in regard to whether or not you get a good one. All the professional reviews I've read usually place them in the top 5, but the user reviews at online stores seem to show a trend toward poor QA on ViewSonic's part. The blurry text at high...
  19. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    Thanks for all the opinions folks. I had considered getting a 930SB, but everywhere I look they are out of stock, and from what I understand, they are discontinued. I'll be interested to know how the refurbished one turns out for you. I'm usually very paranoid about buying "used" stuff...
  20. J

    need a crt monitor for gaming

    I'm still using a ViewSonic PF790, also. It still looks very good against some of the newer models I've seen, and in many cases, better. Sadly, my wife has been cleaning it recently with Windex (contains ammonia) and removed some of the anti-glare coating... so after 5 years of faithful...
  21. J

    antec cases with 4 5.25 inch bays

    I just got one of these a few weeks ago and I'm quite happy with it. Reasonably priced too, however the PSU it comes with is only 350 Watts. Antec SLK3700-BQE
  22. J

    Got a free 21 inch CRT monitor, but has scratches

    Not sure whether or not you're serious? I contacted tech support by e-mail, and this is what they told me in regard to completely removing the anti-glare coating: "You can try and remove it. There is not a set way as this is not meant to be done. You can try any alcohol or ammonia based...
  23. J

    Got a free 21 inch CRT monitor, but has scratches

    My monitor manual specifically states DO NOT USE ANY COMMERCIAL GLASS CLEANING PRODUCTS CONTAINING AMMONIA - it will damage the anti-glare coating. So I'm very careful to observe this rule. In fact, oddly, my monitor never seems dirty... but I have recently noticed some very light areas that...
  24. J

    Monitor Refresh rate stuck at 60Hz with my new ATI card

    I had this same problem with CCC in 4.12's. The option was grayed out. I fooled with it for hours trying to figure out WTF was wrong. Finally, had to uninstall them and go back to the "normal, old" ati control panel (which I like better anyhow!). I'm psychologically scarred from the...
  25. J

    Windows XP

    Surely you must know someone in real life who has a 98/2000 windows CD laying around? Doesn't matter if he has used it to verify his copy as well, it will work. You just need ANY windows 98/2000 CD to pop in the drive for 10 seconds to verify that you are entitled to the upgrade.
  26. J

    Do you hate Windows XP

    Odd, I've had the exact opposite experience. I've got two machines here running Windows XP, and one Mac with OS 9. In two years, neither XP machine has *ever* crashed. Not once. Sure I've had some programs crash (can count them on one hand), but never have they brought down the OS too...
  27. J

    A Little Help with Upgrade Please.

    The vid card wasn't a problem until recently, with doom3, HL2 it's starting to show it's age. I do use the computer for work as well, but the performance in that regard is more than adequate. I'd like to get another 512 memory, but figured I'd just make due with what I have and get a matched...
  28. J

    A Little Help with Upgrade Please.

    My current rig looks like this: A7N8X-Deluxe AMD 2600+ (Barton) - Overclocked to 2.19 ghz, Can't seem to get much more due to 2700 memory 512 Megs Corsair 2700 Quantum Fireball AS 40 Gig ATA 100 HDD (2mb cache/7200rpm) ATI 9600pro Viewsonic PF790 19" CRT So, as you can see things are...
  29. J

    Radeon 9600 Pro - Comments/Suggestions?

    Too bad you can't come up with the extra cash to get a 9800pro or a nvidia 6600gt. But I DO know what it's like to be on a budget. I'm running a 9600pro right now and starting to feel the need for an upgrade. It's a great card and served me well the last couple years, but it's just not...
  30. J

    memtest86 installation

    Last time I was there they had an ISO you can download and burn to CD, if you have no floppy drive.