Search results

  1. J

    Upgrade time. Time to go SFF or stay ATX for gaming rig?

    Well I'm at loss on this one. I have one Shuttle XPC that I use as a media center and I love the thing - quiet, small, works like a charm. But I'm a little wary of going the SFF route for a gaming system. So basically I'm deciding between a Lian-Li /DFI nF4 Ultra combo or an SN25P...
  2. J

    9800 Pro dying... I think. Temporary replacement ideas?

    Seems my 9800 Pro has decided it's time to slowly drift off into the here-after. I'm starting to get artifacts and distortions all over the screen and my system won't even reboot unless I hold F8 and use a previous configuration (graphics are still corrupted even then). Problem is I wasn't...
  3. J

    Where can I buy a Zippy EL-720 keyboard?

    Text I'm interested in buying one of these keyboards, and they appear on the Zippy website, but I can't find a place that sells them. Does anyone know where I can get one? Edit: Oh, and I'm in the US. :D
  4. J

    Warm- 64MB Kingston SD Card - Free After Rebate (7.95 shipping though)

    http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecs...=rap&promo_id=1778 You have to pay shipping, unfortunately, but it's a very good deal regardless I think. Especially if you order with something else.
  5. J

    Linux is a long way from mainstream. (Suse 9.1/nVidia/codecs problems)

    First let me give you the system: Shuttle SN41G2 (nVidia chipset) AIW 9100 Pro Hauppauge PVR-250 Dual boot with WinXP Pro I'm speaking as a total noob to Linux save for some experience hassling around with Suse 8.2, just so you know where I'm coming from. :D I'm trying. Don't get me wrong...
  6. J

    Nero & Windows writing 24x CDs at 40x.

    I have a TDK 52X CDRW drive. Over the past few days, I've been backing up files on Fuji 700 meg CD-Rs. On the packaging, it says the disks are compatible up to 24x. But Nero defaults to 40x on these disks, and judging by the write speed so does XP's built in writing utility. I didn't even...
  7. J

    Indiana Jones Box Set - $29.99 at Best Buy

    I don't know if this was a fluke or what, but this was the deal I got yesterday. It said $56.99 on the package, but apparently it's selling now for $49.99, with a mail in rebate for a $20 Best Buy gift card (if you shop at BB as much as I do, then it's as good as money, anyway. :D ) effectively...
  8. J

    Building an RCA & stereo jack bus.

    I need a little bit of help or advice with a panel I'm about to build. I intend to play console games in a window on my new Shuttle XPC, but for convenience I want to turn the 3.5 inch bay into a "plug bus" and run the cables through the box internally, and then out the back to plug into the...
  9. J

    Playing X-Box/PS2 in a window - need delay-less video adapter.

    Well I've run into an unexpected snag in my attempt to run everything through my HTPC box. And it's an ugly one. I didn't realize that the Hauppauge PVR 250 had a 1-1.5 second delay for the video decoding to take effect, and as you can imagine it's impossible to play a game with such a...
  10. J

    Networking two computers with a BEFW11S4?

    Let me describe my setup. I have a desktop system and a little Shuttle XPC box and I want to network them together. The desktop has Windows XP Home, the Shuttle has Win XP Pro. I have a Lynksys BEFW11S4 router that I use to share my cable internet connection between them. What I'd like to...
  11. J

    Help with widescreen resolution under SuSE/KDE

    First let me give you the setup: SuSE 8.2 using KDE Shuttle XPC SN41G2 w/onboard video Philips 170W4 widescreen 1280x768 monitor For the life of me I can't get SuSE to fill up the screen. It seems stuck in 4:3, probably because of the lack of driver support for my monitor. I looked for the...
  12. J

    SOLVED: Logitech Z680 / Sound Storm analog problem.

    I'm using Logitech Z680 speakers in conjunction with nForce's SoundStorm on Shuttle FN41. Problem is, I'm getting a muffled center channel, or no center channel at all, when I do a sound test in the software trying various combinations. The Z680 hardware test works fine, so I know the unit is...
  13. J

    Thunder Liquid Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp

    Link. Anyone have one of these? How do they look in action? And does anyone know the name of the company who makes them? I'm hoping you can get one in red. :D -J
  14. J

    XP / SuSE Dual Boot - Partition question.

    I'm a total Linux noob who is looking to set up an XP / SuSE dual boot box to serve primarily as a PVR / AV receiver. I'm going to be using a 120 gig hard drive to record the video from a Hauppauge PVR-250. I may be switching back and forth between capturing video on XP and Linux, so I want...
  15. J

    Any DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW slimline drives yet?

    I'm getting ready to build a home theater PC to replace my "stack" and need the DVD drive I use to be a recordable. I planeon copying all my old VHS tapes to DVD, and recording TV shows on DVD, etc. What I'm wondering is, for future proofing, are there any dual writing slimline drives out yet...
  16. J

    Did the motherboard kill my memory, or was bad memory the cause?

    I recently had to replace a 512 meg stick of PC3200 Mushkin memory that went bad on me. The new stick just arrived this morning and I wanted to make sure, before I install it, that it's not a motherboard voltage problem causing the trouble. My system normally ran with a gig (2x512) of Mushkin...
  17. J

    FIXED - Dual Monitor Problem W/9800 Pro

    I have two Philips 170W4 wide screen (1280x768) LCD monitors. I'm trying to use them as a dual monitor set up on my 9800 Pro. When my system starts, I see the POST info on both screens, and I see the Windows load screen on both. I've been to the properties tab and set my desktop to extend to...
  18. J

    DEAD: Philips Widescreen 170W4P 17" Monitor - $370

    Link. They seem to have mislabled it as "170W4P74" (or perhaps that's the model number), but as far as I can tell it is a 170W4P widescreen Philips, new, for $370. It was actually $347 last night when I placed my order and I got it (and it's shipped) at that price. :D But $370 is still a...
  19. J

    Tivoli Audio PAL near a computer?

    Anyone have one of these? I want to be able to listen to AM radio near my computer, and have heard the PAL has some degree of shielding. -J
  20. J

    Using one set of Megaworks 6.1 speakers for two computers?

    All right, new plan. :D I'm replacing a receiver / VCR / DVD player with a small form factor PC - basically building a home theater PC. Obviously I want to enjoy surround sound while watching movies on that system. But I'd also like to enjoy surround sound from my gaming system. I don't...
  21. J

    Audigy 2 / M-Audio Line-In question.

    I have an Audigy 2 in my current system. I plan on building a second, small form factor system to act as a receiver / Tivo / DVD player / DVD recorder / CD player / CD recorder / etc... That system will likely have an M-Audio revolution because of its smaller size. Here's my question. I'll...
  22. J

    Where can I buy a Shuttle FN45 (SN45G) motherboard seperately?

    I plan on modding another case to fit the FN45 motherboard found in Shuttle SN45G boxes. But I haven't yet been able to find the board sold alone. Does anyone know where I can buy one, or does anyone know of a similarly small board with one PCI and one AGP slot? -J
  23. J

    AM / FM radio tuner for PC's?

    I know some cards have FM tuners built in, but I've yet to see an AM tuner for PC's. Is there such a thing? Why aren't there audio cards with antenna ports for AM/FM tuning, anyway? -J
  24. J

    AIW 9000 Pro - Hardware MPEG-2 encoding?

    I just can't find the answer to this anywhere. I'm trying to decide between this card and a Hauppauge PVR-350 for Tivo-like abilities. -J
  25. J

    How big a HD for a Tivo-like computer?

    I'm building a home theater PC in the ITX form factor and size is at a premium. The case I've chosen only fits a notebook-sized drive, so there's also a price premium unfortunately. :( My current choice is the Hitachi / IBM 5400 RPM model. But I haven't decided on how much storage I'll...
  26. J

    Can AIW's breakout box be disassembled?

    I'm going to need to mount video / audio ports on the front of an ITX-based HTPC I'm planning to build. I'll be using an All-In-Wonder 9000 Pro, and I noticed it comes with a break-out box. Problem is, it's packed in a thick rubberized casing which really doesn't lend itself to mounting on a...
  27. J

    Slimline multi-drives - Ooooo.... Awww....

    Link. Well my original plan was to go with the Sony record-everything-under-the-sun drive, but I decided it would make my system a little bulkier than I would like. No sense in going ITX if the end result is the size of Micro-ATX systems, right? So I began to look around for slimline DVD...
  28. J

    Processors capable of running HTPC's.

    So far, my plan is to build an ITX-based HTPC with an All-In-Wonder 9100 (PCI) for video processing, and an Audigy 2 for audio, an undetermined high-capacity hard drive for storage, and a Sony DW-U10A drive to read/write on all known formats for TV shows and other media I plan to record. All I...
  29. J

    Mini-ITX with at least two slots - when?

    I'd love to base my mediaserver project in a tiny mini-ITX form factor, but so far having only one slot to work with is killing ITX as an option. I can deal with the lack of AGP - Visiontek sells a PCI-based Radeon 9100 All-In-Wonder for that purpose. But I can't deal with the lack of quality...
  30. J

    I need a mediaserver mini-PC.

    I'd like some help with my next project. I'm trying to scale down on the number of components I have by merging as much as possible into a mini-PC. Ideally, I'd like to combine a DVD player, a VCR, and a receiver into one console. I know the last part of this is somewhat difficult, but using...
  31. J

    Raptor + Abit IC7 + Windows XP not playing nice.

    Well, I'm going on a full day of trying to get Windows XP to install on my WD Raptor with my new motherboard - the Abit IC7. The errors seem to be all over the map, making it very difficult to track down the source of the problem. First I thought it was the Windows CD because the installation...
  32. J

    Mushkin USB drive / MP3 player

    Anyone have one of these? I've been needing a USP drive for quite a while - and now I see Mushkin sells one that also plays MP3's. Seems like a nice tag-along feature - but how do they sound? I looked for reviews but didn't find any. -J
  33. J

    NTFS cluster size with Convert.exe

    I'm going to be converting a 60GB HD, and according to the MS help database the convert tool will default to 512 sized clusters. But apparently, for a drive this size, 4096 is ideal. Is there any way to convert from FAT32 into 4096 sized clusters? -J
  34. J

    *FIXED* 60 Gig FAT 32 formatted HD errors on WinXP

    After floundering around Microsoft's help database, I believe I have found cause of a problem I'm having - but not the solution. With help from here, I got my old IDE drive to show up on my new system (had to change IDE settings from Legacy mode). But the problem is I'm getting a "This...
  35. J

    SATA + old IDE drive problem.

    Let me describe the setup first: Windows XP Home One IDE channel = CDROM Other IDE channel = Old IDE HD SATA = WD Raptor Well the system runs off the Raptor through SATA, and recognized the CDROM, but I just tried to install my old HD by plugging it into the other IDE port and the system...
  36. J

    XP Setup not detecting the SATA Raptor

    First let me describe the equipment: MSI NEO-LSR 875P WD Raptor SATA (1) Windows XP Home Well I'm trying to get the new system running but I've hit a snag. Windows XP setup runs from the CD-ROM, but it eventually gets to the point where it doesn't detect a hard drive. My MSI board came...
  37. J

    Are washers necessary with modern motherboards?

    I'm putting my new system together and I've come to the part I always dread - mounting the motherboard. I don't have a removable tray, so it's very, very difficult to install on the riser pins and keep the washers in place. But I seem to recall reading somewhere that the washers really aren't...
  38. J

    New system build checklist.

    I was wondering if you all might have some suggestions about common tweaks or often missed settings for new builds. It's been a while since I built my last system, which was Win98SE / Athlon / SCSI based, and my new system is P4 (800MHz FSB) / DDR400 / MSI 875P / Radeon 9800 Pro / SATA (Raptor)...
  39. J

    Essential protection software for new system?

    I'll be building my new system on Friday, but I'm ashamed to admit I haven't really kept up on spyware blockers / dectectors and anti-virus software like I should have lately. So I'd appreciate some suggestions - what do you consider essential protection software for XP based systems...
  40. J

    Is Malaysia a good Intel plant for OC'able chips?

    Just got my retail box 2.8 / 800FSB P4 in. Noticed that it's fabbed in Malaysia. Is this a lucky plant for most folks? -J