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Geek Culture / I cannot believe how lucky I am (no, this is not about a girl)!

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Yodaman Jer
User Banned
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 04:48
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When I woke up this morning, I did not expect to buy a brand new laptop. And yet I did!

Best Buy was having a sale on this awesome machine. It has 4GBs of RAM, a 2.10GHz dual-core processor, 250GB HDD, DVD-RW/CD-RW combo drive (I think it even has LightScribe), Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, a webcam, and an Intel Graphics Media Accelerator Chip with up to 1695MB total VRAM. And all this for only $456.86 USD!

It's an HP G60-549DX computer, and so far it absolutely rocks. Windows 7 made it easy for me to quickly set up the PC, and as soon as I got on the interwebs I downloaded Avira Antivirus and Google Chrome (I cannot stand IE in the least). Best Buy was trying their hardest to sell a two-year subscription to Kaspersky, but I didn't feel like spending $50 extra on something I could do for free, and probably would be easier to set up. Sure, Kaspersky is good, but not worth $50 IMHO.

So anyway, I just thought I'd share the happy news with everybody. I finally have a machine that's up to speed and perfect for my schoolwork, as well as casual gaming and game development. Did I mention it has a High Definition screen? GORGEOUS!

So there goes my "going to get a Mac" attitude, at least for now. Someday I'm definitely going to get a Mac for video editing, but that'll be during or after college.

By the way, to set up a wireless network, do I have to ping my router? I'm pretty sure the answer is "yes, of course you idiot!", but I just want to make sure before I go and do that and somehow kill my interwebs. That'd make me cry.

Thanks to all who respond!

"The fools may crash down upon us in thunderous waves, but we shall Jeku slap them back from whence they came"
-BiggAdd, Oct 28th 2009
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crispex
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Posted: 12th Nov 2009 04:54
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Nice find.

Temporarly away from the Phoenix Sentry.
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hyrichter
21
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Joined: 15th Feb 2004
Location: Arizona
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 04:56
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I snagged a very similar spec Acer off of Woot.com for $439 a few months ago. Only problem is that it has Vista instead of Windows 7, but I may be changing that soon.

Sounds great.

CodeSurge
Version 1.0 finally released! Code your DBP projects in style. (And save the kittens!)
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ShaunRW
DBPro Developer
17
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Joined: 7th Jan 2008
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 05:01
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Quote: "I cannot believe how lucky I am (no, this is not about a girl)!"

At first i was like, oh no he's gay? jokes.

Good job on getting such a good deal.


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Yodaman Jer
User Banned
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 05:19
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It is quite the nice find, isn't it?


I also just got the wireless working, so I can sit anywhere in the house and have interwebs! I feel really pretty awesome right now.

"The fools may crash down upon us in thunderous waves, but we shall Jeku slap them back from whence they came"
-BiggAdd, Oct 28th 2009
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Darth Vader
20
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Location: Adelaide SA, I am the only DB user here!
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 11:45
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Computers in the US are so cheap! Something like that here if on special would probably cost $1,100.

Good find mate!


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fallen one
18
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Location: My imagination!
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 14:22
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Did it come with a monitor, is so how big is it.

Blummin Pervert http://www.avantivitastudios.com/
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hyrichter
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Location: Arizona
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 15:05
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Quote: "Did it come with a monitor, is so how big is it."


Didn't he say it was a laptop? Based on the model number he gave, the screen is a 15.6" widescreen.

CodeSurge
Version 1.0 finally released! Code your DBP projects in style. (And save the kittens!)
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Fallout
22
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Joined: 1st Sep 2002
Location: Basingstoke, England
Posted: 12th Nov 2009 15:09 Edited at: 12th Nov 2009 15:12
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It's a laptop! They usually don't come with monitors!

@Yodaman

Good stuff! I have the new PC feeling too. I just received my components to build my new PC.
- Zotac 9800GT ECO Edition 512MB GDDR3
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
- 8GB Kingston DDR2
And a few other bits and bobs. Plus Windows 7. Now I just need to put it together.

Enjoy your machine.

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demons breath
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Posted: 12th Nov 2009 15:35
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Quote: "a brand new laptop"

Quote: "Did it come with a monitor"

I would hope it came with a screen of some form - a lot of laptops do nowadays, you know...

"The fools may crash down upon us in thunderous waves, but we shall Jeku slap them back from whence they came"
-BiggAdd Oct 28th 2009
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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 12th Nov 2009 17:55
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Yeah, it's a 15.6" screen at a resolution of 1366x768 (not as big as I wanted, but hey, this laptop's price was a bargain!).

I absolutely love it, and I haven't even had it for 24 hours yet. I've still got to mess with the webcam and figure out how to work it, so I'm gonna go do that now since I just got done shaving and look handsome.

"The fools may crash down upon us in thunderous waves, but we shall Jeku slap them back from whence they came"
-BiggAdd, Oct 28th 2009
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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 13th Nov 2009 19:41 Edited at: 13th Nov 2009 19:41
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I've got a quick question regarding something about this laptop...

It came with something called "HP Advisor" that seems to be...well, not so great a tool. Every time that I boot it up, it loads "PC Dock" (which I replaced with ObjectDock), and I can't get it to not load upon start up. I tried seeing if I could uninstall just PC Dock, but apparently if I want it to be gone I have to uninstall "HP Advisor". Should I just go ahead and uninstall it, or should I keep it?

"The fools may crash down upon us in thunderous waves, but we shall Jeku slap them back from whence they came"
-BiggAdd, Oct 28th 2009
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Location: The Fifth Plane of Oblivion
Posted: 13th Nov 2009 20:03 Edited at: 13th Nov 2009 20:04
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Meh, all the stuff that comes with off the shelf computers, bar the OS itself and the drivers, is junk. Even drivers come with unnecessary waste.



Seriously, MSi, why? WHY DID YOU PUT EXTRA TABS IN DISPLAY PROPERTIES?

Drivers should link APIs to hardware. Off the shelf computers should come with the OS and drivers.

Why must the kitchen sink factor into those equations?

Athlon64 2.7gHz->OC 3.9gHz, 31C, MSi 9500GT->OC 1gHz core/2gHz memory, 48C, 4Gb DDR2 667, 500Gb Seagate + 80Gb Maxtor + 40Gb Maxtor = 620Gb, XP Home
Air cooled, total cost £160

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Phaelax
DBPro Master
22
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Location: Metropia
Posted: 13th Nov 2009 20:21
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Am I the only person who thinks that price is a ripoff? Intel graphics? Only a 2.1GHz? Sounds pretty weak to me.

Quote: "Did I mention it has a High Definition screen?"

Most monitors in the last 10 years can be considered "high def".

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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 13th Nov 2009 20:42 Edited at: 13th Nov 2009 20:43
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@NeX:

So basically, I can uninstall HP Advisor and not have to worry about anything? Awesome! I can get rid of the little annoyances then...

@Phaelax:

This is the fastest computer I've ever had. The other laptops I was considering were slowish (2.0GHz single-core as opposed to 2.1GHz dual-core), and a lot more expensive ($550 and up). I'm really quite happy with this computer, and it's more than powerful enough for my needs.

"The fools may crash down upon us in thunderous waves, but we shall Jeku slap them back from whence they came"
-BiggAdd, Oct 28th 2009
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 13th Nov 2009 20:44
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Yeah, all it does is automatically download driver updates. If you're having a problem, update it yourself. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

That's the rule.

Athlon64 2.7gHz->OC 3.9gHz, 31C, MSi 9500GT->OC 1gHz core/2gHz memory, 48C, 4Gb DDR2 667, 500Gb Seagate + 80Gb Maxtor + 40Gb Maxtor = 620Gb, XP Home
Air cooled, total cost £160
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thenerd
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Location: Boston, USA
Posted: 13th Nov 2009 20:49
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what shader model can the integrated graphics card handle?


forever loading...
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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 13th Nov 2009 20:56
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Quote: "what shader model can the integrated graphics card handle?"


I've no idea. I tried downloading the free version of DBPro to test out the graphics capabilities (I know it's going to be more powerful than my old desktop PC at least), but it has problems on Windows 7 and won't run at all. I'll try installing the trial of DBPro and see if that works. If it doesn't, I'm screwed until TGC fixes the issue.

"The fools may crash down upon us in thunderous waves, but we shall Jeku slap them back from whence they came"
-BiggAdd, Oct 28th 2009
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NeX the Fairly Fast Ferret
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Posted: 13th Nov 2009 20:57
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OpenGL 2.0 and DX10 according to offical spec. It won't be fantastic, though. My Eee's GMA 915 claims to be capable of multitexturing and shaders up to model 2.0. Well, it can, but it's fully software and ONE QUAD with a vertex shader causes the framerate to dive below 10fps. Also, I have noticed that blend triangles lose texture filtering - maybe software rendered? I already know that all 3D transformations are done by a driver.

Athlon64 2.7gHz->OC 3.9gHz, 31C, MSi 9500GT->OC 1gHz core/2gHz memory, 48C, 4Gb DDR2 667, 500Gb Seagate + 80Gb Maxtor + 40Gb Maxtor = 620Gb, XP Home
Air cooled, total cost £160
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Virtual Nomad
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Joined: 14th Dec 2005
Location: SF Bay Area, USA
Posted: 13th Nov 2009 21:06 Edited at: 13th Nov 2009 21:18
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Quote: "shader model "

i looked into the system when i read this thread and from what i found it's the 4500m which shows shader 4.0 support. short version is you won't be playing the latest games in more than low detail but it should be fine for tinkering around or playing somewhat-older games.

question: i still have never owned a laptop and seeing this thread brought up the idea of doing so, again. one thing that jumped at me was that the battery here was only good for 2-3 hours (if i remember correctly), which is barely enough for watching a movie, etc. is this standard? should i not expect to have a solid 4-5 hours worth of uptime? i'm thinking during plane rides, camping trips (where i won't necessarily have something to plug into), etc.. thanks for some insight here


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