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Thanks Rich. Your help is very useful to me.
Are you going to make some more First Look from the Lab video? The last desktop one was by Justin Yu. Have you stopped doing First Look from the lab videos?
That's all the time I have for today. I appreciate everyone taking the time to come by. Hope I provided at least some help, and good luck solving your various tech problems.
You had a question earlier about a desktop 30" monitor. I wanted to provide a followup.
To support 30" monitors at native resolution (2,560 x 1,536), you need Dual Link DVI. There is only enough bandwidth on a Single Link DVI to support a 24" monitor.
I believe more lower-end 3D cards are starting to support dual-link DVI.
I have a lot of respect for PC World and fans as well. I wish I know as much as they know.
I am still using XP Pro and I want to upgrade my OS to Vista; however, Windows 7 is coming sometime next year or so.
Should I wait for go ahead and get Vista?
You said you're getting into gaming, and if so, you can expect Microsoft to make plenty of Vista-only gaming deals. That might be a reason to upgrade now.
I'm soon to be an owner of a netbook..of some kind. I've read good reviews on the Dell Mini 9, The MSI Wind and the Asus EeePC. I've even read up on the HP Mini-note. With so many options, what would you choose for under $400?
Dan Ackerman can answer that question better than I can. My wife recently purchased the Eee PC 901 and has been very happy with it.
Hi Rich,
I recently bought a new desktop (Optiplex 330) and have it plugged into my router at home, and the downloading speed is slow. I recently downloaded Adobe 9.0 and the speed was 30 KB/sec. I then tried it on my 4 year old wireless laptop, and it went at 60 KB/sec. So one question is what would cause the slowdown (the connection speed is supposedly 100 Mbps), and another question is why would the wireless laptop go faster (though still not fast). Thanks a lot!
I can't say I'm a network expert at all (at home all I do is unplug things and swear). All I can think of for sure is basic stuff.
Make sure you have no unauthorized users on your network. Make sure you have no other downloads or network operations running. I typically rely on Windows and its default settings, which always seem to do the trick for your basic cable modem/router/PC set-up. If you've messed with those, I'd suggest trying the defaults again.
For WiFi vs. wired, rated speeds are rarely achievable for networking, so while KB-speeds are slow, it could make sense that WiFi is faster overall if you have a 100 Mbps wired connection vs. say, 802.11n.
I just started to get into PCs for gaming recently. I have been using Macs for a long time. That's why I chose that nickname (pcworld) 
I want to upgrade my video card to 9600 series but didn't know if my 500 watts is enough to support it.
I have lots of respect for the PC World crew. I believe one of my first bosses out of college works there now. I've met a few other PC World staffers at trade shows. Upstanding and knowledgeable folks all-around.
I recently purchased a Desktop running Vista 64-bit Home Premium. I am looking at networking it with my XP sp1 desktop. Any ideas on a robust, easy to set up router - not concerned with the ultimate in speed?
Thanks
We thought this one was decent: http://reviews.cnet.com/routers/d-link-xtreme-n/4505-3319_7-32820169.html
Hello,
I'd like to make use of the Recording TV function of Media Center in my HP Pavilion Vista laptop, but I have a Digital cable set top box. Is it possible to find a video capture device to connect, say through my expresscard slot, to record TV from my cable box via composite cables? Thanks!
Assuming your digital signal is encrypted, as most of them are, you're out of luck here.
You probably already answer my question but, Would that be a yes or a no? and can i upgrade to a vista with the cd? By the way Thank You very Much.
No way for me to know for sure.
And if the question is, "can I use a vista recovery disk to upgrade an XP system" I suspect that's a no. Haven't tried it.
Hi Rich
How much of power supply should I need to have to order to get EVGA 9600 (series) 1 GB video card?
Currently, I have 500 watts PSU.
Thank You, Rich!
Sorry, can't help you.
(kidding)
500 watts is enough for that card.
I recently made the conversion back to Vista from XP and I've been satisfied so far.
The one problem that I keep having over and over again is that the volume and battery icons on the quick launch bar at the bottom right won't show up. I go into the taskbar options and the boxes to enable them have been grayed out.
Any help is appreciated! Thanks!
Assuming "conversion" means that you upgraded that same laptop from XP to Vista, it sounds like Vista isn't finding what it needs to report that stuff. I'd check with your laptop vendor's support page or forum to see if there's a specific driver or some other file you need to install as well.
I'm also not overly familiar with laptops, but you might also go into the BIOS to make sure whatever chipset audio and battery settings are enabled.
Hey Rich,
Do you know if Windows Vista (premium) will run on the following computer ?
Pentium 4 2.53GHz
1.5GB RAM (1024+512)
Radeon 9500 GFX Card
2x250GB 7200RPM HDD
Thanks for your help
But get rid of that 512MB memory stick and put in another 1GB.
I have this PC (P4 3 GHz, 512 MB, XP SP3) where one day QuickTime stopped working. When playing a video it's like the video sync is missing, giving jumbled lines and colours. I tried removing and reinstalling, but no luck. Odd thing is that the QT plugin in IE works fine, as does VidBlaster (which uses the QT dll's). I'd love to get the QT player working again, any ideas?
Mike
I suppose if you downloaded some other codec or app it could be conflicting. Not familiar with VidBlaster, perhaps that's tying it up?
Thanks Rich. Your help is very useful to me.
Are you going to make some more First Look from the Lab video? The last desktop one was by Justin Yu. Have you stopped doing First Look from the lab videos?
i'll be shooting more video. Shot two last week. Should be up soon if not already.
Hey Rich,
I am just about to purchase a new desktop and monitor. I am leaning toward a 30 inch monitor like the gateway, and I was hoping you could give some recommendations on desktops that would perform well with such a big monitor.
I am not a gamer, mostly I want to be able to watch blueray and tv on the internet- sports, hulu etc.
Thanks for your time
I can't vouch for desktops with integrated chips, but I believe any new desktop today with a low-end 3D card will display video on a 30-inch display with no trouble.
You'll want to look up the card in whatever model you're shopping for to see if it will support 2,560 x 1,536 resolution, the native res of a 30-inch LCD.
Hi lets say i have too computer both of them with recovery cds. If for any reason i need to restored my operating system on one, can i used the cd from another computer? If yes i have xp on my computer can i used a vista cd to upgrade?
The danger is that the restore disk might have vendor-specific software on it that would also copy over.
Hey Rich
I have a Pentium 4 2.53GHz processor in my PC. The processor is NOT 'glued down' to the motherboard. Is it possible to get a Core2Duo processor for my computer, without replacing the motherboard? If so, which types can I get?
Thanks for answering my question
-- Matt
Most P4 chips use Intel's LGA 775 chip interface, which is still in use with the Core 2 Duo Line. If your mobo is LGA 775, you are likely in luck. Best advice is to Google your specific motherboard make and model and see if it has any issues you should be aware of.
TV with DVR & Internet: $84.90/mo