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• New war in Europe 10/11/2025 4:42:49 PM
  
  Brummie wrote: Hardware wrote: So, my take is that what we just saw was Donald making a bid for that shiny Nobel Peace Prize he's been trying to get for years. The tell will be when he starts attacking Zelinsky for not going along with his Russian fairy tale. Maria Corina Machado wins the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. Brace yourselves for Trumps reaction. Machodo publicly dedicated her Peace Prize to Trump.

• Need help restoring machine 1/9/2008 4:08:20 AM
  
  conquistador wrote: You are the first person I have seen say anything good about Vista ever. Would you mind filling in some details about why you are glad you switched? 64-bit OS based on Windows 2003 Server for better stability and smoother multitasking. And a slick new UI. I concede that Vista is more sensitive to hardware problems than XP, but with fault-free hardware it's great. It's increasingly popular for home theater PCs, but I wouldn't recommend the 64-bit version for that (nVidia and ATI drivers aren't mature). I set up a Vista x64 machine for my uncle (it's his first computer) about eight months ago; he absolutely loves it.

• Need help restoring machine 1/8/2008 3:03:37 AM
  
  PL wrote: I'm not liking the sound of Vista...more and more probs. It's more sensitive to faulty hardware. (I found that out just before Christmas.) And, some vendors have buggy drivers (or no drivers at all), which doesn't help, either. But overall, I'm glad I switched.

• Can the porn industry save HD-DVD? 1/7/2008 3:59:41 AM
  
  On Friday, Warner announced that they had chosen Blu-ray over the porn-friendly HD-DVD. Will the adult film industry follow, and release only to the expensive-to-replicate (and Sony, which owns Blu-ray, refuses to allow its facilities to be used to produce XXX titles) Blu-ray? Or will porn forge on and save the more consumer-friendly of the two hi-def formats?

• nVidia card users who watch DVDs on their PCs .... 1/7/2008 3:52:32 AM
  
  conquistador wrote: Did you buy the PureVideo codec/driver from nVidia? and if you did how does it perform? TheaterTek and PowerDVD Ultra both use Purevideo. Quality is excellent under MCE 2005. The famous LG dual-format hi-def drive has an OEM copy of PowerDVD Ultra bundled; the full version of PowerDVD Ultra is $72 from Newegg, so this is a good deal.

• HD or Blue Ray? 9/25/2007 9:44:43 AM
  
  budtugley wrote: HD-DVD is more porn-friendly than Blue Ray. Yup. Also, the $250 (street price) Toshiba A2 is a fine upconverting player.

• Recording simple but long audio files. 9/3/2007 10:02:40 PM
  
  Well worth looking into, if digitizing your old analog recordings is of interest! But WaveEditor is only available with the premium versions (I have Ultimate), not those bundled with DVD burners and the like.

• talk me out of an HD-DVD player 9/3/2007 9:59:12 PM
  
  ChrisInCali wrote: I'd go Blu-ray if I were you. I started out with an HD DVD player because it was cheaper, but over time I realized there were just too many titles on Blu-ray I wanted, and that HD DVD was more than likely going to lose. Blu-Ray is tailored to the 15-to-35-year-old-male demographic (because the installed base of players is overwhelmingly PS3). For those seeking other than popcorn flicks, HD-DVD is a better bet. Players are $200 cheaper (and the technology is more stable), and, being cheaper to replicate, the format is more conducive to catalog titles. And, HD-DVD is the choice for XXX, as Sony and Disney have made replication of adult fare on Blu-Ray difficult. HD-DVD has some significant advantages over Blu-Ray, and the ...

• A Tech Poll about Windows Vista. 9/3/2007 9:43:04 PM
  
  For how long? What version? Do you use any other operating system? (partitioned hard drive, ability to boot in more then one OS) What do you use it for? (Gaming, editing home movies, creating music, whatever) How do you like it? (Tell me about any bad issues as well please) I have been considering buying a copy because I want to play Halo 2 on my PC. I can only assume that in the future there will be other Vista only games which I won't want to miss out on. I have been using Vista Business x64 since the spring. It shares a triple-boot with XP Professional 32-bit and XP Professional x64. I use it for development, surfing, correspondence, and gaming. MP3-ripping (my favorite application does not support Vista) and printing (there is no Vista...

• Recording simple but long audio files. 9/3/2007 9:35:18 PM
  
  conquistador wrote: I have a few audio cassettes that I want to digitize. Old band practices/live recordings, that sort of thing. What windows xp program would you suggest? I use Nero WaveEditor. In fact, an MP-3 ripped from an old Led Zeppelin LP is playing on my Vista box as I write this. I used WaveEditor to digitize several cassettes taped off the air back in 1982; it was a hoot hearing them again! Alas, I had to buy an entire suite (Nero 7 Platinum) to get these capabilities. On the plus side, this version is also Vista x64-compatible.

• Self Servicing a turntable 3/14/2007 10:05:19 PM
  
  Dither wrote: kenny62 wrote: Records are inconvenient, however, and can't be played in the car... <link> I knew about those (I have the hulk of a car whose radio has a compatible input). However, in addition to being handicapped by low-quality sound and disc skipping, these units played 45-RPM records only, not LPs.

• Self Servicing a turntable 3/10/2007 11:03:16 PM
  
  conquistador wrote: kenny62 wrote: Ever try digitizing them? I don't have the space, plus records are better. Records are inconvenient, however, and can't be played in the car or in the office. Plus, every time they are played, they wear.

• Re: VISTA ..from Kim Komando newsletter 3/10/2007 10:59:12 PM
  
  You can do an in-place upgrade over most versions of XP. The sole exception is the 64-bit version of XP. Practically no one has that. I do. :) Rock-solid, too! I bought a larger hard drive and added Vista Business x64 as a third boot option.

• So....Windows Vista got me.... 3/10/2007 7:08:16 PM
  
  RandomPrecision wrote: So I dug into my computer, thinking maybe there was something I could do. I can usually fix a hardware problem if something just needs to be replaced. Well, I narrowed it down to the power supply. Why not try and replace the power supply? They're not expensive, and maybe the rest of the components are undamaged. So I was hoping I could still find one with XP on it. No such luck. Every stinkin' one of them had Vista! In that case, I would have first cloned the contents of the original drive over to the new one (using Norton Ghost), bought a copy of XP, and run a &quot;repair install&quot; on the cloned copy. So what the fuck is it doing? Maybe you have a noisy hard drive, and there's a Vista utility or service runnin...

• Self Servicing a turntable 3/10/2007 6:49:40 PM
  
  Ever try digitizing them?

• Traci Lords interview on MSNBC 7/12/2003 1:47 AM
  
  For those who haven't seen it, it's <link> . Mods, I apologize if this has already been posted. RD

• Request technical critique 6/30/2003 11:50 PM
  
  Which brings to mind the very first title to spin up with the widescreen TV I bought back in March of 2000 (when they were boutique items), the 16x9-enhanced 1.85:1 OAR version of Dragnet on, yup, you guessed it, Divx. ;) RD

• Request technical critique 6/30/2003 9:27 PM
  
  Out to destroy DVD? Not very likely, seeing as the huge XXX market was something Divx would not touch. Jim Taylor, author of the DVD FAQ, had this to say: Divx did not confuse or delay development of the DVD market nearly as much as many people predicted (including yours truly). In fact, it probably helped by stimulating Internet rental companies to provide better services and prices, by encouraging manufacturers to offer more free discs with player purchases, and by motivating studios to develop rental programs. That being said, the new thrust of my hobby site is DVD and home theater, hence the 1.66 writeup. RD

• AMD or Pentium 4 6/30/2003 8:01 PM
  
  I've been using an AMD T-Bird 1.1Ghz for two years now, and it has served me well, with no incompatibility problems. Operating system was originally Win2K Pro, and is now XP Pro. RD

• Request technical critique 6/30/2003 7:53 PM
  
  Hello all! In response to questions I've seen in the past, I put together an article concerning issues with the use of non-enhanced 1.66:1 aspect ratio material on widescreen displays. I would be interested in hearing opinions on it, especially technical critiques (I hate posting faulty information). I hope it's OK to post links to external sites (this one is a hobby site that does not compete with ADT in any way). If not, I apologize in advance. Click <link> to bring up the article. Thanks, RD