PSX5Central

Non Gaming Discussions => Off-Topic => Topic started by: clips on April 22, 2005, 11:54:30 AM

Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on April 22, 2005, 11:54:30 AM
i just ordered this from dell...now i understand that this is not a supercomputer, but i needed one badly...so what do you cats think? Is this good for  a starter?


http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/RBIredirect.aspx?rbi=GKiitGAbBa2SB+6V9bxpRyvwm4g6Tn36wTwLVrus+1Yk1iSYlI8tpShc0L6a76U+TIzMv9bvnid/acyVxTQtgV/N/gSE6tFZZYZYyzdh8nE2JwshlYVuDIOiRaSK+70AFeFXGPwnMDU/5sTlnJd0AhyzGOzzHCyhQ91WpQ97lbA=
Title: thoughts?
Post by: JBean on April 22, 2005, 12:27:06 PM
I guess it depends on how bad your current computer is.  For the price, what you are getting isn\'t bad... only thing I don\'t like is the celeron & 256MB of RAM.  And you can always upgrade the RAM down the road if you find it a little sluggish.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on April 22, 2005, 12:46:41 PM
^^^i had a pc, but that thing was soooo slow had viruses all over the place..i couldn\'t even log on to it...it was in pretty bad shape...i just want something that i can get into the inetrnet with...nothing too fancy..
Title: thoughts?
Post by: JBean on April 22, 2005, 12:50:30 PM
for an internet machine it\'s perfect

you know about virus protection and spyware sweepers don\'t you?  90% of the computers I work on are because people tell me they are running slow, and it\'s because they have years of spyware and viruses on it and have no idea how to fix it.

Not saying that\'s your deal, an old computer will get really slow trying to run the newest software and whatnot, but a little prevenitive maintence every few weeks keeps problems from  getting too severe.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: GigaShadow on April 22, 2005, 12:52:50 PM
Yeah for bare bones its ok.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Knotter8 on April 22, 2005, 01:12:24 PM
Dare I say : Mac Mini  ?
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on April 22, 2005, 01:24:13 PM
yea i made sure i ordered virus protection with this package...i understand you can also upload virus  protection programs on the net correct? don\'t laugh i don\'t know s**t about any of this stuff...i mean i have an idea, but that\'s about it...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: mm on April 22, 2005, 02:47:21 PM
don\'t expect to run any games on it, but good for a web surfing/email box

get AVG for antivirus
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on April 22, 2005, 03:20:58 PM
Quote
Originally posted by mm
don\'t expect to run any games on it, but good for a web surfing/email box

get AVG for antivirus


will do :)
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on April 22, 2005, 08:07:06 PM
I hate to agree with MM, but use AVG.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Ashford on April 25, 2005, 11:03:41 AM
What\'s AVG?
Title: thoughts?
Post by: mm on April 25, 2005, 02:53:07 PM
teh click (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=AVG+antivirus&btnG=Search)
Title: thoughts?
Post by: square_marker on April 25, 2005, 04:05:15 PM
AHHHHH celeron processor.... RUNNNNNNNNNN
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on April 25, 2005, 04:08:06 PM
i didn\'t even notice its Intel Celeron until you mention it.

That may explains why its not that expensive...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on April 25, 2005, 04:33:51 PM
AVG = Free antivirus that rocks.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Lord Nicon on April 25, 2005, 04:48:59 PM
Quote
Originally posted by square_marker
AHHHHH celeron processor.... RUNNNNNNNNNN

Seriously.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: mm on April 25, 2005, 04:50:12 PM
nothing wrong with a celeron in an email/internet browsing box
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on April 25, 2005, 06:52:35 PM
Quote
Originally posted by mm
nothing wrong with a celeron in an email/internet browsing box


Hate to agree, but if all this PC will be is a \'net PC, then a celeron is just fine.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on April 26, 2005, 12:07:23 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
Hate to agree, but if all this PC will be is a \'net PC, then a celeron is just fine.



i\'m actually speaking to you cats now from the new pc :thumb:..but s**t don\'t scare me... what\'s wrong with this celeron? :confused: and yea this pc is strickly used for the net...no games etc...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: JBean on April 26, 2005, 12:22:36 PM
the celeron gets a bad rap for it\'s mediocre performance compared to a full fledged pentium.  It\'s basically neutered.

Which for an internet and email machine is more than enough.  It\'s when you try to play games or anything that needs a lot of processor that you really notice the difference.

Congrats on your new PC :)
Title: thoughts?
Post by: square_marker on April 26, 2005, 01:18:44 PM
your celeron is perfectly fine for what you need it for.  It is if you wanted to do gaming or other extensive media work where you would run into problems.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on April 26, 2005, 03:22:50 PM
Not a single thing wrong with the celeron. It\'s just not a gaming CPU.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on April 26, 2005, 07:03:06 PM
LIC, mm...thanks for the info on the AVG..i have norton installed currently and i went to a couple of sites that mm posted, but i have one problem...in those sites right before i was about to download it stated something along the lines of  "even tho some programs are helpful for your computer, some files can damage your pc. if you trust the site proceed" i was gonna download until i saw that.

when those sites state that, is it safe to still download the AVG antivirus program? i don\'t want to download it then at the same time download a virus with it...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: JBean on April 27, 2005, 04:35:48 AM
If you already have norton then you might as well use that.  As long as your subscription is active and you can download new virus definitions.  Then go with AVG when your sub is up.

AVG is safe to download and install.  The box you are seeing is part of service pack 2 with windows xp.  And make sure you download the free version, not the trial version.

Click on "Get AVG Free", then on the next page scroll down and click avg70free_308a468.exe @ the bottom.

http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Lord Nicon on April 27, 2005, 04:16:04 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
Not a single thing wrong with the celeron. It\'s just not a gaming CPU.

Or a music production CPU etc.

Definately for the basic user, which isnt a terrible thing to be.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 02, 2005, 09:01:22 PM
question...i have a bunch pics on my pc at work y\'know avy\'s, car pics etc...and i have a disk at home with some pdf files on it. is it possible to transfer that data that\'s on my harddrive at work to the disk, or do i have to use the floppy disk...or is it even possible at all...i say this only because alot of my avatars are on this HD at work, and i\'m only going to be here a couple month\'s longer, so i don\'t want to lose this data on my pc at work...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 02, 2005, 09:59:00 PM
Send all your crap to your Gmail account. It has over 2 gigs of space and you can send or upload [by sending it to yourself] up to 10 MB of crap at a time. If you don\'t have a Gmail account...PM me your e-mail address and I\'ll send you an invite to join. :)

EDIT: You can also zip all the files that you want to keep and send it to your e-mail via http://www.yousendit.com <---- you can send up to 1 gig this way, and it will only send you a text link to your e-mail to their server hosting the zip file...er whatever. It will store your junk for a week and then it will be erased. So you can just go back home and download all the crappola.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 02, 2005, 10:58:09 PM
Quote
Originally posted by EviscerationX
Send all your crap to your Gmail account. It has over 2 gigs of space and you can send or upload [by sending it to yourself] up to 10 MB of crap at a time. If you don\'t have a Gmail account...PM me your e-mail address and I\'ll send you an invite to join. :)

EDIT: You can also zip all the files that you want to keep and send it to your e-mail via http://www.yousendit.com <---- you can send up to 1 gig this way, and it will only send you a text link to your e-mail to their server hosting the zip file...er whatever. It will store your junk for a week and then it will be erased. So you can just go back home and download all the crappola.



thanks bro..appreciate it :)...:thumb:
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 02, 2005, 11:05:44 PM
clips,

so you are saying the computer you are using at work have some pics and other data that are important to you, and you want to know if you can transfer those data to your computer at home.  Yeah, the methods you said work such as burned it to a cd if the computer at work have a cd burner.  Or to a floppy.  Please, by all chances, don\'t bother with a floppy disc.  the  #1 reason is the maximum storage is only 1.44 MByte.  Or a little over 1 MB.  That is not a lot of storage there, compare to CD which can store up to 700 MBytes and higher if you want to overburn...  2nd is speed,  floppy disc will take a while to open file if the size is big, like a picture with lots of data...

or just uses EviscerationX method, send all your importants to an email such as Gmail or Hotmail or Yahoo.  Both hotmail and Yahoo have a storage of 250 Mbytes, so not sure if that\'s not enough.  If is not, try GMail.  Then get home, open your email that you send to, and download them all back.  Then, if you want, you can delete those files in your email...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 02, 2005, 11:43:09 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Paul2
clips,

so you are saying the computer you are using at work have some pics and other data that are important to you, and you want to know if you can transfer those data to your computer at home.  Yeah, the methods you said work such as burned it to a cd if the computer at work have a cd burner.  Or to a floppy.  Please, by all chances, don\'t bother with a floppy disc.  the  #1 reason is the maximum storage is only 1.44 MByte.  Or a little over 1 MB.  That is not a lot of storage there, compare to CD which can store up to 700 MBytes and higher if you want to overburn...  2nd is speed,  floppy disc will take a while to open file if the size is big, like a picture with lots of data...

or just uses EviscerationX method, send all your importants to an email such as Gmail or Hotmail or Yahoo.  Both hotmail and Yahoo have a storage of 250 Mbytes, so not sure if that\'s not enough.  If is not, try GMail.  Then get home, open your email that you send to, and download them all back.  Then, if you want, you can delete those files in your email...



yea i have a bunch of stuff on my pc at work that i want to transfer to my pc at home...i pm\'d evi about the gmail account, so hopefully my problem will be solved....thanks for the advice bro..:)
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 03, 2005, 12:23:57 AM
This will make transferring crap to your Gmail much easier:

http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm

Have fun! :D
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 03, 2005, 01:06:45 AM
oh, i forgot another method which i never used since i haven\'t own one yet.

USB jump drive.  those matchbox lighter would do the trick too.  I am very certain the majority of computers have USB 1.1 by now unless their computer is really, really old.  Most newer computers built in 2001 or 2002 or later have USB 2 support.

Just stick that on the computer USB slot and transfer all the data you want  into the jump drive.  Then transfer them into your computer at home.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 03, 2005, 12:07:54 PM
^^^^^^

But that costs more than free.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 03, 2005, 01:47:50 PM
yep, but i am just giving out several methods that can be used.  Doesn\'t mean you have to use it.

So are burning it into a CD or copying it to a floppy disc which both does cost money too.  But of of course, they cost no more than like 25 cents per disc or per floppy.  But if one want to use the floppy disc method, imagine how many floppy discs will be stack up because of storage problem.  and some data is too large to fit in a floppy disc.

I guess external hard disk drive is the most expensive method of the bunch for backing up data...

so, yeah, if you think about free, i guess your email method is definately 100% free.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 03, 2005, 01:59:24 PM
Floppy discs are so outdated. The only thing they\'re good for is turning in a report for class or something (if it\'s a text only report).
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on May 03, 2005, 02:32:32 PM
So, yeah, if you think about it, the first solution was the most simple and free one, so yeah, I guess if you think about it, all the other idea\'s was a waste of time and bandwidth.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 03, 2005, 04:05:54 PM
lol, so yeah, you are right, lic...and yeah...oh so yeah...

:D
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 04, 2005, 06:36:24 PM
question...i transfered some files(mostly avatars) from my job pc to my home pc *thanks evi*, now when i try to upload some of the avy\'s here, it states that the avy is not jpeg or gif, when clearly it is, well at least it was when i uploaded it from my job pc...

when i went into my gmail file the said avy was only being filed as art or bitmeg? but even when i viewed the avy, it came up as being jpeg file...thoughts? why is my jpeg avy being converted to bitmeg in the gmail acct?..only thing i did was email that avy to myself...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 04, 2005, 06:57:24 PM
Maybe your computer is on crack. You should zip all of your files into one file and send it via http://yousendit.com to your e-mail account ... this way the files won\'t get the chance to do something funky. With yousendit, you can send up to a gigabyte, so if you just zip all your crap together, you won\'t have any issues. You can still send the zip file to yourself as well, but you can only send up to 10MB. I still have no clue why it would change the filetype to a bitmeg. I don\'t even know wtf that is.

Gmail has never changed the filetype when I\'ve sent things to myself, so something funky is going on.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 04, 2005, 10:11:08 PM
i am assuming its bitmap you guys are talking about.  Like the above poster, I have no clue why that would send as bitmap instead of jpeg if that is the original format.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 04, 2005, 11:22:07 PM
yo, i just tested a few of the avy\'s that did work...there\'s still a couple that\'s comin up as bitmap? :confused: f**k it..i\'m tired now it\'s like 3:20 am and i\'ve been f**kin\' with this s**t since 9 pm...i\'ll try and figure this out t\'morrow...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: JBean on May 05, 2005, 04:44:30 AM
if they are bitmaps now you can just open paint or some other picture program and convert to a jpeg or gif or whatever.  I use photshop for that sort of thing usually, but you may not have that.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 05, 2005, 06:01:16 AM
jpeg is a lossy compression.

jpeg to bitmap will not degrade it anymore as it\'s already is since bitmap is uncompressed.

convert it back from bitmap to jpeg again will degrade it more.

Even if its the original is already in jpeg and you want to save it again in jpeg format in either paintbrush or photoshop.  It will degrade the quality somewhat.  Hence the meaning of lossy compression.

I played with both photoshop and paintbrush and I found that photoshop compress better than paintbrush at about the same amount of compression and same picture information size.  Photoshop obviously is a better encoder than paintbrush.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 05, 2005, 11:08:36 AM
^^^^^^

He doesn\'t really have a choice, so if he wants to convert them back, it\'s fine. They weren\'t bitmaps to begin with, so converting them back to the filetype they were before won\'t really affect the quality that much.

Just make sure that when you convert the files, that you save them at 100% quality.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 05, 2005, 12:21:31 PM
y\'know i had cyrus convert some pdf files for me to jpeg. now i don\'t have a clue as to how to  convert those avy\'s from bitmap to jpeg..:confused:...if it\'s too involved don\'t bother to explain, i\'ll just roll with the avy\'s i have now....but if it\'s simple then i\'m all ears....
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 05, 2005, 12:28:50 PM
Go here: http://www.download.com/3120-20_4-0.html?qt=convert+bitmap+to+jpeg&tg=dl-2001&search.x=5&search.y=5&search=+Go%21+
Title: thoughts?
Post by: JBean on May 05, 2005, 04:59:23 PM
it\'s simple man... if you\'re using paint just open the image.  Then go to file, then save as, then chose what format you want to save to at the bottom.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 05, 2005, 05:17:25 PM
What if he has 12,000 images?
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 06, 2005, 12:56:01 PM
Quote
Originally posted by JBean
it\'s simple man... if you\'re using paint just open the image.  Then go to file, then save as, then chose what format you want to save to at the bottom.


yo, that worked! thanks bro! :fro:  and don\'t worry i don\'t have alot of images, and it was only a few avy\'s that uploaded with that problem..but i did notice something..when i save any pic off the net with my home pc, it doesn\'t save it as jpeg or gif file..it saves it as something else in gmail..this kinda pissin me off because my pc at work would just save the images as jpeg or whatever it was required to upload the pics here on this site..:mad:

but my pc shouldn\'t be doin that right? i mean i should just be able to save any pic off the net as jpeg or gif just like my pc at work right?....if that\'s the case at least as far as my home pc is concerned then i\'m gonna have to change the file format everytime i save a pic :mad:
Title: thoughts?
Post by: THX on May 06, 2005, 05:11:20 PM
jpeg is an old hat

PNG / JPEG2000 is the futura

if you want to export a PSD consider those formats
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 06, 2005, 05:49:55 PM
Quote
Originally posted by clips

but my pc shouldn\'t be doin that right? i mean i should just be able to save any pic off the net as jpeg or gif just like my pc at work right?....if that\'s the case at least as far as my home pc is concerned then i\'m gonna have to change the file format everytime i save a pic :mad:

yeah, if you right click on the pictures, and go to save as...it should save as the picture of the original format that you click on.

Like if you right click on the jpeg images, it should save as jpeg instead of bitmap...I don\'t know why your home computer isn\'t doing that though.  Or it\'s only the gmail that causes the problem?:confused:
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 06, 2005, 09:48:29 PM
it\'s weird i, just now i did a save as on your aeris avy, and the file type came up as bitmap or art?..i don\'t know what the problem is,... s**t is pissin\' me off
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 06, 2005, 10:30:25 PM
Maybe some of your settings are set to save them like that. Who knows?
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 06, 2005, 11:32:38 PM
What windows are you using btw?
Title: thoughts?
Post by: THX on May 07, 2005, 06:23:19 AM
that\'s a common problem in IE:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;810978
http://www.tech-recipes.com/windows_tips584.html

Google for even more info.

Oh, and use FIREFOX (http://www.mozilla.org/firefox)
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 07, 2005, 08:10:47 AM
paul, i\'m using windows xp,...thx i appreciate that site bro...but i think i\'ve figured out the problem....i went into internet explorer, and saved an image,..it saved it in jpeg like it\'s supposed to, but i\'m currently using aol 6 month trial thingy, and when i save a image in aol, that\'s when i get the save as art or bitmap...is internet explorer doin something that aol isn\'t?
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Evi on May 07, 2005, 10:38:06 AM
Advice, don\'t ever use AOL. AOL is f^cking stupid and it should be criminal for them to even have their service available to human beings.

I think art is an AOL exclusive filetype, I\'m not sure. Stupid AOL...
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 07, 2005, 07:11:06 PM
man,

for like the first time i ever agree with Evis about the AOL comments.

and looks like thx has figure out the problems once again.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on May 07, 2005, 08:40:32 PM
Don\'t. Use. AOL

I cannot state this enough.
Get a cheap dial up service. Anything. Don\'t use AOL.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 08, 2005, 07:51:04 AM
well aol was only temporary until i want to figure out what to use...i was thinking about goin with the cable connection in the future...what do you guys use? or moreso what do you recommend?
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on May 08, 2005, 08:10:09 AM
Get cable.
Cost abit more, but worth it.
Mine is 20 a month for the first six months, then 40 a month.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Paul2 on May 08, 2005, 08:47:13 AM
Quote
Originally posted by clips
well aol was only temporary until i want to figure out what to use...i was thinking about goin with the cable connection in the future...what do you guys use? or moreso what do you recommend?


if you are planning on going broadband, the two popular choices are:

DSL

or

Cable

the biggest difference between the two are Cable run at a faster speed than DSL, but cost a little more.  But either type of connection is much faster than dial-up.  Depending on where you live, either cable or dsl may or may not support the area where you live.  So, check if either the cable or dsl provider support the area that you live in.  If in luck and both cable and dsl support the place you live in.  You have the option of choosing between the two.  DSL is a bit cheaper than Cable.  So, unless you want blasing fast speed, DSL will do.  Rememeber, either is way faster than dial up.

In my State, SBC Yahoo charge $20 per month for 1 full year for their DSL service  While Cable charge $30 per month for 6 months.  Since my area only support Cable, I have no choice and go with Cable, but I couldn\'t be any happier.  I actually loves it.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on May 09, 2005, 07:24:51 AM
just ordered the cable hookup today...:fro: ..:thepimp:...appreciate the help from all...you cats really know your s**t...if i have any more issues, i\'ll be sure to tap your mental again..:)
Title: thoughts?
Post by: Living-In-Clip on May 09, 2005, 02:25:50 PM
Broadbandreports.com
Go there - Speed Test
Let us know your DOWN / UP speed.

Don\'t use I.E  - use Firefox. It\'ll help you out in the long run. I.E, is prone to most spyware  / adware problems and is out dated in browser terms. Tabbed browsing is the future.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: JBean on May 09, 2005, 07:05:11 PM
yeah, not to beat a dead horse or anything, but AOL is the worst isp to go with.  They are way to expensive and all their software does is suck hard.

And i can\'t believe the people who get that AOL for broadband crap.
Title: thoughts?
Post by: clips on June 22, 2005, 12:59:18 PM
ok another question i have some images saved to disk that i\'m tryin to resize. i\'ve finally managed to resize one of them but now the image is blurry..how can i fix this?..if you just happened to pop over in here and don\'t know ehat i\'m talkin about, just go look in the my artwork thread...


*meh disregard this..i ended up figuring it out*