Customized computer?

[Animeniax]

I wasn't making fun. I've been guilty plenty of times of trying to save $5-10 on the price of something, but spent more than that in gas, time, and effort trying to locate the item for the lower price. Plus, I'll wait and wait before buying something to save $10, but I've wasted thousands of dollars on other crap that I could have saved. Something in my mindset makes me live that way.

Case in point, I spent $550 on a 7800GTX that I used for 4 months before I let my PC sit for 8 months unused. Meanwhile I waited 2 months to buy a memory stick for my PSP while I waited for the price to drop $5.

[Kraco]

I might need to go mouse shopping, myself, sooner or later. My trusty old Logitech Dual Optical, which has served me valiantly for years, is not only getting weary but sometimes the pointer suddenly jumps to a random direction without warning. It's especially annoying in Photoshop, I can tell you. No amount of opening the mouse and cleaning it meticulously helped to remove the problem.

Too bad mice seem to be 50% more expensive here than in the USA. (But so is everything else, so it's not really any surprise...)

[Buffalobiian]

My mouse only has a search button, but I didn't bother installing drivers for it, so windows treats it as a back button. Much more handy than the search function IMO. I think we've got a relatively low variety of mice here in Australia. They probably only sell half the stuff you guys might get in the US or elsewhere. It's also actually hard to find a decent wired mouse. The shops usually either sell really cheap generic ones, or jump straight to wireless and work from there. How reliable are wireless mice? I've never had one, and I don't know if I'll ever need one, so I just bought wired versions for simplicity's sake.

[Kraco]

It's kind of strange, in my opinion, that the prices of the cordless mice are getting down so much that they can be even cheaper than the old fashioned mice with tails. I'm still pretty much only looking at corded ones, though, at least initially. I don't trust the cordless ones, plus a mouse having a cord has never bothered me in the slightest. However, I'm thinking of visiting a few shops and stores, hoping they will have mice on display so that I could feel how they fit my hand. If they happen to have the cordless variety as well, I might check them out as well. I guess they must have developed a lot in half a decade, anyway...

[Dark Dragon]

@Animeniax

I know what you mean since i've done that myself but in this particular case it was a good deal since the mouses were at 40% of the original price. Plus it's nice to know in case you go to a Circuit city by chance so you can head on over to the mouse area and maybe get lucky and save some cash.

@Buffalobiian

Wireless mouses are usually pretty decent for regular usage but if you want precision for things such as playing FPS or doing art work on the comp then i wouldn't recommend it. The high end wireless like the G7 is quite good but in the end having a high end wired mouses is much better for that kind of things if you want perfect precision.

[Board of Command]

Well speaking of customizations, here's my latest creation:



Basically a pair of desk fans made from 120mm fans powered by a 6V adapter.

[Animeniax]

How many CFMs is that desk fan pushing? At what dB level?

[Kraco]

Yeah. I don't think I'll be selling my 13" desk fan anytime soon to replace it with a pair of 120mm computer case fans...

[Animeniax]

Even if the casefan fan has a superior cfm to dB ratio?? It's Earth Day today. You should do your part by converting to the energy efficient casefan fan, and ditch that old energy-guzzling desk fan.

[Board of Command]

How many CFMs is that desk fan pushing? At what dB level?

http://pdfcatalog.digikey.com/T073/SectL.pdf

They're not commercial computer fans. Based on this data sheet here, my fans are rated at 115 CFM and 41.5 dBA. That's running at full speed though, which is 12V @ 0.72A. My adapter is only supplying 6V @ 0.175 A to each fan, so they're running well below nominal specs. They're still quite loud though. Each fan pushes more air than a typical 120mm computer fan running at full blast. These fans aren't designed for quietness because they're industrial grade stuff that's not meant to be put into a computer case.

Part number 4710KL-04W-B50.

[Animeniax]

Dang, 41.5dB each at max load.

I plan to install a PS2 into the rolling drawer chest under my office desk. I could install some fans into the chest to keep the setup cool while completely concealed. I'd definitely use quieter fans though, to keep it on the down low.

[Kraco]

Well, well. After much pondering I ended up buying MX518. I was about to buy Razer Deathadder, which seemed like a miracle mouse under 50 euros, but after deeper research in the web wonderland I found out it's only a miracle mouse as long as you keep the dpi setting at max (1800). Lower it and it becomes "a piece of shit" like an endless cadre of people colourfully described it in various places. I didn't need a mouse with adjustable sensitivity that you can't adjust without rendering the mouse from great to poor, so I decided to buy this 3 years old thing that apparently has no such grand flaws unless you happen to be one of those unlucky bastards that have a mobo incompatible with it and are thus screwed for life (the life of the mobo anyway).

Now I pray I'll never see the symptoms those people kept describing...

[Board of Command]

I always keep my MX518 at 800 DPI.

[Animeniax]

I don't even install the setpoint software, so mine's at whatever is default dpi.

edit: oh weird, you don't need the setpoint software to change the dpi setting. I think mine's on 800.

edit 2: does anyone else think using the dpi change feature in FPSes is a form of cheating, or at least a somewhat cheap tactic?

[Kraco]

I ended up setting mine at 800 as well. Though I played around with it and the Windows settings a bit for a while. I think I adjusted the couple of games I tested also with the 800 dpi in use. Needless to say I was also very relieved those two games recognized the thumb buttons right away. That's always a big question mark.

I didn't install the Logitech drivers, either. Logitech software is always bloated and buggy so if it can be avoided at all, it's better to never install it. This truth hasn't changed for great many years. And I doubt changing the name from Mouseware to Setpoint changed anything.

[IFHTT]

I initially installed the setpoint software when I got my mx revolution to change the function of the search button ... I accidentally clicked it alot at first and got annoyed when the Windows search window came up while I was in the middle of doing stuff. But other than that I don't really have much use for it...

I've never even thought about changing the dpi, but I can't find the setting in setpoint, anyone care to elaborate where to do so?

Edit: Or is it the same dpi setting found in Display Properties > Settings > Advanced?

[Board of Command]

I've never even thought about changing the dpi, but I can't find the setting in setpoint, anyone care to elaborate where to do so?

Edit: Or is it the same dpi setting found in Display Properties > Settings > Advanced?

MX Revolution can't change DPI.

[IFHTT]

MX Revolution can't change DPI.

I see... Well thats, uh... pretty lame ...

But I see that it defaults at 800, so I guess thats alright.. :/

[Animeniax]

It's not all that it's cracked up to be. As you see, most of us leave it at default 800 most of the time anyway. You get the same effect by changing mouse sensitivity in Windows, just you can't do it on the fly in games. But it's basically cheating anyway, so better not to do it.

[Board of Command]

Only the idiots who buy into all the marketing BS rave about super high DPI, like 3000+. Back in the day when the MX500 was the latest and greatest mouse in the world, nobody had problems with the 800 DPI sensor. It was enough resolution for everyone. In contrary to popular belief, shooter games were just as popular 5 years ago as they are today. On another forum I frequent, someone said something along the lines of, "You know why that guy just headshot you? Because he had a better mouse." Complete bullshit. Back in the day of Counterstrike, people were getting headshots with ball mice.

For all practical purposes, it's the quality of the sensor that matters, not the scanning resolution. It's the same reason why some digital cameras with huge resolution (7+ MP) are sold for dirt cheap, while other models with seemingly comparable specs are much more expensive.