The Official PC building thread -3rd Edition

GM, When you say Searched, do you mean for instock? Because it would appear newegg has them again. Ahh man!!! I guess they dont!!! I swear they just had em!!!

Ehhh...it matters not. Regardless of where I buy it, I want it. I have done some reading on it. If thats what you mean by search. I like the tool free design! I just cant leave my components alone, LOL. im constantly reaching in there and changing something!

As far as the black lights go, I like the add on capability too but...what I meant was, they should make led/bulbs more interchangeable. Like...a more universal design. So the consumer can decide what color he/she likes to use. HDD led's, fan leds, etc. as simple as a snap or screw, LOL

 

Ok, Ive never bought an LCD monitor to be shipped. My current LCD monitor (Acer AL2002W) I bought at Walmart. Ha ha, Right? Ehhh, at the time it was a decent price.
What would some of you guys buy?

Im looking at a cheap 28" Hanns-G getting decent reviews.
Or, this 26" Samsung little more spendy for the supposedly better name/product.

If I had no help, I would probably choose the samsung. But darnit, size is often important to some of us, right?

Although I think ultimately I'll be picking one up at bestbuy or Circuit city (IF THEY'RE STILL OPEN) tomorrow. I hate the idea of having to ship an expensive item back!

 

i was looking at both of those monitors when i decided to upgrade. with the samsung you will get better image quality and picture. with the hans g you will get a slightly bigger screen. i went with the samsung and i am loving it. there are 3 25.5 inch samsungs and this is the one i got.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001264

 

From what I hear the 26" Samsungs are the better monitors.

 

Thanks guys. Appreciate that.
Now the big mama of questions, LOL. Im noticing that a 30" samsung MONITOR goes for 1,000$ but a 32" lcd tv goes for nearly half that. Any thoughts on that?

Why is the monitor so costly(Other than max resolution) when the LCD tv will/should do the same job with more capabilities???

32" LCD TV Samsung
30" Samsung MONITOR

Is the insane resolution the only reason its sooooo costly?

 

Basically, yeah. The panel is what makes up the bulk of the cost in a monitor. The image quality is also stricter with a 30" monitor, as it's an S-IPS panel.

 

For one, the Monitor has more than twice the picture elements in less Real Estate (30" vs 32"). They have to be smaller and packed so much closer together in order to accomplish this. That's why the 0.25mm Pixel pitch. That's how the monitor manages almost 5 million picture elements against the LCD TV's 2,073,600! It's also the maximum you can get out of the TV!

Best Regards,
Russ

 

So simply put, tv's are for exactly that, TV'S! And monitors are for PC'S! I guess I was afraid to buy an LCD tv for a pc monitor because one time, I ran a GPU card of mine VIA S-Vid to a 27Inch tv I use to have, and text didnt look right(Blurry). Where as viewing/watching movies was ok. I have somewhat of an understanding when it comes to pc's and software, but when it comes to the technical side of monitors and tvs, im just not sure yet, LOL.
When I first started seeing pc connections on tvs I was like, YES!!!
I Guess there is a little more to it than that, ehh.

 

Wow! Alot of online stores are out of the COOLER MASTER HAF 932! Is there a new model coming out? What the heck! I was gonna make my total purchase tonight, but if the egg doesnt have the case, I may have to put a hold on it. Looking at a new monitor too. Liking the reviews and the price!
Asus monitor

Are dead pixels pretty rare? My first ACER monitor I bought had a tiny little white square in the upper right corner. Is that a dead pixel? I didnt keep it long. Infact I returned it the same day. The advantages of a walk in store. The next one (current) was perfect!

LOL, Now im looking at dual monitor setups! Im liking that idea ALOT! Infact, I MIGHT get two monitors and a cheaper case. Not sure yet!

 

Oman7,
That would be a "Stuck Pixel". Dead ones usually look like a pale grey spot, or a slightly dark speck on the screen that doesn't wash off. Sometimes, you can carefully and gently massage the area of the stuck pixel and un-stick it! As far as Dead Pixel's go, you generally have to look very close to spot one. Most, you wouldn't even notice. Regardless of which color, stuck pixels are by far, the most annoying

BTW! I have nothing but Praise for Sceptre! I picked up my Monitor on Friday and they did a fabulous job! They replaced the entire guts of my monitor with a new S-PVA Panel and all the hardware, for $100. The picture looks just as magnificent as it did when it was new, three years ago! The job was finished in one week! That's what I call good Service! Good Product, Great Price and Great Service! Can't beat that with a stick!

EDIT: Stuck pixels are not warrantied the same way as dead pixels. One stuck pixel warrants replacement, while most dead pixel issues have to have Six or more to qualify for replacement under warranty! Stuck pixels stick out like a sore thumb, while dead pixels are generally difficult to spot unless they are all in a line together! hope that explains both!

Beat Regards,
Russ

 

Picture quality on my 21.5 Asus is excellent, especially 1080p HD content. If you multi task or do online schooling/ research you will wonder how you lived without 2 monitors all this time.

 

One stuck pixel rarely warrants replacement unless you have a comprehensive warranty, such as the Dell plan for the xx08 monitors (not the xx07s). Typically it's one (sometimes more) per million - or any grouping of more than one that are touching.

 

Sam,
Here in the States, the Warranty Laws are very strict, so a single stuck pixel get's replaced. 99% of the time they are full on, so every dark scene would have this brightly lit pixel in the middle of it. Imagine a bright Red pixel somewhere in the main part of the screen being on, while watching something dark like "The Dark Knight"! It would be a major annoyance! Even 6 dead pixels, unless they were right together, you wouldn't even notice. Even when you know where one is, you usually have to look for it!

Russ

 

Ehh...it could have been considered a bright gray like color. What ever it was, I told walmart it was an annoyance, it was in my face, so they replaced it. Gotta love their return policy

I dont mind complaining about minor things, because its my hopes that manufacturers take that, and try harder to produce better products. So yes, im critical when it comes to reviewing most devices. However often, im easily pleased too Take the Dual core athlon. It impressed the heck out of me. But a quad owner would laugh at me!

@Deadrum, I was watching some youtube demonstrations about dual monitoring. VERY VERY impressed, to the point of jealousy!!!

 

Hi Guys!,

Just a quick question. I want to extend a 2pin wire cord on my Cold Cathode Inverter so I can hide the ugly thing in the cable management part of my Antec 1200. I have an old power supply which is dead, is it possible to use the wires from that power supply to extend the 2pin Inverter cord?, and if so, will any wire do?, say for instance If I just chop off some ATX wire and use it...

Thankyou in advance as usual for any advice!.

Best Regards,

Sam

 

I love playing with 12V In my opinion, depending on the amperage of the cathode inverter, atx wire should do nicely. Atx wire or (20-24pin) is typically 18 Gauge (AWG). 18 Gauge should easily handle 16 amps. But not much more. Not many computer peripherals draw more than 16 amps! I seriously doubt it draws more than 16 amps, but I dont know what a cathode inverter is, sooo...

 

Basically, a Cathode Inverter raises the voltage to the Cold Cathode light, as they require more voltage than is available from the power supply, to provide what's needed. Whatever you do, don't hide it where it can't get any cooling, like say tucked away in with excess wiring. If it should blow there, you can almost count on it taking other things with it! Some kits even allow for mounting the inverters, outside of the case where it can't hurt anything if it does blow! Avoid the ones that have exposed circuit boards, as when they blow, they can cause a fire!

Russ

 

Given the inverter terminology, I figured it was something along those lines, but wasnt certain. Sounds like a risky business, LOL

 

You ought to check that, because it was an american standards page I was looking at to find that out. The USA actually has less strict warranty laws than the UK, as many products can be sold with only a 30 or 60 day warranty, the legal minimum here is 12 months for anything but a consumable. I noticed a dead pixel in my 3007WFP, but it took me a while to spot it. Stuck pixels, however, I'd agree, are a pain in the backside, but even so, many manufacturers aren't legally obliged to replace unit unless it has more than one.

Cold cathode inverters output a really high voltage (typically 1000-1200V a.c.) so the current required is absolutely tiny to run a 10-15W pair of cold cathodes, so it doesn't really matter what wire you extend that with, but if you want to extend the 12V cable running to the inverter, you should use wire of at least the same thickness as its supplied with, I think its 20AWG, but don't count me on that.
Also agreed on the cooling, you should try and get some airflow over a cold cathode as they can put out as much heat as a fan controller, but are far more sensitive to it.

 

Well...im pretty irritated. Neweggs out of the HAF 932! That is my luck! I swear im cursed! I think i'll just buy EVERYTHING else tonight and hope I can get by with my current case for now. Which would be fine I suppose. But I sure would like a case thats constructed from top to bottom with airflow in mind for a decent Price! I guess I could mickey mouse my current case, LOL. There are ways I could do it. Anybody got some links to a good optical bay cooler. For good intake I mean? The way I see it. If I can get a supreme intake of air going, and good exhaust in the back, well then I would have nothing short of a wind tunnel!