Random Question Thread: Tech

**Julian** · 2011-12-20 15:48

Originally Posted by Julian

Getting about 6 hours or so with my i7 laptop, I'm pretty happy. Maybe more, haven't actually tried it yet.

Outputting 1080p to my monitor, and with ffxi running in the background, I just unplugged the charger and said 4 hours >.>

Also got an estimate of 8ish hours for non-video, but haven't tested that yet

**Callisto** · 2011-12-21 10:17

Having some trouble with XBL voice chatter...when I'm just using my headset, everything works fine if I have it set to having the voice come through the headphones. When the battery died on the mic last week the voice came out through the speakers just fine. However, if I have the headset on and set the voice preference to either 'speakers' or 'both', nothing comes out. Anyone know if I'm missing something here?

**Salodin** · 2011-12-21 13:07

With the new radeon 7xxx series coming out early jan, is it smarter to wait till then to pull the trigger on my new card? I was gonna order a 6870, but I'd be hella pissed if I did and two weeks later it dropped down another 20 or 30 bucks because of the new release.

**Jojimbo** · 2011-12-21 16:11

Originally Posted by Salodin

With the new radeon 7xxx series coming out early jan, is it smarter to wait till then to pull the trigger on my new card? I was gonna order a 6870, but I'd be hella pissed if I did and two weeks later it dropped down another 20 or 30 bucks because of the new release.

Do you need a new card right now? if not then I'll wait. Although the 7800 series won't be released for a while (7900 is either tomorrow or something like 9th of Jan depending on whether rumours are true)

**Salodin** · 2011-12-21 17:44

Yeah, I read Jan 9th, but I'm not real familiar with prices and the industry in general; I wasn't sure if the 7xxx series would drop the price on the 6xxx series relatively soon, or not for a few months down the road. I can wait a few weeks for a vid card, but obviously the industry is always releasing new stuff, and if I constantly wait for the newest things to come out for a price drop on the older things I will never buy a video card lol.

**Caiyuo** · 2011-12-21 21:37

Anyone know what the cause of ripples in a monitor's display are? Never noticed them until recently when an almost solid black image was on screen and now if I'm looking for it, I can see the rippling at all times. Screwed with the OSD to see if changing brightness or contrast had an effect since the monitor also has a really low buzzing noise anytime it isn't set to 100% brightness, but no luck there. It's a refurbished U2212HM so if it's going to take a shit anytime soon I'd like to jump on the limited warranty before then.

**Qeomash** · 2011-12-22 01:35

Installed a fan controller to my computer and added two new fans. However, one of my case fans doesn't work with it. It's powered from a hardwired daisy chain of a molex male and female adapter. The fan controller only has the three pin plugs on it so I need to get from that to the molex. I was planning to make my own, but I can't seem to find any diagrams to make one.

**Pooke** · 2011-12-22 18:33

This question doesn't necessarily fall into this thread, but better than starting a new one, so here it goes! I bought a Microsoft wireless keyboard about a year ago and it worked fine for awhile, but eventually I noticed what felt like the keyboard shorting out. This was most noticeable when I was playing Battlefield 2 (and 3 now) as I would run and then out of nowhere stop moving...a sitting duck. Outside of these games my keyboard would work fine, no real issues with re-hitting a letter because it didn't pick it up the first time.

Now over the past couple of weeks it has been pretty bad, constantly having to repress a button several times just for it to submit, or sometimes it doesn't work at all. Is this just a dead battery issue (I'm out right now so I can't check), or something else? One last thing I'd like to mention though it may just be superstition, but while playing FFXIV, most of the time it's impossible to type when the keyboard is in front of me, but when I stand up and type, there are no issues with typing. What the heck is going on?!

Thanks for any input!

**Fereydoon** · 2011-12-22 19:18

Originally Posted by Pooke

This question doesn't necessarily fall into this thread, but better than starting a new one, so here it goes! I bought a Microsoft wireless keyboard about a year ago and it worked fine for awhile, but eventually I noticed what felt like the keyboard shorting out. This was most noticeable when I was playing Battlefield 2 (and 3 now) as I would run and then out of nowhere stop moving...a sitting duck. Outside of these games my keyboard would work fine, no real issues with re-hitting a letter because it didn't pick it up the first time.

Now over the past couple of weeks it has been pretty bad, constantly having to repress a button several times just for it to submit, or sometimes it doesn't work at all. Is this just a dead battery issue (I'm out right now so I can't check), or something else? One last thing I'd like to mention though it may just be superstition, but while playing FFXIV, most of the time it's impossible to type when the keyboard is in front of me, but when I stand up and type, there are no issues with typing. What the heck is going on?!

Thanks for any input!

I have a similar issue sometimes. No idea why, but I assumed it was either: Batteries dying, the little controller thing you plug into your computer dying, or something in the way for whatever reason. Usually taking a battery out and putting it back in fixed the issue temporarily. Rather annoying though.

**Salodin** · 2011-12-23 01:20

Mouse recommendations please. I tried a G500, and it was too uncomfortable, with my ring and pinky finger feeling awkward on the mouse. I recently got a deathadder, but the mouse feels too small and glossy; it's more comfortable then the G500, but still feels a tad too small and with the glossy sides it makes me feel like I'm going to accidentally lose grip on it. Any one with similar problems as me find a mouse they like?

**Purrrfect** · 2011-12-23 12:41

Originally Posted by Caiyuo

Anyone know what the cause of ripples in a monitor's display are? Never noticed them until recently when an almost solid black image was on screen and now if I'm looking for it, I can see the rippling at all times. Screwed with the OSD to see if changing brightness or contrast had an effect since the monitor also has a really low buzzing noise anytime it isn't set to 100% brightness, but no luck there. It's a refurbished U2212HM so if it's going to take a shit anytime soon I'd like to jump on the limited warranty before then.

Can't say it's going to take a dump on you, but sounds a lot like poor assembly/workmanship. I've got a cheap pos 19" spare that I can see a ripple pattern that is centered around the center of the bottom screen edge. It's worked fine for a couple years now, just kind of annoying. Looks kind of like maybe a point where something is putting too much pressure on the screen, sort of like when you press down on the display of a calculator.

**Purrrfect** · 2011-12-23 12:46

Originally Posted by Pooke

This question doesn't necessarily fall into this thread, but better than starting a new one, so here it goes! I bought a Microsoft wireless keyboard about a year ago and it worked fine for awhile, but eventually I noticed what felt like the keyboard shorting out. This was most noticeable when I was playing Battlefield 2 (and 3 now) as I would run and then out of nowhere stop moving...a sitting duck. Outside of these games my keyboard would work fine, no real issues with re-hitting a letter because it didn't pick it up the first time.

Now over the past couple of weeks it has been pretty bad, constantly having to repress a button several times just for it to submit, or sometimes it doesn't work at all. Is this just a dead battery issue (I'm out right now so I can't check), or something else? One last thing I'd like to mention though it may just be superstition, but while playing FFXIV, most of the time it's impossible to type when the keyboard is in front of me, but when I stand up and type, there are no issues with typing. What the heck is going on?!

Thanks for any input!

Try experimenting with different locations for the receiver. It is not getting the signal well. Fought with this a whole lot on my wireless keyboard; I went back to wired when I replaced it.

**Julian** · 2011-12-23 18:57

Originally Posted by Salodin

Mouse recommendations please. I tried a G500, and it was too uncomfortable, with my ring and pinky finger feeling awkward on the mouse. I recently got a deathadder, but the mouse feels too small and glossy; it's more comfortable then the G500, but still feels a tad too small and with the glossy sides it makes me feel like I'm going to accidentally lose grip on it. Any one with similar problems as me find a mouse they like?

The newer version deathadders (black or something) don't have that issue with the sides. I personally like it, and I have pretty big hands.