Computer Questions Not Worth Their Own Thread II

[Meteor Man]

I really hope you never have to diffuse a bomb.

"NO AIMEE! THE BLUE WIRE, THE BLUE WIRE!"

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Is it well known whether graphics displayed on a laptop display tend to be brighter than on desktop computers?

 

[shadowplay]

Is it well known whether graphics displayed on a laptop display tend to be brighter than on desktop computers?

Does the desktop have a nVidia card and the laptop an ATI card? I've noticed ATI graphics tend to be really shiny. It bugs me.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

Does the desktop have a nVidia card and the laptop an ATI card? I've noticed ATI graphics tend to be really shiny. It bugs me.

Both my laptops have nVidia cards, but I always figured it was the way laptop monitors displayed things different/brighter than a monitor (at least the bulky kind -- don't know about the newer flat wide-screen ones) for a desktop.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Is it well known whether graphics displayed on a laptop display tend to be brighter than on desktop computers?

Are the monitors set at the same brightness? My laptop was really bright until I turned it down

by the way a bulky monitor is a CRT. You never open one up because you can fry yourself

 

[Shekwan]

I'm having trouble with a wifi router.

I moved into an apartment right after someone moved out, and he left behind a lot of useful stuff, including internet with a working router.

He left a note telling me the WEP key, but for some reason I cannot connect to the router. It is coming up on my available networks list with full bars, but when I try to connect it simply says "cannot connect to this network". The only troubleshooting options that it provides are those related to low connection strength. Which is clearly not the issue because the router is like a foot away and coming up in my connections list at five bars.

I have a manual but its all in foreign. The brand and model of the router is Icarus BW-740. I tried entering its IP address in my search bar but nothing comes up.

I really don't know whats wrong here.

Also when I try to connect using my iPod it does ask for a password, which I enter, but it then tells me the password is wrong. But it definitely isn't.

 

[Cutlass]

Look over the router and see if there's a reset key on it anywhere. That would clear any passwords.

 

[GenMarshall]

Does Microsoft .NET 4 and XNA cause the computer to restart after 15 mins of first boot or playing a game? (Happened after I installed Terraria).

I'm wondering since I've been having this issue with my desktop as of late which results in the computer restarting itself eather 15 minutes after the first boot or 5 minutes of playing a game. Usually accompanied with a long screeching buzz from my headset/speakers. After the second boot, the problem does not surface again until I shut it down and leave it alone for a couple of hours.

It's pretty much similar to this scenario:

Link to video.

 

[Meteor Man]

He says on youtube:

...I've already solved this issue, it was a faulty video card driver from ATI.

thanks!

So do you have the same type of computer as him? This is probably the problem.

 

[GenMarshall]

I tried that but it did not worked on my end .

 

[shadowplay]

On my Windows 7 laptop, everytime I restart or power-on the machine, the wallpaper is reset to an old background that I'm getting really sick of. I go to my background folder and change it manually, but the old one keeps coming back everytime I boot up. What gives?

 

[Geek113377]

Should I use Tigerdirect or my local electronics store (Best Buy) to buy components to build a computer?

Out of those two, TigerDirect is MUCH preferable. Bestbuy is way overpriced, with a limited selection and unhelpful website/staff, most of the time. However, I do recommend Newegg over both of those. I find the site (part specs & customer reviews) to be more helpful, the prices (on most things) lower, and the filters to narrow down to a component of certain specs extant almost everywhere.

 

[civ_king]

Are the monitors set at the same brightness? My laptop was really bright until I turned it down

by the way a bulky monitor is a CRT. You never open one up because you can fry yourself

AFAIK I'm not fried

 

[dirtyparrot]

This has been an ongoing problem for me, but every time I reset my desktop computer, the clock always resets itself 3hrs late. Can anyone give me ideas as to why that is? My computer is approx 10yrs old and running XP.

 

[J-man]

perhaps it's set to the wrong timezone?

 

[GenMarshall]

Since I have a feeling that I am going to return the lemon desktop that I have (Had it with Dell and their lemons). I am gonna be constructing a rig of my own, though I don't know how to go about it other than it's going to be used primarily for gaming and some light image manipulation.

As for the video card, I'm kind of leaning on switching to Nivida due to a more reliable and stable driver set.

 

[civ_king]

This has been an ongoing problem for me, but every time I reset my desktop computer, the clock always resets itself 3hrs late. Can anyone give me ideas as to why that is? My computer is approx 10yrs old and running XP.

dead battery

Since I have a feeling that I am going to return the lemon desktop that I have (Had it with Dell and their lemons). I am gonna be constructing a rig of my own, though I don't know how to go about it other than it's going to be used primarily for gaming and some light image manipulation.

As for the video card, I'm kind of leaning on switching to Nivida due to a more reliable and stable driver set.

price?

I have two questions,
1) How much faster is Sandy Bridge than Pentium 4 clock for clock?

2) I'm looking for software to replicate a computer case and then scale it up, any ideas?

 

[GenMarshall]

price?

I've set a budget of US$ 2,000.

 

[civ_king]

I've set a budget of US$ 2,000.

Games/Genres?

 

[GenMarshall]

Games/Genres?

Source Engine games (Gmod, Half Life, TF2, Portal, L4D2), Fallout 3 & New Vegas, Resident Evil 5, Call of Duty: World at War, Mass Effect series, Minecraft, and Terraria.