Hardware Insights Forum

...of whatever you want to talk about.

Monitors
One of the big problems with them is that most if not all modern ones are widescreen, with a higher ratio of width-to-height than the old ones. As the standard measure of screen "size" happens to be between diagonally opposite corners, and the higher the ratio, the smaller the surface area is for a given diagonal...manufacturers love them...at the user's expense, of course, and not just because of the reduction in area.

I don't think widescreens on PC are good for much other than viewing two documents side-by-side. Otherwise they're not pleasant to use.

I also hate the way the colours are generally over-saturated by default, and what's with all that brightness??? And, of course, there's gloss, but at least with PC screens there's a choice.

Portable game systems, not so much...

And one other thing. I mentioned it in another thread (but got no response that I can recall), but I thought I should repeat that the monitor I'm using now (aside from being 16:9 ratio (specifically 1920x1080)) turns out to be weak to some very small creature (a mite?). It's stuck inside the panel and I can't get it out without, at least, disassembling the thing. And I'm not going to do that now because I'd rather not wreck it completely...

Lighting
I can't say I get the popular "preference" for the "warm" incandescent-style light. It just looks hideously orange-y to me...

I have read enough reports of catastrophic failures of CFLs to consider them unsafe in general.

Scare campaigns
When are they going to realise that people are just going to close their eyes/change the channel/whatever when they put those things on??? Seriously, I do not need to be reminded again and again about the dangers of (insert activity here). And I definitely don't need to be presented with footage that looks like something straight out of a horror movie.

By the way, is there any way to get the smilies out of the way while writing a post???

LongRunner wrote:By the way, is there any way to get the smilies out of the way while writing a post???

They shouldn't get in the way. They are off to the side. btw, that tall jaw drop one is no longer on the main posting page. It was a little out of place there.

I meant that it's kinda distracting having them animating the whole time...

Anyway...

Background music
Subjective, for sure, but there's one particular thing I have to say: Please provide an on/off switch for it.

If I want to listen to it, that's my decision. If I want silence, that also is my decision. And I love silence. Too bad there are so many loud things (many of which are out of my control).

In video games there's no reason not to have the switch, so...

Another thought: With the obsession with new technology and relentless demand for lower prices, is it any wonder people are utterly racing to get the job done???

Does this remind you of anything?
Surely halogen-free has to be good??? Well, not necessarily, as XLPE insulation is softer than PVC. Good thing they aren't in a hurry to transition mains cables to it, then...

Skewed priorities
Firstly, I'm not sure what good replacing incandescent bulbs with those tiny fluorescent things that regularly suffer from capacitor failures and can be (literally) potential time-bombs does. Secondly, if you're going to require insulation to be added to plug pins (in Australia and New Zealand), why don't you ban the old incandescent fittings already, as to say those are dangerous is a severe understatement. (Note: Many plugs used in North America have precious little separation between the pins and the edge of the plug, making it much easier to touch the pins...which still aren't insulated. Make of that what you will.)

You call this quiet?
The problem with PWM fans is...that they (at least the one in my system) produce readily audible tones as a side-effect of the control method. (Aside from the (relatively faint) ultra-high-pitched whistling itself...) I eventually used SpeedFan to lock that fan to a fixed speed to make it less ridiculous. (Still silly, though.) I know this might make the CPU hotter, but my goal is to keep my sanity.

And this is with an 80mm exhaust fan running at a constant 2700RPM (the one mentioned in my signature), no candidate for SilentPCReview submission.

LongRunner wrote:You call this quiet?
The problem with PWM fans is...that they (at least the one in my system) produce readily audible tones as a side-effect of the control method. (Aside from the (relatively faint) ultra-high-pitched whistling itself...) I eventually used SpeedFan to lock that fan to a fixed speed to make it less ridiculous. (Still silly, though.) I know this might make the CPU hotter, but my goal is to keep my sanity.

And this is with an 80mm exhaust fan running at a constant 2700RPM (the one mentioned in my signature), no candidate for SilentPCReview submission.

Some PWM fans are definitely worse for that than others. I've found that the PWM whine is very pronounced in the Delta-built Intel Stock coolers these days, although not so much with the Nidec and Foxconn ones (although it was a different story with s775 stock coolers). I've used a few Arctic PWM fans in the past, and haven't heard it at all