The "Quick Questions That Don't Deserve A Thread"...Thread. v5 - Hardware & Software

I'm planning on reformatting for a fresh install of windows, but the MS Software Recovery website keeps rejecting my product key, which I had to rip from the registry since I lost my sticker. Any advice? I was considering using a torrent and activating it with my product key, but I really don't trust non-official downloads of important stuff like OSes. I should probably note that I bought the "Get Genuine Kit" from the MS website ages ago, which is apparently considered an OEM key and the recovery site doesn't accept OEM keys.

[QUOTE=zombini;47254766]I'm planning on reformatting for a fresh install of windows, but the MS Software Recovery website keeps rejecting my product key, which I had to rip from the registry since I lost my sticker. Any advice? I was considering using a torrent and activating it with my product key, but I really don't trust non-official downloads of important stuff like OSes.[/QUOTE] What version of Windows 7 do you need?

[QUOTE=Levelog;47254776]What version of Windows 7 do you need?[/QUOTE] Home Premium 64-bit(yes I'm cheap as fuck, but i spent all my money on the hardware).

[QUOTE=zombini;47254789]Home Premium 64-bit(yes I'm cheap as fuck, but i spent all my money on the hardware).[/QUOTE] I PM'd you. [editline]4th March 2015[/editline] Also there's no need for anything more than home premium unless you want to connect to a domain or need to switch system languages, you did fine. (Or more than 16gb of RAM I guess in the case of W7)

Anybody here done anything like home security using a Raspberry Pi? After my house getting robbed I want to make some sort of security camera, and heard Pis can be great for this. I bought a fake camera shell and ordered a Raspberry Pi camera module. Anybody done anything cool with them?

Home security is a lot more than just a camera, a PI with camera module can be used as a halfway decent network camera. Storing the video on there would be stupid though.

Is there any software out there that can split a huge file into chapters? I'm aware of Audiobook Cutter but I'm really unsure how long each chapter is.

Yeah I know but a camera is a starting point I can build upon I guess

Not sure if this is the right thread to ask about tablets, but I had an iPad, but I'm not a big fan of iOS. I only used it for browsing the internet. Any suggestions for a good tablet with the screen size of an iPad?

[QUOTE=Wint3r;47264629]Not sure if this is the right thread to ask about tablets, but I had an iPad, but I'm not a big fan of iOS. I only used it for browsing the internet. Any suggestions for a good tablet with the screen size of an iPad?[/QUOTE] Nexus 9? Was it any good, idk

Uber nuber question alert, but how do monitor resolutions work? My reason for asking this is my current monitor has a resolution that maxes at 1600x900. I have another monitor that's almost the same exact size that I currently use as a TV in my room, but when I turn it on it says it's 1080p. What resolution is 1080, is it better than 1600? I don't use that screen for TV much anymore, is it worth me using it as my computer monitor instead of the 1600 one?

[QUOTE=Linkuya;47270314]Uber nuber question alert, but how do monitor resolutions work? My reason for asking this is my current monitor has a resolution that maxes at 1600x900. I have another monitor that's almost the same exact size that I currently use as a TV in my room, but when I turn it on it says it's 1080p. What resolution is 1080, is it better than 1600? I don't use that screen for TV much anymore, is it worth me using it as my computer monitor instead of the 1600 one?[/QUOTE] 1080p is shorthand for a resolution of 1920x1080, which, yes, is much better than 1600x900. If you have the proper cable for connecting your television to your graphics card (usually an HDMI cable, but sometimes they use VGA or DisplayPort) then you should be able to plug it in and start using it right away.

Cool, I'll try that out in the next day or so. I thought for a monitor to have a bigger resolution than another monitor, it would have to actually be physically bigger.

[QUOTE=Linkuya;47270681]Cool, I'll try that out in the next day or so. I thought for a monitor to have a bigger resolution than another monitor, it would have to actually be physically bigger.[/QUOTE] Only in some cases. Monitor size and resolution tends to stick to a curve that provides the best PPI (pixels per inch) for the viewer. The consumer's general rule of thumb for monitor size: <17" for anything smaller than 1600x900 17" - 20" for 1600x900 21" - 24" for 1920x1080 25" - 27" for 2560x1440 or 2560x1600 >28" for 3840x2160 (better known as 4K) Of course, manufacturers tend to ignore this rule, which is why you see a lot of 30" - 70" television screens for sale at Best Buy or Walmart that are only capable of 1080p.

WQHD is fine for anything up to 32" on a desktop display. [editline]6th March 2015[/editline] 4k at 28" to me is still not a good fit while windows sucks at everything high DPI still.

I just picked up an HP Pavilion x360 11... was that a bad investment?

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;47270726]Only in some cases. Monitor size and resolution tends to stick to a curve that provides the best PPI (pixels per inch) for the viewer. The consumer's general rule of thumb for monitor size: <17" for anything smaller than 1600x900 17" - 20" for 1600x900 21" - 24" for 1920x1080 25" - 27" for 2560x1440 or 2560x1600 >28" for 3840x2160 (better known as 4K) Of course, manufacturers tend to ignore this rule, which is why you see a lot of 30" - 70" television screens for sale at Best Buy or Walmart that are only capable of 1080p.[/QUOTE] In addition, things get really weird when talking about mobile devices. My 5" HTC One M8 has a 1080p display, but so does my 15" Asus laptop. But my Dell Venue 8 Pro is only 1280 x 800, along with my old Nexus 7. And then the LG G3 has a 5.5 inch 2560 x 1440 display. I guess the lesson here is, screen size does not correlate with screen resolution.

[QUOTE=Squad1993;47272705]I just picked up an HP Pavilion x360 11... was that a bad investment?[/QUOTE] The cores in the Pentium aren't anything special

[QUOTE=Original User;47273488]The cores in the Pentium aren't anything special[/QUOTE] Well, I was thinking about getting a 2in1 as a laptop i can take to class in addition to my main one. It was between the HP, Dell Inspiron 11 and the Toshiba Satellite Radius 11. We went with the HP cuz it was a good deal but my dad said I should get it cuz it swivels and rotates on a single hinge like his office laptops. He of course was wrong but it was too late cuz it already shipped. So I'm probably just gonna see how it works out at school and if I don't like it, Ill send it back and probably get the Toshiba. Thing is, all of them are exactly the same spec wise.

I want to format/reset my hard drive, OSes and all, and I'd like to know the best way to go about this. I've got dual-booted system running windows 8.1 and Ubuntu 11.04, I plan on erasing everything and reinstalling windows. I use GRUB Launcher to select which OS partition to boot. How do I this? I take it that the reset function in Windows will not to erase everything?

[QUOTE=Histrionic;47273753]I want to format/reset my hard drive, OSes and all, and I'd like to know the best way to go about this. I've got dual-booted system running windows 8.1 and Ubuntu 11.04, I plan on erasing everything and reinstalling windows. I use GRUB Launcher to select which OS partition to boot. How do I this? I take it that the reset function in Windows will not to erase everything?[/QUOTE] It will, thought I'm not sure how it will behave with a Linux partition on the same drive. Probably best off installing Windows 8 fresh and then Ubuntu.

Do the specs of my PC effect how well it plays games on my HDTV as opposed to my monitor? I've just set up my PC with my TV and everything outside of games runs flawlessly, and lower end games such as Mount & Blade run fine. But as soon as I boot up a game like STALKER Lost Alpha or Payday 2 I get massive input lag (like, 1-2 seconds) that makes the game completely unplayable. Is this more likely to be an issue with my TV settings, or is my computer somehow just not up to it? (everything is running in 1080p, and was doing so with no issues on my regular monitor. I'm running the TV in game mode and everything. I tried using the DVI input rather than the HDMI and that didn't make any difference.

I'm stuck between these two laptops, both priced at £250. [url]http://www.tesco.com/direct/acer-aspire-v5-572-156-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-ram-500gb-black/205-4119.prd?skuId=205-4119[/url] and this [url]http://www.tesco.com/direct/asus-x550ca-156-laptop-intel-celeron-6gb-ram-1tb-grey/479-6682.prd?skuId=479-6682[/url] Better processor or more ram and storage? (I don't really need 1TB anyway) Or another laptop for around £250... Would much appreciate a second opinion! [editline]7th March 2015[/editline] Maybe its just that big price drop that intrigues me on the Asus, i'm leaning toward the Acer at the moment.

[QUOTE=Lordgeorge16;47270485]1080p is shorthand for a resolution of 1920x1080, which, yes, is much better than 1600x900. If you have the proper cable for connecting your television to your graphics card (usually an HDMI cable, but sometimes they use VGA or DisplayPort) then you should be able to plug it in and start using it right away.[/QUOTE] Eww bleh, turns out the 1080 monitor is actually an inch [I]smaller[/I] than my 1600x900 one, this looks awful. It says it's on 1080 but my god everything is comically small, and even when I increase the UI and stuff it looks like garbage. I think I should probably buy a new better sized monitor when I can.

I bought a really cheap 16gb USB stick and it turned out to be much smaller but made to look 16gb. Is there a way to get it to show its actual size so it won't let me put more data on it than or can hold?

[QUOTE=Linkuya;47275726]Eww bleh, turns out the 1080 monitor is actually an inch [I]smaller[/I] than my 1600x900 one, this looks awful. It says it's on 1080 but my god everything is comically small, and even when I increase the UI and stuff it looks like garbage. I think I should probably buy a new better sized monitor when I can.[/QUOTE] Some cheap TVs will report to connected devices that they're 1080p, then downscale it. This sorta makes sense for things like Blu-Ray players, which only output 1080p or 720p, but less so for computers that can handle any resolution. My own TV reports 1080p, then downscales to 1366x768. Fortunately I knew that was its true resolution before I tried using it with my computer, because it looks absolutely horrible at "1080p".

[QUOTE=Squad1993;47272705]I just picked up an HP Pavilion x360 11... was that a bad investment?[/QUOTE] Those bay-trail Pentiums are pretty solid actually. As long as you got it at a good price, it was a decent buy.

I think my internet is being throttled for the better part of three weeks now. Doing a speedtest reports that i have a 2.7 mbps download speed and in my modem's status report, it says that my downstream sync speed is 2700 kbps. I'm on AT&T and they haven't sent any notices, nor are there any flags on my account with them. I'm paying close to $60 per month for 12mbps. What the hell should I do about this? Also switching ISPs is not an option, AT&T has an effective monopoly here.

[QUOTE=zombini;47276891]I think my internet is being throttled for the better part of three weeks now. Doing a speedtest reports that i have a 2.7 mbps download speed and in my modem's status report, it says that my downstream sync speed is 2700 kbps. I'm on AT&T and they haven't sent any notices, nor are there any flags on my account with them. I'm paying close to $60 per month for 12mbps. What the hell should I do about this? Also switching ISPs is not an option, AT&T has an effective monopoly here.[/QUOTE] Yeah I would have called them by the end of day 1. Shit won't get done unless you call them.

So a guy from my church gave me a evga nvidia geforce gtx 550 ti, but its too big for my pc. Should I keep it or sell it?