answers, answers

Alright, so I realize that I didn't buy a MacBook to game or anything. However, I've recently faced some pretty horrific graphics rendering, and was wondering if I could aid it in performing better, or not really. I don't know if it makes a difference (I don't think it does, because I HAVE been able to get Windows games run full-screen at a decent fps) but I boot into Windows only--turned out I don't like Mac OS X. =X

My most recent woe is a port of the standard Flurry screen saver from Mac to Windows. It is only a .scr file, but it performs absolutely horribly, as do other things that utilize OpenGL and DirectX. A screen saver! Are the on-board graphics really that crappy?

for the record, bought this thing exactly a year ago, upgraded to 2.4 Ghz, 250GB HD, and it has 3GB RAM. I'm not sure if any of this makes a difference for graphics... >.>

I am doing this for a friend soon, or at least, I shall attempt to. She definitely prefers XP/does not like Vista. Anyhow, a few questions:

1) could this possibly have any negative hardware issues? I can't tell you her hardware specs, but just wondering... drivers and such.

2) this is a stupid question, but I don't know crap about Vista (only use XP and Mac OS X Leopard at home)... if she backs up her documents on an external hard drive before I wipe her internal HD, will they be readable by XP?

3) One last thing... does installing XP over Vista work just like any other windows install from CD (from boot) i.e. just restart, wipe the HD, and install? No blatant problems with this plan?

Thank you thank you!

i can't seem to find any conversion/chart or anything

i am looking for contacts; i know i have 20/70 (right) and 20/50 (left) vision. i was wondering what correction this would be (i.e. +/- format, -1.00, etc)

anyone enlighten me? thanks a lot :)

well, i have no idea if this is a normal occurance, but here goes: yesterday, i drove to a shopping center i regularly visit, about 30 miles away. it is highway driving for the majority (i averaged 70-80 mph) and then some stop and go in a 45mph zone. i normally drive this pace.

anyhow, after i'd parked, my friend noticed that something was gurgling. i did, too, and then realized that, according to the car's thermometer, the engine was quite hot (indicator needle almost to the red area on meter)

anyhow, i lifted up the hood to find a burning smell (much stronger than any normal "car engine" smell) and every liquid in there (i.e. windshield fluid, coolant, oil, etc) bubbling/boiling(?)

so i let it gurgle while we shopped, and on the way home, it seemed a lot more normal, though i did turn off the A/C & fan, drive the speed limit or below, etc.

perhaps bubbling things everywhere is normal, but the burning smell was a little worrisome. oh well. enlightenment would be great! :)

family laptop ran excellent when we first bought it, but now is running a little on the slow side. freezes a lot. as we don't really want to purchase a new one at the moment, i was planning on just popping in an additional 1GB RAM. (right now we're running XP SP2 on the min 256 MB)

however, note that the processor is a Celeron 2.30 GHz. even if more RAM is added, will it not really matter because of the budget CPU? i don't want to upgrade that, not worth it, but just wondering if i should bother investing in more RAM.

(i think it might help, but i'm not sure if significantly...my comp is running at 1.8 GHz on an AMD and performs significantly better, despite slower clock speed)

alright, so i am on a normal voice & text plan under Sprint. we pay way too much a month, so i'm hoping this might work to redeem that cost.

i am wondering how to tether (i know you can't at high speeds without a plan!) at speeds as fast as a telephone will allow. we aren't paying for data or any of that.

i have signed up with MetConnect, a free dial-up ISP for the NY area. i am a user now, and i have the connection phone number(s).

now, when i plug my phone (motorazr v3m, Sprint) into my computer upstairs, it says "MOTOROLA USB MODEM." can this be used just as a normal phone line modem??? as in, can the connection number simply be dialed, using nothing but minutes? (i have free nights and weekends.)

all i want to do is to be able to use AIM. i don't think this uses enough bandwidth to trip any suspicion with Sprint, and i don't think it should, if i'm using a dial-up, minimum amt of bandwidth.

any help would be great; just want to make sure i won't rack up fees. thanks!

a few weeks ago i broke up with my boyfriend of a year-ish. a bunch of stuff has been going on lately, so i'm not sure if it was a rash decision. still, practically every month when we were together, i doubted the relationship so much i'd have this huge crazy psycho meltdown.

i figured the only way for us to break up was if HE rejected ME, because i didn't want to hurt him, so in the last few months, i tried valiently to get him to reject me. sure, i love him as a person, but not as a boyfriend anymore...or so i think. anyhow, i was a totally awful boyfriend and he still kept forgiving, so finally i broke it off because it hurt me to see him love me. (it wasn't at all this simple, but i'm keeping it as short as i can.)

though there is another potential relationship right now (i'm not sure...it seems a little soon, even though i thought i was done with the last relationship...but this guy is adorable AND intelligent! ^.^ ) i still have lingering feelings for my ex.

...

i am a senior in high school right now. i recently recieved acceptance into a college in the city. city = i will NOT be needing a car in 8 months.

however, i want to do a lot & have a lot planned for senior year & my last summer "home" and with all my friends. i think it would be quite convenient to have a car. both my parents work so i cannot use a car except on weekends, as we only have 2.

i understand that some might see it as impractical, as college definitely wont be easy to pay for, but i'm thinking that maybe i can sell it at the end of summer? perhaps can i rent one for a while? i am only 18, but my records are in good standing.

i would just like some advice & thoughts. of course my parents don't want me spending money on something like this, but my boyfriend absolutely wants me to so he can stop driving everywhere b/c his car has nearly 160,000 miles on it & it's getting elderly. i need someone's OUTSIDE, unbiased opinion.

thank you in advance. ^_^

First, this isn't a question, really, but i could think of no other way to post it somewhere where people could read it. i really hope some P2 owners find this!

anyhow, while it is a pretty sleek device, the P2 has taken a lot of crap, especially with poor representation in online videos by people who don't know how to use it.

EVERYONE i've read complains about the "double tapping," like a computer's double-click. this is simple: ON THE P2, YOU MAY HOLD YOUR FINGER ON THE SELECTION YOU WANT INSTEAD OF DOUBLE CLICKING.

in the entire time i've owned this device, i have never double clicked. i never read the manual. so i didn't even know you COULD double-click.

also, while it is a tad less responsive than the iPod Touch, the latest firmware update (Dec 2007) corrects some of this difficulty.

i just got tired of seeing it bashed so much because of this, so i had to write it somewhere. don't know if or why others have not figured it out by now.oh well hope this is useful ^_^

so my father refuses to network our home so i'm doing it myself.

i want to do it through bluetooth. yes, slower. yes, less efficient. but CHEAP. ahhaha. plus, if my dad sees a big ol' router downstairs he'll think i'm making dirty movies on webcam or whatever he thinks i'd do with internet in my own room. ^_^

anyhow, my question. i already have a BT 2.0 adapter for my comp. just for my phone & stuff. if i buy a long-range (rated 100 meter radius) BT 2.0 adapter, will it work & pair with my shorter range BT?

i hope; see, i think that although my device doesn't have great range, the long-range BT dongle will have enough power to find & pair with my one upstairs. (yes, it is under 100 meters)

any help would be great. thank you!

is there ANY way, concievably, to connect a 4/8 GB (i.e.: most likely what i'll be unwrapping christmas day) to a television?

& also, the only reason i shy away from the harddrive based models (which i guess can do this?) is that i drop things. a lot. and i don't wanna kill the thing the day i get it. so are the flash based models really that much less failing drop-wise than the HD based?

because my fried dropped his new ipod. and killed it. immediately.

so i got a new windows xp sp2 desktop in 2005. it's still running extremely well and there's nothing wrong with it, except i am going into photography and am completely sick of photoshop lagging ALL THE TIME. additionally, iTunes is a nightmare. so i figure...why not just get a mac?

so i don't wanna ask my parents to spend a lot b/c they are already paying for a lot & my computer is technically doing everything i need.

i hear that mac processor times aren't comparable to those of PCs. i am looking for a used mac, maybe G4, to ask for.

however, my comp is running with an amd 1.9ghz processor. how will switching to, say, a 900mhz - 1.0ghz processor in a mac say G4 desktop compare? will i experience any better performance in a mac-based program, or will the slower processer take away from the performace?

also, will windows-specific files such as .bmp's or .wav's work on a mac? i know a lot of stuff is compatible, but i wasn't sure.

thank you!

i just installed win2k pro on my sister's computer (upgrading from winME, winXP would not set up properly) win2k installed with no problem (did clean install, reformatted to NTFS)

the only problen now is her video card. she has an nVIDIA 32MB GeForce2 MX 4X video card (the computer is a Dell Dimension 4100, like from 2001 or 02) and nVIDIA no longer offers the drivers for this card on their site. i tried to install a generic nVIDIA driver and now her installation is ruined (blue screen, physical memory dump or something like that) and i have to reformat/install. bleh.

anyhow, this time around, i was wondering if there's a better way to do things. is there any driver that will work??? the reason i need one is because she only has 16-color mode and 800x600 max resolution.

any help would be great. thanks=]

i am instailling winXP over ME on my sister's computer.

her comp. meets all the requirements just fine, but ive tried "repair" three times and it still doesn't work. it keeps saying it's missing a file,

/windows/system32/..../SYSTEM or something liek that.

anyhow, using the recovery options (i am using the OS disc that came with my computer to install on hers) i placed her existing files in a backup folder. hence, i cant do a clean install.

any suggestions? thanks!

alright, so i want wireless in my house but my father refuses, because he thinks i'm going to make a porno or something. really, all i want is to be able to use the internet/AIM without having to confine myself to the one or two hours on our main computer which my sister "graciously" allows me to have access to. *psh*

plus, my computer's the newest in the house, so i want the internet & all it offers.

anyhow, the router would have to be downstairs in the basement, as this is where our modem is. (we're on cable broadband.) my room is on the top floor of the house. so there would be an entire floor in between the router & my computer.

what is the cheapest decent router/wireless technology that can effectively handle this range? any suggestions would be great!

oh, and one last thing, if the router is by our main comp, can i just run a wire to it instead of having to buy a second USB adapter?

thanks!

i have been using limewire forever but lately i've not been able to find shows and whatnot as easily. instead i just downloaded bittorrent.

now, im trying to get queer as folk season 5 (yes i watch that. lol)

a few questions:

- limewire would usually download at 170-250 kbps. which was NICE. bittorrent is right now downloading at 11 kbps and is estimating it will take 11 days?!?! is there any way to speed this up? i changed file priority to high.

- along with that, does the program you use to download torrents make a difference? moreso, are there different programs even?

- finally...the file size is 15 gb which is fine for my comp but im using my dad's laptop with smaller hard drive. is there any way to download the files in a torrent individually? (each episode is only like 350mb but they're all packaged together)

thanks!

okay, so i am male.

there is this big 70s day thing & wont be able to get to the thrift shop in time, soooo... i need a little advice.

what to wear? i dont really care if it isn't outrageous. i really dont. just 70s.

haha, i'm debating just wearing boyshorts & a tie. painting my nails. not 70s, no, but when in doubt--i do odd things. and get kicked out for indecent exposure. (heh)

so maybe i already own something 70s-ish? i dont know. i wasn't alive then, and i'm not very knowledgeable now.

any suggestions would be great. thank you!

okay, so this is an entirely useless question, but i shall ask it anyhow.

we are a single-income (predominantly...my mom works on & off) family. my father is a teacher, and has been with the same district for 21 years.

currently, we make around $60,000-$70,000. a few years back my mom actually had a dedicated job, in which their combined income was over $70,000.

of course, after that she lost her job and we bought a new house & car & then proceeded to add on to our house. which is why we're in debt. >.<

anyhow, someone once told me we're "working class" but that was a little insulting, considering my father has a graduate degree. but then we're not making $100,000 so i guess...we're not middle class? i kinda thought we were.

someone enlighten me. i was just talking with my friend about this, and i'm rather confused.

sorry this is not a very productive question. but i'm just. bored. >.<

thanks.!

okay, so i am at my grandparents' house for a little bit. they are currently using a windows 98 SE desktop (just bought a vista laptop but *cannot* use it until best buy "genius" comes to set it up...jdfksaljfkdlsgjif)

i just want to be able to get songs on my ipod while i'm here. that's it. i don't have to use itunes (or maybe, just use an older version???) the REAL issue is, i can't find any drivers which the computer will recognize as "suitable" for my ipod (i have a 2nd gen nano)

any help would be fantastic!! yes, i know similar questions have been asked here, but even the resolved ones proved...unhelpful.

thanks! =D

alright, so i just had a birthday & so i have some money. my father refuses to get DVR, although we just got digital cable.

my question is, (i don't care about setting things manually...been doing it all my life with the VCR, heh) will the tivo box work as, figuratively, an 80-hour capacity cassette tape? and will it also work with digital cable (though not HDTV)

there is a $100 tivo set at radioshack right now. if it will still record without the subscription, i'll buy it. =]

thanks!