Murcie_LP640

What would be the best microphone (either standing desktop or clip-on) to plug into a laptop for use in gaming? I want to ditch my Logitech USB headset because it's not very comfortable and the only things that I listen to on them are the voices of my mates on Ventrilo or TeamSpeak.

The other thing is that I've got a set of Sennheiser HD215 headphones that I want to use when I'm gaming and/or when I don't want to make an absolute racket with my 5.1 stereo...but of course the Sennheisers don't have a microphone to talk through Ventrilo.

So the obvious question is: what would be my best option? I've heard a lot about this Zalman microphone but when you add shipping to it, it comes up to around the same price as a Sony or Audio-Technica clip-on mic (I live in Australia, hence why the shipping is so expensive). The popular choice from what I've seen is the Logitech desktop noise-cancelling mic but from what I've also read, it doesn't cancel background noise very well either and there's not very much space on my desk as it is for a microphone. However, it's cheaper by about $15.

In a similar sort of vein as Pendulum and The Prodigy (alternatively, any more decent songs from The Prodigy would work as well, I currently have the Invaders Must Die album and a Dubstep remix of Breathe), I would like some more Drum 'n' Bass songs to both add to my iPod and give my new stereo a serious workout :)

I want a set of headphones so I can enjoy my music while on the move that little bit more. I'm not that keen on a professional set that costs $2.5k, I just want something that delivers good sound for a reasonable price. Probably the max I'm willing to spend is AU$500.

I prefer the style and sound quality of on-ear headphones as opposed to in-ear; I currently use a cheapy set of in-ears and they're uncomfortable, fall out all the time and have rubbish sound quality. If it helps at all the devices I'm most likely going to be using this with are my iPod Touch 4, my laptop and my HTC HD7 phone, and I listen to all sorts of genres of music, I have a bit of bias towards Metal and D'n'B though.

I listened to a set of Monster Beats Dr. Dre Studios in store and they seemed more than enough for my tastes but I've been reading that there's a lot better sets for a cheaper price.

I would like a decent set of headphones for my iPod Touch and HTC HD7 for when I'm out and about. I currently use a cheapo pair of in-earphones that supposedly have "bass" but there's absolutely nothing of the sort and they're quite flimsy. Price is not that much of a concern, though I'm aiming lower than AU$150, I just want a set of headphones or in-earphones with some good sound quality and something resembling bass rather than this cheap crap.

Basically I currently have a HP DV6-2120TX laptop that I've been gaming on for the past couple of years now and it's been good...until Just Cause 2, and everything's been going downhill in terms of what it can and can't play since then.

I've found what I think is a decent new tower for my games and the only thing I need to buy is a graphics card for it, but it has a 550W power supply and, with me not being that clued up on desktop computers, I'm not sure if it's enough.

These are the specs on it:

- Intel i5-2400 3.1GHz with Turbo Boost to 3.4GHz

- ASRock motherboard (rather worryingly the page doesn't tell me the specifics)'

- 4GB DDR3 RAM

- Onboard graphics, but I'm planning on getting either an ATi Radeon HD6870 or a nVidia GTX560 Ti

- Sun Pro 550W PSU

Any tips? I'm trying to keep it under AU$1000 and I've got all the peripherals I need for it, it's just the tower.

I (rather stupidly) switched my old Samsung G800 for a cheap and cheerful LG Cookie Fresh about 6 months ago and I'm starting to get fed up with some performance issues I'm having, along with an absolutely rubbish phone camera. I would like a new smartphone and was wondering what the best ones are. As far as features are concerned I'm not particularly fussed, however I would like a good camera and probably Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a 3.5mm headphone jack and all the rest of it would be good for the rare times that I don't have my shiny iPod Touch handy. What I really want is a usable UI combined with smooth performance. I was thinking mainly of going either HTC (mainly a design choice here: I like the looks of most HTC phones and the Sense UI looks very slick) or Samsung (because I've had a couple of Samsungs in the past and liked them quite a lot). My budget is around AU$600 which, on eBay gets most of the latest Android 2.2 or WP7 phones on the market at the moment.

Thanks in advance.

I have a HP DV6-2120tx laptop that currently has a 2.1 Altec Lansing computer speaker system connected to it. Would it be possible to get a 5.1 sound system hooked up to it with decent sound quality? It has an S/PDIF port if that helps.

I've been looking for ages to try and find a replacement for my 1988 Nissan Skyline which has been loved very much but is starting to develop a couple of problems.

I'm not really into the sporty side of things; the reason why I've stuck by the Skyline for so many years is because it was a great tourer when I had to do multiple 1000km trips in a day. So, I'm looking at luxury cars here, preferably under AU$10,000. I am a provisional driver but I gain my full license next August by which time I'll have plenty of cash saved up for it. If push comes to shove I am exempt from South Australia's new P-plate rules regarding high-performance cars anyway.

So, the cars. I've been looking at quite a few across the spectrum and many of them are German, however there are a few from other countries as well.

- E39 BMW 535i

- W202 Mercedes-Benz C200 Kompressor

- E28 BMW 735iL

- Toyota Soarer GT Limited

- Audi A4 Quattro

- Audi A6

- Honda Accord VTI-L

- WH Holden Statesman (any engine, so long as it has all the options)

And for old time's sake, any R32-R34 Nissan Skyline. Can't afford a GT-R for the price.

If you wish to suggest other cars, here's my criteria:

- Bang for buck; I want the best I can get for the smallest amount of dosh.

- Preferably European or Japanese. American cars are out of the question because they've all done a million kms and there are no decent ones for 10 grand.

- Reliability is a concern, however fuel economy isn't. I usually only drive to work and occasionally to the shops.

- All the luxuries possible. Leather interior, full electrics, cruise and climate control, etc. etc.

I've had this problem before but it went away with a system restore, but now it has returned. I have a 3-month-old HP DV6-2120tx notebook which appears to have a faulty LAN port. When I boot up the computer normally and I plug in the cable, it comes up with a yellow exclamation mark in the notification tray saying "<SSID> No network access". However, when I boot the computer in Safe Mode With Networking and plug the cable in it runs fine. Then when I reboot it from safe mode to normal boot, the port works for a while then it comes up the same error message and I'm back to square one. I installed the latest driver for it but it is still happening.

I'm looking at buying a four-wheel-drive for a future play-toy-slash-audio-powerhouse machine, and there is a 1988 Range Rover for sale $2400. Besides a bit of disrepair in the paintjob and a bit of dirt on the velour seats I can't really find anything wrong with it, apart from one crucial part. The "Lucas Electrics".

I know fully well that British cars were very VERY notoriously bad for their electrical systems, and from a quick Google search, the Rangie was no exception. However. In Top Gear UK's Bolivia special it was the most reliable car of the three apart from a couple of stalls, and there are a few going around that only had problems of user error rather than the electrics (For example, the owner of one put extended springs on his but not extended shocks, so every time it flexed the shocks popped out). This particular one is a Petrol/LPG 3.5L carb'd model that has over 310,000kms on the clock and so far as the owner's told me it has had no problems with electrics or with the motor.

I listen to a lot of different types of music, but I really need to expand my library a bit. Here's most of the bands that I like. Just be warned though, this is going to be a pretty big list.

30 Seconds to Mars*

AC/DC

Airborne

All-American Rejects

Apollo 440*

Avenged Sevenfold*

Bang Camaro

Between The Buried And Me*

Black Sabbath

Blink-182

Boston

The Bravery

Breaking Benjamin*

Bullet For My Valentine

The Cat Empire

Collective Soul*

Def Leppard

Dire Straits

Disturbed

Dragonforce

Dream Theater* (Any songs like Panic Attack would be nice, I've heard a couple of others but they weren't anywhere near as good)

Eagles Of Death Metal

End Of Fashion

Every Time I Die*

Faith No More*

Finch

Foo Fighters

Foreigner*

Franz Ferdinand

Gorillaz

Green Day

Guns 'n' Roses

Hilltop Hoods

Hot Action Cop

Jane's Addiction*

Jet

John Butler Trio

Judas Priest*

Kasabian*

The Killers

Killswitch Engage*

KoRn

Kutless*

Led Zeppelin*

Maxeen*

Maximo Park*

Metallica

Motley Crue

Motorhead

Muse

Nirvana

Papa Roach*

Pearl Jam

Pendulum*

Pitchshifter*

Primal Scream*

Queen

Rage Against The Machine

Rammstein

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Rise Against*

Rob Zombie

Slipknot*

Soundgarden*

The Sweet

System Of A Down

Ugly Kid Joe

The Used

Van Halen

The White Stripes

Wolfmother

Year Long Disaster*

Yellowcard*

Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force

ZZ Top

All those with "*" next to them are bands that I'm interested in but I only have one or two songs of (which I'm kinda ashamed of with regards to Led Zep). If I had to pick two bands to sum up what I'm really into it would be Guns 'n' Roses and Disturbed; so mainly the Hard Rock and Metal/Nu-Metal stuff.

So yeah, any and all suggestions will be considered. Cheers in advance.

I got a new laptop recently which has an nVidia GT230M graphics card in it which I was lead to believe would be decent enough to run most of my games in full. However, I just bought Just Cause 2 and as it turns out I had to turn down most of the graphics settings to get a stable framerate (although that is probably down to the sheer 400 sq. mile size of the game). Hypothetically speaking would a bit of extra beef in the graphics card cause too many problems with the computer? I was thinking of switching up to a GT250M notebook card because its in the same series as the current card, and it is 3D-gaming capable as well which I have tried out before and was well impressed by.

However, the current GT230M runs every other game I have in 1366x768 with full graphics at 60fps, with the exception of the recently-released Assassin's Creed II which runs at about 17-25fps on the same settings but is still well playable and doesn't lag at all graphically. So is it worth the time and money to get a new GT250M installed or not?

By the way the current specs for my laptop are as follows:

HP Pavilion DV6-2120TX

Intel i5 430M 2.27GHz (2.53GHz TurboBoost)

4GB of RAM

nVidia GT230M 1GB dedicated graphics card

500GB hard drive

Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit

I currently own a 1988 Nissan Skyline GXE that's done pretty damn well the last couple of years, but it is starting to get a little old. It currently has about 160,000 miles on it, so it still has plenty more to give, but I want a new driving experience. I've narrowed it down to two options:

- Sell the Skyline and pick up this nice Liberty Bilstein Edition for AU$7k, or

- Keep the Skyline, save some cash and make a bit of a track weapon out of it. We have an annual hillclimb on for any and all that want to enter, including road-registered cars, however I want a car that I'm comfortable with and handles pretty sweetly. I have the most experience in the Skyline but I have driven an Impreza WRX and they have looooooads of grip and power which pretty much sets the case for the Bilstein Liberty which isn't much different.

Any opinions?

I currently drive a 1988 Nissan Skyline GXE, and that has served me well for the past 2 years, but I'm starting to look for something with a bit more power. The 'Line currently pumps out around 95kW/130hp, which is actually quite pitiful for a 3.0L straight-6 but it still does the job. My preference is towards Japanese sports cars, specifically Nissans and Subarus. Here's some I've been looking at:

- S14 Nissan 200SX Sports Luxury, 2.0L naturally-aspirated (optional turbocharged) SR20DE/T inline-4

- Toyota Soarer GT Limited/Lexus SC400, 4.0L naturally-aspirated V8

- EF/EL/AU Ford Falcon XR6, 4.0L naturally-aspirated (optional turbocharged) V6

- Mazda MX-5/Miata, 1.6L naturally-aspirated inline-4 (Secret love for this car, even if it is a little girly)

- 1989 R31 Nissan Skyline Silhouette, 3.0L naturally-aspirated straight-6 (same as my current GXE but with a different body-style, limited-slip differential and 5-speed manual compared to the GXE's 4-speed auto) RB30E

- 1989 R32 Nissan Skyline, 2.0L naturally-aspirated (optional turbo) straight-6 RB20DE/T

- 1995 R33 Nissan Skyline GTS-25T, 2.5L naturally-aspirated (optional turbo) straight-6 RB25DE/T

- 1989 MA71 Toyota Supra (prefer this bodystyle to the JZA80), 3.0L twin-turbocharged straight-6 1JZ-GTE

- 1995-2000 Subaru Impreza WRX, 2.0L turbocharged flat-4 "Boxer" EJ20.

Suggestion's open, but a few ground rules:

- No Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers and other American muscle cars. I live in Australia where they're not only very hard to find for a cheap price, they're also highly impractical in terms of both maintenance and fuel costs compared to the Japanese cars. The exception to this rule is the American engine-based but Aussie-built Holden Commodores. But I hate Holden Commodores with a passion so don't even think about it.

- No Honda Civics or Toyota Corollas. I am completely aware of their reliability but I don't want to buy one that I then have to blow the rest of my money on trying to make it keep up with the least powerful car on my list which is the S14 200SX. Plus the RB engines in Skylines are very reliable and easy to milk the power out of as well. The only Honda I would consider is anything with a Type-R badge. But they're out of my price range of AU$7500.

I have a budget of AU$7500. These are my current choices:

Lexus SC400/Toyota Soarer GT Limited

4.0L V8 (1UZ-FE)

Nissan Skyline R33 GTS-T

2.5L non-turbo inline-6 (RB25DE)

Nissan Pulsar SSS

2.0L non-turbo inline-4 (SR20DE)

Subaru Impreza WRX

2.0L turbocharged flat-4 (EJ20)

Subaru Liberty/Legacy 2nd Gen GX AWD

2.2L non-turbo flat-4

Nissan 300ZX (Z32)

3.0L non-turbo V6 (VQ30DE)

Toyota MR2 (SW20)

2.0L non-turbo inline-4

Toyota Celica ST204R SX

2.2L non-turbo inline-4

Ford Falcon AU XR6

4.0L non-turbo V6

Honda Integra DC2 GSI

1.8L non-turbo inline-4

My current car is a 1988 Nissan Skyline GXE with a 3.0L inline-6 (RB30E), and I don't plan on modifying the new car except for taking the sound system out of the 'Line and putting it in this, so initial performance is the order of the day. And yes, I know how to handle a sports car. I've driven my mum's chipped and turbocharged 2005 Subaru WRX and a Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG before. I'm not a lead-foot either. I'm swinging towards either the WRX or the XR6, but I would prefer the WRX cause Fords here have absolutely horrible resale value and they're major cop-magnets. Unfortunately that last part is also true for the WRX so the other one I was really interested in was the Liberty GX.

I'm looking for an upgrade from my 1988 Nissan Skyline GXE (R31), and I'm torn between a few cars.

1992 Toyota Soarer GT Limited/Lexus Soarer SC400

- 4 litre V8 (1UZ-FE)

- Most luxurious (full leather trim, electric adjustable seats, touchscreen radio/CD player as standard)

- Rear-wheel-drive

- 186kW/250hp, 353Nm/260lb-ft, 0-60 in 6.9 seconds

- 4-speed auto

1992 Nissan Pulsar SSS (N14 ES)

- 2.0 litre I4 (SR20DE, Silvia motor without a turbocharger)

- Front-wheel-drive

- 5-speed manual

- 108kW

1992 Mazda 929 Plus Leather Trim (HD, Series 1)

- 3.0L V6 (JE)

- Luxurious but not as much as the Soarer

- 118kW/245Nm

- 4-speed Auto

- Four-wheel-steer

- Rear-wheel-drive

1995 Nissan Skyline GT-S 4 (R33)

- 2.5 litre I6 (RB25DE)

- 4-speed Auto

- Rear-wheel-drive

- 140kW, 255Nm

Suggest any other cars if you like, but be warned:

- I'm only on my P's so I can't have it turbocharged. Not so much that it's illegal, I live in South Australia, but my insurance will be through the roof

- Mustangs, Camaros, Chargers, etc. are out of the question. For starters, they're too expensive as Australia didn't natively get them. We had to get them imported. Secondly, they're American, and thirdly these cars would probably beat them in overall performance anyway.

- I'm on a budget of AU$7500, but preferably around the AU$5000-6500 range.

I need some more rock music for my library. I'm not really fussed but I'm not that much into "deathcore" or whatever the heck those guys call it when you can't understand a word of what's being screamed out of the singer's vocal chords. Here's some of the bands I'm into:

- AC/DC

- Led Zeppelin

- KoRn

- Disturbed

- Guns 'n' Roses

- Metallica

- Motley Crue

- Pearl Jam

- Rage Against The Machine

- Finch

- Soundgarden

- System Of A Down

Annnnnd what difficulty? Mine's Battery by Metallica on medium drums.

Do you feel Chinese Democracy is not a real Guns N Roses album? I think that while a couple of songs off of that particular album are great (like "Shackler's Revenge"), it's just doesn't sound like something that GNR would do. I think hits like Rocket Queen, Paradise City and November Rain is much more like it.

I've always wanted to know the answer to this question. I know it's something to do with emissions and safety features but I want to know the specifics, because I can't see why Skyline's are illegal but cars that are even worse in both of these areas ARE legal...