Go for the 7-in-1 card, sulit yan! Hehehe! Yeah,the USB-to-serial converter IS supposed to convert certain serial drives into USB-compatible devices, OR vice versa.

Yup. Hopefully I'll have funding left over after getting the others their presents. There are two brands - IWill and another which I forgot (starts with "T"). Both are practically the same, the IWill unit being more stylish and cheaper by P100. Price is P1,750.

Iwill is pretty good with regards to reputation on hardware, though they do manufature motherboards primarily. I've seen what you're talking about at the local electronics shop, but IIRC there's a bit of distinction between the two, if I'm not mistaken, one is able to handle a particular type of memory or whatnot than the other.

Whilst on the topic of gadgets, why not invest on a nice "thumb-drive", I got one from my mom a few months back and it works like a charm when you need that big file, but alas are limited to wasting a CD-R since it really isn't THAT big, but still TOO big for the common diskette.

Yes, that too is on my wishlist - a thumb drive. But so far, what I've seen is limited to just 128MB. I'm greedy - I like 256MB. IIRC, there's one out in the market that even has 2GB. Amazing isn't it? I still remember the days using 5-inch diskettes, and we were so hyped about it becoming high-density up to 1.2MB. Now, something as small as a thumb, holding 256x more data at a sturdier design... amazing.

Next thing you know, we'll be building metal kits - not plastic. And they'll be selling kit welding tools. Goodness...

I've a 256MB thumb drive, by Sandisk.

I'm not sure if they've been able to reach any capacity higher than the 512MB mark, I think the CF (Compact Flash type I & II) are the one's able to reach up to more than a gig or so, since most of the applications of this media are for photography and whatnot.

Oh but there are metal-kits already, I mean, yeah, IIRC up in www.automotiveforums.com they had this 1:8 Ferrari model car featured (they have a car-modelling-section BTW) where almost all of the parts were metal. Here's a link to the distributor/maker of these ultra expensive detailed kits.

I hear that Iomega or IBM has a 1gig thumb drive. BTW, my board is an Iwill KK266. Old nowadays.

How much and where did you get that thumb drive?

Hmmm, interesting. The thing is kasi, Sandisk's primary ventures is into portable digital media, and I haven't seen anything hgher than 512, though I remember stuff about a 1 gig thumbdrive being planned -- still wala pa ata akong nakikita. Will check on it soon. The thumbdrive I have retailed for around $80 in the states when my mom got one, I suggest you get one there if you've a relative going over here since prices here are a tad bit hiked-up, plus the brands are pretty limited.

Now whaddaya know, I used to run on an Iwill mobo myself, the Iwill KK266-R, mine has the RAID functions which is IIRC the only distinguishable difference from the KK266. Yeah, the motherboard is pretty dated for it's time when most of it's counter-parts were able to service DDR expansions, plus a plethora of other processor capacities. Hmmm..

A series of emergency funding expenses had put my planned purchase of a second PC on hold for a bit of an indefinite time. The new mobo was supposed to have Bluetooth and USB2.0 onboard. I'm also planning on doing a final upgrade on the current PC by adding an internal USB2.0 hub, combo USB2.0/Firewire PCI card, 4.1 speaker system, and a new processor, then do a full format of the HD and install WinXP Pro. Unfortunately, that too is on hold.

New one was supposed to have been bought this month - my Christmas present to the rest of the family because the current PC is very much in demand. Plus, I have another reason why I'd like to have another PC around - make a LAN connection and play Steel Beasts against a human opponent hehehehehehe!

Haha! Hmm, IF ever you DO need any help with regards to coming up with a spec-sheet, or rooting out where to get stuff -- though you do sound like you've got a hold of things -- don't bother to give me a ring or a PM for that matter. USB 2.0 sucks IMO, Firewire can kick it's ass anytime, though with most of the mobo's now being able to service USB 2.0, there's no reason to avoid it either. Though, be warned that sometimes some mobo's need Service Packs from WinXP to enable USB 2.0.

Wow plans on going Wi-Fi huh, I mean, the bluetooth thing rang a bell. IMO a Pocket PC is something I'd go for if you're going wireless or something, but nonetheless ok yang Bluetootth. One qualm I have about mobo's which have everything except the kitchen sink is that when ONE peripheral conks out, more or less you're bound to have a problem with the rest of the peripherals since they are located on one board.

Hmmm if you have the cash to spare, do invest on a nice sound-card, the Soundblaster line is one of the more popular one's available on the market, but I'm still partial to the Turtlebeach Sta. Cruz which has it's own DSP -- plus a nice pair of speakers would do, too.

BT is quite slow, not really WiFi, for LAN but I do plan on going WiFi with the Linksys wireless equipment - what I really like is the wireless thingy for the printer. It's going to cost some though but it'll do - not much PCs anyway. However, BT is cool to have, especially if your celphone has BT. My BT adapter has a range of 100 meters (and I got it "cheap"! hehehehe) and it's cool to transfer the images in my 7650 to the PC when I'm in garage and the PC is deep inside the house. I remember the time when I bought that adapter and tested it at the shop, hehehe it detected a LOT of celphones with their BT enabled in the mall hehehe

On USB2.0, I hear great things about it. Tech guys really suggest getting a PCI USB2.0 card if one's PC still hasn't got it. What you probably think as "sucks" are the equipment that uses USB2.0. IIRC, not all "USB 2.0" devices use the USB 2.0 at its full potential - they still work at speeds of USB 1.0/1.1.

Firewire on the other hand is for a whole different range of equipment where speed is really key in data crunching such as external drives and most especially digital video equipment. There isn't much competition between the two, at least IMO, since both have different "agendas" so to speak. As for the Service Pack info, thanks. I did not know XP needed that (I thought XP addressed all issues with regard to USB).

On mobos with everything on it - oh definitely, I have experienced that problem before. Major disaster - the video was integrated. It got fried and brought with it the whole mobo. I can live with integrated sound, integrated LAN, integrated BT, but not integrated video - never again on the last one. I'd rather invest on a good video card than a mobo with integrated video that "steals" resources from my system memory.

And yes, I'd be investing in a nice 4.1 speaker system if I get a new PC. The current one sans monitor will go to my room, and there I'll setup the 4.1 speaker, and play Steel Beasts or my mp3 collection all day long!

Thanks for the offer! I'll surely need it if I get a new PC or have the current one upgraded and if there are problems.

What I think "sucks" about USB 2.0 is itself being something supposedly newer than USB 1.0/1.1, but nonetheless doesn't really HAVE that much punch to offer, you get my drift? Bottomline is it's still too slow to even compete with Firewire. Both target similar markets if you look closely, digital media (camera's both for video and photography), digital-storage which I have to say that firewire SHOULD come as a requirement if you own an iPod, hehehe with all that content you're transferring, it'll take you eons on even a USB 2.0 equipped system.

USB 2.0 will come recommended talaga, I wouldn't say anything against it, it's just that sometimes it often becomes too big a feature that it's "supposed" advantages get too blown out of proportion. Plus more often than not, the essential hard-ware will almost always cater to USB.

I said WiFi because BT is one step with going to Full WiFi, if you do have plans. I know of a friend who tried BT, then got bored, now his whole house has 2 acces point's hooked up to a router on a DSL connection. He play's EVERQUEST on his pocket-pc now. (:-)

I think the problem is with the device that will be using USB 2.0. As I mentioned earlier, some devices which advertise as "USB 2.0" actually just work at the speed of USB 1.0/1.1, so you don't get that punch. USB 2.0 is AFAIK 40x faster than USB 1.0/1.1 - which is something. But Firewire is for a different purpose, specifically digital video cameras and external drives. USB 2.0 is good for printers, memory devices, scanners, and the like.

Whichever floats your boat comrade. Although just so you know, hehe, I'm able to stream and decode video from digital-cameras, too -- plus it's pretty manageable burning to a CD thru a USB CD-Writer.

Damn I want to get my thesis done and get back on the modelers-wagon again! I'm only limited to PC-games nowadays since with them I get to start and stop as I please -- with modelling, hay.

Have you guys ever played the fantastic game called WORMS(Armageddon or World party)? It's an excellent game. it's a Turn-based-blow-up-beat-up-gun-down-blow-to-bits-your-enemy-game and best of all, the "worms" in it are cute but violent.
#:-) #:-) #:-) #:-)
Gotta love the Holy hand grenade and the Banana bomb. #:-) #:-) #:-) #:-)

Alleluia!!!!!!!

haha! I know this game, and I'm playing WORMS 3D right now, yep! All that side-scrolling-banana-bombing goodness in full-3d! You can manually AIM the bazooka, manually gauge the grenades, and a whole lot more!

NINJA ROPE!

Hi Gi and Jomz,

Christmas prep can really eat your time! I couldn't find a copy of Steel Beast at Data Blitz Edsa Shang. They told me that their branch at The Podium might still have a copy for around Php 650. Anyway even if I buy it, i will only get to seriously play it after the Christmas madness.

I often don't play games on my PC because I work infront of a PC almost everyday. Console games are quick fix for me when I feel a need to blow something up. Still....when an interesting game comes along, I am glued to the PC.

Anyway, hope to see you guys on Saturday!

Hey Wanze! Hmm, this is weird, I got my copy of Steel Beasts at EDSA Shang last Wednesday, baka bagong dating.

The game, although dated (graphics-wise), is one great game! GI is right to say that the learning curve is quite, steep, but altogether rewarding and essential IMO. One other thing about the game is that it's pretty much a stripped-down-bare-essentials SIM, no fancy intro's, no fancy features, just pure SIM-goodness.

Now am I convincing you to get off your butt and get the game! Hehe!

GI

I might be able to provide you a copy of combat-mission this coming saturday. (:-)

Oh yeah, AC buffs, this is the Flight-Sim to play. Trust me, bar none.

WinXP on a gaming PC???!!! Perish the thought. Go for Win2k or better yet Win98. XP takes up a lot of precious space and memory just to run itself. And if you don't have a freakingly fast internet connection you can't get the new 200Mb patch/service pack to solve your XP problems. Most new PCs come with XP installed though. My new office PC did. Reformatted and installed Win2k. Never looked back.

PS: I don't hate Micro$oft

Now we'll have a bit of a debate going on, since I really don't find WinXP bad, at all, not that you do, but for gaming, it's prolly given me the best stability and options so far. Win2k will always be limited to what multimedia you can chuck into it, since it always had issues with regards to drivers(although now WinXP and Win2k drivers are almost packaged in one file), plus it's really not an OS for games, pang server and development lang talaga siya IMO, oh and I remember a handful of games also had issues with Win2k, and these are isolated ha, for Win2k lang talaga yung issue niya.

Win98 does provide specific benefits with regards to compatibilities with a handful of old games, but alas, that ever-recurring BSOD(Blue-Screen-of-Death) does come into picture once in a while. I can think of a lot more issues, but I'm just limiting it to these.

Hehehe told ya so Jomz. :-) Glad to make your day happy as a cloud hahaha! Watch out for SB2.0! Better graphics AND more vehicles to drive, command, and even sit in the gunner's seat! The developers are still keeping mum of what exactly are the additional vehicles one can pilot, but Steelbeasts.com shows some pictures of what looks like a Leo1A1A1. It was supposedly due to be released this year, but I think they wanted to tweak it some more and so might be out next year. Can't wait!

As for WinXP Pro v Win98SE v Win2K, I've heard time-and-time again that the best OS for games is Win98SE. BUT (!) that's because the current games were designed with Win98SE in mind. Many old but very good games won't work in WinXP, however those that were designed with WinXP in mind work just as well - even better due to WinXP's stability - than those installed with Win98SE.

Win2K is NOT good for games. I know some people who just curse at Win2K not being nice for games.

As for stability, the bulk out there prefer WinXP Pro v Win2K. I have not heard "positive" comments on WinXP Home (all they say is "Skip Home, get Pro).

Hey, this is a great online multiplayer game - Astrowars! Best of all, it's FREE!. Yup, read it right, FREE!. Try it out! No installation requred - yep, NO INSTALLATION!. It's a purely web-based multiplayer real-time strategy game of galactic proportions. All you need is just a PC with a Net connection. Heck, you can play this game in any place where there is a PC with a net connection! I've already registered - why don't you? Click Astrowars and get ready to build colonies and such.

I like its real-time feature - no "fast forward" button. It's all real-time. Which means things can be slow - but that means you can log-out, do some "really important stuff" (like study, ain't that right BISIGI? hehehehe) and return several hours later with your Starbase at 70% complete, your destroyer 20% done, and your homeworld being invaded - oops, INVADED?!? Yup! You can not only be invaded but also invade others. Colonize free planets. Set up trade agreements. All in real time!

Don't expect flashy graphics - this one is for the real hardcore strategy gamer who prefers thinking while playing (we're all like that, right? :-) ).

So, do try Astrowars. Register NOW!

(damn, I sound like a salesman. No, I don't work for the company, thank you very much. :-) )

Crimsonland 'nuff said. Download, now.

I was on the brink of boredom (taking a break from C programming assignments...) when I ran across this game na nasa lumang CD....It's MIG-29 Fulcrum by Novalogic....

Ang hirap paliparin ng MIG-29...>_<

Buti pa F-16..^_^ Now I'm getting the hang of blasting ground targets with JDAMs...

Weeee!!

I see. Sang mission ka na? Madali lang din naman yung Mig-29. Word of advice: use AGM for SAM sites. Mas malaki chances mo na hindi matamaan kaysa sa dumb bombs. BTW, pano iwasan yung mga incoming missiles? Lagi akong nadadale doon eh. Have fun!

DOOM PLAYERS!!!!, meron akong link kung san nyo pwede madl yung classic doom for free. DOOM

Maliit lang sya kaya ok lang ang dl nyan. BTW, pano ba maupdate yan sa registered version?