Need kit suggestions

T

TedTheDog

Guest
Having lost all my backups with the death of 4 shit maxtor hard drives, I'm looking for an affordable backup solution, as copying to other pc's across a network still relies on HDD's which cant be relied upon..
Got a DVD writer. Not big enough and too slow for the capacity.
IDE preferably, internal too, and a removeable media.

Also, looking at LCD screens.
Whats the difference between Analog and Digital connections? I want digital right? Any suggestions for good ones?
Was looking at the NEC and Samsung screens here which look quite nice and someone mentioned them in an earlier thread.

Also, looking for a DSL router/modem thing, as I gotta provide my own now (/me blubbs). Want something decent with security a muppet like me can cope with. Port mapping, firewall etc.

Will be replacing the shit maxtor hard drives with Western Digital by the way, thanks TDC and Jonty.
 
T

Testin da Cable

Guest
TTD, I have one of the tapedrives that these guys make. They aren't like the big drives I have at workies, but they do their thing well enough and are reasonably light on the old wallet :)
 
J

Jonty

Guest
Hi Ted

I'm not very au fait with backup solutions and routers, but with regards the former, have you considered Western Digital's (sorry for plugging them again ;)) external hard drives? They come with both USB2 and Firewire connections, so data transfer rates should be acceptable. They can also be plugged into any compatible computer without the need to install drivers (as far as I am aware, anyway). They also come in sizes up to 250Gb. The only downside is price, as they cost far more than regular hard drives of that capacity. Anyway, they may be worth a gander (oh, and they look very pretty too :)).

As for monitors, you're right that both NEC and Samsung produce good displays (that Samsung one on OcUK is one of the best there is for that price). With regards analogue and digital connections, yes, you really want to try and go for one with a digital connection (make sure you have a graphics card with such an output first), but it won't be the end of the world if you get a monitor with only analogue support. In terms of features, try and get one with a low response time, no more than, say, 25ms at most, and one with a high contrast ratio (400:1 upwards). You might want to check out LG who do some apparently good LCD screens for relatively cheap prices (17" L1710B display with a good feature set for around £320-£350).

Kind Regards
 
M

Mr.Monkey

Guest
Can't help you with the backups. We use giant tapedecks, but they are external.

However, the flatscreen:
Digital requires a funny shaped monitor output on your gfx card. If you don't have it: problem sorted.
The actual difference that I've noticed, is you can get more control of your PC from the monitor. Nothing worth the extra dosh imho.
I'm sure there may be a difference in the image quality, but I've not noticed any. But then I've only used high end analogue. Perhaps low end digital is better than low end analogue. Who knows. I suspect the output from the computer is still analogue, and it's only the extra connectors that make it "digital". But I'm willing to stand corrected on this.
 
T

TedTheDog

Guest
ulp.... £600+ for that onstream backup toy, but it looks just about what I'm after.
Gotta do something, sick and tired of losing everything.
Did I mention Maxtor are shit?
 
T

TedTheDog

Guest
Gawd, an external HDD as a backup device?
Its a nice idea, but I've lost all confidence in HDD's to be honest. Before these drives died I might've considered it (actually, almost certainly) but now its not an option for me.
Pretty toys though.

The flat screens all look rather nice. I have 2 x 21" CRT's right now and really REALLY want the deskspace back. They're so damn big I have to pull the table away from the wall, so they can hang of the back and free up more deskspace in front, and this obviously takes up more floor space too. Its an expensive way to regain desk and floor space, but its cheaper than moving house.

Ta for the info lads. I've got 2 x Geforce 4 TI's with those weird DVI outputs next to the analog output, so I guess I'm equipped for digital. Will certainly get a screen (or 2 if the budget allows) with both analog and digital inputs, as that seems to cover most bases.
 
J

Jonty

Guest
Originally posted by TedTheDog
Did I mention Maxtor are shit?
Click to expand...
Just once or twice ;) hehe

Could we be bold and ask for a rough budget for the monitor(s)? Prices vary so much that it helps to have some upper limit to play with. Also, would you consider wall-mounting a useful option when looking for a monitor? Guess you can't save much more desk space than that :)

Kind Regards
 
T

Tom

Guest
I have an Onstream 30GB IDE tape drive. Maybe they do a bigger one. It's not bad, didn't cost much. Quite fast as well.
 
T

TedTheDog

Guest
Oooh... budget? well, I was considering 2 of the NEC screens.
And yes, I was planning on playing games/movies. Tell me this isnt an issue auntie Embs!!

I like the 40gb idea, although I notice its 40gb max, so with compression, and therefore 20gb without. Seeing as its my bloody CD collection that I've ripped to MP3 (yes really) and MP3 is already compressed, I assume i wouldnt get the same compression ratio when backing up, and it would be down to 20gb. That would be annoying, although its considerably cheaper than the rather tasty but expensive £600 jobby.

My office at home is a sorry sight.
4 PC's lined up under the desk and not one of the buggers works.
2 with duff drives, 1 with a fried mobo (lightening near miss ages ago) and another with the sodding duff capacitors that expired moments after the warranty.

Oh for a lottery win.
Mind you, I'm sat here at work surrounded by PS2's and TV's, so its not like I've got nothing to play. Oh, managed to fry one PS2 already. Its a gift I have.
 
E

Embattle

Guest
Auntie Embattle says it will cause a problem playing games/DVDs as you'll get ghosting effects on TFTs with higher response times.

However, on the same page of TFTs from earlier is the BenQ range which offers super low response time and thus good gaming results.

I would go for the BenQ FP791 which sadly doesn't appear on that page.
 
J

Jonty

Guest
Hi Ted

Just a quick post :( If you're going to be playing games and movies, then you want to get a display with the lowest response time possible, or else you'll get a slightly 'ghosting' effect, a little like motion blur so I'm told, which can detract from the overall image quality. I believe 16ms is around the current lowest standard.

Kind Regards

Edit ~ Too late was the cry :)
 
J

Jonty

Guest
Hi Ted

You certainly seem to have a 'talent' for destorying expensive pieces of hardware :D With regards the monitor, I personally would go for the LG L1710B. It matches, if not surpasses, the BenQ and NEC models in terms of the specs, and comes in at a mere (hehe, 'mere') ~£344. That said, MicroDirect keep having trade price weekends where I believe they have the monitor for ~£317. It's your call, of course, and I've never tried out any LG kit, apart from my fridge (which, for what it's worth, is very good :p).

Kind Regards
 
J

Jonty

Guest
Thanks Embattle, you're a star *kiss* teeheehee :clap:

Kind Regards
 
T

Testin da Cable

Guest
Originally posted by TedTheDog
ulp.... £600+ for that onstream backup toy, but it looks just about what I'm after.
Gotta do something, sick and tired of losing everything.
Did I mention Maxtor are shit?
Click to expand...


heheh that's one of the newer ones. they're quite good as far as more or less consumer tapeunits go and reasonably fast. I have a 'speshul' 30 giger that I helped to beta for them and it's ok at about 2mb/s on the IDE.
you could get one and stick it in a "storage server" that your workstation backs itself up to every night and have the server do the actual writing to tape and stuff.
if you're feeling a bit strapped for dosh you should also consider looking around a bit for a secondhand/reconditioned DDS/3 unit. HP (and others) make them, and I once had a couple at home. they are SCSI units and take the DAT size tapes, and I presume that your new workplace can get you the proper DATs that go with them quite easily. there are also DDS/2, 1 and the newer 4 units and the diff is naturally capacity, speed and price. at work we have scads and scads of big Ultirum drives that stream at about 80MB/s iirc but sadly they cost as much as a small car :/
 
P

[PS]Riddler

Guest
Originally posted by Testin da Cable
TTD, I have one of the tapedrives that these guys make. They aren't like the big drives I have at workies, but they do their thing well enough and are reasonably light on the old wallet :)
Click to expand...
Just an update, we use OnStream drives at work too. They have just went Bankrupt tho, we cant get a hold of them from ANY suppliers, we have moved onto some of these new fangled Segate ones, look the biz :D
 
T

Testin da Cable

Guest
Originally posted by [PS]Riddler
They have just went Bankrupt tho
Click to expand...


lol that's not very handy :D damn, I didn't know that :/
 
E

Embattle

Guest
Oh dear TDC...Strike Three...you're out of here matey ;)
 
T

Testin da Cable

Guest
three already? lol that fast eh :)

anyway, while checking I came apon HP surestore DDS/3 tapedrives for ~600€ which is a little over 400 pound iirc. those units store 24GB iirc. DDS4 units for about 1.1k euros ~ 600 squids, and they take 40GB I think. those 4's are the smallest and best "affordable" units on the market imo. HP wants a little more than 1k USD for em though :/
 
T

TedTheDog

Guest
Heh, sorry about dissappearing again. Tried to get online at the weekend but this time my new hard drive is connected to a newly dead motherboard.
Its a gift, I just dont know how I do it. I just have to LOOK at hardware for it to commit hari-kari.

Anyway, new parts on order, hope to be online at weekends soon.
Looking at the LG LCD screen, excellent advice lads, I might actually make an informed purchase. The shock may kill me. I'm used to the "eeney meeney" approach to machine specification myself.....
 
T

Testin da Cable

Guest
wow mate, you really have that 'gift' in spades. perhaps a wise investment would be a current filter or a smallish UPS with that facility built in. next time you get a peak in the mains then that ickle thing will fry and not your lubberly poota.
 
T

TedTheDog

Guest
Heh, I've got anti-surge stuff on everything. Why things die on me is a mystery.
I've even taken advice on anti surge stuff and I dont put more than 1 anti-surge device in-line (I have 3 and 1 UPS) as you can get what i'm told is called "double shunting" that can actually increase the surge and send it through anti-surge equipment to the pc etc.

Righ, lunch.
 
L

~Lazarus~

Guest
*hides all electronic merchandise from TtD*
 
T

Testin da Cable

Guest
oh dear, in that case you're truely blessed I guess :) as you have to get a new mobo anyway, perhaps you'll consider the nForce3 based one I'm about to make a new thread about :)
 
T

TedTheDog

Guest
Bought 2 x WD 200gb 8mb cache hard drives.
Got 1 installed, all ok so far, but its only been a couple of hours and the DogKitCurse™ hasnt had time to kick in yet.

Next on my list is a decent dsl router/firewall, which i'm completely clueless about so am hoping for suggestions......

After that its a backup mechanism and then the flat screens. My poor credit card.....
 
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