Tag: hardware

Mac or Linux Or Windows?

Posted onAuthorTruXter

Mac or Linux Or Windows?

Which one do you think is better? Which one do you think is safer?
[poll id=”5″]
The question that comes up more than Star Trek or Star Wars, “Which is better Mac Windows or Linux?”. The question that people really want answered now is which one is less likely to get a virus. Mac would like you to believe they are completely and entirely 100% virus proof. That is not even close to the truth. Mac has less people writing a virus for it simply because there aren’t enough users on that system. it’s like spending 200 hours creating a pill that makes people with smiley face looking freckle patch beneath their left pinky nail, have a bad day. why would you do that? Unless you were attacking that one specific person. o a $1000000 Car modification that lets people with a smiley face patch of freckles below their left pinky nail, get good gas mileage. Why would you? no one to use it. Same thing goes for Linux. but imagine that one of the eyes on the smiley face are winking.
On that same note, if there are less people to infect on an operating system, then there are less people to write software for to market them. So lots of software that is available for windows. might not be available for Linux or mac, (under the same license). Linux of course is full hobbyist programmers working more and more to add more software for Linux and make it more useful. So for just about every single piece of software out there for Windows or Mac, Count on the Linux community creating something that is very similar and just as effective, for free.

Pros

Mac
Software is written to match the operating system
operating system is written to match the hardware.
hardware is written to match the software need
All software can be downloaded now like aps for a cell phone
Looks really nice.
The available software works very well and crashes less.
Mac specific repair, so you know your mac computer will be fixed right.

Windows
You can install the operating system on any computer you build
Every electronics store has multiple times more software in stock that works with windows.
Most hardware you buy, is windows ready when upgrading.
Very Customizable.
Large selection of computer repair specialists that are prepared to help you. So you can price shop for help.

Linux
You can install Linux on any computer you build, even outdated ones.
There is a unique version of Linux for every need.
You can even install Linux to a thumb drive and use it on any computer without effecting that computer’s current settings.
More developers for Linux than for any other operating system.
Linux is Free (most distributions) you just download it.
Millions of programs and software available, and different variations
influences all other operating systems while being influenced by other operating systems.

Cons

Mac
You have less ability to customize.
Upgrading your computer could lead to issues since every piece of software is written specific for the hardware.
Not a whole lot of software
The creator of the phrase “Sad Mac”
Only mac employees can help you fix your computer.

Windows
The creator of the phrase “blue screen of death”.
Every time you upgrade, you have to buy new stuff.
Patches like crazy bloat Windows down and makes it slower.
So many different malware written for Windows
They invented the phrase Malware.

Linux
Huge learning curve for people who are used to one of the other operating systems.
Nearly no repair companies want to touch your computer, not even your internet provider.
You have to install the operating system and all addons yourself, almost no computers come preset-up.
Maybe to large of a variety of software and programs, can be overwhelming to figure what one is best for you.
Though more and more hardware companies are compatible with Linux these days, just not near enough.

Hello world!

Posted onAuthorTruXter1 Comment

Tech Reviews on a budget. Reviewing new budget products, used products and faulty products to tell you  how it can be used to make it better or even used  toprove it’s full value, some stuff can be tweaked and that will be posted also.

Website reviews, download reviews of opensource products and free programs.

Comparing AMD to INtel

Posted onAuthorTruXter2 Comments

If intel tells you the processor is 4000 megahertz then that is exactly what it is, if they sell that processor to you with that rating at $400 then you know what you bought at the price you paid. If amd sells you anything similar at the same price it is a 4000+ at 400 dollars. This amd 4000+ is actually a 2500 with the ability to act like a 4000 mhtz processor. Somehow amd has been able to sell you this belief as if you are saving money because you are buying an overclocked processor. That never has made any sense to me. They over clock a low speed processor and sell it at the same price as a legit 4000 mhtz processor? How is this saving you money? If the processor was a 8000+ from a 4000 mhz processor being overclocked sold at the same price as a 4000 MHz Intel, then you clearly would have a good deal.

The die hard AMD fans have always seemed to have big grey X’s over their eyes and they look like they are in daze when I try to explain how they are being scammed with the combination of two words, “overclocked” and “deal”. We can all overclock.
There is no need in paying for an overclocked lesser processor at the same price as a high rated processor that you can overclock for yourself.
Amd is clearly the loser in my eyes and intel is the pure winner in this case.
Now comes the hopes”
Amd has recently purchased Ati. Ati makes video card chips and accessories. Through current research and many studies we have seen that video card processors have more power than cpus (central processing units). There is hope that amd/ATI are working on a very strong excessively impressive processor for a cpu that can do what a normal processor can do,tenfold. This would mean the processor and motherboard might be standard, meaning the processor can not be upgraded because it is affixed to the motherboard and will not be capable of being removed. This might actually be an issue, unless they sell these motherboards at a nice low price. This could also lead to duel processors on a board that actually work well together and have upgradeable drivers that could lead to nice clean usage of all aspects of the processor.but for now that is just hopes.

Clearly as of now untill anything new is announced, Intel is clearly the successor.

A Day With Vista

Posted onAuthorTruXter

Off the bat, I have to tell you, I do not have the fastest or the best machine in the world.
I have a machine that is at the max processor and ram for the motherboard’s capability.
Here are the specs for the machine I am using.
Sis 755 A-2 Motherboard
Sempron 3400+ 64 bit Processor
Nvidia 7600GS 512 mb
2 Gigs kingston 3200 ddr Memory
Sony cd/dvd burner
500 watt power supply

Ok for the past 7 or 8 years, The way I have benchmarked computers and operating systems Would be by playing Grand Theft auto III.
Of course I have since then added vice city and San Andreas to the mix. But GTAIII Is the benchmark for me. If you do not like the game sorry
But please hang with me on this.
For a long time I fought trying to make my computers strong and sturdy enough to handle the demands this game calls out. Computers these days are actually strong enough to handle these demands.
After the install of just straight vista drivers I went to pcpitsop and did my first benchmark of my machine. The score was pathetic. I kind of knew what would happen after I installed gtaIII, But I go ahead and start the game. Before the load screen I get a notice saying that there is some sort of dll missing (sorry all, I did not write it down) . I then hear the game start up but minimized in the task bar. I click the notification and the game takes over the screen. I see this look that took me back to the days of 256 megs ram and nvidia 440 on a 800 meg processor. This game looked wretched. But what do you expect with o/s drivers and not vendor drivers? Well since it’s a newer o/s than XP, I would expect better results than xp, not similar to win 98 on a crap machine. Very pixilated simi laggy but not as laggy as you would think with the way it looked.
After the drivers had been installed I start GTAIII again. Again it gave me the notice of missing dll. When the unnamed player in gtaIII walked out of his hide out I noticed artifacts. The garage was covered with imaging from the walls adjacent to the Entry to the garage. The player had openings so you could see through him in many places. I moved on and walked into the garage and drove the banshee down the ocean blvd to check how the game (typically) lags (with bad bad drivers or bad hardware) as you drive under objects, like the over head train, and trees and bridge. The game was very jaggedly laggy and objects where not being displayed properly.
After the gtaIII test I tried the other two Grand Theft Auto games and got the same mess. I swear the game looks better and plays better on linux with just the linux basic drivers, but the lag is way worse on Linux.
So I did searches for help forums and the like. I found that allot of people with the 7000 series nvidia video cards had similar issues. I never found a solution that worked. No, using older drivers did not help. Until sis/ecs releases more than one gart driver I am pretty much stuck in the same spot.

I did notice that the fonts on websites looked a bit bigger than when on xp.
As much as I enjoyed the looks of Aero (makes me think of Ubuntu) I decided to try turning it off. I used Black Viper’s tips from his tweak site .
The game did not change. and my bench score on pcpitstop only went up 10 points from the first test with base drivers.

Vista test was done 3/29/08. So please wait a few months before you tell me they fixed the operating system. I did try all online update and nothing got better that I could witness myself.
I am now back on xp and my machine runs three times a fast. using the same direct version as I used on vista.. 9.0c