I want my... I want my... I want my new PC

[Bobtheduck]

I was gonna get a new PC yesterday... 2.X GHz processor, 1 GB of ram, 160 gig HD, a new monitor, and an all in wonder card. Oh, and DVD authoring and burning capabilities... It would have been sveet, I tell you.

Well, the check I got yesterday needed to clear before i could use the money. I got the money today, and went online to reserve (basically pay for) my machine and my All in wonder... What I didn't realize was that

1. The machine I ordered didn't come with a monitor... No biggie, except that I was gonna give this machine to my parents... So, this machine will just be taking up space for a while... In exchange for the monitor, I actually got a more powerfull system (AMD processor clocked at 3.0 ghz, bare minimum for software encoding on media center)

2. The machine I bought didn't have AGP slots on it! I didn't even know they MADE computers that didn't have AGP slots... I haven't been keeping up on the technology, and what I have are PCI and PCI express (the replacement for AGP) slots... Well, that was frustrating...

So, they checked, and didn't have the PCI Express all in wonder... But, they checked online, and Best Buy, about a 15 minute drive, DID have 3 in stock... We followed the directions we were given, and found the Bestbuy. We looked around for graphics cards, couldn't find anyone... After about half an hour, we found someone to talk to and they showed us graphics cards. I looked on the rack, couldn't find ANY all in wonders, let alone the PCI express which are newer...

Well, I had someone check it out, after 20 minutes, he comes back and tells us they had 3 listed on the computer... Well, there may have been 3 listed, but they didn't have 3... They had 0. So, he checks online, it appears another one has 3 of them...

They gave us directions, and we were on our way... And on our way... And... It became clear after we passed through several cities, we weren't gonna find the street we were looking for... So, we went back home so i could look it up on mapquest...

We finally found it, they pulled up... ANOTHER AGP CARD! I Was gonna explode, but thankfully they just pulled up the wrong one, but the right one was hidden behind all the AGP cards... *sigh* Ok...

We drive back to circuit city, got out of the truck and walked up to the door. "Closed temporarily" !!!! There was a city-wide power outage! Ok, now I understand that a poweroutage is a bigger problem than getting my new compy... Still, we spent about 3 and a half hours out there just trying to get my new comp... I want my new PC!!!

So,

[shooraijin]

Moved to Computing.

[Jack Bond]

Aww man, that's really sad.

[LorentzForce]

All good things come in time. Patience~

[Bobtheduck]

Gaaah!! Well, I couldn't call tehm, so i didn't know if the power was back on, but I called target (nextdoor) and they said the power is back on... Apparently, the only place left with the power still off is Circuit CITY!!! They're running on generators, and their computers are down, so they can't install my card... I just told them to give me my computer so I can start the transfer process... *twitch*

*goes off to start up new PC, if I never post again, it's because it exploded and sent me to the hospital for 10 years, where a violent gang forced me to not like anime anymore...*

[Locke]

Sounds like a sweet ride, I never heard of a PCI Express All In Wonder though. I heard their AGP cousins are unreliable though. Maybe a Dazzle would be better instead?

[Puritan]

All in Wonder cards unreliable? I've heard nothing but good from the people I know who use them, and I understand they are generally considered to be excellent TV input cards. I've never had one myself, but the ATI card I have in my current machine works quite well.

I hope you can get your machine to work soon, it's a real bummer that things aren't going well.

[Locke]

Well, for gaming they are. I havent used one for tv viewing though (no cable T_T).

[Bobtheduck]

well, I am nearly certain the site said 3.0 ghz, but the system readout says 2.2 Ghz... Of course, it's a 64 bit AMD athlon processor, I don't know what the 64 bit means practically or what the AMD vs Intel means... I read something that the current 2.x AMD processors were comparable to a 3.7 Ghz Intel Processor...

Just installing this thing has been a pain in the butt... I needed USB driver for my modem, which does NOT come on the DSL instalation disc that came with the modem... -_- I had to track it down on the other computer, transfer it to CD, then bring it over. Then there's... Well, the DVD. Sorta like CD's way back when, DVD burning is not a straightforward thing... The burning software that comes with the computer is like a foreign language to me, and Media Center only let me burn 85 minutes on a 2 hour DVD... That's 35 minutes I'm missing... I want that back... Also, it appears that merely being readable on media player doesn't mean it can be put on the DVD... For one thing, some low quality stuff is even worse quality on the DVD (while some stuff, like my digicam stuff, really crappy in the computer, is just the same on the DVD)

The All-in-wonder card, as I've been oggling it but haven't been able to use it, comes with Premiere Elements 2.0... I didn't even know they made an elements for premiere, but I suppose that comes with Adob'es normal elements restrictions (can't sell stuff I edit in premiere, have to do it on Movie Maker I guess)

I didn't realize Premiere comes with basic Authoring software... Maybe Premiere elements is a combo of Premiere and Encore??? I don't know... I'm still a total noob here... Anyhow, I worked around some problems after I got mad at the problems and looked at it as something fun to do, and I'm happy now. ^_^

[Warrior4Christ]

well, I am nearly certain the site said 3.0 ghz, but the system readout says 2.2 Ghz... Of course, it's a 64 bit AMD athlon processor, I don't know what the 64 bit means practically or what the AMD vs Intel means... I read something that the current 2.x AMD processors were comparable to a 3.7 Ghz Intel Processor...

Just installing this thing has been a pain in the butt... I needed USB driver for my modem, which does NOT come on the DSL instalation disc that came with the modem... -_- I had to track it down on the other computer, transfer it to CD, then bring it over. Then there's... Well, the DVD. Sorta like CD's way back when, DVD burning is not a straightforward thing... The burning software that comes with the computer is like a foreign language to me, and Media Center only let me burn 85 minutes on a 2 hour DVD... That's 35 minutes I'm missing... I want that back... Also, it appears that merely being readable on media player doesn't mean it can be put on the DVD... For one thing, some low quality stuff is even worse quality on the DVD (while some stuff, like my digicam stuff, really crappy in the computer, is just the same on the DVD)

The All-in-wonder card, as I've been oggling it but haven't been able to use it, comes with Premiere Elements 2.0... I didn't even know they made an elements for premiere, but I suppose that comes with Adob'es normal elements restrictions (can't sell stuff I edit in premiere, have to do it on Movie Maker I guess)

I didn't realize Premiere comes with basic Authoring software... Maybe Premiere elements is a combo of Premiere and Encore??? I don't know... I'm still a total noob here... Anyhow, I worked around some problems after I got mad at the problems and looked at it as something fun to do, and I'm happy now. ^_^

The '64 bit' part means in can run Win XP 64 bit (not worth it), Windows Vista, or some kind of 64 bit Linux. It's not a huge advantage at the moment, but it will be as more software is written for 64 bit processors.

A '2 hour DVD'? A DVD is measured in GB, not video length, because the video quality is scalable... So maybe you need to adjust the bitrate to fit more on?

I've got Adobe Premiere Elements 1, and it's pretty good. It does include DVD authoring, because it's aimed at home video editors, who are likely to put their videos onto DVD. Though it is pretty basic and doesn't allow video or audio in the menus.... although if you're clever like me, you can edit the menu templates in Photoshop and add/delete menu items and change the background picture.

[Sync]

Media Center only let me burn 85 minutes on a 2 hour DVD... That's 35 minutes I'm missing.

You'll need a Dual Layer capable drive and a blank DVD-9 to get the "full" 120 minutes, depending on the bitrate you encode/author your video at.
unfortunately blank DL discs still run from $3-6 each compared to the $.60-$1.25 for a single layer DVD-/+R

[Arnobius]

well, I am nearly certain the site said 3.0 ghz, but the system readout says 2.2 Ghz... Of course, it's a 64 bit AMD athlon processor, I don't know what the 64 bit means practically or what the AMD vs Intel means... I read something that the current 2.x AMD processors were comparable to a 3.7 Ghz Intel Processor...

Yes, I have an Athlon 64 3700. Officially, it is clocked at 2.411ghz, but it runs very fast because of the architecture. Compared to my old 1.6ghz computer, this thing is fast... any program is ready to run in seconds, and before I put in Kaspersky (which scans the start up programs for viruses when it starts) and a password screen, it could go from off to fully functional in 15 seconds.

I'll take AMD over Intel any day

As for 64 bit, right now it only makes a small difference, but when Vista comes out, it should speed things up a lot... of course the programs will need to be written for that. It can run the current 32 bit programs of course

[Bobtheduck]

Hmm... Why all the deceptive marketing, then? I actually looked at a package of blank DVDs once that listed it the same way as a video... Sp, Lp, Ep.... 2, 4, 6 hours. In burning with premiere's basic software, I've learned that I can actually make it ANY quality I wish, potentially fitting hours and hours on the disc... I guess that's how those pirate companies fit all 5 rocky movies on 1 disc... (I say that because I have friends that have that, they swear the 5-in-1 disc is legit, but the full set in the us contains 5 discs, not one)
Two quick questions:

1. I was an AV geek back in 99... There are connections I don't recognize in the All-in-wonder's connections... There is a yellow, looks like a headphone jack with a wire into it, a female port on one side, and a male end on the other... Anyone know what this is?

2. Why does Premiere's burning take 6 hours but media center only took 1? I mean, I'm sure they both have to turn the files into MPEG-2, right? But that conversion takes forever on Premiere... I don't get it... I won't be doing much of this once I get my all in wonder installed... I'll just capture Mpeg-2 to start with...

[Puritan]

You'd have to look at the All-in-wonder's manual to figure out what the connection is. They appear to have an insane number of connection on the back of the All-in-Wonder cards I have seen. As for the conversion, the problem is likely related ot the mpeg2 codec Adobe Premier is using. I am not familiar with the particular codec being used, but the Media Center codec is likely more efficient than the one in Adobe Premier. Now, that speed may be a result of lower video quality or it may just be efficient conversion, you would have to read about the codecs to figure out which.

[Arnobius]

You'll need a Dual Layer capable drive and a blank DVD-9 to get the "full" 120 minutes, depending on the bitrate you encode/author your video at.
unfortunately blank DL discs still run from $3-6 each compared to the $.60-$1.25 for a single layer DVD-/+R

A DVD 5 (Single layer) will give you 4.3gb of info (they say 4.7gb, but they mean 4.7 billion bytes, using base 10. Since for a computer, using binary, 1000 is actually 1024,

You can get:
1 hr at maximum quality
2 hr at standard quality
etc

[Mithrandir]

Just to clarify, you can store data on a DVD in either TV quality (bad) or COMPUTER quality (good). I'm totally over simplifying, but it sounds like that's what's requested. If you really want the technical specs behind it, let me know and I'll look them up. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall a standard TV having 480 usable scan lines and some weird number of verticle resolution (depending on the make and model). The resolution for a computer is 1024 by 768, though. If you really want the technical specs behind it, let me know and I'll look them up.

[Arnobius]

NTSC has an approx ratio of 640 x 480, refreshing 30 interlaced frames a second

HD can get substantially better, at a much higher space usage.