Ducati Monster Forum

The beauty of this forum is that we have an assembly of well educated and seasoned ladies and gents that harbor a vast amount of knowledge. This means that we can ask questions on this thread, knowing that there is no such thing as a stupid question [thumbsup]
I thought of this thread while I was contemplating what to do about my computer dilemma.
Details to follow......

What is the wing speed velocity of a sparrow?  :-*

ooh ooh! I know I know!     

oh wait................I don't know....sorry   :-[

  North American or South American?? [laugh]

OK smarty pants...this one might be more up your alley.
After an automatic download of IE8 my computer started to get very sluggish. Many calls later  (to MS and the DSL provider) I was told that my OS system (windows XP) might have been corrupted by the process and I need to wipe the hard drive and reinstall everything. Since my hard drive is 3/4 full I would need to get an external drive to back up everything and start over. Keep in mind that my computer is 8 years old and has the following specs: 80 gig hardrive, 2 ghz clock speed and 1.25 gigs of RAM (everything but the hard drive size is maxed out). Now I know that there are folks out there that keep up with technology a lot more than I do. Should I fix and keep my equipment for a few more years or go for new equipment?

New for sure. It's time to upgrade anyways.

+1...  hate to say it, but I would upgrade too.   :-\  You can get a new box pretty cheap.

I installed IE8 too on my XP box.  I didnt get corrupted, but IE8 is a piece of mierda and doesnt connect all the time.

Thanks for the advice fellows....I'll start shopping

I recommend replacing the red canuder valve with the green one (they always work better).


+2 on the computer, but have to say that I love the fact that Jesus is the leading authority on everything now that he can buy beer legally.   

I can say that being twice your age.    [beer]   :-\

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Well, when it comes to tech things, you usually ask the younger folk. Crotchety people tend to resist technological advancements. Hell, I'm surprised you can use the internets  ;)

internets ?  there are more?   Oh God, or should I say oh Jesus!!!
You're right, I'm screwed.

Your opinions on Mac vs. PC?

That shut 'em up Zaster.     [laugh]

After using both for business & pleasure I definitely have an opinion beyond a shadow of a doubt, but will leave it to private conversation. 

Computer dork slap fights are funny I have to say.  But i'm Crotchety, I might break somethin'.

Jesus, Here's your segway stud. 

Don't taze my internetS, bro.   8)

I didn't say you had to sugar coat your responses.....let's have some fun with this ;D [clap]

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

I would actually love to ride one



reference fail

Rumors on the internets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKTH6f1JfX8#lq-lq2-hq-vhq)

Zaster,  there are pros and cons of both.

Macs are generally more worry free in terms of virus, connectivity, etc.  The user experience is generally better too.  In addition, the new Macs run on Intel chips, so you can install both Windows and the Mac OS.

However, they cost more and have less software options.  If I remember right, you had some CAD software at one time you wanted to play with.  That will be an issue.

PCs are cheaper and there is more software available.  However, until Windows 7 comes out later in the year, you will be stuck with Vista which has some issues with printer compatibility and is a dog in memory.  Windows will always have the virus issues, so keep your virus/malware software up to date.


Potato-potaaaato.   :-\  Both are good.  It depends on what you want to run and what you want to spend.

We have both, and the dell pc has vista which was a bit of a hassle on the learning curve side, but as with anything new it takes time. We were laughing about just that Sunday, and how when the new mac came out & everyone hated it only because we didn't understand how to make it work.  I totally agree with DDGM on the software options issue for sure. if we did not have the pc we would have been screwed many times, especially if you want to start learning cad or use things like photoshop (they are a no go).  I will say the mac is a great system, so definitely look into it, but check and see if it will do all the things you want it to.  Oh, and get ready to pay for that cute little apple logo (like double).

Good luck with the search!

Thanks guys [thumbsup]
I knew we had some folks who had experience with both....
Great info....exactly what I was looking for [clap]

As a side note...started to use Firefox as my browser instead of microsloft and the performance problem seems to be a non-issue. Still need to do some more testing with the rest of the programs to see if all is well

Good call.  I have had better luck with Firefox myself on both PC and Mac.  Not just connection problems but security issues as well (although it was an older version).  Lots of luck with that.  :)

Thanks for sharing your experience [thumbsup] I downloaded the 3.5 version and it kicks butt so far

I'd like to thank all my friends for their advice and input....final outcome:
Dell StudioXPS 435MT with Bose speakers :-*

As far as browsers go, I have never really liked firefox but I downloaded Google Chrome and it seems to work really well.  That is coming from a guy that doesn't know anything about computers though....have fun!

Thanks buddy....I'll give it a try

Cool.  I have never heard of this.  Is it new?  What do you like better about it than Firefox?  What didn't you like about Firefox.  I am always open to new ideas.   ;D

On a side note, I got a copy of Snow Leopard for my Mac a few days ago (just the upgrade) since I had heard a lot of really good things about it and it didn't work.   :(  My mac just kept "spitting" it back out.  Bad Kitty!  Anyhow, the kind people at Apple are sending me a new one.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.   :-\

Congrats Zaster  [thumbsup]

I'm diggin' my Dell/Bose set up also.

dusty & I are going to check out this Chrome thing also.  Do you think it comes in Carbon or Titanium  [laugh]

Now you tell me.....after I had to do all my own reseach ;D Just kidding  [laugh]
I didn't know we have a similar set up...nice [thumbsup]

I've been working with Chrome since its infancy...which it hasnt gotten too far out of sadly.  Its lightening fast and spawns threads for each page (geek speak for it wont hang if something goes boom on a bad web page).  but...its pretty beta and doesnt have a lot of the nice features of FireFox and even the new IE.

Thats all I needed to hear.

  [bow_down] Thanks Guru of Nerdville.   ;D

Ya, what DDGM said.  I dont know much about it but it is quick and easy to use.

What DSL service do you recommend and are there any internet phone users with good experiences out there?

We don't have DSL but rather ATT air cards.  We used to have Comcast Wifi which works great once you get it set up but we wanted to be able to take our computers with us places and still have internet access on them.  This has worked out nicely.  Only rarely have we been in "deadzones".

As for phones, a lot of us have iphones and they seem to work well with the internet (you just have to deal with the small screen as opposed to a computer).

I have a Blackberry via Verizon. I also did have a Verizon Broadband card (air card), but realized I could save some $$ by ditching the air card and using the Blackberry. Verizon charges less for the Blackberry data plan than for Broadband Access.

Since we are in ABQ less than 3 months a year (at this point), we don't pay for permanent internet access. The Blackberry seems to work fine. We both require net access for work, so this is our current answer.

I was a Nextel customer in the past, but the service degraded after Sprint took over. Verizon has a large network and I have yet to experience dead spots in 2 years.

My two cents,  fwiw...

Zaster,  I know you used to listen to Pandora.  I still do (a LOT), but it is mostly on my phone now.  I used to have an Instinct and now I do on my iphone and love it.  I plug it into my speakers and I have enjoyed it (commercial free if your internet phone has the app.) immensely.  And I don't have to pay for it as my phone plan is unlimited data.  Also, I don't miss calls because the music will stop if I have any incoming calls.  Of course there are cons: I can't make the calls NOT come in while listening to music.  But it beats the crap out of having to pay for satellite and one can get a cable to listen to it in the car as well.  Anyhow, food for thought.

Thanks Dusty, that's good to know.
BTW, if anyone is into smooth jazz (Rippingtons, Peter White etc),
I can email you my station.

Send it.   ;D  I didn't even notice you can do that.  I like it!   [thumbsup]

Done....check your email. :)

Got it. Love it.  Thanks. :)

Does anyone run Explorer 8 with Windows 7, if so any issues?
I had issues with XP and Explorer 8 before and want to
get some feedback before I download E8.

no issues here.  in fact, i would recommend 8 over 7 for windows 7  [thumbsup]

Thanks for the advice....I'll install it [thumbsup]

Matt,
Thanks for letting me take advantage of your professional knowledge this weekend....great job [thumbsup]

Always buddy.. Its not a big deal.. thanks again for everything.. :)

 IE 8 .. I hope you down loaded it.. :)

If you need anything you know the number.. :)

Sure did...no regrets ;)

All this IE chatter gives me the willies. I'm a Firefox guy.

<------Safari

Chrome

I just checked, Porn loads fast on all those systems. What's the problem here  ???

Just looking for some info on DSL issues after the on-site Qwest tech couldn't find anything wrong with their service:
I'm trying to watch the videos Scott posted and they are not streaming even at 360p.
When I check the speed of my DSL service  I usually get around 5 Mbps.
What has been your experience watching those clips and what DSL speed are you running at?

I use Comcast for internet in Santa Fe and it shows speed of 54Mbps. It is freaking expensive & I'm planning on booting them out! Videos stream well though and is much faster than office that uses DSL. There are some experts in my office and I'll get their opinion on DSL speeds and any booster hardware you can buy!

BTW, did Scott post any new videos in a secret place? He said they were a GB each and I'm digging for fat thumb drives, brick drives, etc... :-\

Thanks JJ, let me know what you find out.
Nobody has been posting new riding videos....what gives  ???;D

JJ, Don't forget, we are in Santa Fe. Nothing hear is fast or cheap (including the people).
 ... God I do love it here though. 

bummer, cuz that's just the way I like my women... ;D

Agree...But it is cool and I love to be midway to good rides north and good rides south... [thumbsup]

I posted the weekend's first one this morning, but I have to wait for it to upload before it'll give me a URL.  I'll throw it up tonight and begin uploading another (or two).

James posted a couple, too.  Look on SMRI's Forums for a link (I think that's where he said he put them, anyway).

Karl, so the expert opinion is that you already are above the normal speed of 1.5 Mega bits per second on a DSL connection. There is not much you can do to boost further. However, you may wan't to check the effective or actual speed based on load in area...Use the following link:
http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1 (http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1)

This applies to anyone with DSL or cable net...Choose any server in the flash link and wait for the test to complete. You may have a lower speed than you are promised by the DSL/Cable provider...If so, consult with them to improve! [thumbsup]

Well it's working now [thumbsup]
Had a Qwest technician here Tuesday after raising enough hell about the non-streaming issue and he was able
to duplicate my issues other than the low bandwith I experienced using their test site: http://denver.speedtest.qwest.net/ (http://denver.speedtest.qwest.net/) the night before.
He said he would check some of the switches at the main hub and let me know what he found.
Never heard from the guy but everything is working just fine now.

Awesome!  [thumbsup]