best cheap/free scores 1.1

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I never claimed them to be valuable....but this scaling silliness is just well...umm...silly. Even the true 4:3 @1600x1200 20/21 inchers (Dell 2007FP seems to be the popular ones) can be had pretty cheap (~$75 shipped all day long on ebay) for grade-A, they're not hard to find or valuable either. Anything 17" or smaller, I could care less about.

Yes, they have DVI's.

$75 is not cheap in my book... $20 or less is. Just saying. :p

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

$75 is not cheap in my book... $20 or less is. Just saying. :p

Even the 5:4 19" dont go for $20. They're ~$40-ish + ship (on par with 4:3's, using the 1908FP's as the example), and apparently they sell. A couple of the resellers my search revealed has sold tons of them.

[ratdude747]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Even the 5:4 19" dont go for $20. They're ~$40-ish + ship (on par with 4:3's, using the 1908FP's as the example), and apparently they sell. A couple of the resellers my search revealed has sold tons of them.

I haven't paid that much of any of mine. Then again I'm hitting up university surplus and thrift stores for the most part (local pickup). Most I've paid has been $20, and that was for a 24" Hanns G 1080P unit that I fixed up.

Maybe I'm lucky or cheap

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Nice!
I need one of those and/or a 8500 /LE to complete my early pre-flip-chip-era ATI AGP collection. So far, I have the Radeon 7000, 7200, 7500 (PCI & AGP), and... then a jump to Radeon 9200 SE and 9250 PCI.

Yeah, I was pretty lucky to find one. Probably going to hunt a 9700 AIW as well, but who knows.

I wonder how good does the Radeon 9000 AIW works with DScaler.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

...Then again I'm hitting up university surplus and thrift stores for the most part (local pickup).

On that logic, do you remember what I paid for my first u3011?

[desert-rat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

A guy I do work for gave me 3 dell 620 s . I can boot and run Linux mint from the usb but they wont boot from a hard drive or a dvd drive . I have gone through the cmos and looked for a jumper on the board .

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

maybe the sata is fucked - or the bios settings are corrupt.

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

especially on an old ass game which is a pixel feast as it is....jeebus christmas tree!! I'll take this over a CRT any day and twice on Sunday! Hell, running Diablo2 (800x600 max resolution) scaled to fit a 16x10 30" IPS ultrasharp is more beautiful than unscaled on the high end CRT's (mag innovision .22 pixel pitch 17") I used to play it on!

Ugh!
That reminds me of when widescreen TVs started hitting the market but broadcast was still in 4:3. I hated the horizontal stretch with a passion. And, I myself have tried games that only have 4:3 resolutions on 16:10/9 monitors and... there's no way you can convince me that looks good at all! In fact, forget about calling it *good*! It's not even decent. It's plain bad. Maybe Diablo2 is an exception, but most 4:3 A/R games look like shit on a widescreen monitor.

ohh for crying out loud....do the math from 4:3 to 5:4....you're sounding worse than some of these audiophools..... On an ultrasharp, @ ~7% scaled (1280x1024), you don't even see it....

Well, personally I'm not bothered at all by 4:3 resolutions scaling on 5:4. Like you said, the difference is so small that you can't really tell easily.

Now, what bothers me quite a bit about almost any LCD, though, is pixel lag. TVs are probably the worst - even those with 120 Hz "true motion" smoothing BS. Low-pixel lag gaming monitors are somewhat better (to much better) in that regard... but they usually seem to do quite poorly in the color rendition and backlight bleed department - at least all the ones I've seen (and I've played with a few Acer Predator & Asus ROG 2016-2017 high-end models worth several $k each.) If you want good colors and low/even backlight bleed, then you have to go for the better tier panel manufacturers like BenQ. But then those are typically not low pixel lag monitors. So you either have to choose between lots of pixel lag and good colors or the reverse. And either way, all LCDs exhibit pixel lag to some extent. Thus, they often also have bad frame-tearing. Run any game without v-sync, and watch it tear everywhere.

This is where CRT monitors shine, as they don't have any pixel lag, tearing problems, or backlight bleed problems. On top of that, they can scale down to any resolution (vs. LCDs looking like ass on anything but the native resolution.) But then CRTs have their own downsides too: they are big, bulky, and use a lot more power. In addition to that, and probably the worst thing about them, is their glare, which makes them rather annoying to use with any light in the room. For that reason, I won't claim that CRTs have better color, as the glare/reflections in a bright (or even not-so-bright room) tend to take away a lot from their image. But in a fully dark room, they can look amazing.

So all in all, each technology/screen type has its own ups and downs.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Ugh!
That reminds me of when widescreen TVs started hitting the market but broadcast was still in 4:3. I hated the horizontal stretch with a passion. And, I myself have tried games that only have 4:3 resolutions on 16:10/9 monitors and... there's no way you can convince me that looks good at all! In fact, forget about calling it *good*! It's not even decent. It's plain bad. Maybe Diablo2 is an exception, but most 4:3 A/R games look like shit on a widescreen monitor.

D2 IMO looks better this way....Of course you can maintain original aspect ratio in the driver settings....but I'll take advantage of all that real estate.

Well, personally I'm not bothered at all by 4:3 resolutions scaling on 5:4. Like you said, the difference is so small that you can't really tell easily.

Now, what bothers me quite a bit about almost any LCD, though, is pixel lag. TVs are probably the worst - even those with 120 Hz "true motion" smoothing BS. Low-pixel lag gaming monitors are somewhat better (to much better) in that regard... but they usually seem to do quite poorly in the color rendition and backlight bleed department - at least all the ones I've seen (and I've played with a few Acer Predator & Asus ROG 2016-2017 high-end models worth several $k each.) If you want good colors and low/even backlight bleed, then you have to go for the better tier panel manufacturers like BenQ. But then those are typically not low pixel lag monitors. So you either have to choose between lots of pixel lag and good colors or the reverse. And either way, all LCDs exhibit pixel lag to some extent. Thus, they often also have bad frame-tearing. Run any game without v-sync, and watch it tear everywhere.

This is where CRT monitors shine, as they don't have any pixel lag, tearing problems, or backlight bleed problems. On top of that, they can scale down to any resolution (vs. LCDs looking like ass on anything but the native resolution.) But then CRTs have their own downsides too: they are big, bulky, and use a lot more power. In addition to that, and probably the worst thing about them, is their glare, which makes them rather annoying to use with any light in the room. For that reason, I won't claim that CRTs have better color, as the glare/reflections in a bright (or even not-so-bright room) tend to take away a lot from their image. But in a fully dark room, they can look amazing.

So all in all, each technology/screen type has its own ups and downs.

15 years ago, I'd have agreed with all that....today, not so much, they've evolved a lot over the years. Like vinyl records, CRT displays are one era I'm glad is historical. I wish I could have my old Mag Innovision (mentioned earlier in the thread) back from yesteryear....it was a stellar monitor for a CRT....It was so cool watching an analog monitor adjust & scale itself.... I do have one 17" CRT left here, usually to take pics of retro rigs to make them look 'period specific'....but I have another idea to make up for that, I just have to find the right candidate to do this modification to...that said, if I never use another CRT display mainstream, it'll be too soon! No CRT compares to a big IPS panel!

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Ok, a wrapup of February's haul....which was a pretty good one! I was digging through the box of GPU's and found another treasure I didn't know was there....

New in box ATI 9600 All-in-Wonder '2006 edition' 256mb:



It works! I had to open the package to test it.




Some more systems, monitors, a bunch of adapters & cables.....and more GPU's...


Box contains everything for an 8500AIW....but the card was a 7500AIW....This came from a local shop that said they got it this way...


A bunch of SCSI Panasonic 8x4x20 cdrw drives. I've tested 4 so far, all were good thus far.





Bunch of AT PSU's and some other ransom PSU's. The box to the right (mostly obscured) contains a bunch of slimline ATX PSU's.


2 Dell 19" Widescreen monitors, both working.


3 of the 5 1908fp's on my trusty Paxville system (it has a NVS450, which supports 4 monitors), this post created from... As much as it pains me to say something good about M$ these days, the built-in multi monitor support from windows 8 and up is awesome!!


Last but not least.....RD, it works!


Not the best haul but most certainly not the worst!!

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

New in box ATI 9600 All-in-Wonder '2006 edition' 256mb:

Nice.
Those are actually fairly common video cards on eBay and fairly cheap too. The big catch, however, is that almost none of them come with the breakout cables they need for full functionality... and much less NIB. Saw one last month like that sell for much much more, simply because it was complete (over $30 if not $50, IIRC).

Box contains everything for an 8500AIW....but the card was a 7500AIW....This came from a local shop that said they got it this way...

That's still a super solid DX7 card!

As much as it pains me to say something good about M$ these days, the built-in multi monitor support from windows 8 and up is awesome!!

Yup, they did make some improvements here and there, after all.

D2 IMO looks better this way....Of course you can maintain original aspect ratio in the driver settings....but I'll take advantage of all that real estate.

Well, like I said, maybe D2 is an exception. I've never played D2 as it's just not my style of games (prefer racing, FPS, and/or 3rd person FPS), so I wouldn't know better about it. But just about any shooter or racing game will look absolutely terrible when stretched out like that, unless it natively supports the widescreen resolution.

15 years ago, I'd have agreed with all that....today, not so much, they've evolved a lot over the years.

It's not about whether you agree or not. It's a fact: CRTs and LCDs are just good at different things. Simply because you either don't notice or are not bothered by pixel lag doesn't mean that it doesn't exist or that others don't notice it.

Like vinyl records, CRT displays are one era I'm glad is historical.

But unlike vinyl records, where "audiophools" claim that they have "better"/"warmer" sound without much physical proof, with CRTs it's not the same. You can actually show pixel lag exists very easily. And it is noticeable once you've seen it. But again, that some people don't/can't notice it is a different matter... the same way some people are happy with fast-compressed (low-quality) 112/128 kbps MP3s.

I wish I could have my old Mag Innovision (mentioned earlier in the thread) back from yesteryear....it was a stellar monitor for a CRT....It was so cool watching an analog monitor adjust & scale itself....

That's a nice feature indeed. But I wouldn't need anything like that, as I usually run my CRTs through all resolutions I normally use and set each one up to scale properly. Once that is done, I never have to touch them again, as usually the CRT will remember the size parameters for each preset I've used and stay properly sized.

No CRT compares to a big IPS panel!

Again, it depends.
I too would agree that a nice big LCD is generally a lot better for work (typing, CAD, image editing, multitasking, and etc.). But for watching online videos (especially ones with varying SD/HD quality and size) and video games, I can't agree.

Anyways, I'll stop beating this to death.

[Topcat]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Just when I thought the February haul was done.....this showed up this morning, a freebie from the 'supermicro tree'...

Brand new in box X6DHT-G


Everything included...










This is a DDR1 board (7520 chipset), so I am already in doubt it will run Paxvilles, but 64-bit Irwindales won't be a problem.....but I have no clue what I'll build this into, as sadly, it's not worth much, maybe $40~$50 bucks on ebay....but this poor soul can't go to the shredder having never been used....that's blasphemous!

[Hondaman]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

A few years ago I got a Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-Ray player at a garage sale. Our friend Gabriel Torres over at Hardware Secrets was not impressed, and he was right. This was not a very good unit. (Also, today's Blu-Rays apparently have "startup instructions", like playing the FBI anti-copying warning, written in a later version Java that this old player doesn't know about.)

Today I got it out of the basement. It won't play Blu-Ray OR REGULAR DVDs. It recognizes a disc has been inserted but always says "This disc can not be played". My universal remote control has not been able to produce any setup menus, so the "check for firmware update" item obviously cannot be found.

It seems like I wasted five dollars. I'll pull the 40mm fan out of the back and scrap it.

[Hondaman]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I did update the firmware when I got it, and it did work. But I always knew the later Blu-Ray discs would have Java instructions the player could not understand. I just didn't expect the thing to play one or two discs, and then just die while sitting on a shelf for a couple of years.

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

it's not about java, it's a lack of decryption keys.
they where originally supposed to update online, then that changed to updating from discs.
blue-ray was always about control - the usual media mafia was behind it.

i bet it has battery backed ram in it - with a dead battery.

[Hondaman]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Okay, I cleaned both of the lasers and upgraded to the last firmware. It works just fine now (no internal battery). It does not play either type of disc inside a "box" like it did in the Hardware Secrets review. It plays the few Blu-Rays I have in my movie collection perfectly, and regular DVDs as well.

EDIT: Gabriel Torres' Hardware Secrets review mentioned different versions of Java. I thought I heard (don't remember where) that there were three versions in total.

I'm a little puzzled however. I put a regular DVD in the player that is known to have skipping in one of the episodes (box set of a one-hour drama series). The player said "this disc can not be played" and would not even show the opening menu. Other players show the menus, and even let me play the episode where the bad part of the DVD is located. Does the Samsung magically know there will be a problem (maybe it scans the disc) before it displays the opening menu?

I'm willing to overlook this behavior though, since I know one episode is bad. I got a remote for this unit online shortly after I bought the player. I'll drive to my Mom's house and set it up for her in a couple of weeks.

[stj]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

sounds like the region-lock.
find the secret menu and change the dvd region.

[Curious.George]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

I'm a little puzzled however. I put a regular DVD in the player that is known to have skipping in one of the episodes (box set of a one-hour drama series). The player said "this disc can not be played" and would not even show the opening menu. Other players show the menus, and even let me play the episode where the bad part of the DVD is located. Does the Samsung magically know there will be a problem (maybe it scans the disc) before it displays the opening menu?

It could be a separate "problem". Remember, each player has its own optics, signal conditioning, software, etc. This player may see this disc as having "corrupt data" where it expects to see "real" data.

I had one player that would claim a "disc couldn't be played" if the disc had too many smudges or crud gunked onto the data surface (i.e., cleaned it and the disc "suddenly" was playable)

[Many of my discs come from the local public library -- you really have NO IDEA where they may have been before you get them! ]

[momaka]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

My take on that Blu-ray/DVD player: since it's a fairly modern Samsung junk unit, I would definitely suggest to crack it open and check for bad caps.

Brand new in box X6DHT-G
...
but I have no clue what I'll build this into, as sadly, it's not worth much, maybe $40~$50 bucks on ebay....but this poor soul can't go to the shredder having never been used....that's blasphemous!

Agreed!

[Dan81]

Re: best cheap/free scores 1.1

Tomorrow's going to be quite the big day - I'm taking the FX5900 Ultra with me so I can fix it - narrowed the problem down to the first pair of BGA RAM chips next to the DVI port. It's an Leadtek card with the best cooling I've ever seen. Beats ASUS' take on the 5900.