http://www.realpoor.com/ Where Internet drama can cost you your job! 2009-11-20 17:28:30 -0500 It s not easy to find a decent gaming machine with a tight budget. You can do it, but usually it s not pretty and you ll constantly find yourself flipping through magazines and drooling over the systems that cost 3-4 grand. However, if you re trying to find a decent gaming laptop on a budget the task becomes near impossible. While laptops are great for portability, profile, and just plain style, they ll never be able to truly compete with a desktop as far as power, expandability, and sheer gaming bliss. It s difficult for tech developers to cram all that circuitry in such a tiny frame without causing overheating and a host of other problems but mobile technology is progressing by leaps and bounds. So, if you re looking for a laptop that can handle some games I ve made your search a little easier. In fact, I ve scoured the internet for the best of the best (on a budget) and the list below contains some of the baddest machines for your buck. (Keep in mind they re listed by price and that may or may not affect the performance of the machine and the pain it inflicts on your wallet.) Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916 Coming in at around $750, this Toshiba is definitely not up to par as a serious gaming machine, however the 512 MB ATI Radeon HD 3605 sure beat on board graphics any day of the week. Other than that, the machine is pretty much standard for this price range and I ve always been a fan of Toshibas. Specs: 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 512 MB ATI Radeon HD 3650 4 GB DDR2 RAM 320 GB HD MSI GX630-028US Coming in slightly above the A305, this MSI machine offers a better graphics processor for the same price, roughly $800. This is still going to get you laughed at by true hardcore chipheads but it will perform the way it s supposed to. Specs: 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon X2 QL-62 15.4 Wide XGA Screen 250 G ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Best_Budget_Laptops_for_Gaming_a261.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Best_Budget_Laptops_for_Gaming_a261.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Best_Budget_Laptops_for_Gaming_a261.html Robert Palmer 2009-09-24 04:10:30 -0400 Sicdrummer99's Turtle Beach Xbox Headsets Review... -What are Turtle Beaches? Turtle Beach Head Sets are Head Sets designed for high performance game play. -What do they allow you to do? They let you hear in depth noises during game play and block out noises from your surroundings. They hook up to your AVI cables (Audio Only), Allowing you to hear game noises. Also, Xbox live chat sounds are built in as well. So you no longer have to wear them cheap headsets that not only hurt your head, but also take up one ear, allowing you to hear the game with only one ear. These head sets are perfect for playing the game without disturbing people, especially for you night-time gamers. -Why should I choose these over the normal head set? Stated above, they allow BOTH ears to experience audio from them game as well as game chat. They play through the same speakers. You also have the ability to hook up your game audio to play on the headsets AND your TV/stereo. Also, you can hear noises you never even knew existed. What do I mean by this? Well, on COD4 for example, you can hear enemies moving across the whole map. Thought you were undetectable by using that common Dead Silence perk? Not anymore. After you've used these head phones, you'll be extra quiet and cautious while sneaking around that corner. All 3 head sets have a sonic bass boost which adds realism to the game. Annoyed by people nagging you to mute your mic because your mic is playing game audio? Well, these head sets put an end to that. Lastly, there are seperate controls for game audio and chat audio. So you have the ability to mute out your friends and turn up your game audio at your fingertips to hear the enemy coming. -There's so many different models to choose from? What one is best? There's 3 different models for the xbox 360. The X1, X3, and X4. I don't know why there is no X2. All 3 head sets do the same thing, just some have better features. First off, the X1. It's the basic/cheapest of the bunch. There's ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Turtle_Beach_Headset_Review__X360__a245.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Turtle_Beach_Headset_Review__X360__a245.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Turtle_Beach_Headset_Review__X360__a245.html SicDrummer99 2009-07-27 04:25:21 -0400 One of the biggest problems that owners of Xbox 360 face with is overheating of their beloved console. Red ring of death caused by too much heat in your Xbox unfortunately could become permanent damage to your system if it keeps repeating. One of the biggest differences between the Xbox 360 and regular gaming desktop computers is that the Xbox console doesn t have as efficient cooling system as PC. Heat, therefore, becomes enemy number one. It s been produced relatively quickly, especially when games are being played for hours. This article will provide you some basic tips on how to keep your Xbox cool and how to prolong the life of your console. Tip 1 Keep your Xbox well ventilated While many Xbox owners like to place their console in a display cabinet, that s not the healthiest choice for your Xbox. Lack of air flow causes overheating, so you should use Xbox in area that is well ventilated or cooled artificially by air conditioner or a fan pointed to blow directly at your console. Tip 2 Keep your Xbox clean and dust-free Clean your Xbox from time to time because dust could obstruct normal air flow and cause overheating. Use a soft towel and start wiping away all dust on the exterior of your Xbox 360. That includes wiping away the vents, while you additionally could clean underneath the hard drive, all the power sockets and memory card slots. Opening the Xbox case is not recommended, unless you re an expert, because you could lose your warranty. You should use canned air to clean interior of your Xbox. Tip 3 Don t expose your Xbox to direct sunlight and heat Make sure that your Xbox 360 is stored safely away from direct sunlight. It could not only warp the plastic, but also it could permanently damage your system. Also, you should avoid using your Xbox in a hot room, because console in warm environment would overheat faster causing freezes and red rings of death. Tip 4 ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/5_Tips_to_Keep_Your_Xbox_360_Cool_a229.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/5_Tips_to_Keep_Your_Xbox_360_Cool_a229.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/5_Tips_to_Keep_Your_Xbox_360_Cool_a229.html windshell 2009-06-19 05:00:37 -0400 Economic crisis hit everyone, including video gamers. Building a high-end machine is always a costly process. Practically, you need hundreds of dollars to built custom PC that is capable to play some of the most recent games. But, in this article, we ll show you that building ultimate gaming PC for just 500$ is really possible. For this custom build we chose Phenom Agena Quad processor that is much cheaper than Intel equivalent, but that provides very good performance even in demanding processes such as newest video games. All prices are taken from Newegg, as one of the cheapest online stores, but it s possible to find some of these components for even better prices. Also, we didn t include peripheral components, such as speakers, headphones and monitors, because that depends on taste of each gamer. Ok, let s begin. First we have to choose a home for this Phenom processor. Motherboard Our pick was Asus M2N68 motherboard with AM2/AM2+ socket, which is ideal for Phenom. Also, one trick we did here is that we chose Micro ATX MoBo, which saved around 70 bucks in start. Besides acceptable price of 55$, this motherboard also has great specifications and performance. It is based on 64-bit architecture, and already has sound card with 5.1 channel surround. If you like to check other specifications and price check on other sites, its full name would be: ASUS M2N68-AM AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7050PV Micro ATX AMD Newegg link for price check: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131342 *Current System Price: 55$ CPU Like I said, this gaming system will use Phenom Quad processor. The one we picked is AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor for 95$. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103244 Black Edition that we linked runs at only 95 Watts for reduced heat and improved performance. This Phenom X4 series is a great ser ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/How_to_Build_Ultimate_Gaming_PC_for_500__a206.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/How_to_Build_Ultimate_Gaming_PC_for_500__a206.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/How_to_Build_Ultimate_Gaming_PC_for_500__a206.html windshell 2009-04-08 05:27:01 -0400 Some options aren t included by default in your Xbox and Xbox 360 console and some of them even require additional money. However, you can fool your Xbox console in order to have some of these options enabled without paying a dime. This article will show you how. Play any media file and online videos on your Xbox Free application called Tversity (can be found here: http://tversity.com/) neatly removes the pointless audio and video restrictions that Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo like to put on their consoles, making them able to play any format. What you'll need is a PC on the same network. Install program and scan the folders you keep your media in. Tversity will replace the standard network file-sharing system that Windows uses, but behaves pretty much the same way at the Xbox. Also, Tversity will convert unsupported files on the fly. Keep in mind that you'll need a pretty muscular PC to chew large video files; otherwise you'll be waiting ages. Online video URLs, including Youtube can be added and then accessed from the console. Play your own music in original Xbox games This is nice little trick that most of Xbox users probably already know. For those who don t know - listening to your own MP3s during a Xbox 360 game is common knowledge, but you won t be able to do the same on the original Xbox. It s now time to reveal that little trick you should start playing your album or playlist before you load the game. Music will keep playing once you start the game. Keep in mind that game's score won't be muted, so you have to turn it off in settings, otherwise a noise is all you ll hear. Connect Xbox 360 to a wireless network without an official adapter This trick works only if you have Wi-Fi laptop. Go to Control Panel Network Connections (In Windows XP) or Network Sharing Center Manage Network Connections (in Vista). Select the Local Area Connection and t ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/How_to_Fool_Your_Xbox_in_5_Steps_a187.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/How_to_Fool_Your_Xbox_in_5_Steps_a187.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/How_to_Fool_Your_Xbox_in_5_Steps_a187.html windshell 2009-01-30 05:48:13 -0500 If you ever wanted to connect your Xbox game console wirelessly to the Internet and Xbox Live, you should know that it can be done via WiFi using network router. This article will explain how to do that in few easy steps. It will also explain how to turn your router into wireless receiver. First, connect the appropriate wireless network adapter to the console. On the Xbox you will find a Wi-Fi adapter that connects to the Ethernet port (wireless network bridge). Xbox 360 is designed to work with certain Wi-Fi game adapters that connect to a USB port. After you have connected adapter to Xbox, turn on the console and navigate to the wireless settings screen. On the Xbox, the menu path is Settings - Network Settings - Advanced - Wireless - Settings On the Xbox 360, the path is System - Network Settings - Edit Settings. When you ve found settings, you should set the SSID (network name) on the Xbox first to match that of the wireless router. If your wireless router has enabled SSID broadcast, the SSID name will appear selected on the Xbox display. If not, you have to select the Specify Unlisted Network option and enter the SSID there. This article of course assumes the wireless router is already installed with a working Internet connection. When you had finished with SSID settings, you should specify Infrastructure (mode used by wireless routers) as the Network Mode. Security Type has to be set as well in order to match that of the wireless router. If your router uses WPA encryption and the type of adapter connected to the Xbox does not support WPA, you will need to change your router settings to use WEP encryption instead. Standard Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter supports WPA while the standard Microsoft Xbox Wireless Adapter (MN-740) only supports WEP encryption. Save your settings and check if the network is functional. On the older Xbox, the Wireless ... http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Connecting_Your_Xbox_to_Wireless_Network_a185.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Connecting_Your_Xbox_to_Wireless_Network_a185.html http://www.realpoor.com/articles/Connecting_Your_Xbox_to_Wireless_Network_a185.html windshell 2009-01-22 05:50:33 -0500