Batwing~SPARTA~

So I helped my dad-in-law to install his Xmas gift: a very nice Logitech Revue box http://www.logitech.com/en-us/smartTV/revue I was very curious about this little toy because having a HTPC quite bigger than that (and quite more expensive) I was wondering if this Companion Box is the ultimate solution. Well, there are multiple answers and they are balancing toward YES and NO. I am going to compare: 1 - HTPC based on Win 7 Media Center, Athlon dual core, 2GB RAM and 1TB Storage, Bluray player. HD 1080p performances. Price around $330. 2 - Logitech Revue + Google TV - Android 3.1. It has full browsing and Flash support with Chrome, access to Market (tons of Apps), network capabilities, no internal storage, full integration with any sort of TV service, no recording capabilities. HD 1080p performances. Price $99. To make a long story short, at the question the Revue is a good HTPC there is definetely a solid YES and NO. Buttom line a PC is always a PC. Full flrxibility, able to do everything. The Revuew is a Companion Box but has some very solid points. I think at the end all comes down to your tech level. If you are a Geek and are not scared by the fact a PC is NOT FRIENDLY sometimes and most importantly you have a $330 budget, probably you would go straight to the HTPC, no brainer. However, if you are a Geek but can t say the same for the rest of your family, Gramma has no familiarity with a full keyboard neither any intention to learn, other ppl around has familiarity with Android and all of you want is sorta mixing a TV experience with a Intenet experience AND a Ton of free Video content straight to your Big Screen, then the Revue at $99 is the best solution out there. Unfortunately the Logitech Revue got a recent firmware update to Android 3.1 (one week ago, before we bought our unit) and that firmware screwed many devices, making the activation inmpossible to achieve. It s a shame something like this may happen, ruining a great experience otherwise. We had to return the first unit to BestBuy, got a replacement and had the same issue, slightly different. main problem is during activation it has to connect to a "Logitech Server" and that connection permanently fails. No way to activate. Fortunately the second box seemd a bit inconsistent with the error so after 5 hours of tries finally completed the activation process and now is working like a charm. I am confident they will come out with a patch or something to solve the issue for good. When the device works, is just a pleasure to use. It interact directly with the Set up Box you may have (whatever service) and it lives together with your previous set up. This means Gramma does not have to learn how to use Revue because she will continue to use her standard remote to watch her TV (this by itself is the best solution ever, 100 Stars in my evaluation). On the other end you Geek have the "Keyboard of Power" and you will be able to unleash the extra horse powers for your media entertainement. Recently a friend of mine got a Roku box and I was able to take a look at that unit. Honestly there is no comparison between the 2 products as versatility. However they have the same $99 tag price. I am sorry my friend seems like not interested to evaluate the Logitech Revue, possibly he didn t understand how important is having a full Browser + Flash to access tons of FREE content. If you are thinking for a gift or a quite inexpensive solution for an enhanced media experience on your Big Screen you should seriously give the Logitech Revue a shot. If you are able to activate it, you are gonna be really happy with

QUESTION TO HAJI ABOUT THIS SUBJECT: How updates are working with Redirected files? So, Registry says game is in folder A and the Update installer will go to update files to Folder A. However all of those files are no more there and redirected to folder B. Is this going to delete, modify, append, re-write, whatever.. the correct files on folder B ? Also, If an update for some reason is going to Add new files, they will be written on folder A? how they get (if they do at all) redirected to folder B? and also, MANUAL UPDATE - example with Arma2 Just released ACE 1.13. I have the full Arma folder redirected to folder B. Should I Revert ACE 1.11 first, delete it from Folder A, then add ACE 1.13 to folder A and then Redirect ACE 1.13 to folder B ? Man !! I am lost in the REDIRECTION Universe !

hey, be careful about your project. You said you wanna have your collection to a "portable" drive. You can do that, but that doesn t mean your collection will be "portable" and able to run from other PC. The registry key on your PC stays untouched. So when you wanna run a game it goes and look into Steam. You "redirected" those files somewhere else, meaning the "external" drive needs to be connected for you to be able to play, otherwise the redirection will not work (of course). Also meaning those games CANNOT be accessed by any other PC (null portability). As a final thought, be sure you are not moving on the portable disk any of "hi-performance" games. As external drive I doubt seriously you can have fast access write and read times and an hi-demanding game might turn up quite sluggish. Reason why we tend to move games to SSD drives (fastest) while you are moving to external drives (slowest).

@Skaz: Bytheway this software does not "install" anywhere. As Mh6 correctly said is a pure and simple friendly GUI to handle that command. You can write your command in CMD or just use this .exe Totally up to you

Happy Birthday !!

I want to share this with you guys and all the Credits are going to our neverending resourceful Hajimoto THE STEAM MOVER APPLICATION Which although has been created with the specifi intent to move Steam games around, it is really working with any kind of software. This is the best Invention since the wheel, the PC and .. of course.. PC gaming !! http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/move-steam-games-without-changing-junction-points-with-steam-mover/ YOU HAVE TO HAVE THIS APP ! Building my SSD what I am doing is: 1 - Install OS and only the most important software and drives on SSD - move all data links (docs, pics, movies etc.) to STORAGE drive - move all TEMP routines to STORAGE drive 2 - Create a folder on SSD for GAMES HI-PERFORMANCE and PROGRAMS HI-PERFORMANCE (we'll see why later) 3 - Install ALL OF Your Software on STORAGE drive - complete full installation and test everything is fully working 4 - Use the STEAM MOVER App and redirect ONLY those games and /or Programs to the SSD Folder you created at Step 2 This method is totally seamless, works 100% (tested) and allows you to move back and forth whatever you want to have on Hi-Perfomance mode with no changes on Registry keys and other hassles. THIS IS THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION TO USE YOUR SSD AT THE BEST! I can t thank Hajimoto enough to show me this little application but the writer of that App is a Pure genius !

Yeah guys! Here we are! .... That moment is finally arrived. Unpacked my Samsung 830 from under the Xmas tree, mounted inside Frankle (friendly name for my PC, from Frankenstine, due to the multiple transformationit went thru), and then zipped thru a 12 minutes fresh Win 7 install. Now for the first time in a few years I have a "virgin" machine! Oufff it will be quite painfull rebuild everything and be back online fully operative, but I ll make it! See you later!

Hey, just a suggestion to people: Do not use the official site to download the patch, use some Mirror. Actually try to use Megaupload. Official site was downloading at 98Kbs, estimated 2h,50m Megaupload FREE is downloading at 2.5MBs estimated 3m,40secs

Now, you can of course be debating the old curse about drivers.. I know.. it is what it is.. However, this is deserving attention, at least for sake of knowledge. It seems is able to push very high performances at very high resolutions (over 2000 on multi-monitors) and that is not something I care at the moment. For a nice reading... Happy Holidays http://www.anandtech.com/show/5261/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review

Happy Holiday !! Happy Holiday !!

Good info Z, I can also add that if we will have an option to play together and you want to rank up as Assault/Medic.. just follow me, at distance from behind. Considering I am a great bullet magnet and the way I die every 3 seconds, you will be able to revive me almost constantly... ranking up your skills esponentially !

And i still strongly believe is very personal and subjective interpretation. First of all I fully disagree with the Mouse issues that guy is reporting. I play keyb and mouse, as I ve been playing all of the AC series. Of course has some flaws, but overall are really minimal. The only thing is totally useless in the game is the Den defense but you can still survive with it. That guy that made the review most probably has no clue about the job is behind this title to provide historical clues to players. possibly most players don t give a crap about the fact there is an historical background behind what their playing. Possibly the average Joe playng console action shooters do not appreciate the graphic attention to details has been applied to this game, in term of textures and colors. Thei possibly don t care either the city, Constantinopoli/Instanbul has been rebuilt with fidelity. That reviewer is talking about "milking" something... I would be curios to see his review for titles like MW3 or even Batman, which is a total flop on PC, due to a massive buggy behavior. With that said, one may not like the genre, which is obviously fine, but dismissing this game with a bare 7/10 is just non sense.

Guys.. This game is absolutely one of the most beautiful games I ever saw, I am about 20 hrs into it, but I am taking it easy, exploring, doing a lot of side missions... It is a graphic masterpiece, filled with historical clues, beautiful story and great acting. Someone said was the best of the trilogy, I guess I have to agree with it. Actually i loved brotherhood, due to the fact it was in Rome, but this one is just amazing and technically better. If you are a fan of Assassin's Creed you cannot miss this one by any means

I have to second Dai-San on this. I do like RPGs but honestly there is something that just didn t feel right with what I saw. First of all was boring like hell. Besides the fact combat is in RPGs quite ofetn repetitive, this was the apotheosis of repetitive. The Monk has 3 or 4 move sets with an awful animation that reminded me the Street Fighter animation. The bad guys are the same. That monster that looks like a MArshmellow has 3 moves and repeat the same over and over. Zombies are just stupid slow crap, walking stright, way too straight to be undeads... if you put on them a suite and tie, they look more like ppl working at my office... which i don t know what is worst... That kind of Isometric view just stinks old all over the place. Ca you manipulate your view? rotate camera, inclinate angle and zoom in zoom out? it didn t seem so and honestly if you cant, you belong to 10 years ago game settings. I was totally not impressed. I would buy a Dragon Age game way more than a new Diablo at this status of things.

So, I was thinking to have some training and check some stuff about a mapbut the UK server is passworded, may I have the password? Also, is this server starting at 1 player? I d like to learn how to fly, so I might try to use choppers or jets there, are those vehicles enabled ? Thank you.

HEY !!! where did u get MY PIC ????.. are u a paparazzi ? I have to pay attention... my public image out there like this.. hmm ok.. I camme out pretty good tho.. didn t I ? I l try to be around for the missions later today.. I have Fios Install this afternoon, so I might have an internet black out see ya

Good thoughts so far yeah, I do agree about the Knife frustration.. lol.. I guess is the reason why they put it in this kind of games I like this game, but i take it in small doses.. i usually play about 1 hour at the time, so i don t get too much frustrated and possibly i enjoy it Also.. if i see i die too often, i just disconnect and play another game lol.. it is almost like when you go gambling to the Casino.. if you see is a tiotal wrong day, just pack your wallet and leave.. till you still have a car to drive.. lolol.. Now, I know, this is not the "hardcore" behavior and probaly will take 3 life spans to unlock all of the crap.. but hey.. I still like the game

No way !!!! LOL ! Too bad BF3 is not exactly that kind of game giving you a lot of time to look around and enjoy the particulars You can barely look around and try to save your butt, but as we know.. that doesn t work too well either... average life is.. what... 25 seconds ?? lolol

This is good info, let s keep it rolling guys! Althogh is true that you have to adapt to the moment need and there will be some rifle ppl prefer and other dont, is very nice to see how each one approach the loadout. I actually just got the G36 but obviously my accessories are on the more used M4 and AKSU. it seems I have a lot of issue to achieve any kill with rifle with the BURST fire.. that is not enough for me to kill. I need a solid amount of bullets in my target to see the enemy going down. I play almost only engineer, seldom support. I read the Suppressor si lowering the damage and range. i already do not deliver that much of damage, i was wondering how much that really reflect on the crazy fast action on this game. I am not gonna take a "sniper" shot with an M4 suppressed anyway... my kills are all quite medium or close range, i guess that will not change my life, right ? Keep it rolling guys, this is interesting

So guys, I am starting this thread to provide a sort of guidance to BF gamers who are not "hardcore" on the game that much and can benefit from some suggestions by more experienced Soldiers out there. BF3 unlocks are a jungle to me and I do not think "the latest unlock is always the best". So many rifles and MGs... I really get confused. I would love to have someone just explaining their fav loadout so someone like me can try to focus on what to get. Buttom line one question could be: "I got unlocked the Scar and the G36c, besides the personal pleasure to unlock everything, which one is the rifle i should try to unlock because has better performances? it does make any real difference?" If you feel like explain your loadouts and why you prefer a weapon better than another, that would be very beneficial for Noobies like myself Thx, appreciated

Wow...

Happy birthday NOOB !!!!

hey guys, I am in Tampa area, FL, and I ve been with brighthouse since when i moved here, about 7 yrs ago. Never had a FIOS experience, but a sales man the other day convinced me to switch. I have the guys coming over Saturday and i d like to know if anyone of you has comments about FIOS, especially the internet connection. I got a sorta of basic internet package, is 15Mb down and 5Mb up (with Brighthouse I had 10/1). Main reason why I switched is the TV pixellation issue, which should be better quality with FIOs, but i don t know anything about their internet quality. I didn t cancelled brighthouse yet and I am planning to overlap the service for the first 3 - 4 days before i formally cancel brighthouse. I wanna be sure I like FIOS. Please let me know how do you feel is their service, thx !

Hey, a quick question about the public server. I have a close friend who bought Arma OA and reinforcment on a sale. That box does not have ARMA 2 in it. We tried to join the Sparta Server and he was kicked because the Arma2 component was missing. Is there any way to find a work around on his client side or is a specific reason why Sparta server need to have the Arma2 component activated? I am also thinking that many sales on Arma actually didn t provide Arma2 but only OA, therefore most probably a lot of "new" ppl may not even be able to join Sparta server for the same reason. In fact, besides "Arma veterans" who already have Arma2 due to an old purchase, I don t think ppl who got the game recently (last 6 - 8 months) ever got anything more than OA. Many other servers online have the OA game only, offering the vast majority of public an easy access. Maybe you want consider this comment to facilitate ppl to join the Public server. Thx

LOL !!! Bruce Willis in GI JOe ?? ok.. I have to watch this movie ..