TechBlog from Sewell

The DVDO iScan is just too cool not to talk about - any home-theater enthusiast should be able to appreciate a A/V Hub/Scaler that allows you to upscale 480i to 576p and provides 720p and 1080i pass-through.

The input list reads like an all-star lineup:

Two Composite inputs
Two S-Video inputs
Two Component Video inputs (YPbPr or RGB/S)
One VGA Analog Passthrough input
One DVI-I input (processes 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i signals with HDCP)
One Serial Digital Interface (Optional)
Two Digital Audio Optical inputs
Two Digital Audio Coaxial inputs

The list of outputs should raise eyebrows as well:

One DVI Output (DVI-I connector)
One Analog Video Ouput (VGA HD-15 connector)
One Digital Audio Optical output
One Digital Audio Coaxial output
One RS-232 port (For software downloads and automation control)

One of my friends here at Sewell Direct HQ has the awesome Dell 2405fpw LCD monitor. Everytime I pass by that monitor I envy the amount of workspace it produces for getting things done on the desktop. At Sewell Direct we offer many choices and lengths of cables that would allow you to connect such a nice widescreen monitor. Here are some good choices when it comes to DVI Cables for your LCD.

THE NEW DELL 3007WFP!! NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL 30 INCHES OF VISUAL NIRVANA!!!

This new 30 inch monitor from DELL requires a good video card like the XFX 7800 GT
and a Dual Link DVI cable. You can get all of these parts from SEWELL DIRECT!

Cameron and Mark wrote up a good tutorial on connecting your PC to your TV that is worth checking out. They also share information in the tutorial on pumping a TV signal into your PC which is a pretty cool alternative to a traditional DVR.

Mini-itx computers are amazingly small computers.

They can be powerful machines, they dont take up very much space, and they are highly modifiable. http://www.mini-itx.com/ is a great site for seeing all of the crazy things people do with these little devils. If you are looking for ideas of what you can add to your mini itx machines, then consider some of these options:

USB Hubs allow you to add more USB peripherals to your computer.

You can add all sorts of ports to your computer by using USB adapters.

You can even use USB Docking Stations to make your work area less cluttered.

Another cool USB add on is a USB capture device which can allow you to turn your computer into a Tivo. My personal favorite is the High Definition TV capture device.

Many ITX computers have PCI slots inside. With a free PCI slot you can add all sorts of functionality to your computer. You may want to use your PC as a multimedia center. If you do, then you may want a TV tuner inside it.

You can check out a plethera of possible PCMCIA or PCI cards that will work with your mini PC.

I recently had a questions about the Wireless VGA Extender and how many you could use within a close proximity. I called the manufacturer and they said that you can connect up to 8 within 100 feet of each other. There’s only one trick. Make sure you boot the sender and the receiver in their respective pairs. That way they don’t cross connect. But as long as you use that as a rule of thumb, you can’t go wrong! It’s great for businesses and someone even wanted to use them in surgery rooms.

The other night my wife and I downloaded a movie from Movielink and decided to watch it on our television instead of our monitor screen. We used a dual monitor video card (with DVI out) to do this, but I was reminded of just how helpful a PC to TV converter can be - I think it is one of the products that will help the PC move into the living room which, ultimately, should be the device that powers all of our multimedia.

Alright, I’m going to be honest - if the idea of having wireless VGA isn’t cool to you then you are probably reading the wrong blog.

Wireless VGA is cool and it’s now a reality - right now it is only FCC certified for non-residential use (such as in an office or industrial building), but rest assured that soon you will be able to wirelessly control your computer from any remote corner of your house. So go get yourself a flat screen monitor, hide the tower in the garage and convince your non-technical friends that the entire computer is built into the little monitor. OK, that may be a waste of $650, but you should be able to find something cool to do with it.

Here’s the issue: I wanted a video card that would allow me to use my LCD monitor and my Sony Wega HDTV at the same time (like an extended desktop). I bought a dual-port video card with a VGA port and DVI. My TV is HDMI so I used a DVI to HDMI adapter to connect my TV to the DVI port.

I walked through the driver setup (with the included CD) and when I rebooted the screen was blank. So I rebooted into safe mode to troubleshoot. When I got in safe mode I realized that the ATI drivers were having trouble loading - so I went to ATI’s website and got the latest drivers and the Catalyst software (a free download, but pretty large so be prepared to wait a few minutes).

I uninstalled the original software/drivers (from Add/Remove programs) and installed the Catalyst software and drivers. I rebooted and the same thing happened - it hung. I did a little searching online and found that many other people had the same problem - the issue was that in my haste to install the drivers I had failed to notice that I needed the latest .Net framework installed from Microsoft.

So I did a search for .Net 2.0 download (it is a beta version but works great for me so far) and installed the framework. (I would put a link but when I was searching I found many dead links so I am guessing that Microsoft periodically changes the location of the page)

After installing the .Net framework I once again uninstalled all ATI software on my computer and reinstalled the catalyst drivers. This time I rebooted and everthing worked without a hitch. Amazingly enough, the ATI software decided (correctly) that I had two monitors connected - a LCD monitor and a HD Sony TV. I played with the resolution a bit and finally got one that worked for both.

I loaded up a free HD trailer that I downloaded from Movielink and put it on the Sony - it looked awesome. I switched back and forth between the HD trailer and HD OTA broadcasts (that I didn’t realize we got here) and the quality was comparable - now I can watch HD broadcasts on my TV from my PC - I can truly say that I am now excited for Blu-Ray or HD-DVD to be released.

The other day I had a friend ask me if we carried a VGA to S-Video Converter. This converter offers you the ability to plug a VGA cable into it and offers you the ability to do S-video or composite video out.

This is really helpful if you plan on using a TV screen as your monitor or you are trying to watch multimedia on your TV, but keep in mind that the picture may be a bit fuzzy. This is just something to keep in mind when considering connecting your media center to your PC - you are probably better off finding a TV with DVI or HDMI and upgrading your video card for a true digital experience.

In recent years the clock speeds of CPUs (Central Proccessing Unit) and GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) have been increasing by leaps and bounds! The industry seems to not be slowing in their desire to create the perfectly smooth and functional system. What once seemed like a normal wait time for an appplication to open is now like an eternity. People crave a fast system. It is just that simple. Where would this world be without multitasking anyway? More specifically just the last couple of years has brought about a new type of processing through Multi-Core CPUs. Two are obviously better than one right? In almost every case the anwswer to that question would be yes. However, there are a few drawbacks that Dual-Core processors bring that has been overlooked by more than a few companies.

For gaming lovers everywhere we have that GIANT in Redmond, Washington to thank for the Xbox 360. What an awesome piece of hardware, as long as it is functioning correctly that is. What’s this you say…you haven’t heard of the issues that our plaguing the Xbox 360. Put it this way the inside of the machine is burning like a volcano. For some reason it seems that cooling was not high on the priority list of the system designers. Or maybe it was…but the system designers didn’t get the last say. In all of my speculating when the marketers were introduced to the system they may have thought it sounded like a vacuum cleaner. Yes boys and girls it takes fans running at high speeds to keep a system stable, especially if you live in a house where your wife likes to turn up the thermostat in the winter.

To make this point perfectly clear take a jaunt on over to one of my favorite gaming sites for their take on this issue. www.FIRINGSQUAD.com

“In an effort to keep the system quiet, Microsoft is overly aggressive with running the fans slowly. The best approach for Xbox 360 stability is placing a small exhaust fan to augment the existing solution. An enterprising entrepreneur could probably make a small fortune selling an added exhaust fan for the Xbox 360 powered by the rear USB port. The Xbox 360 just needs a little extra boost – that’s all.”

In my opinion by far one of the greatest drawbacks to PC processing (and hinderances to my sweet OVERCLOCKING SKILLS) is this thing I learned about in physical science called…HEAT!!! My mother always warned me not to touch a hot oven when I was younger, but believe me you would not want to touch a processor with a couple of volts charging it either.

Today’s processors are scorching hot and for the fastest processors you will need special cooling in order to control the fire your Power Supply is creating.

I will share a few of my suggestions on how to do this.
1. A case built for your cooling needs.
2. Adequate room temperature. (Somewhere between 65-75 Farenheit).
3. Good use of thermal paste.
4. Specifically desiged CPU heat sink and fan or liquid cooling :).

Particularly I have found that an excellent cooling solution is the Zalman CNPS9500 LED! I modified my old Alienware with this CPU cooler and now I have built my new gaming rig with the same awesome product!!!

You can easily get a sustained 40 degrees celcius as long as you use some Artic Silver 5 and have good fans in your case.

Notice the 3 heatpipes coming up from the heat sink in a figure-8 config making a total of 6 heatpipes. What a beautiful piece of copper!

A great review of the product can be found here at techPowerUp.

Something extremely exciting has taken place at Sewell Direct just recently.
We have just added Nvidia Video Cards on the website!!

The following graphics cards are ready to ship:

-XFX GeForce 7800 GT-
SW-4270
-XFX GeForce 6600 LE-
SW-4271

From what I hear this is just the beginning!! So stay tuned.

Expect a new article from me soon about my new gaming rig!

Well I better get back to gaming…

–Tikiman (Scott Sibley)