McPhee

My brother just bought this yesterday: http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_VAIO_C2M-W_VGN-C2M-W.CEK/version-1.asp Pretty nice bit of kit, tbh im really surprised! It's not the most meaty of machines but it has some nice features and a good quality 13" screen. Laptops Direct were great too, he paid for next day delivery but the card was rejected (Visa Security). They sorted the mess out this morning and the laptop arrived this afternoon! I'd stay clear of Acer, personally i've had very, very bad experiences with them. Bad build quality full of design flaws that they wouldn't correct because they make too much money off repairs. My £700 Travelmate has cost me about a grand now and needs repairing yet again! Evesham seem to have some nice prices at the moment too, and the 3 year warranty is pretty cheap. Might be worth a quick look at them, they'll build to you're spec

You know, i was thinking exactly the same thing! He accuses Vista of not working properly?!?! Im sitting here typing this on an Acer "laptop" that has cracking casing for the 3rd time in 18 months and a defunct battery and charging circuit! It can't leave my desk! Amazingly enough, the software works fine! Yes, Vista is obviously the pile of shite that's at the cause of my computer problems...

When is Blue Dragon out? I've got the strange urge to play a JRPG at the moment, not surprising given the last JRPG i played was Skies of Arcadia when it was released on GameCube!

On a serious note, im glad this came up! Im might soon be building a media centre PC and this would have annoyed the hell out of me! I probably would have just taped it up instead of doing the sensible thing and asking

Put tape over the 360's IR receiver?

Yuppage Just download the CDs. You can get the CD-Key you are currently using by using the program Shorty posted: Whether or not doing this is illegal is a bit of a legal grey area. Should all be above board though as long as you're current copy actually is legit

I loved it! And tbh i actually liked the Save system, it added a bit of strategy to the game

He's crossed out because he got banned. More than once if i remember rightly

It's do-able, just tested the 256MB ram part myself (although my processor is 1.6GHz). Runs like a paralytic cripple though...

Well, if theres no product key on the machine and you didn't buy a retail copy then you're already using an illegal version of Windows. Either buy an OEM or download another illegal copy

Um, wasn't The Darkness developed by Starbreeze?

Ok, i'll bite. HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE THAT!!1!!!11!1!

I liked Constantine. Not as good as it could have been but hardly bad

I used to have this problem too, was a right bitch! I don't do PC gaming at the moment, my laptop is on it's last legs and struggles to run Vista, Firefox and WMP all at the same time, never mind a game. Back when i did though i just used a stock keyboard, never really found much advantage in gaming boards. As long as it's decent (i.e. £20-ish) and wired it'll do the job. For mice my vote would go for the MX1000, best mouse i've ever used! Either that or a Razer, i know a lot of people who are very happy with the Copperhead or Diamondback

It's probably full of crappy unecessary programs that think they are being helpful by booting at start-up (Im looking at you Quicktime). You tried reducing the number down? My bros laptop ran really slow because he had all sorts working in the background. Vaio software, Quicktime, Real Player, Google Desktop, Avast, Zone Alarm, there was about 20-30 icons across the right side of the taskbar!

Buy eet! Vista shouldn't cause you many headaches, less than XP anyways

yeah, its 120GB and it's out at the end of August Won't have Bomberman today, can't be bothered to leave the house. Town is 5 miles away, bus stop a mile and a half and i really can't be arsed

Connect it directly to the mains without a step down converter and stand the hell back. 2.7 Amperes of electricity should screw the thing up nicely, might be closer to a bonfire than RROD though...

At a guess i'd say either the card or the reader isn't fast enough. ReadyBoost demands really quite high spec cards and the readers have to be just as good. USB sticks are recommended because you only have to worry about the performance of the stick itself and because sticks of the required spec are cheaper than the equivalent memory card. Looky here: http://www.grantgibson.co.uk/blog/index.php/2006/09/16/readyboost-chart/

I use a 15" CRT with my 360, works fine. Looking for a new set though, just need to find the right set at the right price (im VERY fussy) Oblivion is. Easily. Might have a point with GRAW though Thinking about it, doesn't Gears meet everything that Jim asked for? :p Just got CoD2 in the post from LOVEFiLM, along with a copy of Jet Li's Fearless!

3 hours to install an OS is pretty quick tbh. The core install doesn't even take an hour and is nearly all automated. The rest of the time is spent finding and installing programs + drivers. In comparison Sabayon Linux took me 2 weeks to get running properly (wi-fi driver issues + other driver problems) Vista isn't perfect but Microsoft certainly did they're part in getting it running, it's lazy 3rd parties that are holding things up *cough* Sony *cough* Apple *cough* etc

I prefer it, miss being able to run though I've got the same view of Halo tbh. Will probably buy it in the hope i get proven wrong, but i don't hold high hopes

Well, as Vegas is £25 second hand in both Game and Gamestation i'd have to say get CoD2 or Oblivion

I'm trying to ignore the PS3. I didn't bother looking at any of they're E3 stuff, or much of Nintendo's simply because at the moment I'm content with the 360. I don't have cash flow problems stopping me from getting one, but there are far better unnecessary ways to spend £400 (mostly involving beer Jäger, strippers, a team of midgets and a medieval catapult)