tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-212118102008-09-08T10:31:09.852-06:00<i>Gaming - It's not just a hobby. It's a life style.</i> <BR><BR> Concise bullet point style thoughts and reviews on video games and technology.ARogannoreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-72973305178864146652008-09-04T14:16:00.013-06:002008-09-05T09:25:54.697-06:002008-09-05T09:25:54.697-06:00

- grab it here: http://www.google.com/chrome - Read this comic for lots more information on what's different about chrome: http://blogoscoped.com/google-chrome/ - It feels very fast especially heavy javascript web 2.0 pages like google applications.- Very minimalist UI (maybe a bit too minimum).  There aren't a whole lot of features or customization options.  I can't open a new tab with a

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/09/google-chrome-web-browser.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-15275244551500316162008-09-03T08:21:00.002-06:002008-09-03T13:57:21.070-06:002008-09-03T13:57:21.070-06:00

- Good graphics, sometimes great, nice explosions, good draw distance., solid smooth framerate. - Things blow up nicely. Highly destructible environments/structures but not quite everything is destructible. - I finished the single player campaign. The length felt just about right. I actually found myself enjoying the story, cut scenes, and characters quite a lot. It's not the best writing

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/09/battlefield-bad-company-xbox-360.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-35994889653460490982008-09-03T08:12:00.006-06:002008-09-03T12:42:18.657-06:002008-09-03T12:42:18.657-06:00

- I recently picked this up for $12 used. I played it on my 60gb ps3 with a dualshock 3 (lots of rumble support). - I've finished and loved ICO and always planned to try this game out especially with all the great reviews. So I'm 3 yrs late to the party but I finally got to it. - It's just you, a sword, bow and arrow, and your horse Agro and 16 epic boss fights. Each colossus is like a

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/09/shadow-of-colossus-ps2.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-3328496014025278832008-09-02T16:27:00.004-06:002008-09-02T16:47:49.345-06:002008-09-02T16:47:49.345-06:00

- $10 on xbox live arcade- I was a big fan of the first one though I could never get the million point achievement (hit 950K ish several times but never a million...ARG!!!)- 6 modes of play, 4 player local co-op (no multiplayer over live). Each mode is well thought out. None of them are throw away. You are bound to find a few that you like.- It's all about the leader boards now. By default

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/09/geometry-wars-2-xbox-360.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-47702809061120960642008-09-02T15:49:00.012-06:002008-09-03T08:06:03.573-06:002008-09-03T08:06:03.573-06:00

WARNING: Potential minor spoilers (but I'll try to keep it to a minimum) - Amazing part platform part puzzle game with some of the most ingenious levels I've seen. - Finished in around 6 hrs. Time (no pun intended) greatly depends on how many puzzles you get stuck on. I found all 60 puzzles pieces without cheating (NO YOUTUBE!!) + hidden text, and it was well worth it. The stars on the other

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/09/braid-xbox-360.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-50562884811574611202008-08-25T16:07:00.015-06:002008-08-25T19:24:24.173-06:002008-08-25T19:24:24.173-06:00

http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingbox-av - I picked this up (refurb) for $75 shipped from woot a while back. - Slingbox is great for location shifting your DVR/PVR content to maybe someplace else in the house or anywhere you've got an internet connection. It's more geared toward those who use closed box DVR's provided by your content provider (cable, satellite, uverse, fios, etc) or tivo.

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/08/slingbox-av.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-84718050307712379742008-08-11T14:50:00.005-06:002008-08-13T08:20:35.624-06:002008-08-13T08:20:35.624-06:00

- On sale right now at newegg for $34 shipped: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042 - Use any sata 3.5" internal hard drive, has usb 2.0 and esata connections, comes with all the cables including an esata back plate. - Nice ventilation and grills. 80mm fan is pretty quiet though audible. There is a separate power switch just for the fan if you want to turn that off.

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/08/rosewill-rx-358-s-blk-black-35-sata-to.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-73408584084637038032008-08-11T14:14:00.008-06:002008-08-12T08:41:19.883-06:002008-08-12T08:41:19.883-06:00

So I have a Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC DVR (SARA) from comcast that I use mostly for live and timeshift TV watching, as a backup to my homebrew pvr rcTV where I do most of my recording, and to work with my slingbox AV. So I don't actually use my SA 8300HDC all that much (part of it is b/c how much it sucks: slow remote reponse, audio drop outs on playback, and other issues) but I do use it once

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/08/adding-external-hard-drive-to-your.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-76195680781997242772008-08-08T13:44:00.007-06:002008-08-08T13:57:28.159-06:002008-08-08T13:57:28.159-06:00

- Got it for $35 shipped from woot.com for use with my sansa e280. - I really like the design. It has a nice large display and takes up less night stand space than my old clock radio with it's more cylindrical tower design. - Dual alarm. - Battery backup uses 2XAA which I much prefer to the usual 9 volt since I always have lots of spare AA batteries. - Has a thin wire for fm antenna and a

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/08/timex-clock-radio-for-sansa-ts70.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-78280405761825390952008-08-07T15:37:00.004-06:002008-08-07T15:50:36.839-06:002008-08-07T15:50:36.839-06:00

First I just wanted to apologize for not posting much lately. I've been pretty good at keeping my promise of at least one new post a week up until a few months ago. I've had some vacation time and then got sick for a week. That and surprisingly I haven't had anything that interesting to blog about. Anyways, enough excuses. Sometimes you have an application or say some very old edutainment (

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/08/custom-resolution-by-application-in.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-34618602298982849902008-07-01T10:10:00.003-06:002008-07-01T22:11:47.475-06:002008-07-01T22:11:47.475-06:00

Product Page Support and drivers - Small external USB sound card with SPDIF optical out. This is about the cheapest and easiest way to get spdif passthrough for ac3/dts if you have a pc without any sort of digital audio output. - I picked it for $30 from amazon. - This sound card only has 1/8 mini analog stereo headphone out or with the included adapter optical out. There are no other

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/07/turtle-beach-audio-advantage-micro.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-52600061950892815332008-06-22T15:19:00.049-06:002008-09-02T17:16:32.766-06:002008-09-02T17:16:32.766-06:00

Product Page Support Page SHSPVR Forums AVS Forum - Captures 720p/1080i over component (and eventually 5.1 DD bitstream over optical) in h.264 in realtime in hardware with almost 0% cpu utilization . This takes advantage of the analog loop hole (not ICT at least not until 2012 if ever) and lets you record from almost any HD source like cable set top boxes or satellite. This is a big boon

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/06/hauppauge-hd-pvr-model-1212.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-22770926903312252452008-06-07T12:39:00.005-06:002008-06-07T12:47:43.912-06:002008-06-07T12:47:43.912-06:00

- So everybody at my wife's place of employment got this mp3 player for free for some sort of safety record. - There is no model number or manual. While shutting down(hold down the play button) I noticed the text "ver 3201". A bit of googling and I think I found it: http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/sonia0/product-detailSodQgefOEUkl/China-Oem-MP3-Player-3201-.html http://

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/06/128mb-mp3-player-3201.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-50544743211781137062008-06-06T23:36:00.011-06:002008-06-07T00:06:46.476-06:002008-06-07T00:06:46.476-06:00

samsung on the left, original nec burner on the right - $52 shipped from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151162 - Samsung SN-S082H support page - So I was tired of the crappy nec burner that came with my Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop. It was slow and wouldn't even recognize my Verbatim DVD+R blank media which is my preferred brand. - I recently bought several

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/06/samsung-slim-dvd-burner-sn-s082h.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-35121289963818099012008-05-29T08:41:00.014-06:002008-05-31T12:55:13.137-06:002008-05-31T12:55:13.137-06:00

- My coupons were about to expire so I went ahead and picked up my converter boxes. - I picked this model since after a bit of research it's suppose to currently be the best box out there with a very good sensitive tuner. $20 at circuit city. Make sure you look for April 2008 manufacturing date on the box near the upc code. Supposedly earlier builds could potentially have an audio issue in

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/05/zenith-dtt900-digital-tv-tuner.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-346781688251618942008-05-27T15:04:00.004-06:002008-05-29T09:15:41.556-06:002008-05-29T09:15:41.556-06:00

I finally got around to setting this up. These are some really early impressions (about 1hr). I've tried probably less than 15% of the mini games errr ummm "exercises" so far. - I had pre-ordered it from gamestop over a month ago at $90. - According to the instructions it seems like only one balance board can be used at a time which is a shame since I could definitely see some interesting

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/05/wii-fit.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-85808968572899034702008-05-22T14:24:00.003-06:002008-05-22T14:50:23.264-06:002008-05-22T14:50:23.264-06:00

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/376&cl=us,en - I picked up two of these for $50 each at amazon when they went on sale for a short period. I've pretty much replaced all the remaining remotes in my house now with harmony remotes. I have the 676 for the home theater, the xbox one in the game room, and 550's in the master bedroom and exercise room. - This

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/05/logitech-harmony-550-remote.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-25808709849173711862008-05-22T14:00:00.004-06:002008-05-22T14:17:11.562-06:002008-05-22T14:17:11.562-06:00

- So I recently started playing this regularly with 2 friends (picked it up for $25). This game has the worst patching/update system ever!!! Having just come off of about 1000hrs of guild wars (and pretty burnt out) this was quite a shocker. - I'm only a level 10 marksman so I haven't spent that much time with it yet. - It's not bad so far but still running into a few odd bugs. Like last night

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/05/hellgate-london-pc.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-31103379462211117552008-05-20T17:31:00.005-06:002008-05-20T17:45:51.835-06:002008-05-20T17:45:51.835-06:00

- $30 from Sam's club. - My old MX700 finally started dying on me at work. The back button would register a double click about half the time. It was driving me nuts so I went and replaced it with this mx 620. - USB receiver is smaller now at about half the size of the mx 610. - All 5 buttons are in their NORMAL expected locations. This is really critical to me. I just hate mice that move

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/05/logitech-mx-620-cordless-laser-mouse.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-30727355952156524222008-05-13T10:19:00.003-06:002008-05-13T10:26:02.563-06:002008-05-13T10:26:02.563-06:00

fan - exhaust port Hooks and air intake usb powered Manual - picked it up from fry's a few weeks ago for $12-$12 MIR = free - The idea is it has some spring loaded metal hooks on the end which attaches to the exhaust vents of your notebook to help draw air out faster. It actually doesn't fit my dell inspiron 8600. The hooks are pretty big so you need rather large vent slits/holes. -

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/05/rhino-ferret-nb-05-notebook-cooler.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-32447550822775897732008-04-30T08:38:00.008-06:002008-09-03T12:18:23.095-06:002008-09-03T12:18:23.095-06:00

very early impressions. 9 missions passed, 7.53% complete about 3.5 hrs (that's with about 4 side missions, dating, etc and just messing around and finding places) - I'm going to try to keep this as spoiler free as possible but if you want to be surprised and discover stuff on your own you probably shouldn't read this or anything else on GTA IV. - On the 360 depending on lighting (usually

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/04/grand-theft-auto-iv-xbox-360.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-30005440307355177322008-04-28T13:08:00.007-06:002008-04-30T08:38:26.227-06:002008-04-30T08:38:26.227-06:00

- Picked it up for $40 when it first came out. - Finished the single player. I still need to try co-op story mode. I would say it took around 8hrs at most and that is with all the artificial lengthening this game has (more on that later). - Graphics look about the same as the first one which isn't necessarily a bad thing. - Some maps don't seem to be very well optimized. On some levels the

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/04/rainbow-six-vegas-2-xbox-360.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-63269118420716505462008-04-25T12:50:00.006-06:002008-04-25T13:54:28.188-06:002008-04-25T13:54:28.188-06:00

- I bought two of these at monoprice.com for $39 each. I'm using one with my samsung lnr-409d 720p 40" LCD HDTV and the other with my Westinghouse 24" LCD Monitor along with a kvm. - The switches work great. I tested all ports at 1080p with no sparkles or issues. - Nice remote with discrete input selection. - Works great with my harmony remote. - Pretty much everything I wrote about on the

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/04/monoprice-4x1-13b-hdmi-switch.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-41000404999193851082008-04-23T12:06:00.035-06:002008-08-06T13:34:45.324-06:002008-08-06T13:34:45.324-06:00

Popcorn Hour with 40mm fan + zalman fanmate 2 mod: http://www.popcornhour.com - $180 + shipping (which is rather high). It comes out to around $194 after shipping. There's a bit of a waiting list right now. - Good resources you should read: http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page (a must read) http://www.networkedmediatank.com (official forums) http://www.mpcclub.com/

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/04/popcorn-hour-100.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21211810.post-29470092130674118212008-04-21T10:25:00.002-06:002008-04-23T02:01:16.566-06:002008-04-23T02:01:16.566-06:00

Dualshock 3 compared to the original six axis: - I had pre-ordered it from amazon and got it for $50 - It's pretty much exactly the same as the original six axis except it has a bit more weight. I like that since it does feel more substantial in your hands. - Tried it out with Lair with the new analog control/rumble patch. The rumble effects were pretty subtle. The analog control makes

ARoganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01035010559491536662noreply@blogger.comhttp://blog.arogan.com/2008/04/dualshock-3-ps3.html