bonestonne

pop open the laptop and check the internal wireless card. the antenna may have become loose, or the card itself may not be seated properly. If all else fails, replace the internal card, should be maybe $30 at the most if you do your research. or call up dell, say you have a faulty wireless card and request a replacement (only if the laptop is still under warranty). if it looks like a duck, acts like a duck, then it is a duck. if other computers work fine, then naturally, the problem lies within.

Yes, that card will work just fine. pretty good price as well. I'm a little surprised onboard couldn't push the 75hz...

I'm not sure why, but even with the "high failure rate" I still trust Western Digital and Seagate the most. I don't trust Maxtor at all, my first computer had one, it died. All faith in Maxtor went with it. Hitachi is actually one I'd go with though. Despite the "Deathstar" nickname, several computers here do have Deskstar, and my laptop even has a Travelstar drive. I'd rather the Seagate over the Western Digital, but the way it worked out for me I have Western Digital in my workstation, but my server actually has 2 WD, 1 seagate and 1 IBM...so I'm not very picky.

I've got an E6750 with 8gb of RAM...i don't need quad yet. but i think the OP could get the point by now. if you need 15k RPM, get SAS...not SCSI

Wholeheartedly agree with Coffeefiend here...and I have a P3 class Server, so I know what he means. although I wouldn't say dirt cheap, because I can't afford a quad...but the rest of my system is waiting for one (P45 + 8gb of RAM). the only thing those drives have going for them is 15k RPM, which to be honest, is useless unless you need a lot of performance, and I work with multi-track audio, and I don't even need 10k RPM, although I have been eyeing a Velociraptor for my boot drive.

In theory, AMD will seemingly outperform the Celeron any day. P4 and AMD might be a closer race, but the AMD will still come out on top. Use the AMD rig. I've found systems like that. Picked up a Dell Dimension E510 about 2 weeks ago, and I'm on the verge of selling it with some upgrades from parts I have lying around. Unless you're going to use them, get them to a working state and do one of two things with them: 1) Donate them to a good cause, you benefit because this is a tax writeoff (donation being key word). 2) Sell it locally, for cheap to someone who could use a computer. If you don't need it, but someone else does, why keep it? I'm donating a VIA C3 based computer to a local gym, they're going to use it for streaming music, but i'm never going to use it again, and it would be wasteful to think it would get recycled anywhere effectively, as it was built before the ROHS standard was introduced into any electronics at all. The only true method to recycle a computer is to pass it along to the next generation to use, and hope they understand the same. I have tons of spare parts i've been trying to sell, but buyers are limited because everyone wants the latest and greatest.

the TV should have a "picture" button, this will toggle it between widescreen and 4:3. The TV might only support up to a certain resolution, so you should definitely keep that in mind. that's how my TV works, i keep it in the 4:3 instead of widescreen because the computer i have with my TV doesn't support it well (graphics go to hell). best i can tell you without knowing the model TV he has.

flip the RAM between the slots you're putting it in, generally that'll solve it. I had the problem with one of my laptops, got kernel panics in linux, swapped the ram between the two slots, works fine now. otherwise, check manufacturer specs and buy RAM that matches it exactly

you probably have dust bunnies...or a dust wall. i had that with my P4 laptop...ended up selling mine, but it arrived DOA...set me back a bit, but whatever. last time i send a laptop USPS. open it up, take off the heatsink, clean it out with some compressed air...preferably outside, so you don't get the dust bunnies anywhere else were they'll cause a big problem. put it back in, a little bit of new TIM, and you should have a happier laptop. if that's not the problem, get a new heatsink, as there could be a problem with the heatpipe (not user replaceable).

with the monster computer i used for a while (dell XPS series) the 8800GTS 640 had more than enough power, and seemed faster than what i have, for what i do. i know the difference between the G80 and G92....i just don't know every model inside out and backwards...either way, at this point I'd want an ATI Radeon 5870x2.

then get an X-Fi or some other basic 5.1 model... as much as you don't want it, you can probably get some PCI-e x1 based card for $70 range...just check around on newegg. your biggest limit is saying you don't want creative, when they almost dominate the sound card world.

well, i said that...didn't i? i have the 9600GT because that's what became available to me, but i'd rather an 8800...

it rhymes with Home Theater.... my bad, i gave it away. I've never seen a Home Theater system that relies on 3.5mm inputs. you can get adapters to convert that into 3.5mm male or female (i have adapters for both).

ha, i second that M-Audio card...i've had one for the past couple years, flawless. it's also really good for integrating into a home theater (having RCA outputs). I use it for general playback as well as recordings, flawless card all the way up to it's highest settings. The Auzentech card though, it's basically a different brand of the same creative models.

running one of the fastest quad core CPUs out right now (at least for the LGA775 platform) there's zero need to change. you've got all the power you could possibly need in that rig. what applications are you using that could possibly even begin to put that system under enough load that you would need to switch? if you want some serious graphics overload, you could drop a dime on a pair of 4870x2's for some X-Fire. Some quad GPU mclovin right there. the only places you have left to really work on is RAM, where you could go all the way to DDR2-1066 (not much point in it, but you could). 8gb is pretty solid, i'm running 8gb for my workstation, which i use for linux development, so i now see 2 or 3 virtual machines cracking away (doesn't help that my second monitor died). But even then, I have a dual core, and i only see minor lag when i have more than one virtual machine open. I've been thinking of moving to a quad, but i just don't have the money for it. and with i7 on the move, i'm just waiting for a used quad core to be in my price range. but unless you really have the upgrade itch, there's no point. 32nm is on the move, so buying the i7's that are out is a waste of money, you'll buy it, and it'll be the fastest thing for about a month, but then all the little rich kids will get systems that make yours look like crap. aside from graphics (because i originally wanted the 8800GTS 640) my system is my dream rig. E6750 with 8gb of RAM...what more can i ask for? the 9600GT is good, so no complaints, but the 8800GTS just has more beef.

you've got a quad core with 8gb of RAM...skip buying a whole new rig and just grab the mid-range ATI 5xxx series, and you'll have a whole new monster. no need to buy new at this point (with i7 out, and i5 still in the works).

If you take it apart, how's the leads coming from the battery? Or better yet, is it even clean in there? You may simply just have something causing a short in the laptop, possibly a bad capacitor, etc. If the battery is good, and the power adapter is good, check the system board. You may have to take apart the entire laptop, you may rebuild it only to have a few extra parts that you can't remember where they went, but you'll have found a problem by then. My Thinkpad T22 laptop recently decided to give me a kernel panic no matter what I was doing, I decided to swap the RAM between the two slots, and now it runs great again (and is going to college with me). I'd say there's just some capacitor or circuit that's failed, possibly a cold solder joint somewhere, something like that. Leave the laptop unplugged for a few minutes, take out the battery, and then hold down the power button for about 90 seconds. Afterwards, plug it back in while holding the power button. After that, try turning it on. If it turns on after that, let it run for a while and then try simply turning it off, and turning it back on normally. If you have to constantly hold down the power button to get it to start, it's because a capacitor is not draining. It's not a fix I could tell you, when electronics reach that point, I wouldn't be able to tell you what to do, that's my exit point. I have a philips HDTV which has loads of problems, but can't seem to solve it (although i know the basic problems) so i hold onto it, and deal (eventually it'll get fixed). If holding the power button doesn't work, or any of those tricks don't seem to work, i think you're SOL, but it's worth a shot before giving up.

i don't think i've ever had that problem, but if you disable "boot from other device" does it stop? my theory is that the BIOS detects the drives and adds them to the boot list trying to boot off them. simply having them plugged in when the computer starts makes the computer 'go stupid' a little, and check to see if it can boot off them. if that isn't the case then i have no idea what to tell you, but i've had similar problems. but moving to firewire for my external hardware changed all that.

i'd say check for new SATA drivers for your motherboard. I've gone away from USB to firewire for my external hard drive, loads faster than USB, but my drive doesn't have eSATA, so I can't jump that far. you might also want to try a different eSATA cable.

few new goodies... Fileserver: Everex PC3500G: 1.5GHz Via C7-D 2gb DDR2-667 1x 80gb 3x 160gb Ubuntu 9.04 Workstation: (hasn't changed a whole lot) 2.66GHz E6750 (scythe ninja rev A) MSI Neo P45 ECS nVidia 9600GT (Accelero S1 rev 2) 250gb WD 640gb WD M-Audio Delta 24/96 Firewire 400 3 port PCI HL DVD-RAM 16x Corsair 400CX Laptops: used Apple Powerbook G4 (coming soon) 1.33ghz 2gb RAM 60gb CD-RW/DVD Airport Extreme --------- Thinkpad T22 900mhz P3 512mb RAM 40gb CD/DVD Wireless B ---------- Toshiba Satellite 1.8ghz? 512mb 160gb CD-RW/DVD-RW Wireless G That's all I think...the toshiba is going to my sister when i get me powerbook, i'm letting a friend borrow the thinkpad until she gets her own laptop...I'm also thinking of getting one of this HP netbooks, the little black one, but maybe in a while. I also have an old 2nd gen iPhone, no SIM...I use that as my super-mini netbook...no downloading anything, but good for wifi, horrid battery life though.

that HX520 would have been more than enough for that rig to be honest. it looks power hungry, but it isn't. at full load i would estimate the power usage to be around 350W maximum.

i'm a little similar...the first computer i ever built is still up in my room, however has no OS installed (it's quite a picky rig, being an old server). but later computers that i use now which are much faster, i try to sell the old parts so they aren't collecting dust, i don't have the space, time, money or means to have 3-4 brand new computers running. I have 2 desktops and 2 laptops in active use, but between all of them, the desktops get the most use, just because they hardly ever give me trouble.

if the AUX connector isn't in use, it isn't in use, it makes no difference to the power supply, i have a few like this, and it truly doesn't affect performance. as for the RAM, to be honest, RD-RAM is the devil to me, i had one computer that used it, and i donated that one (it had 768mb at the time, all of which was pulled from computers at the dump, because even internet prices were ridiculous). if a motherboard doesn't support ECC, there's nothing you can change about that, if you can update the BIOS at all, maybe support was added, but the chances are slim.

The best i can say is try looking for PC2100 RAM instead of PC2700. The difference is that PC2700 runs at 333mhz, PC2100 runs at 266mhz. Normally, you'd expect the RAM to just run at the lower frequency and still work, but it's possible that it wont, laptops are different from desktops.

some people like me would stop by, take it, fix it and use it. you should see the Everex PC3500G i have upstairs...a couple hours cleaning the viruses off vista, and it works like new (although now it's got a few upgrades and it's running ubuntu). it could very simply be an issue with the hard drive...you could always replace that if the computer is really worth something to you, otherwise i'd take the hard drives out, and then leave it for donation or a cheap buy locally for someone with a drive who wants to take a swing at it...the joys of listing things as "As is"....