I said I was playing with Command & Conquer , right ?
Being the fickle minded me, 2 days ago I was packing my software and games collection and I installed this game in my Vista - Theme Hospital.
Pretty funny and interesting. Hooked on to it now.. Damn...
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Nostalgia ...
As you would have known, I have gotten a new computer, running on Windows Vista Home Premium.
So, while in a weak attempt to clean my room, I started installing old games onto the machine.
So now, I am playing with "Commando" and "Command & Conquer : Red Alert For Win95".
Some other games just cannot be played.
I can't get "C&C : Tiberian Sun" to work. Though search round the net found that there are ppl who got it working in Vista. Maybe I haven't searched deep enough.
So its playing a Win95 game, on my nice screen, but at resolution of 640x480.. hahaha..
So, while in a weak attempt to clean my room, I started installing old games onto the machine.
So now, I am playing with "Commando" and "Command & Conquer : Red Alert For Win95".
Some other games just cannot be played.
I can't get "C&C : Tiberian Sun" to work. Though search round the net found that there are ppl who got it working in Vista. Maybe I haven't searched deep enough.
So its playing a Win95 game, on my nice screen, but at resolution of 640x480.. hahaha..
Friday, June 08, 2007
But sometimes, Cheapo is still quite good !
So I finally got my cable working, and I have managed to do some tests - Transfer Speed.
So for technicality, I will have to put my PC specs here :
Dell Inspiron 6400, with Intel T5600 chipset, 120GB SATA HDD (Now, I am not sure if it is SATA 1 or 2), USB 2.0 and 1394a ports.
Tested by copying almost 8GB of video files from my HDD to the External HDD and back. With Internet and other applications turned off. Timed with my handphone stop-watch.
So comparing the few external HDD I have :
(1) Cheap S$39 USB to IDE/ATA External HDD Case, with 120GB 3.5" Samsung IDE/ATA HDD (5,400rpm) :
Average Reading Speed : 15.5MB/sec (That is MegaByte per Second)
Average Writing Speed : 19.6MB/sec
(2) iCute brand $49 USB to IDE/ATA External HDD Case (with fan), with same 120GB 3.5" Samsung IDE/ATA HDD (5,400rpm) :
Average Reading Speed : 18.4MB/sec
Average Writing Speed : 20.6MB/sec
(3) WD MyBook Premium (USB and Firewire Combo, without fan), with its own 500GB 3.5" HDD (also 5,400rpm and SATA I assume) :
Average USB Reading Speed : 15.9MB/sec
Average USB Writing Speed : 19.2MB/sec
Average Firewire Reading Speed : 17.6MB/sec
Average Firewire Writing Speed : 20.4MB/sec
Surprising results, I have to say. MyBook Premium performs worse off than the cheap $49 iCute casing. Though I am not entirely sure if the larger capacity HDD is supposed to be slower than the smaller capacity ones.
Usually reading from a HDD is FASTER than writing. So my results of Writing into external is faster than Reading from external basically means that the bottleneck is at my laptop HDD.
But one thing is for sure : Performance is increased by having a fan.. hee hee..
And just out of curiosity, I compared it with my portable USB 2.5" Casing with 120GB Samsung HDD (5,400rpm) (and I am assuming it is IDE/ATA and not SATA) :
Average Reading Speed : 11.7MB/sec
Average Writing Speed : 11.2MB/sec
Well, I guess I will need a better performing PC instead of a notebook (whose HDD should be slower than the 3.5" HDD) to really bring the transfer speed faster.
So for technicality, I will have to put my PC specs here :
Dell Inspiron 6400, with Intel T5600 chipset, 120GB SATA HDD (Now, I am not sure if it is SATA 1 or 2), USB 2.0 and 1394a ports.
Tested by copying almost 8GB of video files from my HDD to the External HDD and back. With Internet and other applications turned off. Timed with my handphone stop-watch.
So comparing the few external HDD I have :
(1) Cheap S$39 USB to IDE/ATA External HDD Case, with 120GB 3.5" Samsung IDE/ATA HDD (5,400rpm) :
Average Reading Speed : 15.5MB/sec (That is MegaByte per Second)
Average Writing Speed : 19.6MB/sec
(2) iCute brand $49 USB to IDE/ATA External HDD Case (with fan), with same 120GB 3.5" Samsung IDE/ATA HDD (5,400rpm) :
Average Reading Speed : 18.4MB/sec
Average Writing Speed : 20.6MB/sec
(3) WD MyBook Premium (USB and Firewire Combo, without fan), with its own 500GB 3.5" HDD (also 5,400rpm and SATA I assume) :
Average USB Reading Speed : 15.9MB/sec
Average USB Writing Speed : 19.2MB/sec
Average Firewire Reading Speed : 17.6MB/sec
Average Firewire Writing Speed : 20.4MB/sec
Surprising results, I have to say. MyBook Premium performs worse off than the cheap $49 iCute casing. Though I am not entirely sure if the larger capacity HDD is supposed to be slower than the smaller capacity ones.
Usually reading from a HDD is FASTER than writing. So my results of Writing into external is faster than Reading from external basically means that the bottleneck is at my laptop HDD.
But one thing is for sure : Performance is increased by having a fan.. hee hee..
And just out of curiosity, I compared it with my portable USB 2.5" Casing with 120GB Samsung HDD (5,400rpm) (and I am assuming it is IDE/ATA and not SATA) :
Average Reading Speed : 11.7MB/sec
Average Writing Speed : 11.2MB/sec
Well, I guess I will need a better performing PC instead of a notebook (whose HDD should be slower than the 3.5" HDD) to really bring the transfer speed faster.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
My Gadgets and My Luck...
I have recently purchased a WD MyBook Premium edition. Got it at the PC Show with more discounts.
Yesterday, went to buy a 1394 cable (4p-6p) to use on my notebook.
And it is always my luck that my newly purchased IT products are never perfect.
First, my notebook had a strange "smear" on the screen that I cannot clean.
It was replaced by Dell on Monday afternoon. The new replacement had a similar defect, this time, it looked like a short strand of hair was stuck there.. Had it replaced again yesterday morning. At least this time it seems fine.
Then I went home last night and found that I cannot use MyBook with the new 1394 cable, even after I have installed the driver for it.
Then I thought : MyBook is faulty, the cable is faulty or my notebook is faulty.
So I brought the whole thing to my office.
I tried in on my office notebook's 1394 port - not working.
I asked around for other 1394 cable - none.
I asked around for any other 1394 devices I try with my notebook - none.
I was almost at my wits end. Then I spied the eMac sitting at someone's desk.
I took the MyBook's bundled 1394 cable (6p-6p) to try it out on the Mac. It works !
So MyBook is ok !
And unless both 1394 ports of my own notebook and my office notebook are faulty, it is now 95% chance of faulty cable.
*Sigh*
Maybe next time I shouldn't buy el cheapo cables... ?
Update as at 4.30pm :
I went down to the shop, tried out other cables of the same brand (rather, the same non-brand). All didn't work. At least the shop was good enough to refund me, as they do not have stock for their "higher-end" cable.
Went to another shop, bought a slightly more expensive looking cable, tested it on the spot with MyBook. IT WORKS !
Moral of the story : Really, do NOT get el-cheapo cables to save a few bucks. AT least, make sure the cable is of good quality (read : not as flexible, with knobs at the end that is supposed to be EMI shield).
Yesterday, went to buy a 1394 cable (4p-6p) to use on my notebook.
And it is always my luck that my newly purchased IT products are never perfect.
First, my notebook had a strange "smear" on the screen that I cannot clean.
It was replaced by Dell on Monday afternoon. The new replacement had a similar defect, this time, it looked like a short strand of hair was stuck there.. Had it replaced again yesterday morning. At least this time it seems fine.
Then I went home last night and found that I cannot use MyBook with the new 1394 cable, even after I have installed the driver for it.
Then I thought : MyBook is faulty, the cable is faulty or my notebook is faulty.
So I brought the whole thing to my office.
I tried in on my office notebook's 1394 port - not working.
I asked around for other 1394 cable - none.
I asked around for any other 1394 devices I try with my notebook - none.
I was almost at my wits end. Then I spied the eMac sitting at someone's desk.
I took the MyBook's bundled 1394 cable (6p-6p) to try it out on the Mac. It works !
So MyBook is ok !
And unless both 1394 ports of my own notebook and my office notebook are faulty, it is now 95% chance of faulty cable.
*Sigh*
Maybe next time I shouldn't buy el cheapo cables... ?
Update as at 4.30pm :
I went down to the shop, tried out other cables of the same brand (rather, the same non-brand). All didn't work. At least the shop was good enough to refund me, as they do not have stock for their "higher-end" cable.
Went to another shop, bought a slightly more expensive looking cable, tested it on the spot with MyBook. IT WORKS !
Moral of the story : Really, do NOT get el-cheapo cables to save a few bucks. AT least, make sure the cable is of good quality (read : not as flexible, with knobs at the end that is supposed to be EMI shield).
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