Something Random

[Handruin]

I forgot to update you all on what happened with my defective EVGA Titan. The thread in the NEWS section reminded me of it.

I posted a message in the EVGA forums asking if I could send my card in for a possible repair and the what the cost might be, as my card was just past the extended warranty. I received an email from an EVGA CS rep asking me what troubleshooting I did and he wrote, "we can surely assist with a one-time courtesy replacement if necessary." I sent him a long email describing what troubleshooting I did and EVGA CS replied with, "It sounds like there’s definitely an issue with the card so let’s get it replaced." I was told to fill out the RMA form on the EVGA site, (ticket number would automatically fill-in) and I'd be all set.

Sent* my card back to EVGA for RMA and they replaced my card. I'm back up and running.

I still can't believe I only purchased the 5-year extended warranty (2 additional years of coverage) for $30 and not the 10-year, (7 additional years) warranty for only $60 on a $1065 video card. If I ever need another video card I'm DEFINITELY buying an EVGA card and getting the 10-year warranty on it. I've had two high end video cards fail on me, the Titan and an older HIS-Digital (ATI) X1950Pro card.


EVGA REALLY DID ME A SOLID ON THIS AND I'M A CUSTOMER FOR LIFE.





* This was the only truly BS part of my story. Went to a local UPS store to mail my video card RMA package. $1100 worth of insurance (well not really even insurance, but DECLARED VALUE) and delivery confirmation, from AZ to CA was $58. Really $58! Not same day/next day, but slowest shipping possible and still $58. I should have just driven the extra 3 miles to the USPS office and paid $20. F-me.

I'm glad they helped you out. This was the reason I mentioned reaching out to them and also the reason I keep buying their GPUs. I've heard more than one story where they do the right thing and help their customers in situations like this. I'm glad this is still true today and you were able to get a replacement.

Also, I've had the same experience when comparing UPS vs USPS for declared value insurance. On top of that UPS used to give me lip that if they did not package it (at an extra cost) that insurance may be denied if they deem it wasn't packaged well. I noped myself out of shipping with them. I now only us USPS or FedEx.

 

[Handruin]

Finally switched from LG, the V30 was great, but the Note 9 swayed me. Huge (bright) screen, huge battery. Sold.

I've been super tempted to make the switch to the Note 9. BestBuy is offering a $250 trade-in for my G6 which is more than I can get anywhere else...so I'm considering it. Everything I've seen in reviews suggests it's a very good phone. The tear down from Jerry Rig Everything also looked good.

 

[Will Rickards]

I'm just replacing the board in my note4 for now.
It developed the emmc read error that they are known for.
Waiting for those super accurate GPS phones.
And maybe for phone manufacturers to bring back user replaceable batteries.
Hobbling by on a galaxy On5 that has been rooted while waiting for the replacement board.
Battery life is great but so slow.
And I really miss auto brightness.

 

[LunarMist]

Is that phone super narrow or extra long? Does it fit in the front pocket with a caser on

 

[LunarMist]

:b-day: to David, :b-day: to David, :b-day: to David, :b-day: to you...

 

[sedrosken]

Is this for school or work?

Home.

And snowhiker, good to see you got your GPU sorted out. EVGA always seemed to do right by their people from what I've seen and this confirms it yet again -- if I bought my cards new and if EVGA ever did anything but nvidia anymore, I'd likely be running an EVGA card right now, but in the case of my 960 I found a better deal compared to the EVGA 1050Ti I was looking at, and they obviously don't make AMD-based cards so for my 480 I had to settle for Sapphire. EVGA's track record was the big reason why I didn't feel too wary about snagging my PSU on sale for $35 shipped a year and some change back, The B-series has some odd power ripple issues but they seem to have fixed that with the BQ series and I have no complaints, especially for what I paid for it. There's also the possibility that I'm nowhere near stressing it.

 

[ddrueding]

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

 

[LunarMist]

Outlook was "throttled" today all over the US. What a joke.

 

[Chewy509]

I can say that I'm not really a fan of Chrome 69's tab visual design and colour scheme... (and the new Android Messages for SMS on Android phones sucks as well).

 

[Stereodude]

Outlook was "throttled" today all over the US. What a joke.

Did you call and complain?

 

[LunarMist]

Did you call and complain?

Yeah, like 1 of 10,000 matters to them.

 

[Stereodude]

Yeah, like 1 of 10,000 matters to them.

Well, they can probably do more about it than we can.

 

[Chewy509]

Outlook was "throttled" today all over the US. What a joke.

The cloud in action...

 

[Stereodude]

In other news I got a 34" 21:9 (3440x1440) monitor for my desk at work to replace a dual monitor setup of the 14.1" FHD laptop display + 24" FHD monitor. It's a LG 34UM88C. It's big, but seems pretty decent so far. I have it on a Amazon Basics monitor arm sitting almost at the back of my desk. I wouldn't want it to be any further forward. The benefit is that I now have more usable desk space.

I was the guinea pig to see how it all worked. Now they're ordering more for the other engineers in the lab.

 

[LunarMist]

In other news I got a 34" 21:9 (3440x1440) monitor for my desk at work to replace a dual monitor setup of the 14.1" FHD laptop display + 24" FHD monitor. It's a LG 34UM88C. It's big, but seems pretty decent so far. I have it on a Amazon Basics monitor arm sitting almost at the back of my desk. I wouldn't want it to be any further forward. The benefit is that I now have more usable desk space.

I was the guinea pig to see how it all worked. Now they're ordering more for the other engineers in the lab.

I think that would be good for general office work, not just the CAD stuff or whatever you are designing.
Unfortunately I'd have no technical justification to have one at work and BYOD is just such a pain that nobody does it.

 

[jtr1962]

I'm personally not seeing the value of anything wider than 4:3 for CAD or office work. Unfortunately, it seems like monitors and TVs are trending towards wider. I realized recently a lot of movies still have the bars are top and bottom even on a 16:9 TV. WTF is up with that??? Wasn't the whole point of 16:9 to get rid of the bars? 16:9 wasn't wide enough so now they're shooting in an even higher aspect ratio to get people to buy new TVs? At this rate in a few years the monitors and TVs will be something like 4096x1.

 

[LunarMist]

I'm personally not seeing the value of anything wider than 4:3 for CAD or office work. Unfortunately, it seems like monitors and TVs are trending towards wider. I realized recently a lot of movies still have the bars are top and bottom even on a 16:9 TV. WTF is up with that??? Wasn't the whole point of 16:9 to get rid of the bars? 16:9 wasn't wide enough so now they're shooting in an even higher aspect ratio to get people to buy new TVs? At this rate in a few years the monitors and TVs will be something like 4096x1.

I expect it would be better than two displays. One use case is to display two applications, etc. side by side without so much wasted desk space or as much whiplash from looking back and forth.
It would be good for finance programs or any software that typically require a lot of scrolling through column fields. I have to review budget/forecast/actuals on a stupid HD display.

 

[Chewy509]

I thought most cinema was shot at 2.35:1 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21:9_aspect_ratio ) which would make 21:9 the ideal aspect for monitors and TV for movie viewing...

I know Dell, LG and HP now offer at or very similar to this aspect... eg https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/del...8dw/apd/210-amrc/monitors-monitor-accessories

I'm still running dual 20" monitors (1680x1050 or 16:10) so have an effective 32:10 aspect, but for my next monitor will look at a single 21:9 aspect monitor as it offers nearly the same screen area, but without having a bezel in the middle.

PS. There are also 365 M&Ms in a 345g pack of M&Ms...

 

[LunarMist]

How many bags did you examine and what is the %RSD?

 

[jtr1962]

I thought most cinema was shot at 2.35:1 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21:9_aspect_ratio ) which would make 21:9 the ideal aspect for monitors and TV for movie viewing...

It was shot in 4:3 for ages, then they went to 16:9 sometime in the late 1950s I think. Sure, a 21:9 monitor is idea for viewing movies shot in 21:9. Can't see much other practical use for it.

 

[jtr1962]

I expect it would be better than two displays. One use case is to display two applications, etc. side by side without so much wasted desk space or as much whiplash from looking back and forth.
It would be good for finance programs or any software that typically require a lot of scrolling through column fields. I have to review budget/forecast/actuals on a stupid HD display.

At my viewing distance anything much wider than 4:3 would require me to turn my head. And I would be seeing the display off-angle. With two monitors I still need to turn my head, but at least I'm seeing the second display head-on like it's supposed to be viewed. I don't have room for anything very wide anyway. A 24" 16:9 might fit, but I would actually lose vertical space compared to my 20" 4:3.



Of course, I would still like higher resolution, maybe 4000x3000 in a 20" or 21" size. Bonus points for OLED. For now though my setup works fine for me.

 

[Stereodude]

I'm personally not seeing the value of anything wider than 4:3 for CAD or office work.

You can put two or three windows side by side on it. You more or less treat it like a multi-monitor setup, but it's only a single monitor.

 

[jtr1962]

You can put two or three windows side by side on it. You more or less treat it like a multi-monitor setup, but it's only a single monitor.

The issue though is what I mentioned about the stuff on the sides being viewed off-angle. To not view it off angle you need a very large monitor placed rather far away. As you can see with that picture of my setup I don't have room to move the monitor further back. Nor would I want to as it would mean needing glasses when I'm using it (i.e. anything further away than about 16" starts to get blurry).

If it works for you, great. I know these large, ultra-wide aspect monitors don't really work for me. It's a pity because now that we finally have higher resolutions after years of stagnating at 1920x1080 the only thing available is widescreen in various forms. You would think someone would make a 4:3 monitor along the lines I mentioned. Even 2880x2160 would be great if 2160 pixels is the maximum you can have in one direction.

 

[LunarMist]

The issue though is what I mentioned about the stuff on the sides being viewed off-angle. To not view it off angle you need a very large monitor placed rather far away. As you can see with that picture of my setup I don't have room to move the monitor further back. Nor would I want to as it would mean needing glasses when I'm using it (i.e. anything further away than about 16" starts to get blurry).

If it works for you, great. I know these large, ultra-wide aspect monitors don't really work for me. It's a pity because now that we finally have higher resolutions after years of stagnating at 1920x1080 the only thing available is widescreen in various forms. You would think someone would make a 4:3 monitor along the lines I mentioned. Even 2880x2160 would be great if 2160 pixels is the maximum you can have in one direction.

I was thinking of them mainly for helping workers who are poring over the computer all day and reviewing data, etc. Many of them are younger people with more focus accommodation.

 

[LunarMist]

Florence Hurricane is coming and I have to travel next week. It is not looking good.

 

[Stereodude]

The issue though is what I mentioned about the stuff on the sides being viewed off-angle. To not view it off angle you need a very large monitor placed rather far away. As you can see with that picture of my setup I don't have room to move the monitor further back. Nor would I want to as it would mean needing glasses when I'm using it (i.e. anything further away than about 16" starts to get blurry).

There is some appeal to the curved model for that very reason even though I hate the idea of a curved TV. For a computer monitor there is some sense to the idea.

 

[Handruin]

There is some appeal to the curved model for that very reason even though I hate the idea of a curved TV. For a computer monitor there is some sense to the idea.

I was thinking the same thing after reading through the posts regarding the second monitor. I don't care for curved TVs but I feel as though there is some practical uses for a curved monitor.

 

[jtr1962]

There is some appeal to the curved model for that very reason even though I hate the idea of a curved TV. For a computer monitor there is some sense to the idea.

I was thinking the same thing. A curved monitor could solve multiple problems. And I hate the idea of curved TVs myself. It makes no sense at the typical distances people watch TV.

 

[LunarMist]

I don't like curved TVs because viewing from off center becomes worse on the closer edge. I often move about in the room rather than being a couch potato.

 

[LunarMist]

How are the curved TVs/monitors measured, is it the linear distance from corner to corner or the distance on the curved surface?

 

[Stereodude]

How are the curved TVs/monitors measured, is it the linear distance from corner to corner or the distance on the curved surface?

Distance on the curved surface. Basically, flatten the panel and measure it normally.

 

[LunarMist]

Distance on the curved surface. Basically, flatten the panel and measure it normally.

Then the TV would look be smaller at a distance. At least they still make flat TVs. I may need a new one, but that is for another thread.

 

[Stereodude]

Then the TV would look be smaller at a distance. At least they still make flat TVs. I may need a new one, but that is for another thread.

How would the TV look smaller? If the center is the same distance from you it should look slightly bigger because the edges are closer.

Curved TVs were a fad that has passed. Even Samsung is pushing them much less aggressively. Their top end models are flat this year after several years of the top model being curved.

 

[LunarMist]

How would the TV look smaller? If the center is the same distance from you it should look slightly bigger because the edges are closer.

Curved TVs were a fad that has passed. Even Samsung is pushing them much less aggressively. Their top end models are flat this year after several years of the top model being curved.

Great news.

 

[LunarMist]

Florence Hurricane is coming and I have to travel next week. It is not looking good.

North Carolina is cancelled.

 

[Stereodude]

North Carolina is cancelled.

Did you let them know? What about South Carolina?

 

[LunarMist]

Did you let them know? What about South Carolina?

I assume so, but that is not my area in recent times. My leg suffered with the Charleston once.
https://www.wilmingtonnc.gov/

 

[DrunkenBastard]

Hopefully Handruin is ok after all those natural gas pipeline explosions in Massachusetts, scary that an overpressure in the pipe can cause such devastation. Makes me glad I've got LPG tanks instead.

 

[Handruin]

Crazy how that happened. I don't live in that area but a few coworkers were not allowed into their houses until this could be figured out. Many months ago I had looked at a house in a different town that had a natural gas pipeline that ran right through the property. I loved everything about the house except this...and decided to pass on the house. That house wasn't part of this issue but it illustrates why I might have reserve with having the major pipeline go through the property even if it is a very rare occurrence.

 

[DrunkenBastard]

They haven't admitted what caused it yet (happened after maintenance work had been announced) but apparently a very similar pattern of fires happened a while back in Chicago and turned out that was a failure of the pressure regulator that drops the distribution pressure down to domestic levels. So it's not that there was a high risk major pipeline under these houses, but their standard gas supply coming in to the house had too much pressure in them. Then the excess pressure would leak out of your piping or gas appliances I guess. Normally the pressure in the lines would be brought down to maybe a 1/4 PSI by the meter/regulator.