MS and Logitech drivers don't always play nice together!

I haven't installed mouse or keyboard specific drivers for years - but I only do use the standard multimedia keys that is natively supported in XP, and I don't need tons of mouse buttons either. I've never been a fan of the keyboard and mouse "drivers" (which afaik don't even include driver components these days, but is more like always-running apps that intercept keys/buttons and launch applications/whatever), especially logitech have been really good at creating monster bloatware.

Question:
Is there any reason why I would want a wired keyboard?  I'm not a gamer, and from my initial research, it seems that all the premium keyboards are targeted to gamers and they are wired.  I love wireless keyboards, but I'm not finding many choices besides one or two from Logitech and Microsoft.

Not really, apart from not having to recharge batteries, and avoiding possible receptions problems. The first concern can't be helped, but keyboard batteries last quite a bit (except in my case, I have to recharge them once every three-four weeks) and they get recharged in less than one hour, and if you buy a decent keyboard, you won't have reception problems. Those things have large reception ranges, and obstacles rarely get in the way of their waves.

Genius or Saitek also have wireless keyboards, although I ignore how good they are. Saitek has a good reputation, but in gaming keyboards, not regular ones.

I haven't installed mouse or keyboard specific drivers for years :) - but I only do use the standard multimedia keys that is natively supported in XP, and I don't need tons of mouse buttons either. I've never been a fan of the keyboard and mouse "drivers" (which afaik don't even include driver components these days, but is more like always-running apps that intercept keys/buttons and launch applications/whatever), especially logitech have been really good at creating monster bloatware.

SetPoint is surprisingly lean, as long as you disable a couple of autostart items, it provides good help with media players and they let you access many functions that would go unused otherwise (including encryption, for the paranoids :D). Their visual cues for using certain keys could be a bit less obnoxious (they take a good chunk of the screen), but they're mostly OK.

Last two items:  Power Supply and DVD burner.

Should I get a Blu-ray or HD burner?  I don't think I have to, since neither the discs or the burners are mainstream enough to be affordable yet.  If that's the case, I'll just reuse my current DVD burner.  I don't think the speeds of regular DVD/CD burning have changed much in the last 3 years.

Also, for PSU, I have to research more.  I want great quality and silent.  I really care about PSU.  Like I said before, I had a bad one last time and it cost me quite a bit.

What is the point of an HD burner - the HD-DVD format is dead and gone.

Just a thought why go for BluRay burner either.

They are a stupid price at the moment and the media is ridiculously expensive.

Why not just go for a cheap Dual Layer DVD combo drive? You can get them for a few dollars (I quite like the Pioneer multiformat drives and they are as cheap as chips). In a years time BluRay drives will be significantly cheaper thatn they are now, will have bedded in a bit and media prices should starting to fall. It is a 2 minute job to install a new drive so it isn't like you are going to have a major upgrade to perform.

Sorry - I updated my post and our posts crossed. Look back to my previous post.

HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are different formats. The format war was won by Blur-Ray so HD-DVD (which is what I thought you meant) is now effectively dead. You are quite correct BR Is also an HD format but see my previous comment about why you should wait to consider buying a BR burner.

OK, no Bluray burner then.  I'll just reuse my existing NEC DVD/CD combo burner, it's fine.

I was reading this anandtech article about 650-680 W PSU's.  I'll go with it's recommendation and get the Hiper HPU-5B680 model.

[Click here to return to first post and see updated system components & price]


Well, it looks like my system is finished for the time being.  Now, I need to sit on it for a while.  I'll check out all the prices and the stores to see where the best deals are.  I'll add stuff if I've forgot anything.  Very cool!

I like the Hiper PSUs a lot - beautifully engineered.

Nice!  Good enough for me, then!

OK how about this:

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/45/75/442/BDR-202/index.html

Ain't cheap though.

What about speakers if you want to do audio work?

True but the Pioneer writes Blu-ray too - actually cheaper than I thought though prices will plummet over the next 12 months.

Ha ha -- that's what I have figured too.

Until I can afford a large HD TV what is the point (and even then what is the point according to many reviews that suggest upscaled DVD is barely distinguishable from Blu-Ray anyway).

I currently have a 32" widescreen TV which already dominates my living space - I don't want anything bigger in the room - haven't got the space for it - and Blu-Ray isn't going to make a big enough difference on a 32" screen.

Add to that I have a huge collection of DVDs and I can't reaaly see the point in migrating to HD.

The only reason on a computer is the increased capacity of Blu-Ray media for storage. However, I don't think Blu-Ray writable media is financially viable yet for that and no one yet knows what recording longevity will be like on HD formats.

Since this was discussed earlier, I wanted to see exactly how much money was being "wasted" on this system.  So here's a very quick estimate of the spoiled factor in the cost:

ITEM	PRICE	EXCESS $$
Motherboard	$140	+$40
CPU	$270	+$70
Monitor	$600	+$300
Main Hard Drive	$200	+$30
Storage Hard Drive	$130	+$0
Backup Hard Drive #1	$130	+$0
Backup Hard Drive #2	$130	+$0
External HD Enclosure	$70	+$50
RAM	$80	+$0
Graphics Card	$200	+$100
Audio Mixing Board	$300	+$0
Pro Audio Card	$0	+$0
Case	$190	+$100
Mouse	$70	+$40
Keyboard	$50	+$30
DVD/CD Burner	$0	+$0
56k PCI Modem	$0	+$0
Power Supply	$135	+$30

How much I'm spoiling myself:  $790

That's almost $800, but the question to ask is where do I really draw the line?  $300 of it comes from just the extra monitor, but you know, I just want a luxurious amount of screen space, ok?  The rest is just the difference between solid, average hardware and really nice, functional hardware.  And if anyone knows me, they know I have to have quality.  So an extra $500-$800 isn't going to kill me.  Especially once every 7 years.  And if it weren't for the freaking hedge fund fiasco, I wouldn't even worry about it for a second, considering what I'd be doing in 7 years.  Anyway, I digress...this is fine for now.  I'm excited!

My 300GB Raptor arrived yesterday.  I'll try it out today on my current computer.  Next thing to do is buy the rest of the parts.