Posted 06/03/2009 at 10:02:25pm

Haven't seen a lot of these in forever. Interesting, though a time line is definitely called for. My old favorite was a Tandy 1000 TL2 with a 10 MEG hd, 640 k (yes k!)) of ram later upped to 768 k(video would use the extra 128 k), and a 80286 (8mHz) Intel cpu. This rig got me through many papers running DOS with Desk Mate, a Pro-Write word processor, and a dot matrix printer. I still miss that thing from time to time. That sucker would boot in seconds!

"You don't build a reputation on what your going to do."- Henry Ford

Posted 05/29/2009 at 09:41:48am

 I was part of a project that built a motherboard once by soldering components to a circuit board and lots of wires strung from here to there for the various components (on which we ran DOS and Linux, it was built in '96) so I can tell you how difficult this is. This is more impressive than what we did by a long shot! We never considered building a processor, it was hard enough figuring out the pins on the processor (a Cyrix 486@ 66 mhz) :-)

For the record, I strongly agree that a project of this type is about the journey, not the destination. Kudos to this guy!

"You don't build a reputation on what your going to do."- Henry Ford

Posted 04/07/2009 at 10:09:52am

I only have three comments: 1.Dude! That was stupid! 2. If you are going to do it, don't talk about it on a national stage. Stupid! 3. Buy an umbrella... STUPID!

Posted 09/24/2008 at 10:54:49am

When things needs replaced, do the upgrade, otherwise the cost will barely be offset by the savings.

That having been said a K+N air filter and intake tube was the biggest thing that affected mpg. Have you looked at the air box on this thing? It's crazy how much restriction there is in this setup. Actually mine is a knock off Ebayed K+N clone (+4-5 mpg).

Spark plugs are Autolite double platinum and plug wires are Autolite Pro. (No measurable mpg gain but idle is much smoother.)

Exhaust was the most expensive piece and again cost vs need. I replaced the catalytic converter and muffler with MagnaFlow aftermarkets due to the converter being stopped up and I wanted more free flowing muffler. I discovered this problem after dragging the muffler off (around 80,000 miles) helping a friend move junk and quickly realized the exhaust tone had not changed. Luckily the friend is a welder so he did the exhaust repairs/mods for free (I bought the parts) (+2-3 mpg). For the record it still does fine on emissions tests.

Have the computer flashed. The plus is a noticeable jump in hp and torque (+2-3 mpg) after being flashed for performance. There is a millage flash out now (I haven't tried it).

The last thing is limit speed! The difference between 62 and 72 mph is 6 mpg! It only gets worse from there. 60'ish seems to be the sweet spot.

All of my mpg measurements were taken on the same road, same route, interstate conditions, driving 60 miles a day with the cruise set at 62'ish. Measurements were done by the tankful multiple times to get these numbers. Best was a week of 50 degree temps and light rain. (31 mpg) Worst week was hot (+100 degrees) and dry (sorry for where you live) at 26 mpg.

Also, mine has the tow package. I don't know if that affects things or not. Let me know how/if this helps.

Posted 09/24/2008 at 09:05:55am

Let me start by saying this, I don't care who writes the next great OS as long as it truly is great. Just as I don't care if General Motors goes belly up Microsoft needs to watch themselves... closely. I've evolved enough throughout my life to stop giving a crap about someone's brand name and what it stands for. There are better OS options out there already (stop screaming linux lover long enough to listen folks) but the mainstream won't see them. Just as Ford (again, don't give a crap if they succeed or fail, it's all about the final product) has released a 60+ mpg car in Europe we won't see it here in the US. Why? Bureaucracy. (but that's another story) The point is that something that will cure a lot of our problems is already out there but we (Average, Joe) won't see it because it's not the next big thing. A lot of this we have brought on ourselves by buying every piece of crap we have be mediaized (kinda' sounds like a Bushism don't it?) into thinking we have to have. I think we should stratigize, lol, more before we fall for it again...  Take a test drive of an OS (and yes you can test drive even Vista before you buy it, go to Best Buy or the sort and tell them you want to see it before you buy it and they'll trip over themselves to get you to a machine) and if you don't like it DON'T BUY IT. If you like it by all means BUY IT. The same as you wouldn't buy a car you didn't like (and thus the General Motors reference) don't buy the crappy software. Capitalism will ultimately rule what products are a success.

The grass is always greener... over the septic tank.

Posted 09/24/2008 at 08:22:48am

I think my point may have been mistaken. It's great that this is offered but why should we have to pay for this? That should be nothing more than a checkbox away and not a seperate program.

Posted 09/24/2008 at 08:10:22am

Now we're thinkin!!! Thank you!

Posted 09/24/2008 at 08:08:05am

Grumpy old men are like that! I agree about the complaints. I got caught up in it too. I was trying to stick to the "here's what I have never liked about OS providers in general" line but I think I went overboard. Plus I was taken out of context (big surprise there!) on more than a couple of points.

BTW I ROTFLMAO at the Joe Commodore comments! No offense taken

The grass is always greener over the septic tank.

Posted 09/24/2008 at 07:57:27am

HaHaHahahahahahahaha!!! Someone finally had the guts to say it! Thank you! I get toasted every time I Hint at Max PC not being the king of all computer wisdom and knowledge. I love you guys, I do. You've taught me more by daring me delve into the hardware and software than my college computer courses did. However when I suggested (just a couple of days ago) that you guys sometimes miss the mark with your chasing the "latest and greatest" only to be proven really wrong in the long run I was called Joe Commodore! How funny is that! :) I was ROTFLMAO typing a response.

Anyway, thanks for touching the tip of the iceberg on this topic and I'm all for a section devoted to "stuff that should have been better than it actually turned out to be" section. Or call it "We Were Wrong, and here's why..." section. I like the second one best.

I would like to point out also that it's not all your fault. Sometimes you get a little excited over hardware (and software) promises without waiting to see the real world applications and/or problems. I think it stems from having such close relationships with hardware (and software) providers that you get caught up in the frenzy. It's okay, just thanks for finally acknowledging it.

ps. I enjoy tv and movies as much as the next person but my subscription to Entertainment Weekly is where I want to read about that. You guys are Maximum PC... try not to forget it. (and that also means weighing you're articles againist real world users, most folks don't, and can't afford, bleeding edge. But that doesn't mean you can't help with their performance issues.)

Posted 09/22/2008 at 08:37:24pm

People get hot on this topic! Let me say again that I don't mean to offend anyone. I only want to be able to turn off the fluff, bells and whistles that apparently most folks want. That doesn't mean they are wrong for using it, I just don't want or need it. My only HUGE gripe is replacing something that isn't broken or really improved (just a face lift) for the sake of making a buck IF the old one is now considered obsolete... as in unusable due to non-support. Just call it a expansion set sell it that way. It works for games.

I'm not a Windows hater... or a Linux lover. I have (multiple) versions of each and they have their strong and weak points.

For those paying attention, the idea I had about a Gaming Mode is apparently not so bad, AMD just announced something similar (AMD Fusion beta) but not yet as radical. It'll happen though.

With my "Options idea" Joe Commodore (me?) can buy the new Windows (or Linux, whatever!) and run it nicely. If they want the DX10 or 11 (again whatever!) buy the hardware and THEN TURN ON THAT OPTION! Right now people (and I mean Average, Joe) are left behind because they don't see light at the end of the tunnel. Why buy a new machine with new software when it will run the same or slower than what they already have? (Average, Joe doesn't know how to tweak!) Most folks here are enthusiast. Great... but what about the masses that aren't? I honestly think it would increase sales of new hardware if the OS "Options" were made a reality... and maybe my mother would quit having me tweak her machine.

Maybe Windows 8 will be "Windows- Options". Ahhh... that would be great!

for those who don't know what my Options thing is please read previous post